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

[Sasha Orlov]

Some of the posters in here could see Leon walk on water and they’d swear it’s because he can’t swim

 

[hirawl]

Simple no. Watch the guy.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Some of the posters in here could see Leon walk on water and they’d swear it’s because he can’t swim

I mean, if he could swim why isn't he just jumping in? Stop being so hydrophobic Leon!

 

[hirawl]

Leaks too much for my taste.

 

[Slats432]

I have but one thing to add to the thread....

 

[Avsfan1921]

How many of those points are on the pp? 90% of them?

Putting aside he does 5v5 well, it doesn’t matter. He’s extremely efficient and that’s what’s needed in the playoffs.

 

[Duke74]

Some of the posters in here could see Leon walk on water and they’d swear it’s because he can’t swim

A serious case of copium. They twist reality or logic into a pretzel in an attempt to discredit him.

 

[Fledgemyhedge]

How many of those points are on the pp? 90% of them?

Seriously what point are these people trying to make?
In the playoffs it’s not sustainable? He’s been doing it his whole career. They don’t matter as much? A goal is a goal

 

[nbwingsfan]

What this man has been able to do in the playoffs is nothing short of legendary.

He's #2 all time in playoff points per game, trailing only Wayne Gretzky. (58 game sample size at the time of this posting). Yes, he's ahead of both Lemieux and McDavid.

His career regular season PPG is 1.18. His career playoff PPG is 1.67. This is the largest increase from regular season PPG to playoff PPG of any player in NHL history.

When you factor in that his baseline regular season play (643 points, 47 more than the #3 regular season scorer over the past five years), is already incredibly elite, it's insane that he's able to increase his play to an even higher level.

And let's not forget that he's been playing injured in two of the last three playoff runs.

2022: 2nd in playoff scoring (32 points, 1 behind McDavid) despite only playing 3 rounds.
2023: 1st in playoff goals (13) despite only playing 2 rounds.
2024: 1st in playoff scoring thus far.

He's never had a playoff series where he scored under a PPG, even when the Oilers got swept.

Draisaitl really doesn't get the respect he deserves. He's absolutely in contention for the #2 best player in the league, but often gets left out of people's top 5 completely.

The fact that there’s STILL (admittedly only from one fan base) people who don’t call him a top 10 player, or even worse some who still say he’s a #2C is why not everyone should be allowed to speak their opinion

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Seriously what point are these people trying to make?
In the playoffs it’s not sustainable? He’s been doing it his whole career. They don’t matter as much? A goal is a goal

Look at his post history, it’s 90% crying about the Oilers lmfao

 

[nbwingsfan]

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..

What’s the obvious reason the Leafs have only one a single series with Matthews? Usually because they can’t score goals when it matters?

 

[Coffey]

Seriously what point are these people trying to make?
In the playoffs it’s not sustainable? He’s been doing it his whole career. They don’t matter as much? A goal is a goal

Don't take a Flames fan opinion seriously, at least not that one.
It's the equivalent of a Leafs fan using something stupid to downplay Carey Price in his prime.

 

[Duder54]

Draisaitl is on another level come playoff time. Criminally under appreciated.

 

[Nasti]

They are, no doubt, great offensive players. I’d be very curious how each guy did without the other. How much of it is them individually and how much is it because the combo becomes a matchup nightmare?

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

I mathed the math for ya, here you go

Draisaitl career playoff stats:

Vs SJS

6 games, 1 goal 2 assists 3 points, .5 PPG

Vs ANA

7 games, 5 goals 8 assists 13 points, 1.86 PPG

Vs CHI

4 games, 3 goals 3 assists 6 points, 1.5 PPG

Vs WPG

4 games, 2 goals 3 assists 5 points, 1.25 PPG

Vs LAK

18 games, 16 goals, 13 assists, 29 points, 1.61 PPG

Vs CGY

5 games, 2 goals, 15 asssists, 17 points, 3.4 PPG

Vs COL

4 games, 0 goals 6 assists, 6 points, 1.5 PPG

Vs VGK

6 games, 6 goals, 1 assist, 1.17 PPG

Vs VAN

4 games, 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points, 2.5 PPG

If you remove the outliers, which are all the series he did well in, you're left with 0.5 PPG vs the Sharks.

Checkmate Draisatl apologists.

 

[AvroArrow]

This is not a troll attempt, I really genuinely mean that. But it's the production OUTSIDE of the Pacific which has been the issue for the Oilers. They have been 1 of the top dogs in that division consistently but struggle when playing teams outside the division.

Their playoff record when facing non-pacific teams since 2016 1W-11L. The 1 game they won was against the Blackhawks in the bubble.

2020 - 1-3 vs Chicago (6 points in 4 games)
2021 - 0-4 vs Winnipeg (5 points in 4 games)
2022 - 0-4 vs Colorado (6 points in 4 games, 4 of those points came in game 1)

Up until about a year ago, it was a very weak division, but has admittedly gotten significantly more competitive since then. It is one of the better divisions in hockey now.

While what he's doing is extremely impressive, you see the big drop off in production in his playoff history from when he plays teams outside his division. I don't think it's fair to compare this years Canucks or obviously last year Vegas, to other Pacific teams of the past, they are a legitimate contender and a very respectable team. So what Draisaitl has been able to do, absolutely deserves 100% credit. I'm talking teams pre 2022.

To me, it was a lot of stat padding in previous years where he played against some very poor teams and goalies in the playoffs.

Again I mean this with all sincerity, if he can help the Oilers win this 2nd round and maintain that production into round 3, I think it will be indisputable that he's a top 5 guy in the league. It's just the massive drop off (Which is still legitimate superstar production, literally over ppg) against higher competition that kind of makes me question it.

 

[ataraxia]

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.

I'm not sure Jagr or Francis are such slouches, but maybe forgivable insofar as it implies ranking Draisaitl *that* far ahead of them.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

This is not a troll attempt, I really genuinely mean that. But it's the production OUTSIDE of the Pacific which has been the issue for the Oilers. They have been 1 of the top dogs in that division consistently but struggle when playing teams outside the division.

Their playoff record when facing non-pacific teams since 2016 1W-11L. The 1 game they won was against the Blackhawks in the bubble.

2020 - 1-3 vs Chicago (6 points in 4 games)
2021 - 0-4 vs Winnipeg (5 points in 4 games)
2022 - 0-4 vs Colorado (6 points in 4 games, 4 of those points came in game 1)

Up until about a year ago, it was a very weak division, but has admittedly gotten significantly more competitive since then. It is one of the better divisions in hockey now.

While what he's doing is extremely impressive, you see the big drop off in production in his playoff history from when he plays teams outside his division. I don't think it's fair to compare this years Canucks or obviously last year Vegas, to other Pacific teams of the past, they are a legitimate contender and a very respectable team. So what Draisaitl has been able to do, absolutely deserves 100% credit. I'm talking teams pre 2022.

To me, it was a lot of stat padding in previous years where he played against some very poor teams and goalies in the playoffs.

Again I mean this with all sincerity, if he can help the Oilers win this 2nd round and maintain that production into round 3, I think it will be indisputable that he's a top 5 guy in the league. It's just the massive drop off (Which is still legitimate superstar production, literally over ppg) against higher competition that kind of makes me question it.

Too bad matthews has too much class to stat pad in the first round

 

[AvroArrow]

I mathed the math for ya, here you go

Draisaitl career playoff stats:

Vs SJS

6 games, 1 goal 2 assists 3 points, .5 PPG

Vs ANA

7 games, 5 goals 8 assists 13 points, 1.86 PPG

Vs CHI

4 games, 3 goals 3 assists 6 points, 1.5 PPG

Vs WPG

4 games, 2 goals 3 assists 5 points, 1.25 PPG

Vs LAK

18 games, 16 goals, 13 assists, 29 points, 1.61 PPG

Vs CGY

5 games, 2 goals, 15 asssists, 17 points, 3.4 PPG

Vs COL

4 games, 0 goals 6 assists, 6 points, 1.5 PPG

Vs VGK

6 games, 6 goals, 1 assist, 1.17 PPG

Vs VAN

4 games, 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points, 2.5 PPG

Great post right here. Thank you for pulling those up.

68 points in 40 games vs Sj, Ana, Chi, La, Cgy (1.7ppg) - Bad teams

28 points in 18 games vs Wpg, Col, Vgk, Van (1.55ppg) - Good teams

Before this year vs Van

18 points in 14 games vs Wpg, Col, Vgk (1.28ppg) - Good teams

Pretty much falls in line with what I was saying, in years past he scored a ton vs weaker teams but there was a drop off vs good/elite teams.

This year however he's absolutely tearing it up. If he can finish the series near this pace, maybe even win and have a good WCF, I think it's impossible to leave him out of the top 5 convo.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Great post right here. Thank you for pulling those up.

68 points in 40 games vs Sj, Ana, Chi, La, Cgy (1.7ppg) - Bad teams

28 points in 18 games vs Wpg, Col, Vgk, Van (1.55ppg) - Good teams

Before this year vs Van

18 points in 14 games vs Wpg, Col, Vgk (1.28ppg) - Good teams

Pretty much falls in line with what I was saying, in years past he scored a ton vs weaker teams but there was a drop off vs good/elite teams.

This year however he's absolutely tearing it up. If he can finish the series near this pace, maybe even win and have a good WCF, I think it's impossible to leave him out of the top 5 convo.

Thank you - however - You have to consider the timing as well.

The '16-17 Ducks were a 105 point team and finished 6th in the league.

The '21-22 Flames were a 111 point team and finished 6th in the league as well.

Chicago was ass at the time...but they beat us.

LA gets dunked on unfairly, IMO. They have been a very good regular season team and one of the stingiest clubs in the NHL.

A *drop off* vs the good teams still sees him at a 105 point pace over 82 games.

 

[North Cole]

Lmao people using +/- splits, desperation reaching all time highs.

Great post right here. Thank you for pulling those up.

68 points in 40 games vs Sj, Ana, Chi, La, Cgy (1.7ppg) - Bad teams

28 points in 18 games vs Wpg, Col, Vgk, Van (1.55ppg) - Good teams

Before this year vs Van

18 points in 14 games vs Wpg, Col, Vgk (1.28ppg) - Good teams

Pretty much falls in line with what I was saying, in years past he scored a ton vs weaker teams but there was a drop off vs good/elite teams.

This year however he's absolutely tearing it up. If he can finish the series near this pace, maybe even win and have a good WCF, I think it's impossible to leave him out of the top 5 convo.

Lmao why is ANA/CGY bad teams and WPG is a good team? We didn't play 2023 ANA in the playoffs. That CGY team is also better than both the WPG and VAN.

Seems revisionist.

 

[Kerberos]

I think it's impossible to leave him out of the top 5 convo.

Who is in your top 5? Because based on production, there's one player who isn't even close to being deserving of being placed anywhere near it.

 

[Scrantonicity 2]

Imagine the pay-day this guy is getting.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Some of the posters in here could see Leon walk on water and they’d swear it’s because he can’t swim

if nothing else, Canucks fans are getting an eyeful of Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard this series. They ain't McDavid merchants by any stretch.

 

[ataraxia]

Imagine the pay-day this guy is getting.

I was looking around the league at upcoming cap space, roster structure, etc the other night to see who will be offering max $$$.

The Pittsburgh Penguins head the list for space and need, with Crosby off the books that year and Malkin a season behind, though of course many teams would juggle to do it.