Leon Draisaitl
Leon Tim Draisaitl is a German professional ice hockey forward and alternate captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League. Draisaitl grew up playing hockey in Germany until he was selected second overall in the 2012 CHL Import Draft by the Prince Albert Raiders. After two seasons with the Raiders, he was drafted third overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft in the 2014 season. In 2020, Draisaitl became the first German-born player to win the Art Ross Trophy as the leading point scorer in the NHL.
Draisaitl is the son of former German national team player Peter Draisaitl, who represented West Germany and Germany in 146 games, including at World Championships, the World Cup and at the 1988, 1992 and 1998 Olympic Winter Games.
Playing career
Before moving to North America to continue his playing career, Draisaitl spent the 2011–12 season in the German Development League with the Jungadler Mannheim U18 team, leading his team to capture the DNL Championship. He was recognized for his outstanding performance by being named the DNL Player of the Year.Major junior
Draisaitl's major junior career began with the Western Hockey League's Prince Albert Raiders during the during the 2012–13 WHL season.Draisaitl was traded to the Kelowna Rockets during the 2015 World Junior Championships, the trade made official on 5 January. Draisaitl would help the Rockets to the 2015 WHL Championship, where he would be named playoff MVP after scoring 28 points in 19 games. Draisaitl won the Stafford Smythe Trophy as Memorial Cup MVP the same year, although the Rockets did not win the 2015 Memorial Cup, losing the championship final in overtime 2–1 to the Oshawa Generals.
Professional
Draisaitl was drafted third overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, making him the highest drafted German-trained player in NHL history.On 12 August 2014, Draisaitl signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Edmonton. Making the Oilers' NHL opening night roster out of training camp, Draisaitl made his NHL debut on 9 October 2014 against the Calgary Flames. He scored his first NHL goal on 24 October 2014 against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Anton Khudobin. Draisaitl appeared in 37 games for the Oilers during the 2014–15 season, recording two goals and four assists, before being returned to the Prince Albert Raiders. The move was made partly to prevent Draisaitl from moving one year closer to free agency which he would have done had he been on the Oilers' roster for more than 40 NHL games).
During the last Oilers game at Rexall Place on 6 April 2016, Draisaitl scored the last NHL goal to be scored there in a 6–2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
On 23 March 2017, Draisaitl became the first Oiler player since 1990 to have six-straight multi-point games.
On 7 May 2017, in Game 6 of Edmonton's second-round 2017 Stanley Cup playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks, Draisaitl became the second youngest Oiler in franchise history to score a hat-trick in the Stanley Cup playoffs and the fifth player in Oilers history to score five or more points in a playoff game.
On 16 August 2017, Draisaitl signed a eight-year, $68 million contract extension with the Oilers worth an annual average cap hit of $8.5 million.
On 6 April 2019, Draisaitl became the sixth Oiler to score at least 50 goals in a season. Draisaitl became the ninth Oiler to score at least 100 points in an NHL season.
In 2020, Draisaitl became the third Oilers player and first German player to win the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer.
International play
Draisaitl represents Germany internationally. He played for the German junior team in the World Junior Championships in 2013 and 2014, serving as team captain in the latter tournament. In the 2014 tournament, he was ejected from a round-robin game against the United States after he committed a hit from behind and was later issued a one-game suspension.Draisaitl was named to the German senior team roster for the 2014 IIHF World Championship. He also selected to play for Germany at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led leagueInternational
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
| DNL Player of the Year | 2011–12 | |
| WHL First All-Star Team | 2013–14 | |
| WHL Finals Most Valuable Player | 2014–15 | |
| Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy | 2015 | |
| Ed Chynoweth Trophy | 2015 | |
| NHL All-Star Game | 2019, 2020 | |
| NHL All-Star Game Skills Competition "Premier Passer" winner | 2019 | |
| Art Ross Trophy | 2020 |