Out of all the question marks that could have come out of the summer of 2016, the play of Draisaitl without running mate, Taylor Hall, had to be near the top of most lists. The German born 2014 3rd overall pick caught lightning in a bottle with Hall last season, establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with at the NHL level, but this was coming off the heels of a rather underwhelming rookie season that saw him play 37 games with the Oilers before being sent down to the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL. Many thought it would be difficult for Leon to craft his own way in this league; that he did not yet possess the experience or skill to carry his very own line. Now, if you simply scroll down the page you can see that I was never one of those people. With me being the eternal optimist that I am, I wholeheartedly believed that Leon had all the tools to become a star player in this league, even as early as this year. As I write this article Leon Draisaitl has played a total of 25 games this season with the Oilers and has established himself as one of the team's top players with 9 goals and 11 assists in that span...but how exactly has he done it?
On most game nights we have seen Leon take on a secondary spot on the third line behind Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. His most common linemates, recently, has been that of Anton Slepyshev and Zack Kassian (about 20.04% frequency rate according to LeftWingLock.com) so it seems that Draisaitl has been making a lot happen with very little. He has continued to work on utilizing his body as well as his movement within the offensive zone and it has payed off exceptionally, maintaining long periods of zone time as well as playing a very solid cycle game. When you contrast the play of the Draisaitl from last year to this year, you will see a more confident player that no longer feels the need to default to a Taylor Hall. He is shooting more and attacking more, and this is excellent news for the Oilers.
While one could say that it is just a matter of time before Draisaitl seizes the 2nd line center position from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, it seems as though the team is pursuing different possibilities. While RNH has struggled to find the score sheet this season, no one can say that he has been a hinderance on the team's ability to succeed. His strong two-way play has become increasingly more evident, and he is playing the game the way he should, this doesn't merit a demotion. So, what the coaching staff has been starting to experiment with is the idea of having Draisaitl slot in the top 6 on the wing, more specifically on the top line with Connor McDavid. The good play of Drake Caggiula has offered the team the ability to move some assets up and down the lineup and this is the most signficant of those moves.
The line of Lucic-McDavid-Draisaitl has only seen one game so far, a 6-3 win against the Jets in which Draisaitl netted 3pts, and the results have looked encouraging. I, for one, believe that the duo of McDavid and Draisaitl has potential to be a very special thing for a team that will (hopefully) be pushing for a playoff berth this spring....
That's my follow-up to Leon Draisaitl's play without Taylor Hall!
Feel free to comment below or tweet me on Twitter @PrestonKixFM
Thanks For Reading!
On most game nights we have seen Leon take on a secondary spot on the third line behind Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. His most common linemates, recently, has been that of Anton Slepyshev and Zack Kassian (about 20.04% frequency rate according to LeftWingLock.com) so it seems that Draisaitl has been making a lot happen with very little. He has continued to work on utilizing his body as well as his movement within the offensive zone and it has payed off exceptionally, maintaining long periods of zone time as well as playing a very solid cycle game. When you contrast the play of the Draisaitl from last year to this year, you will see a more confident player that no longer feels the need to default to a Taylor Hall. He is shooting more and attacking more, and this is excellent news for the Oilers.
While one could say that it is just a matter of time before Draisaitl seizes the 2nd line center position from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, it seems as though the team is pursuing different possibilities. While RNH has struggled to find the score sheet this season, no one can say that he has been a hinderance on the team's ability to succeed. His strong two-way play has become increasingly more evident, and he is playing the game the way he should, this doesn't merit a demotion. So, what the coaching staff has been starting to experiment with is the idea of having Draisaitl slot in the top 6 on the wing, more specifically on the top line with Connor McDavid. The good play of Drake Caggiula has offered the team the ability to move some assets up and down the lineup and this is the most signficant of those moves.
The line of Lucic-McDavid-Draisaitl has only seen one game so far, a 6-3 win against the Jets in which Draisaitl netted 3pts, and the results have looked encouraging. I, for one, believe that the duo of McDavid and Draisaitl has potential to be a very special thing for a team that will (hopefully) be pushing for a playoff berth this spring....
That's my follow-up to Leon Draisaitl's play without Taylor Hall!
Feel free to comment below or tweet me on Twitter @PrestonKixFM
Thanks For Reading!