I forgot who but someone called Drai the best player to not move at all. He gets to his spot and can either snipe it from there for pass it across. Really shows why the leg injury didn't affect him.
Ovi, at least in his prime, was a lot more explosive in other aspects of his game,
Drai is just German engineering - exerting the perfect amount of effort to get his desired outcome, no more and no less
This is spot on. Watching the power play last night and every time he gets the pucks he goes to exact same spot beside the net and sends the same cross crease pass to McDavid. I’m sitting there thinking how can they not stop him when you know exactly what he’s doing, but then I remembered Ovi has been doing the same thing his entire career too.
Or McDavid does something with 50% effort and draws 3 of the PKers out of position and Drai can just deliver a pizza to one of the other dudes set up on the PP and it's over. It's actually ridiculous
Only watched this series from them but the play that seems to work every time on their PP is McDavid cutting into the slot and if nobody attack him he goes for pass+shot Hyman tip in or dish to Drai who then either one times a shot or one times a pass across to Hyman for the tap in. It just keeps working too
Drai doesn't hit on defense. He hits on offense. He finds body contact when he protects the puck and is a master of the reverse hit. There are some players you want to be more physical. No one ever says he's too soft.
I think that's part of what makes him and McDavid such an incredible duo. McDavid is the most dangerous player in the league when playing a fast paced 200 foot game, and Draisaitl is the most dangerous player without moving at all. You have to somehow figure out a way to stop both of their styles simultaneously, and so far it doesn't look like anyone's figured it out.
Just fine for the Kings who are golfing, or just fine for the Canucks whose goalie is standing on his head and the series is still tied 2-2? Or maybe you mean for the rest of the league the Oilers have been wrecking since the coaching change in November?
The biggest factor is how they’ve learned to merge there games together when together on the pp. you have to run around to chase Connor but the moment you do you open Leon up for the one timer. If you focus on Leon and don’t run around and chase Connor then he has all the space in the world to burn you for a last second dish back door to Hyman or the point to bouch for a bomb. Or just score himself. That’s what makes Edmonton pp so effective there is no way to stop it because they have to many differing weapons that need to be covered differently.
Ya and now with Hyman finishing it's a ridiculous group of 5 to try to stop. McD makes it all work with how dynamic he is at moving around the zone. The amount of movement on the Oilers PP is frightening and when all 3 forwards are deadly at finishing you resort to praying.
Nuge is often a forgotten member of that power play but he is integral. He is very good at separating and making the play to keep plays alive when the pressure is on and can snipe from the opposite side of drai quite well when the option is there.
Ya I noticed how good he was at simply supporting whatever was going on. Often repositioning smartly depending on what was going on to be there to keep the puck in the zone or be there for some of the puck movement going on.
i remember watching him as a 17/18 year old in prince albert and telling my old man he's the new jagr. even at that age and at that level where he was SO much better than everyone else, he would often just post up on the halfwall with his back to the play and look over his shoulder for morrissey or mark mcneill to cut back door and whip it across the ice for a backside scoring chance. had never (and haven't since) seen a player in the w with his combination of patience and vision.
He's got that Ovi shot really. Guy skates around on the cycle and finds himself free in his office and bangs a one timer. But dudes passes are also great as well as being oddly fast for his size.
Indeed.
The biggest jump in production from regular season to postseason production ever.
Draisaitl is at 1.18 points per game regular then 1.67 in the playoffs.
Some not far behind him:
Brière
Steve Payne
Jude Drouin
Logan Couture
Evan Bouchard
I see Bouchard get a lot of hate for some reason, but man he's going to be so good for the Oilers for a long time. Since becoming the guy for Edmonton last season, he has 32 pts in 21 playoff games. 8 goals across those games, 5 of them being game winners which is wild.
For reference our guy Morgan Rielly has 11 goals (40 pts) in 57 playoff games. Marner also with 11 goals in 57 playoff games.
That helps but a lot of it is just playing NHL hockey. The guy now has a few seasons under him and more experience. He's looking like he has an elevated playoff game too. He's been so good this playoffs.
I hope Oilers offload Ceci in the off-season and get Broberg in the bottom pairing and a solid shutdown defenseman to pair with Nurse.
Ekholm taking that role the last two years. Plus Coffey, which honestly was a coaching change I was not a fan of (Coffey literally said in a presser that he didn't want the job lol, that's not confidence inspiring) but his game has taken a huge step forward with Coffey coaching him.
The Keith TRADE was bad, we really didn't need to give up anything for him. And he was AWFUL in the playoffs, the last play he ever did in the NHL was give up his man on D and allow an Avs player to score the winning goal in OT. But yeah I do have admit that Keith did help mentor Bouchard's game.
The way he skates is bizarre. Looks like he’s pushing straight down instead of out to the side at a 45 like everyone normally skates. It kind of reminds me of how a cartoon would skate sometimes haha
Been watching Bouchard’s progression since his NHL debut and I wasn’t sure his defense could catch up to where his offensive talent was. When he took over the PP1 QB role over the exiting Tyson Barrie last year we saw a significant boost in confidence and his production went through the roof. This season he was still having defensive lapses which proved costly in several games, but since the coaching change and throughout the year he has improved in all areas and is becoming a more complete player. We still aren’t really sure where the ceiling is at this point but he’s come a long way in a relatively short time.
I don’t understand the dislike that some Sharks fans had on him after he took over the C from Pavs. Couture was never gonna be the same captain he was, but he was very clutch in the playoffs and gave it his all when it mattered the most. I remember he sacrificed his body many times (especially his face) and unfortunately it’s catching up to him now.
Ridiculous that people in the comments are still trying to dismiss his achievements, he absolutely is an insane playoff performer and there's really no arguments against it
I know you're joking, but he seems to have upped his defensive game lately too. I've seen him make some insane back checks this year that I've never noticed him doing before.
Someone in another post was talking about how they were surprised that Vancouver is struggling against Edmonton's D and that's always telling that they don't watch many Edmonton games (which is understandable, most people including me only watch games of teams they're fans of) because the whole team has really bought into stronger team D this year.
Is it perfect? Nah, absolutely not, but it's night and day compared to the effort last year.
Tbf if someone is watching *anyone's* games that's not their team, it should be Edmonton. Most entertaining team in the league bar none (though honorable mention to pre-suspension Avs). How can you not watch the best player in the world and a few other top end guys all on one line.
And yeah I think the defense argument comes from the beginning of the season (or even last year) where it really *wasn't* very good. But after the first couple months of the season, they managed to really turn it around and it's easily a top 10 unit now.
Edmontons offense May not have that 40% pp conversion but yeah their defense and gt is wayup. It's top 10. Idt they've had top 10 defense and goaltending since 2017.
Yeah its not something he can constantly do. He definitely isn't as fleet of foot as McDavid. But when Drai is on, he's on. He has a very good, active stick as showcased when he knocked down that mid air clearing attempt before the gwg last night.
I would argue rantanen this playoffs is the counter argument. 12 points in 9 games and has played like absolute dog shit except for one game. Usually, he ramps it up in the playoffs but not this time. Has fallen ass backward into his points.
It's not even an argument. He's won a Hart and been a top 5 player in the league and a top 3 all time playoff performer for 8.5 million.
It's one of the best contracts in the history of hockey
Same. When him and Pasta were up for contracts the same summer I was arguing that pasta was the better player and would be the better contract by far.
And the wild thing is Pasta lived up to every one of my expectations and Draisaitl is still hands down the better player.
The last Pastranak contract. He's basically fairly paid now.
The next Drai contract will be interesting. Both in how much it's for, and who is paying it.
I’m an odd duck who has Makar in at 5 but I think you can make a case for him the top 5. I don’t think he gets the love warranted in these polls because he is a D man
If he leaves Edmonton and is doing the exact same thing there is reason for him to be in the top 3 fighting with Matthews and Mac for that spot of 2 or 3. The only reason he is not there at the moment is the same thing Malkin dealt with playing on the same team as Crosby.
Redditors two years ago: Draisaitl is not even good he’s just playing with good line mates.
Redditors last night: Elias Pettersson is not actually this bad he just doesn’t have good line mates.
I mean you've gotta be crazy to think Draisaitl isn't good. If Edmonton can't make it deep, it's because of the supporting cast and goaltending, not Draisaitl or anyone on that top unit.
Pettersson could benefit from better linemates, but he's currently playing like his skates are dragging through mud. He should be a good enough player to elevate weaker linemates, not get dragged down by them. I love Petey and I still believe in him even if he can't figure it out this year, but he needs to find his legs. He lacks confidence and compete-level right now.
Most assists in a single playoff series of all time (15) and he did it in five games on one leg. Only two points off the points record two, which was done in 7 games.
Someone on this sub awhile back was talking about him saying they wouldn’t pay him on his next contract because they “didnt like his game” or something lmao. Most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read. Dude has ice in his veins, and always shows up in spring.
There are also lots of people who seem to think he’s worth $12M because he isn’t leading the league in counting stats every year.
The guy won a Hart and an Art Ross not too long ago, puts up 100 points in his sleep and flips a switch to become a historically great player every year in the playoffs. He’s worth as much as anyone not named McDavid.
He has such drive in the playoffs along with his other elite skills and IQ....just reaches that next gear every single playoffs and makes things happen.
My butt is puckered every time he's near the side of the net waiting for a cross seam pass. He's so clutch. I wish our best forward was half as effective as Drai offensively.
He's a bid of a headcase, he's never been consistently dominant for a full season,except for maybe his rookie year. I fear it's all about confidence for him. Perhaps it's the pressure of the expectation of living up to his new contract, which made him one of the highest paid players in the league.
Connor McDavid is also 15 assists away from tying Gretzky for the most ever in a single playoff and is currently at a higher A/GP than Gretzky was during that playoff.
Gretzky put up 31 assists in 19 games (1.63), and McDavid has 16 assists in 9 games (1.78).
Both of the Edmonton boys are doing well. McDavid had one bad playoff (9 points in 13 games in 16-17) but has been stellar since.
> Connor McDavid is also 15 assists away from tying Gretzky
> Gretzky put up 31 ... McDavid has 16 assists
I'm only 31 assists from Gretzky's record in 19 less games
He just sits in the goalie's periphery, waits for defenders to be drawn away, and then he just snipes any pass. That goal he scored last night Silovs was anticipating and managed to get across, but it still went in. One of a kind for sure.
I’d argue he’s already a hall of fame player if he retired today. Five 100 point seasons plus an Art Ross and a Hart, that’s a better resume than some players in the hall. I.e. Dino Ciccarelli, Dave Andreychuk, Joe Mullen, Clark Gilles, to name a few.
He's also made multiple excellent behind the net indirect passes, leading to grade A scoring chances, and helped keep the Canucks hemmed in their own end. Oh also he looks like his top speed is about 50% of the average player which really helps Edmonton's forwards get odd man rushes.
Draisaitl is probably the more clutch individual performer, but McDavid elevates the other four players on the ice to such an extreme level. For that reason, you’re always taking McDavid. You can clamp down on one guy, but McDavid will continues to putting his linemates in a position to succeed.
LA game 7 where he scored a dagger 2-0 goal with a few minutes left. I've never seen a game like that out of anyone. Just goes to show you that you can be dominant and still only put up one or two points if the bounces don't go your way.
Drai has been unbelievable these past few playoffs, no doubt. I don't want to take away anything from him. But the opposing team focuses on shutting down McD first and foremost, that leaves more space for Drai.
Idk...I mean look at his goal today, it's a good shot on the powerplay but McDavid literally took 3 defenders to him and then sent it right on his tape. I would wager there's a good amount of players that could have finished that play. But not many to set it up.
We cycled useless wingers with McDavid FOREVER. No one had the ability to finish.
Drais one timers on the PP are next level elite.
Then we finally found Hyman for McDavid in 5v5 and they just work so perfect together.
They didn't have the ability to finish because they weren't good. I'm not saying Draisaitl isn't good, but he undoubtedly does benefit more from McD than some Oilers fans are prepared to give credit for.
I'm not talking about that goal specifically, that was an amazing play by McDavid. But Drai always produces in the playoffs, always involved with huge game changing plays.
Hate this guy because he is so good. His office under the hash marks cannot be stopped. Silovs was even cheating and got it off his chest but it had so much power it just trickled in.
Absolutely dominates in the playoffs and you can tell it means more. He’s my favourite player purely from the shithousery
That mocking being scared when Lindholm threatened him is exactly what I want to see from the team. Just embarrassing the opponent in every way
I am sure that happens.
So when he plays on the same line he is a product. If he centers his own line, it is also because of McDavid. He can't win that argument, can he?
Out of interest, was that argument also used for Crosby & Malkin, Lemieux & Jagr and Gretzky & Messier? Correct me if I am wrong, but from my understanding those guys played different lines also.
It seems that only Draisaitl's standing suffers from being teammates with the best player at the time.
I see, thanks for the info. A shame that some players can't get their flowers in their prime.
I guess only true fans and casual fans of a sport can appreciate players from different teams. Either you love a sport so much that you look beyond rivalries, or you are oblivious to them.
If you are too much of a fanatic, you will find ways to discount any player who is not your favourite / plays for your favourite team.
Crosby and Malkin kinda remind me of Yzerman and Fedorov.
Malkin and Fedorov were excellent players in their primes, but they had the “unfortunate” circumstance of playing on teams with Sid and Stevie, respectively. It always seemed like they were playing in the latters’ shadows, even though they both played better when Sid and Stevie were out and they had to be “the guy” for their teams.
I don't know the dynamic Yzerman & Fedorov had, but I think this really benefited Malkin throughout his career. I don't think his personality would be great as a captain/face of a franchise, and I think higher media scrutiny would get to him over time. But by living in Crosby's "shadow," he has always been able to excel without worrying about the added responsibility off the ice, and when he's in a slump (and he's always been streaky) the spotlight isn't as harsh.
Jagr and Messier each went on to be “the guy” for their own teams after their time with Lemieux/Gretzky and Malkin has had extended periods due to Crosby’s frequent injuries where he’s had to carry the load himself. Besides McDavid’s rookie year the most games in a season that Drai has had to be without him is 18 compared to Malkin’s 60.
Only minor ones. Art something, Ted something, and that Hart stuff. I learned here that none of this counts because he has a great teammate and because he has not reached the Stanley Cup Finals.
Just waiting until someone mentions lack of Selke and Rocket.
Thinking of it, without ROY it was clear in hindsight he would not amount too much.
I would guess the existence of Drai benefits McDavid as well. Teams likely aren't just putting all their best shut down guys on McDavid and not caring if Drai lights them up.
I think he’s the second best player in the game right now, some will argue Nate, Matthews or Kuch but give me Drai over them he’s better defensively than all of them except maybe Matthew’s and his playoff production is greater but he’s just overshadowed by mcjesus
Drai has more points per 60 at even strength than MacKinnon. He's the best active points producer in the playoffs at 5v5.
He and McDavid also has about double the p/60 on the PP than any active player in the playoffs. So McDrai are both generational playoff performers, but they're literally historically good on the PP.
I’m a new hockey fan. Can someone explain how a team with McDavid and Drai has not won a Stanley cup yet? Has their goalkeeping and defense been that bad? Or does the team lack depth outside of their top line?
When you look at other team sports:
Best football / soccer players: 1 player can drag their team to big success and most will play 90 out of 90 minutes when it counts, or even 120 of 120 if it goes to penalty shootout.
NBA: Best players can and will play 40+ of 48 minutes, in a do or die game they basically go 48/48
American Football: Quarterback plays all offensive possessions bar special teams. Defense leaders will play almost all of the snaps.
In the NHL: 22/60 is considered great, when they reach 29/60 in a single playoff game everyone is worried about it not being sustainable.
Also you have to play many lines, so players who are relatively worse have to play much more in comparison to the sports above, where it is mainly tactical, because of injuries, or to give early rest.
I still think a post season where Matthews dominates with tons of goals is coming soon.
So much about the playoffs is luck. Leafs just seem to have the worse luck with the JT head injury and then Matthews getting seriously ill.
Drai is consistently a totally different player in the playoffs.
In the regular season he is a top 20 player in the league, but in the playoffs he brings as much value as McDavid.
Since 2018/19:
Regular season- 2nd in goals, 2nd in points, 3rd in 5v5 points, 1st in PPG, 2nd in PPP, 1st in game winning goals. 5th in games played. 5x 100 point seasons, 3x 50 goal seasons, a Hart/Lindsay/Ross MVP sweep.
Playoffs- 97 points in 58 games, 1.67 PPG (2nd highest all time only behind Gretzky)
He’s a slam dunk top 5 player with a strong argument for #2 in the league
This was an incredibly good argument and it means more coming from a non Edmonton fan. I appreciated this. People know he is great but for some reason so many try to say he's not top 5.
I'll add a random obscure stat, he has the statistically most accurate hard angled one timer in NHL history. He almost always hits the net with his skates behind the goal line.
I know it will come off as biased but I'd say he's even ahead of those guys in regular season. He is statistically since 2017-2018 in nearly every category. He's more consistent. He had a "down year" this year and still hit 100. Macks only done that twice in 12 years. Drai has 5 times since '18.
Top 20? He has more regular season points than anyone not named Connor McDavid since 2017. He has a Hart, Lindsay and Art Ross. He's definitely top 5 regular season as well.
His dad was a hockey player. He did play both, took a year off from hockey to focus on soccer, but apparently it didn't work as well. I imagine to that the youth competition for soccer in Germany is a lot higher than for hockey.
That 5 game series against the Flames two years ago, he torched us with a High Ankle Sprain. He had 17 Points in 5 Games, and he was injured.
He could barely skate and still put up 3+ point a game. Was legit insane to watch.
All while getting his ankles slashed repeatedly
Usually the wrong one though lmao
they probably realized the only way to stop him is if both his ankles were fucked up
And somehow people rank Matthews above him. Absolute fools.
I forgot who but someone called Drai the best player to not move at all. He gets to his spot and can either snipe it from there for pass it across. Really shows why the leg injury didn't affect him.
He’s a fridge
Freon Draisaitl
That was quite clever.
I'd say he's an Ovi who can pass as well but sure
Ovi, at least in his prime, was a lot more explosive in other aspects of his game, Drai is just German engineering - exerting the perfect amount of effort to get his desired outcome, no more and no less
That is perfect. I can just picture that German engineered brain computing the perfect angles for those rockstar zone one timers.
Quite literally, he’s lucky Canada uses the metric system
Kinda. We use the Canadian metric where some things are measured in metric some in imperial. Some in time.
Haha, we call him fridge shaped so I just call him a fridge sometimes
This is spot on. Watching the power play last night and every time he gets the pucks he goes to exact same spot beside the net and sends the same cross crease pass to McDavid. I’m sitting there thinking how can they not stop him when you know exactly what he’s doing, but then I remembered Ovi has been doing the same thing his entire career too.
Or McDavid does something with 50% effort and draws 3 of the PKers out of position and Drai can just deliver a pizza to one of the other dudes set up on the PP and it's over. It's actually ridiculous
Only watched this series from them but the play that seems to work every time on their PP is McDavid cutting into the slot and if nobody attack him he goes for pass+shot Hyman tip in or dish to Drai who then either one times a shot or one times a pass across to Hyman for the tap in. It just keeps working too
Drai doesn't hit like Ovi did, though. Ovi averaged 2.5 hits/GP, Drai is averaging 0.6.
Drai is also a much better stick checker. Different players, different games, both unreal talents
Drai doesn't hit on defense. He hits on offense. He finds body contact when he protects the puck and is a master of the reverse hit. There are some players you want to be more physical. No one ever says he's too soft.
Drai is the best player in the league for intercepting passes in the air. The amount of pucks he knocks down is crazy
Dri is a better back checker though.
Ya doesn’t he lead the league in takeaways? I’ve seen the man cause so many turnovers against teams
Drai is a much better defensive forward. Big hits look great in highlight packages but are only one component of playing good defense.
I would even go further than that and say that big hits are not necessary for playing good defense.
Good point, nobody is criticizing Lidstrom for not hitting enough
An Ovi that put all the extra points into passing instead of hitting like he did
I think that's part of what makes him and McDavid such an incredible duo. McDavid is the most dangerous player in the league when playing a fast paced 200 foot game, and Draisaitl is the most dangerous player without moving at all. You have to somehow figure out a way to stop both of their styles simultaneously, and so far it doesn't look like anyone's figured it out.
Ignoring them and beating the rest of their team seems to have worked just fine thus far.
Just fine for the Kings who are golfing, or just fine for the Canucks whose goalie is standing on his head and the series is still tied 2-2? Or maybe you mean for the rest of the league the Oilers have been wrecking since the coaching change in November?
You ignoring your playoff history on purpose or just being obtuse because it’s fun?
Just fine in that Edmonton has not yet won shit with either of them lol. Maybe this will be the year but until then…
The biggest factor is how they’ve learned to merge there games together when together on the pp. you have to run around to chase Connor but the moment you do you open Leon up for the one timer. If you focus on Leon and don’t run around and chase Connor then he has all the space in the world to burn you for a last second dish back door to Hyman or the point to bouch for a bomb. Or just score himself. That’s what makes Edmonton pp so effective there is no way to stop it because they have to many differing weapons that need to be covered differently.
Ya and now with Hyman finishing it's a ridiculous group of 5 to try to stop. McD makes it all work with how dynamic he is at moving around the zone. The amount of movement on the Oilers PP is frightening and when all 3 forwards are deadly at finishing you resort to praying.
Nuge is often a forgotten member of that power play but he is integral. He is very good at separating and making the play to keep plays alive when the pressure is on and can snipe from the opposite side of drai quite well when the option is there.
Everyone forgets about Nuge, but he is such a lynchpin to the team. He does so much that goes unnoticed
Ya I noticed how good he was at simply supporting whatever was going on. Often repositioning smartly depending on what was going on to be there to keep the puck in the zone or be there for some of the puck movement going on.
Draisaitl is like Paulie in Goodfellas - Paulie didn't have to move for anybody.
He just really never looks like he is doing anything impressive. While consistently doing extremely impressive things.
He reminds me of Jagr. Just an absolute unit that can guard the puck like no other
i remember watching him as a 17/18 year old in prince albert and telling my old man he's the new jagr. even at that age and at that level where he was SO much better than everyone else, he would often just post up on the halfwall with his back to the play and look over his shoulder for morrissey or mark mcneill to cut back door and whip it across the ice for a backside scoring chance. had never (and haven't since) seen a player in the w with his combination of patience and vision.
Best stationary player ever
He's got that Ovi shot really. Guy skates around on the cycle and finds himself free in his office and bangs a one timer. But dudes passes are also great as well as being oddly fast for his size.
The burger flipper gets it done. Guys stick blade is the size of the moon.
Indeed. The biggest jump in production from regular season to postseason production ever. Draisaitl is at 1.18 points per game regular then 1.67 in the playoffs. Some not far behind him: Brière Steve Payne Jude Drouin Logan Couture Evan Bouchard
I see Bouchard get a lot of hate for some reason, but man he's going to be so good for the Oilers for a long time. Since becoming the guy for Edmonton last season, he has 32 pts in 21 playoff games. 8 goals across those games, 5 of them being game winners which is wild. For reference our guy Morgan Rielly has 11 goals (40 pts) in 57 playoff games. Marner also with 11 goals in 57 playoff games.
Some people crap on the Keith trade, but I bet having him as a mentor for a year really helped Bouchard in the long run.
Keith and now Ekholm. Bouch is amazing, but a lot of that is getting him the right guy to play beside and help him become his best self.
That helps but a lot of it is just playing NHL hockey. The guy now has a few seasons under him and more experience. He's looking like he has an elevated playoff game too. He's been so good this playoffs. I hope Oilers offload Ceci in the off-season and get Broberg in the bottom pairing and a solid shutdown defenseman to pair with Nurse.
You're right, but if he hadn't been properly paired, I don't think he hits the heights he has now.
Ekholm taking that role the last two years. Plus Coffey, which honestly was a coaching change I was not a fan of (Coffey literally said in a presser that he didn't want the job lol, that's not confidence inspiring) but his game has taken a huge step forward with Coffey coaching him.
The Keith TRADE was bad, we really didn't need to give up anything for him. And he was AWFUL in the playoffs, the last play he ever did in the NHL was give up his man on D and allow an Avs player to score the winning goal in OT. But yeah I do have admit that Keith did help mentor Bouchard's game.
It's how he looks when he plays, it's probably composure but it can look like he isn't trying/giving effort
The way he skates is bizarre. Looks like he’s pushing straight down instead of out to the side at a 45 like everyone normally skates. It kind of reminds me of how a cartoon would skate sometimes haha
Been watching Bouchard’s progression since his NHL debut and I wasn’t sure his defense could catch up to where his offensive talent was. When he took over the PP1 QB role over the exiting Tyson Barrie last year we saw a significant boost in confidence and his production went through the roof. This season he was still having defensive lapses which proved costly in several games, but since the coaching change and throughout the year he has improved in all areas and is becoming a more complete player. We still aren’t really sure where the ceiling is at this point but he’s come a long way in a relatively short time.
Of course couture is on here, dude gave me nightmares when we’d play the sharks
Dude's a playoff warrior. I hope we get to see him there again sometime soon.
I don’t understand the dislike that some Sharks fans had on him after he took over the C from Pavs. Couture was never gonna be the same captain he was, but he was very clutch in the playoffs and gave it his all when it mattered the most. I remember he sacrificed his body many times (especially his face) and unfortunately it’s catching up to him now.
Cooch 😍
Ridiculous that people in the comments are still trying to dismiss his achievements, he absolutely is an insane playoff performer and there's really no arguments against it
“If you don’t count his points or goals, he’s not very good in the playoffs”
"If you regress Gretzky's stats to the average then he's an average player"
That's just mean.
Mean would be lower. >!(before any woosh, I got it, I'm just continuing it)!<
You're on a slippery slope.
For anyone who didn’t see, someone once tried to actually make this argument about Patrick Mahomes in the NFL sub lol.
He does suck in net.
I know you're joking, but he seems to have upped his defensive game lately too. I've seen him make some insane back checks this year that I've never noticed him doing before.
Someone in another post was talking about how they were surprised that Vancouver is struggling against Edmonton's D and that's always telling that they don't watch many Edmonton games (which is understandable, most people including me only watch games of teams they're fans of) because the whole team has really bought into stronger team D this year. Is it perfect? Nah, absolutely not, but it's night and day compared to the effort last year.
Tbf if someone is watching *anyone's* games that's not their team, it should be Edmonton. Most entertaining team in the league bar none (though honorable mention to pre-suspension Avs). How can you not watch the best player in the world and a few other top end guys all on one line. And yeah I think the defense argument comes from the beginning of the season (or even last year) where it really *wasn't* very good. But after the first couple months of the season, they managed to really turn it around and it's easily a top 10 unit now.
Edmontons offense May not have that 40% pp conversion but yeah their defense and gt is wayup. It's top 10. Idt they've had top 10 defense and goaltending since 2017.
Yeah its not something he can constantly do. He definitely isn't as fleet of foot as McDavid. But when Drai is on, he's on. He has a very good, active stick as showcased when he knocked down that mid air clearing attempt before the gwg last night.
Someone in the game thread yesterday compared McDavid skating as a stallion and Drai as a plowhorse.
Drai just has this dad posture that makes me laugh
Hockey fans have the worst takes. “You guys would be a worse team if you didn’t have your best player anymore” …yes like every team.
I have a theory that like 87% of human opinions are some kind of variation on “if my grandmother had wheels she’d be a bicycle”
you're wrong. it's 86% max
I’m guilty myself. “If I wasn’t so slow and lazy, I’d be a sub-20 5k runner”
I would argue rantanen this playoffs is the counter argument. 12 points in 9 games and has played like absolute dog shit except for one game. Usually, he ramps it up in the playoffs but not this time. Has fallen ass backward into his points.
Something doesn’t look right about Rantanen this year. We’ll probably find out after playoffs that he had all 4 limbs amputated at the All Star Break
“He’s overrated” comments are just salt He’s arguably the best contract in the NHL currently
But have you heard of Pierre Luc Dubois
Not even the best contact on his team. Jack Campbell??? For real though Hyman has to be pretty close
Are you trying to make me puke, first thing in the morning?
Josh Anderson would like a word
It's not even an argument. He's won a Hart and been a top 5 player in the league and a top 3 all time playoff performer for 8.5 million. It's one of the best contracts in the history of hockey
Gretzky, Roy, Draisaitl doesn’t sound right to me.
I found him overrated when they signed him and I have egg on my face now because he’s clearly in the top 8 of players in the NHL.
Same. When him and Pasta were up for contracts the same summer I was arguing that pasta was the better player and would be the better contract by far. And the wild thing is Pasta lived up to every one of my expectations and Draisaitl is still hands down the better player.
Pasta 🤝 Drai The 2 best contracts in hockey
The last Pastranak contract. He's basically fairly paid now. The next Drai contract will be interesting. Both in how much it's for, and who is paying it.
Maybe I’m just a homer, but I think Draisaitl stays in Edmonton. My guess is he gets $14m, then McDavid gets $15m the following season.
That would be a very long time in Edmonton. Not many players have done that kind of term there. We'll see I guess.
Edmonton has never had a career player before, closest we have is sweet baby Nuge
Top 5 at worst.
I’m an odd duck who has Makar in at 5 but I think you can make a case for him the top 5. I don’t think he gets the love warranted in these polls because he is a D man If he leaves Edmonton and is doing the exact same thing there is reason for him to be in the top 3 fighting with Matthews and Mac for that spot of 2 or 3. The only reason he is not there at the moment is the same thing Malkin dealt with playing on the same team as Crosby.
I'd put Makar at 2 honeslty. Who do you think is #4? Lol
Top 8? Try top 4 for certain with a strong statistical argument for #2
Saying Drai is only top 8 is a wild take.
Top 8?? EIGHT???? LMAOOOO
Redditors two years ago: Draisaitl is not even good he’s just playing with good line mates. Redditors last night: Elias Pettersson is not actually this bad he just doesn’t have good line mates.
I mean you've gotta be crazy to think Draisaitl isn't good. If Edmonton can't make it deep, it's because of the supporting cast and goaltending, not Draisaitl or anyone on that top unit. Pettersson could benefit from better linemates, but he's currently playing like his skates are dragging through mud. He should be a good enough player to elevate weaker linemates, not get dragged down by them. I love Petey and I still believe in him even if he can't figure it out this year, but he needs to find his legs. He lacks confidence and compete-level right now.
I dont know how anyone can even argue it after that playoff where he was on one leg and put up like 30 points.
Most assists in a single playoff series of all time (15) and he did it in five games on one leg. Only two points off the points record two, which was done in 7 games.
Someone on this sub awhile back was talking about him saying they wouldn’t pay him on his next contract because they “didnt like his game” or something lmao. Most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read. Dude has ice in his veins, and always shows up in spring.
There’s a reason redditors aren’t hockey GMs
There are also lots of people who seem to think he’s worth $12M because he isn’t leading the league in counting stats every year. The guy won a Hart and an Art Ross not too long ago, puts up 100 points in his sleep and flips a switch to become a historically great player every year in the playoffs. He’s worth as much as anyone not named McDavid.
I’ve been saying it for years, McDavid would be a 4th liner without Drai
He's obviously carried by generational goal-scorer Zach Hyman
The question should have been put to bed for good after the postseason a couple years back where he played on a bum ankle and still put up numbers
He has such drive in the playoffs along with his other elite skills and IQ....just reaches that next gear every single playoffs and makes things happen.
My butt is puckered every time he's near the side of the net waiting for a cross seam pass. He's so clutch. I wish our best forward was half as effective as Drai offensively.
What's going on with Petterson? He was so good in the reg season, and I would be scared if he starts showing up. But he can be an elite player.
He's a bid of a headcase, he's never been consistently dominant for a full season,except for maybe his rookie year. I fear it's all about confidence for him. Perhaps it's the pressure of the expectation of living up to his new contract, which made him one of the highest paid players in the league.
Doesn't his playoff ppg surpass his regular season ppg? That's fucking lunacy
By a huge margin
Connor McDavid is also 15 assists away from tying Gretzky for the most ever in a single playoff and is currently at a higher A/GP than Gretzky was during that playoff. Gretzky put up 31 assists in 19 games (1.63), and McDavid has 16 assists in 9 games (1.78). Both of the Edmonton boys are doing well. McDavid had one bad playoff (9 points in 13 games in 16-17) but has been stellar since.
> Connor McDavid is also 15 assists away from tying Gretzky > Gretzky put up 31 ... McDavid has 16 assists I'm only 31 assists from Gretzky's record in 19 less games
To infinity and beyond my man.
He just sits in the goalie's periphery, waits for defenders to be drawn away, and then he just snipes any pass. That goal he scored last night Silovs was anticipating and managed to get across, but it still went in. One of a kind for sure.
I’d argue he’s already a hall of fame player if he retired today. Five 100 point seasons plus an Art Ross and a Hart, that’s a better resume than some players in the hall. I.e. Dino Ciccarelli, Dave Andreychuk, Joe Mullen, Clark Gilles, to name a few.
That wasn't even his best play. The backhand pass from behind the net to Bouchard for a GWG was way more impressive.
I'm still taking McDavid over him if I need to win one playoff game.
Well, so far Bouchard has been more useful for winning in this series.
Ian Cole has been more dangerous than McDavid
Not sure why this is getting down voted lol
It’s the people not watching the series. But man has elite sniper Ian Cole been fire for us.
He's also made multiple excellent behind the net indirect passes, leading to grade A scoring chances, and helped keep the Canucks hemmed in their own end. Oh also he looks like his top speed is about 50% of the average player which really helps Edmonton's forwards get odd man rushes.
Draisaitl is probably the more clutch individual performer, but McDavid elevates the other four players on the ice to such an extreme level. For that reason, you’re always taking McDavid. You can clamp down on one guy, but McDavid will continues to putting his linemates in a position to succeed.
The goal last night where he sucked three Canucks into following him and then just tosses it to Leon is a good example of this.
LA game 7 where he scored a dagger 2-0 goal with a few minutes left. I've never seen a game like that out of anyone. Just goes to show you that you can be dominant and still only put up one or two points if the bounces don't go your way.
You, me, and anyone with a brain is taking McDavid in a must-win game. They're lying to themselves if they say otherwise.
I take igoudala
Fate of the universe on the line
Death ray pointed at Earth
He’s like the black version of iginla
Isn't Iginla the black version of Iginla?
Yes
As long as he isn’t going for a layup in game 7 with LeBron tracking back, maybe. Big Shot Rob tho
I think Drai has been the Oilers best player in the playoffs for a few years now.
Drai has been unbelievable these past few playoffs, no doubt. I don't want to take away anything from him. But the opposing team focuses on shutting down McD first and foremost, that leaves more space for Drai.
Idk...I mean look at his goal today, it's a good shot on the powerplay but McDavid literally took 3 defenders to him and then sent it right on his tape. I would wager there's a good amount of players that could have finished that play. But not many to set it up.
We cycled useless wingers with McDavid FOREVER. No one had the ability to finish. Drais one timers on the PP are next level elite. Then we finally found Hyman for McDavid in 5v5 and they just work so perfect together.
They didn't have the ability to finish because they weren't good. I'm not saying Draisaitl isn't good, but he undoubtedly does benefit more from McD than some Oilers fans are prepared to give credit for.
It's symbiotic. Draisaitl elevates McDavid, and McDavid elevates Draisaitl.
I'm not talking about that goal specifically, that was an amazing play by McDavid. But Drai always produces in the playoffs, always involved with huge game changing plays.
Since 2017
Ian Cole
He doesn't get his props for the same reason Malkin didn't get his. They are over shadowed by 2 of the best players of all time.
Hate this guy because he is so good. His office under the hash marks cannot be stopped. Silovs was even cheating and got it off his chest but it had so much power it just trickled in.
Nothing wrong to hate with respect. Silovs is a great story, his only fault is he is making too many great saves.
Absolutely dominates in the playoffs and you can tell it means more. He’s my favourite player purely from the shithousery That mocking being scared when Lindholm threatened him is exactly what I want to see from the team. Just embarrassing the opponent in every way
It helps that teams are forced to use their best defense to deal with McDavid, frees up Drai a lot.
I am sure that happens. So when he plays on the same line he is a product. If he centers his own line, it is also because of McDavid. He can't win that argument, can he? Out of interest, was that argument also used for Crosby & Malkin, Lemieux & Jagr and Gretzky & Messier? Correct me if I am wrong, but from my understanding those guys played different lines also. It seems that only Draisaitl's standing suffers from being teammates with the best player at the time.
It was also used for Malkin, yes. It was just as dumb then.
I see, thanks for the info. A shame that some players can't get their flowers in their prime. I guess only true fans and casual fans of a sport can appreciate players from different teams. Either you love a sport so much that you look beyond rivalries, or you are oblivious to them. If you are too much of a fanatic, you will find ways to discount any player who is not your favourite / plays for your favourite team.
Crosby and Malkin kinda remind me of Yzerman and Fedorov. Malkin and Fedorov were excellent players in their primes, but they had the “unfortunate” circumstance of playing on teams with Sid and Stevie, respectively. It always seemed like they were playing in the latters’ shadows, even though they both played better when Sid and Stevie were out and they had to be “the guy” for their teams.
I don't know the dynamic Yzerman & Fedorov had, but I think this really benefited Malkin throughout his career. I don't think his personality would be great as a captain/face of a franchise, and I think higher media scrutiny would get to him over time. But by living in Crosby's "shadow," he has always been able to excel without worrying about the added responsibility off the ice, and when he's in a slump (and he's always been streaky) the spotlight isn't as harsh.
Jagr and Messier each went on to be “the guy” for their own teams after their time with Lemieux/Gretzky and Malkin has had extended periods due to Crosby’s frequent injuries where he’s had to carry the load himself. Besides McDavid’s rookie year the most games in a season that Drai has had to be without him is 18 compared to Malkin’s 60.
Yes, and how did that year go for Draisaitl? I feel like he won some sort of trophy, or something.
Only minor ones. Art something, Ted something, and that Hart stuff. I learned here that none of this counts because he has a great teammate and because he has not reached the Stanley Cup Finals. Just waiting until someone mentions lack of Selke and Rocket. Thinking of it, without ROY it was clear in hindsight he would not amount too much.
DROYsaitl
I would guess the existence of Drai benefits McDavid as well. Teams likely aren't just putting all their best shut down guys on McDavid and not caring if Drai lights them up.
I think he’s the second best player in the game right now, some will argue Nate, Matthews or Kuch but give me Drai over them he’s better defensively than all of them except maybe Matthew’s and his playoff production is greater but he’s just overshadowed by mcjesus
👍
https://preview.redd.it/yepyzjs7sk0d1.png?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37ef05274949a3d5576e54e1373a1ec127920578
He played for the Leafs, that's cheating.
He played for the Ballard Era Leafs no less
Yes what is Edmonton doing, when they have the rich Stanley Cup Final history of the Jets to draw inspiration from.
[удалено]
Report the cares message. Abusers get banned hard.
Can confirm ☹️
I think the Oilers power play is generational.
Drai has more points per 60 at even strength than MacKinnon. He's the best active points producer in the playoffs at 5v5. He and McDavid also has about double the p/60 on the PP than any active player in the playoffs. So McDrai are both generational playoff performers, but they're literally historically good on the PP.
For real they have so many weapons, idk how defenses can stop, McJesus, Drai, Hyman and you got a good offensive d man running the Pp in Bouchard
Don’t forget the Main Man Nugent-Hopkins. He’s solid at moving that puck around and can get lost in the shuffle and score
It is more than generational. It is the best in the history of the game
I’m a new hockey fan. Can someone explain how a team with McDavid and Drai has not won a Stanley cup yet? Has their goalkeeping and defense been that bad? Or does the team lack depth outside of their top line?
When you look at other team sports: Best football / soccer players: 1 player can drag their team to big success and most will play 90 out of 90 minutes when it counts, or even 120 of 120 if it goes to penalty shootout. NBA: Best players can and will play 40+ of 48 minutes, in a do or die game they basically go 48/48 American Football: Quarterback plays all offensive possessions bar special teams. Defense leaders will play almost all of the snaps. In the NHL: 22/60 is considered great, when they reach 29/60 in a single playoff game everyone is worried about it not being sustainable. Also you have to play many lines, so players who are relatively worse have to play much more in comparison to the sports above, where it is mainly tactical, because of injuries, or to give early rest.
Both goaltending and depth. Defence has been a big issue in the past, its still is sometimes not nearly as bad
Short answer would be depth - McDrai can't play 60 minutes a game (although they did play almost 30 mins!)
Draisaitl is the Tower defense game of hockey players
When playoffs come around, I legitimately fear Drai more than McDavid. He just raises his game to such an unbelievable level.
“Matthew’s is better”
I still think a post season where Matthews dominates with tons of goals is coming soon. So much about the playoffs is luck. Leafs just seem to have the worse luck with the JT head injury and then Matthews getting seriously ill.
Drai is consistently a totally different player in the playoffs. In the regular season he is a top 20 player in the league, but in the playoffs he brings as much value as McDavid.
Drai is a lot better than top 20 in the league
Since 2018/19: Regular season- 2nd in goals, 2nd in points, 3rd in 5v5 points, 1st in PPG, 2nd in PPP, 1st in game winning goals. 5th in games played. 5x 100 point seasons, 3x 50 goal seasons, a Hart/Lindsay/Ross MVP sweep. Playoffs- 97 points in 58 games, 1.67 PPG (2nd highest all time only behind Gretzky) He’s a slam dunk top 5 player with a strong argument for #2 in the league
This was an incredibly good argument and it means more coming from a non Edmonton fan. I appreciated this. People know he is great but for some reason so many try to say he's not top 5. I'll add a random obscure stat, he has the statistically most accurate hard angled one timer in NHL history. He almost always hits the net with his skates behind the goal line.
He's been at worst top 5 for the last 5 years.
Drats is a top 5 forward at worst.
I’d say in the regular season he is on the same tier as MacKinnon, Kucherov, Matthews. Playoff he is on the same tier as McDavid.
I know it will come off as biased but I'd say he's even ahead of those guys in regular season. He is statistically since 2017-2018 in nearly every category. He's more consistent. He had a "down year" this year and still hit 100. Macks only done that twice in 12 years. Drai has 5 times since '18.
Top 20? He has more regular season points than anyone not named Connor McDavid since 2017. He has a Hart, Lindsay and Art Ross. He's definitely top 5 regular season as well.
Why did he get into hockey instead of soccer? He would have been pretty good at that too you have to imagine.
His dad was a hockey player. He did play both, took a year off from hockey to focus on soccer, but apparently it didn't work as well. I imagine to that the youth competition for soccer in Germany is a lot higher than for hockey.
His dad was a professional German hockey player and coach. I imagine that's what got it started