We are going through the list that I consider to be the Oilers’ top 10 most important prospects. This is not strictly a list of the most skilled young or unestablished players in the organization. In the first installment I explained my thought process and I’ll be including that paragraph in each one of these posts just so I don’t have to figure out 10 different ways of saying the same thing.
I plan on going over the top 10 most important prospects in the Oilers’ organization. This is a little different (though not by much) than going through what I consider are the 10 best prospects in the organization. The key difference is that their ranking is determined both by their potential as well as how much the NHL club needs them to succeed. For example, I believe Iiro Pakarinen is a better prospect than several players on this list but as another winger in an organization flush with them I don’t have him in my top 10 most important prospects.
Edmonton’s top 3 prospects are all Grade A quality Blue Chip players. I stand by the assertion that this trio makes up the best combined top 3 prospects of any team. At the very least, the 29 other clubs in the league would be happy to have any one of these young men in their system. To be the number 3 prospect in the Oilers system is nothing to be ashamed of. When this player was drafted he looked like the answer to one of the biggest perceived problems with the Oilers. The plan for his future might be slightly different, but not because he’s performed poorly. Leon Draisaitl is tracking very, very well.
10)
Jujhar Khaira
9)
Kyle Platzer
8)
Greg Chase
7)
Anthon Slepyshev
6)
Bogdan Yakimov
5)
Laurent Brossoit
4)
Griffin Reinhart
3
The 2014 Draft saw the Oilers in the number 3 spot. Nobody expected Ekblad to drop from number 1 so the Oilers were going to be taking one of a few centers who would be available. From the pre-Draft talk at closed doors season-ticket holder events and the snippets the media were drawing out of Oiler management it seemed like the club was targeting Draisaitl. In the Western Conference if a GM compares Player X to Anze Kopitar it’s extremely high praise. The Sabres took Reinhart and the Oilers got their man.
This is where the Oilers started to Oiler all over themselves. MacT traded away the 2C of the club for Purcell and filled the spot with absolutely nobody. The coach and the GM would later admit to being able to trade for a 2C but they opted not to, leaving the door wide open for Leon Draisaitl to have a spot right out of camp. I hesitate to say he “earned” a spot in hindsight. The spot was vacated for him. It was a critical failure on the GM considering the player himself had said he thought another year in Jr would be good for him.
Nonetheless, Draisaitl made the Oilers opening day roster. Offensively, the results just didn’t come under Head Coach Dallas Eakins. He tallied just 2-7-9 in 39 games in the NHL. He didn’t look too bad on several nights, and his famous passing ability showed in flashes, but neither he nor his linemates could bury the puck. Leon Draisaitl’s shooting percentage (5v5) was a shockingly low 2.63%, ranked 18 of 22 Oiler skaters with at least 200 minutes played. His on-ice shooting percentage (not just him individually but all Oiler players while he was on the ice) was 5.12% which was 21 out of 22 players with 200 minutes played. Combine that with sieve-like goaltending behind him and you have the worst PDO on the team by far. Whether you care to call it bad luck or not, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to replicate such a terrible, terrible experience again.
Even though the scoring totals weren’t there and his percentage driven stats were unsustainably low, Draisaitl did impact the club positively from a possession standpoint. His Corsi percentage of 52.1% lead the team by a mile. The next closest player was Taylor Hall at 50.5%. Considering how lousy the Oilers have been from a possession standpoint, this is no small feat. He was, to be fair, helped along by an extremely high number of Offensive Zone starts. He lead the team in that category as well. Still his possession numbers are worth mentioning so as to not give the impression that he was a complete failure in the NHL. He was not.
When Christmas rolled around the Oilers opted against loaning him to Germany for the World Junior Championships, instead preferring to give him NHL games. The decision was panned almost universally and, raising even more eyebrows, shortly after the tournament ended the Oilers returned Draisaitl to the WHL. The Oilers reportedly would not send Leon back until a deal to have his rights traded to Kelowna was set out. Kelowna was a Western Hockey League power and a favourite to win the WHL title and play in the Memorial Cup. The deal indeed got worked out and the moves were all made.
Back in the WHL Leon Draisaitl saw his ice time cut compared to his time with the PA Raiders and he was not playing with Kelowna’s most offensively gifted players. He was used to provide a second wave of offense. Draisaitl quickly established himself as the best player on the best team in the WHL. He finished the season with the 2nd highest points per game in the WHL (min 10 games) at 1.66 p/g but we have to remember that by all accounts he was playing significantly less in Kelowna than he had been before. Using the estimated points per 60 minutes tool from
CHLStats.com we have a way to try and account for playing time. It’s not perfect but with extremely limited data provided directly by the CHL itself the site gives us more than what we had before. Draisaitl’s eP/60 of 4.94 is the highest in the WHL by a significant margin. Compare that to Oliver Bjorkstrand at number 2 with 4.28 eP/60 or Sam Reinhart’s 3.29 eP/60. Between the OHL and the WHL, the only player with a higher eP/60 is Connor McDavid. It’s an impressive number.
As per tradition with this series, here are Draisaitl’s scoring totals as per HockeyDB going back to the 2012-2013 season:
2012-13 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 64GP, 21G-37A-58P, 22 PIM
2013-14 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 64GP, 38G-67A-105P, 24 PIM
2014-15 Edmonton Oilers NHL 37GP, 2G-7A-9P, 4 PIM
2014-15 Kelowna Rockets WHL 32GP, 19G-34A-53P, 25 PIM
The big German taken 3rd Overall in 2014 would follow up his very successful regular season WHL campaign with an inspired postseason. He lead the Kelowna Rockets to the WHL Championship going 19GP, 10-18-28 along the way. He was named the WHL’s Playoff MVP. Draisaitl would then go on to lead the Rockets to the Memorial Cup Final where despite losing the game he would finish as the tournament’s leading scorer and be crowned the Memorial Cup MVP. He was the first MVP from the losing side in almost 15 years.
Leon Draisaitl is a smart offensive centerman with a wide frame. He isn’t a giant at 6’1” or 210 pounds but he is very broad shouldered and uses his body to smartly protect the puck. His puck protection was even apparent as an 18 year old playing against grown men in the NHL. He is extremely difficult to get off the puck and can dish from his backhand as easily as he can his forehand.
When he was drafted Leon Draisaitl was going to be Edmonton’s answer down the middle to the big centermen of the Western Conference. With a lottery win because of a few random numbers that scenario is in doubt. He will be very hard-pressed to push RNH or McDavid out from the middle on the top 2 lines. To his credit, he has stated that he would have no problem switching to the wing if that’s what the Oilers wanted him to do.
Leon Draisaitl is the 3rd most important Oiler prospect in the system. This time a year ago he was probably number 1. He didn’t drop because he had a rough start to his NHL career, he dropped because a generational player landed in Edmonton’s lap and forced Draisaitl out of the picture as one of the top 2 centers. He is still massively talented and coming off of an incredible run with the Kelowna Rockets. He was the best player on the best team in the WHL, their playoff MVP, and the Memorial Cup MVP. He has proven to be one of the best players in the CHL. Edmonton should expect fantastic things from this young man. He has the combination of size and skill that NHL teams dream about.
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