The first photo on his Instagram account shows him at a young age wearing a red hockey helmet and blue hockey gloves, holding a hockey stick and sucking on a pacifier. In German, he wrote, "Even then crazy about ice hockey!" In English, he added "#crazy," "#bestsportintheworld" and "#madeingermany."
"All I wanted to do was go into the dressing room and run around with a stick," Leon said. "If you want to say 'meant to be,' well, I just kind of fell into that hockey world."
A natural athlete, Leon showed talent at every sport he tried. He played some of the No. 1 sport in Germany, soccer. But he kept coming back to hockey, learning little things from his dad -- from how to deal with his equipment and behave in the locker room, to how to play the game.
"Basically I was just a hockey dad," Peter said. "My wife, Sandra, was a hockey mom, driving all over the country, driving him to the games. … Of course he was asking after the game, 'Papa, was I good? Was I bad?' But it's gone. It's gone by now."
Peter laughed.
"These days are over," Peter said.
Leon was so good that he left home at age 16 to play in Canada. After two seasons with Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League, he was selected No. 3 by the Oilers in the 2014 NHL Draft.
He made his NHL debut Oct. 9, 2014, at age 18, a little more than two weeks before he turned 19. In 2016-17, his second full NHL season, he ranked eighth in the NHL in scoring with 77 points (29 goals, 48 assists). He had 70 points (25 goals, 45 assists) last season.
Peter watches Leon as a dad now. No tips. No critiques.
"His hockey life, his hockey career, is pretty much entirely up to him," Peter said. "I wish him well. I wish him all the best in the world. But as a father, most important thing is that he stays a good person. He's a good boy."
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Leon Draisaitl helped the Oilers make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons in 2016-17. He had 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 13 games as they defeated the San Jose Sharks in six games in the Western Conference First Round and lost to the Anaheim Ducks in seven games in the second round.