C Leon Draisaitl (2014, 3rd, EDM) II
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Aceboogie
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- Aug 25, 2012
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Kid has one of the best attitudes I've ever seen in a prospect. So determined. Staying in Edmonton (lol) all summer to train specifically on skating and play away from the puck. Those were the two areas of his game I was most concerned with ( assuming he is working on D zone coverage too)
For an 18 foreigner to do that kind of commitment is amazing.
For an 18 foreigner to do that kind of commitment is amazing.
Just a question on Draisaitl, could he be loaned to a team in Europe like say the DEL of FEL for example?
Roof Daddy
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- Apr 1, 2008
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He would be faced with better competition than faced in junior, wouldn't use a year of ELC and has a chance to improve his skating and other aspects that need improvement.
MCDAVIDISH
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No, he needs to get used to the North American game at this point. Going and playing different style hockey doesn't make sense. Also, people are completely over-blowing his skating without actually watching him play.
He's spent two years here, there were time this year when he was seemed disinterestedness, he could develop bad habits back in junior yet Oilers would be smart not to rush another prospect so it is a reasonable scenario.
Did you actually watch him play live before? I'm not sure what bad habits he could develop, by having another year in juniors. It served Nurse excellently, and he'll probably be back in juniors next season as well. And with the current C depth of the oilers, he's practically locked in.
MCDAVIDISH
Registered User
Oilers haven't rushed prospects as much as people here think, the main issue is not having a supporting cast around our prospects and expecting too much out of them. If Draisaitl was drafted by any other team we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Lots of teams bring their prospects up properly and allow them to play easy minutes their rookie seasons. Worked out well for Monahan and countless others and Draisaitl seems ready as anyone in this draft class. It's not a forgone conclusion that he's ready, but I really wouldn't be surprised.
Unfortunately, I think Leon is going to be a beast and be the best of the 2014 draft.
There were numerous reports midway through the season of some lackluster defensive zone play and lack of effort at times before he snapped out of it at the end of the year. I don't think he's quite ready to assume a top 6 role and juniors would be better than throwing him into NHL so early. He is the classic case of not quite ready for the NHL but too good for junior. I feel he will have Granlund like issues his first year.
He already said that he knows that his defensive play needs bit, but lack of effort? I don't buy that. He propelled an overall awful raiders team other than Morrisey to the playoffs. He could have gone back to Germany to spend time with his family, but chose to stay in Edmonton to prepare for the season. That's a lot of effort in my eyes. If he's going to be an oiler, he'll need to be sheltered. I don't think you need to talk about throwing him, because plenty of oiler fans don't want to see him rushed.
Yes I said he played better at the end of the year, this was midseason. I'm not doubting his dedication. I hope they don't rush him he's only had one year in NA as a center.
He played with the raiders for 2 seasons. 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. I'm sure that counts as 2 years, lol.
McOvechking
Registered User
I didn't know his first year was a winger in NA, so thanks for clarifying that
. Either way, whether he plays in the NHL, juniors, or even the euro leagues, I just want him to get developed into the player all oiler fans are hoping him to be. Otherwise, we won't hear the end of it. Especially with how much criticisms, we get with Yakupov and the rest of the young guns.
Woodhouse
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Carolina's defense leaves Draisaitl all alone in front and he buries his own rebound for his first NHL goal:
Aceboogie
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- Aug 25, 2012
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Offensively: average, looks comfortable but not driving play
Defensively: very responsible. This has been a big strength. He always makes the right decision
Started slow but looked better each game
yknow, it really isn't, the entire continent was founded essentially on foreigners determined to make it
HeavyHitter99
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- Jun 18, 2013
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Unlike some of my fellow Oiler fans I feel like he shouldn't be on the team and hasn't really deserved it either. Some say he is getting better with every game but sometimes I don't see it. He's being forced and rushed into our **** show this year and I hope that doesn't affect his development negatively too much.
He does the little things right and is pretty splid defensively but a lot of the time (most of the time) he is invisible. He's got huge potential that we get glimpses of but he shouldn't be on the team imo. Our center depth is terrible but imo we should have made due without him. We're a bottom 10 team with him (probably finish bottom 5) and we'd be a bottom 5 team without him. People don't want to admit it but he wasn't ready.
I'm a huge fan of his and have been for 3 years now but he just wasn't ready imo
