Leon Draisaitl 3rd 110+ point season in 4 years...

[TheOrangeDesk]

He's a product of getting to play with 4 other players on the ice. If he was out there by himself I doubt he'd get 110, probably not even 100

 

[Bank Shot]

Guy who had 30 even strength goals last year and not for the first time isn’t good at even strength scoring at all.

He's 6th in ES goals in the NHL over the last 5 years.

If you're not first, you're last!

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

McDavid coattail rider.

Okay.

 

[The Panther]

Holy he is so overrated. A mix of Jagr and Thornton?! Lol

The guy makes a living off the PP playing with McDavid. Sure, powerplay is great and all, but far less predictive of ability than at even strength. At even strength is he no better than any other top player in the league, despite either playing wing with McDavid or getting easier matchups while McDavid does the heavy lifting.

Watch the guy actually and play and tell me he’s comparable to Jagr. Never seen a player do so little and still put up points.

What's it like to watch hockey and not understand a single thing about it? I've always wondered.

 

[McNuge]

Definitely a great passer, no argument there. Doesn’t make him the second best player in the NHL. His passing is actually what allows him to be so lazy and not great at other areas of the game and still appear so dominant.

His shot is good but nothing to brag about. He’s got a quick shot, which lets him stand in one spot and hammer home one timers after McDavid does all the work on the pp. He’s not good at even strength goal scoring at all.

I’m not saying he’s not one of the best players in the NHL. But he’s certainly not a clear cut number 2 and he sure as hell isn’t an all time great like Jagr.

He's got one of the best shots in the league lmfao the hell are you talking about. Do you go to sleep at 9? Maybe stay up and watch a game before you spout utter nonsense.

21.65
19.7
18.5
19.8
20.2

His shooting percentages the last 5 years (including this one). All while being the best passer in the league.

Put up 17 points in 5 playoff games against their biggest rival last year on one leg.

He'd be the best player on any team today outside of 2. One is his own for obvious reasons and the other is the AVS because of Makar.

 

[McPoyle]

Never seen a player do so little and still put up points.

That is part of the magic that is Drai's game. He makes it look so effortless in the way he slows the game down and cycles the puck often with two defenders on him, to then thread perfect passes to teammates, then find quiet ice to slam home one timers.

Quietly playing at a 120 point pace for 5 seasons straight. Truly an all time talent.

 

[North Cole]

Definitely a great passer, no argument there. Doesn’t make him the second best player in the NHL. His passing is actually what allows him to be so lazy and not great at other areas of the game and still appear so dominant.

His shot is good but nothing to brag about. He’s got a quick shot, which lets him stand in one spot and hammer home one timers after McDavid does all the work on the pp. He’s not good at even strength goal scoring at all.

I’m not saying he’s not one of the best players in the NHL. But he’s certainly not a clear cut number 2 and he sure as hell isn’t an all time great like Jagr.

People say the same about OV. "Just a PP turret", while he casually starts to close the gap on the all-time goals list. Drai should pretty easily hit 500 goals in his career, which renders your entire point moot. You don't score 500 goals in the NHL if you're shot and scoring ability are nothing to brag about.

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Yeah, lmao you look at that and then the sentence "never seen a player do so little and still put up points", and you just know that's false.

 

[BradMarchandismydad]

Deon is an absolute weapon. Him and McDavid look positively phenomenal out there.

Only watched a bit of them this season, but they were super deadly. Wouldn't be surprised if that squad goes on a run with Leon + Connor leading the league in playoff scoring.

 

[Juxta Position]

I didn’t bring up Matthews. Oilers fans loved to bring him up and I responded to them.

Matthews was mentioned a few times before I responded actually.

I agree, it’s weird Oilers fans obsession with Matthews.

Before i get into this let me preface this with the "not all Leafs fans" statement and it's true, there is a vocal minority that this post is about.

First, it's not an obsession, it's frustration at the Leafs fans delusions that Matthews is even remotely close to McDavid.

Mathews has broken 80 points exactly twice in his career, has one 50 (yes I know he got to 60) goal 100 point season. and is not even in the same ball park as McDavid. I don't need to list all the things McDavid has done to prove he's in a class well above Matthews.

And Draisaitl has 3 100 point seasons, 2 (very possibly 3) 50 goal seasons, the only active player not named Ovechkin to have multiple 50 goal/50 assist seasons in the NHL. and Matthews "incredible 60 goal season" beat Draisaitl by a whopping 5 goals.

Yet Leafs fans constantly yell to anyone who will listen that their superstar is better than Leon, and on the same tier as McDavid, then say "why are you obsessed with Matthews?" when Oilers fans throw facts at them that Matthews is not as good as either of them.

Matthews is the 2nd best player on his own team let alone on a tier with McDavid.

Oh, and "pace" argument is junk. If a player didn't hit it, regardless of his "pace" it didn't happen.

If you want to use the pace argument, this would be McDavid's 7th consecutive 100 point season, as he had 97 points in 63 games when the league shut down for covid, which would put him 2nd all time to Gretzky's 13 consecutive 100 point seasons.

Stop shoehorning Matthews somewhere he doesn't belong, just to make you feel better about your own insecurities about your "superstars". Everyone knows a portion of Leafs fans are still salty, and will always be that they lost the draft lottery and were somehow "robbed" of McDavid. And because of this you prop Matthews up to tell yourself, "it's not a big deal we didn't get McDavid, we got Matthews, and he's just as good!" That's where the true obsession/delusion lies.

 

[McFlash97]

Point totals really depend so much on factors that are outside of a player's control. What can be said is that Draisaitl is a world class offensive player on his own. He's the modern day hybrid of Jagr and Thornton.

Obviously playing with McDavid helps, but I think McDavid benefits from Draisaitl a ton as well, especially on the PP. They have perfectly contrasting styles, but I think Draisaitl's patient, deliberate style (combined with his deadly low circle one timer) is a huge part of what makes McDavid so difficult to defend shorthanded.

Still, it can't be denied that at 5v5, Draisaitl's production drops from "superstar" to "low end first line center".

Last 3 years at 5v5
Draisaitl w/McDavid
3.28 p/60 (60p in 1095 mins)

Draisaitl w/McDavid
2.00 p/60 (74p in 2221 mins)

It should be noted that he doesn't always have the best linemates without McDavid, but still that's a precipitous drop.

2.00 p/60 is equivalent to roughly ~43 5v5 points in an 82 game for a guy with his generous 16 mins of 5v5 time a game.
So if he were on a team without a great PP or extra help at 5v5, it's quite possible Draisaitl would fall well short of the 100 point plateau, and may even struggle to break 85 points.

That's like saying Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby put up a bunch of PP points in thier prime. Low end first liners without Jagr and Malkin on at even strength. You can't be serious when you put up a hypothetical stat that would never happen to dumb down his stats. In this case you probably should apply the rule to all top players. That analysis has no merit or lacks basic common sense.

Your telling us if Draisaitl played the entire season with McDavid he would be at about 165 points ? Let's go both ways ? But if he didn't he would be less than 85 ? ...lol.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

He's a good player obviously as it's not like everyone on the Oilers is getting 110+ points regularly.

However, I don't think he's a 110+ point player on any other team in the league.

I know you’re just trying to get a reaction but if you’re going to penalize Draisaitl for playing with the best player in the league then give a similar penalty to both Marner and Matthews who play even more together. The inconsistency of some fans views on here when it comes to their own players is astonishing.

 

[Coffey]

So many casuals in this thread.
Not seeing the demi-god greatness in LD29.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Imo he may be the most under valued player in the league. I know that’s tough to say when he’s got a lot of hardware but he seems to get ranked lower in a lot of lists than players he regularly outscores by a significant amount of points. He may very well be the best passer in the league in addition to having a Rocket and consistently being amongst the goal scoring leaders.
It’s both a benefit and a curse to play with a generational player.

 

[iCanada]

I remember the year he won the Art Ross/Hart/Lindsay, with McDavid injured for a few games, Draisaitl put the team on his back and scored at an even higher rate during that timespan.

I think McDavid’s effect on Draisaitl’s point totals is greatly overstated. His style of play is more cerebral than flashy, which leads to his talents being underappreciated by some.

Draisaitl will always be underrated compared to his contemporaries.

You can look at someone like Crosby, McDavid, Ovechkin, Malkin, or even Matthews; they all have this one super elite thing that they can beat everyone with. Draisaitl not quite like that. He's more elite in everything and that beats other team with what they give him.

Looks less like he manhandled and dominated and more like other team just messed up. But he'll beat you in whatever way is available. He's big enough that if you don't take the body he'll beat you. He's fast enough that if you're flat footed he'll blow by you. He's got a good enough shot where if he's open with a shooting lane he's just going to score. He's also got all of that while being perhaps the best backhand passer in the world. He's got top notch vision and sees things that most guys don't.

Only thing he's best at is the backhand. But if you combine all of that and he just gets more time than other players; you have to take the shooting lane, so you're limited how you approach him, and he can turn to his forehand or backhand and still make an elite pass, unlike most guys who can only zip passes on the forehand.

He's a special player that would put up 100+ points anywhere.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

Maybe more 'top players' should score on their powerplay chances, so this stupid train of thought would stop to downplay Draisaitl's abilities.

 

[Coffey]

Maybe more 'top players' should score on their powerplay chances, so this stupid train of thought would stop to downplay Draisaitl's abilities.

lol "He gets so many PP points!" instead of saying "Why don't most players score when they are outmanning the other team?"

 

[Craft Beer Lover]

Imagine Austin Matthews making two passes like that to McDavid to win the game. LOL!

 

[JimmyApples]

2nd best player in the world after McDavid

 

[Frank Drebin]

Insane right ? Go read the thread, there are FIVE Oiler fans who brought Matthews up before a Leaf fan responded to it, now you did here as well.

Yeah insane. Leafs have this little brother complex to the Oilers stars - that's why you see 99% of the posts saying "Leon isn't that gud defensively or at 5on5" are from leafs fans, and everyone can see through it. We can see exactly what you're trying to do without you explicitly saying it.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

lol "He gets so many PP points!" instead of saying "Why don't most players score when they are outmanning the other team?"

Yep, I'm with you and I'll never understand it. If PP points don't count towards point totals, or more importantly, the importance of the man advantage towards winning a god damn game, then get rid of the powerplay all together.

Oh, that isn't the point of this conversation? Then stop belittling point production. Regardless of where/when the points are coming, Draisaitl is better than your favourite player (not named McDavid). Deal with it.

 

[PostBradMalone]

In what world is saying a player wouldn't score the same playing without McDavid a troll attempt ? Holy. You'd think the biggest hockey fans in the world wouldn't need an explanation for that.

Because it’s a pointless observation. What are you adding to the conversation if it’s apparently so obvious and self-explanatory? Either this is a new realization to you and you haven’t been following hockey long, or you have other motives. Which one is it?

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Leung is a pretty good player.

 

[McShogun99]

He's just a product of Yamamoto.

 

[psycat]

Considering his career high is only 110 with McDavid, it's highly unlikely he improves his stats when he leaves McDavid.

Are you arguing McDavid is holding him back?

I mean ive heard that argument made more than once on this site, ie: players on bad teams score more because they don't have to share ice-time/the puck. Not saying it's a valid argument but it's not an uncommon one.

 

[iCanada]

Point totals really depend so much on factors that are outside of a player's control. What can be said is that Draisaitl is a world class offensive player on his own. He's the modern day hybrid of Jagr and Thornton.

Obviously playing with McDavid helps, but I think McDavid benefits from Draisaitl a ton as well, especially on the PP. They have perfectly contrasting styles, but I think Draisaitl's patient, deliberate style (combined with his deadly low circle one timer) is a huge part of what makes McDavid so difficult to defend shorthanded.

Still, it can't be denied that at 5v5, Draisaitl's production drops from "superstar" to "low end first line center".

Last 3 years at 5v5
Draisaitl w/McDavid
3.28 p/60 (60p in 1095 mins)

Draisaitl w/McDavid
2.00 p/60 (74p in 2221 mins)

It should be noted that he doesn't always have the best linemates without McDavid, but still that's a precipitous drop.

2.00 p/60 is equivalent to roughly ~43 5v5 points in an 82 game for a guy with his generous 16 mins of 5v5 time a game.
So if he were on a team without a great PP or extra help at 5v5, it's quite possible Draisaitl would fall well short of the 100 point plateau, and may even struggle to break 85 points.

That's kind of a crap stat, tbh. Points per 60 is a flawed metric. Not all 60 minutes are the same. PP or no PP someone like Draisaitl eats minutes in his own end, particularly when he's on a team like the oilers for the last 3 years where he was the only guy that was positive on faceoffs.

Particularly when he's not playing with McDavid, half the time it's been because the other team is pressing and the coach didn't trust anyone else to win the draw.

Of course his scoring drops 33% per 60... he spends 33% less time starting in the offensive zone.