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Leon Draisaitl is one of the best playoff performers in NHL history

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Empoleon8771 said:
I think Draisaitl has the same problem as Malkin: he just happens to play behind the best and most well known player of the time. The dude is an absolute monster and people would rightfully realize how much of a monster he was if he didn't have to play behind McDavid.
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Agreed. It's even crazier to think that back then when people were comparing Drai to Malkin, people scoffed at that. But now? I'd argue Drai is better than Malkin in his prime, which makes it more insane Drai is still behind 1 other player (McDavid).

(Btw this is no knock on Malkin. I still always considered him 2nd-3rd best behind Crosby/Ovechkin in the league in their prime days. Great player and anyone would kill to have Malkin)
 
Fishy McScales said:
On top of that I wonder why it's so laughable to supposedly feast on a stingy 1-3-1 team in the playoffs.
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Agreed. People REALLY don't give the Kings credit. They are a good team. And they definitely can match the Oilers, if they didn't play the 1-3-1 all the time. You could see in that series as soon as they stopped doing it, the Oilers started struggling. Just stop discrediting teams the Oilers play. They aren't garbage teams or anything.
 
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The discussion about the EV scoring and +/- for Drai and McDavid when they are not playing together prompted me to look into the defensive pairings they each get to play with.
It is fairly obvious that, when separated McDavid usually gets to play more with Ekholm and Bouchard while Draisaitl sees more ice time with Nurse and Ceci. That could have a slight impact on their respective stats.
I still agree that McDavid is the better EV and overall player (duh), but the difference might not be as huge as some seem to think.
 
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Paralyzer said:
Agreed. It's even crazier to think that back then when people were comparing Drai to Malkin, people scoffed at that. But now? I'd argue Drai is better than Malkin in his prime, which makes it more insane Drai is still behind 1 other player (McDavid).

(Btw this is no knock on Malkin. I still always considered him 2nd-3rd best behind Crosby/Ovechkin in the league in their prime days. Great player and anyone would kill to have Malkin)
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Malkin could carry a line of mediocre wingers and create depth; a huge advantage for the Pens in winning multiple Cups.

Draisaitl cannot which creates depth issues for Oilers and makes them very reliant on PP scoring to win.
 
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daver said:
Malkin could carry a line of mediocre wingers and create depth; a huge advantage for the Pens in winning multiple Cups.

Draisaitl cannot which creates depth issues for Oilers and makes them very reliant on PP scoring to win.
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Uhh, Draisaitl HAS been carrying his own line for the last year. Only this playoffs did he get paired with McDavid once again. Heck, even the GWG in game 4 was from Draisaitl on a line with Holloway and Kane...So yeah.
 
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Maverick41 said:
The discussion about the EV scoring and +/- for Drai and McDavid when they are not playing together prompted me to look into the defensive pairings they each get to play with.
It is fairly obvious that, when separated McDavid usually gets to play more with Ekholm and Bouchard while Draisaitl sees more ice time with Nurse and Ceci. That could have a slight impact on their respective stats.
I still agree that McDavid is the better EV and overall player (duh), but the difference might not be as huge as some seem to think.
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This is usually balanced with who the other team's send out against them when they are on different lines. Presumably, McDavid faces the other team's #1 d-pairings and the other team's #1 line more than Draisaitl.
 
JPeeper said:
Cool, can't even get to the Finals with a generational player playing next to him. Hardly "one of the best ever". Guy hasn't won a game past round 2 and he is one of the best ever?

I laugh.
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It's almost as if, ya know, that hockey is a TEAM game. "Guys" don't win games, "TEAMS" win games. Just to let you know

I'd argue that it's remarkable that Draisaitl, and McDavid, carried this team to the 2nd round the last 3 seasons considering how poorly the GM constructed the roster.
 
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Paralyzer said:
Uhh, Draisaitl HAS been carrying his own line for the last year. Only this playoffs did he get paired with McDavid once again. So yeah.
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He gets paired with him every playoffs, that's the point. Draisaitl has not proven he can be a positive offensive contributor on his own line in the playoffs. It would be a huge benefit for the Oilers if he was.

He does OK in the regular season on his own but not in the playoffs.
 
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Is there any way to get the numbers for players in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs, where Drai has played the overwhelming majority of his playoff games? My gut tells me it gets harder to score the deeper you go.
 
HockeyVirus said:
He doesn't play a lick of defense. Imagine if the other stars around the league completely abandoned the 2nd half of the ice and cherry picked for 2 on 1's all game long what their production would look like. Now imagine they also had McDavid feeding them on the PP (in which they draw top of the league in PP opportunities). Then all he has to do is let the goalie and coach be the scapegoat.

He is obviously an incredible player. I enjoy watching him a lot, and especially love watching him on the PP and how he can score on the slimmest angles. But if you watch him it is obvious why the team has never won anything in the postseason..
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It is mind-blowing to think you typed all this out, presumably read it at least once, and still thought it was a good idea to post something so uninformed for all the world to see.
 
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swiftwin said:
Kinda hard to call him one of the best playoff performers in NHL history when he's never won a game past the 2nd round.
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JPeeper said:
Cool, can't even get to the Finals with a generational player playing next to him. Hardly "one of the best ever". Guy hasn't won a game past round 2 and he is one of the best ever?

I laugh.
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These arguments are so stupid. Oilers have ekholm now but in previous yeats darnell freakin nurse was their number 1 defensemen when hes like a #4 amd hes getting paid as one of the top in the league crippling thejr flexibility. How many teams would win a cup with the likes as nurse as #1 defensemen. And say the oilers do win a cup this year, is draisaitl now suddenly magically better along with his past play now counting cuz the oilers got a cup?

Would hashek not have been one of the greatesz goalies ever for his play with bufffalo if he didnt win cups with detroit, even though he actually was a shell of his former buffalo self in detroit and pnly won cuz he finally had a team. Does his buffalo play only count cuz he finally got a loaded detroit team late in his career? Even though he was way better with buffalo?
 
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swiftwin said:
Kinda hard to call him one of the best playoff performers in NHL history when he's never won a game past the 2nd round.
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bobholly39 said:
Comparing peak Lemieux (1989 to 1992) to Drai + McDavid (last 3 years, 2022 to 2024) for first 2 rounds only:

Lemieuex 31 games, 24 goals 55 points. 1.77 PPG .77 GPG
Draisaitl 33 games, 28 goals 64 points, 1.94 PPG .85 GPG
McDavid 33 games 17 giaksm 64 points, 1.94 PPG .27 GPG

So - they both have actually outdone peak Lemieux in firts 2 rounds past 3 years, in more games played too.

Of course.....Lemieux then went on to post the following numbers in rounds 3 and 4 in that stretch:

18 games, 20 goals, 42 points. 2.33 PPG 1.11 GPG

We'll see how McDrai perform if they can go to round 3 and 4 - but even without that they've been tremendous past 3 years.
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As much as many disparage mcdrai with nonsense, there is an argument for lemieux over them considering he did it without a complimentary player on the level of mcdrai to help him.
 
swiftwin said:
Maybe if he played defense instead of padding his stats, he might win a playoff game past the 2nd round.
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And that will get him credited with a Win? Imagine. Equaling the great Bob Champoux. Dare to dream that one day Draisaitl will reach that level of playoff greatness. Wow, this is insightful stuff. You'll be getting my vote for the Jack Adams, coach!
 
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Napkin math but Malkin's round 1 and 2 numbers are 47g 89a 136p in 125 games.

Over his first 57 (so 2007-13) he had 24g 48a 72p.
Through 54 Draisaitl is 39g 52a 91p.
 
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WATTAGE4451 said:
These arguments are so stupid. Oilers have ekholm now but in previous yeats darnell freakin nurse was their number 1 defensemen when hes like a #4 amd hes getting paid as one of the top in the league crippling thejr flexibility. How many teams would win a cup with the likes as nurse as #1 defensemen. And say the oilers do win a cup this year, is draisaitl now suddenly magically better along with his past play now counting cuz the oilers got a cup?

Would hashek not have been one of the greatesz goalies ever for his play with bufffalo if he didnt win cups with detroit, even though he actually was a shell of his former buffalo self in detroit and pnly won cuz he finally had a team. Does his buffalo play only count cuz he finally got a loaded detroit team late in his career? Even though he was way better with buffalo?
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Hasek went way further than Draisaitl. Also Hasek was by far away the best player on his own team. Draisaitl isn't the best player on his own team.

Over the years, I've seem many great players drag their team to playoff success.

I'm not saying Draisaitl is a bad player. He's a great player. I'm just saying you can't call him one of the best playoff performers in history when he hasn't won a game past the 2nd round, and isn't even the best player on his team. You just can't. It doesn't add up.
 
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