Draisaitl morphing from playmaker to goal-scorer for Oilers

EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl has always been known as a better passer than a goal-scorer for the Edmonton Oilers.

Until now.
The 23-year-old forward had 73 goals and 125 assists in his first three full NHL seasons. He already has an NHL career-high 41 goals this season, including 17 in his past 19 games. That's the most in the League since Jan. 20.
He has a chance to become Edmonton's first 50-goal scorer since 1986-87, when Wayne Gretzky scored 62 and Jari Kurri had 54.
Draisaitl's scoring has also helped Edmonton stay on the fringes of the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Oilers, who take a four-game winning streak into their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Rogers Place on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN, NHL.TV) enter Friday trailing the Minnesota Wild by seven points for the second wild card from the Western Conference.
Though Draisaitl scoring 41 goals may come as a surprise to many, it's a part of his game he's constantly working on, even during the offseason.
"I work on my shot every summer," said Draisaitl, whose previous NHL career high was 29 in 2016-17. "I try to find different angles and am hard on myself in the summer to get the puck on the net. It's something that's helped me be a little more dangerous."

Draisaitl's bread and butter has been his playmaking. He had significantly more assists than goals in each of his first four NHL seasons; the biggest differential came in 2017-18, when he scored 25 goals and had 45 assists.
The trend was the same in junior hockey. During his three seasons in the Western Hockey League with Prince Albert and Kelowna, he had 138 assists and 78 goals in 160 games.
But in the second season of an eight-year, $68 million contract he signed on Aug. 16, 2017, a more confident Draisaitl has been shooting more than ever. He has taken 184 shots this season and has a shooting percentage of 22.3, well above his 13.7 percent success rate during his first four seasons. He took 194 shots last season, the most in his NHL career, and finished with a 12.9 shooting percentage.
"He's definitely been shooting the puck a lot more," Oilers center Connor McDavid said. "Guys are looking for him. He's creating plays himself. It's been really impressive."
One person who's impressed is Los Angeles Kings assistant Marco Sturm, whose 938 games played, 242 goals and 487 points are NHL bests for players born in Germany.
"I'm very impressed, but I'm not surprised," Sturm said. "He's one special player. Even growing up, you kind of saw it coming. I had a chance to coach him in a couple of World Championships in the past, and he's just become better and better every year. Right now, he's the perfect match for McDavid also. Those two create a lot offensively, and [playing with McDavid] helps him score more goals too.
"This kid has it all, and he's definitely fun to watch."
Draisaitl has scored 16 of his 41 goals on the power play. He's tied for second in the NHL with forwards Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning on power-play goals, three behind center Brayden Point of the Lightning.
"I think he's just finding ways to get open," McDavid said. "He's a smart player and he's finding those little holes and whatnot. He's got the hot stick, so why not look for him?"
Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock said Draisaitl, the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, is developing traits that are found among the League's biggest scoring threats.
"To me the one thing that's common with the top [scorers] is that they know how to hide outside coverage," Hitchcock said. "And he's really good at that. He knows how to hide and then comes into the scoring area when the puck's coming.
"You see a lot of guys who bull-work it at the front of the net and they work from the slot, but Leon doesn't play that way. He comes into the scoring areas as the shot's coming in there, so he's hard to locate."

Hitchcock said there's another key component to Draisaitl's game that has surfaced this season.
"I would say the No. 1 thing I've learned is how good a stick he has," Hitchcock said. "I think he disrupts plays, knocks down pucks, tracks you, hides his stick as good as anybody in the League. To play like that at 23 years of age is pretty impressive, because it's not common for a young guy to be able to do that."
Draisaitl, who with 84 points through 67 games is assured of being a point-per-game player for the first time since entering the NHL in 2014-15, has obvious chemistry with McDavid. They often play on the same line, in almost all 3-on-3 overtime situations and on the power play, where the Oilers entered Friday ranked 12th in the NHL at 21.2 percent.
"We've been playing well together, and he's been finding chemistry with other guys as well," McDavid said. "I think having a good power play helps a lot too. He's always been good on the power play, and this year he's been another level. His game has obviously gotten to a new level."
They are playing on separate lines at the moment, with Draisaitl at center between Sam Gagner and Alex Chiasson, while McDavid plays between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zack Kassian. But Draisaitl has played more minutes (904:58) with McDavid than anyone else this season, and they've fed on each other's skill and energy.
McDavid has been on the ice for 33 of Draisaitl's 41 goals and has assisted on 23 of them. Draisaitl has assisted on 17 of McDavid's 33 goals this season. McDavid is third in NHL scoring with 94 points (33 goals, 61 assists) in 63 games, 14 points behind League leader Nikita Kucherov of the Lightning.
When McDavid and Draisaitl are on the ice at the same time this season, Edmonton has outscored its opponents 93-46.

Draisaitl has scored in 33 of the Oilers' 67 games this season and is tied with Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche for sixth in the NHL scoring race with 84 points (41 goals, 43 assists).
This is all new to Draisaitl.
"I've never been known as a natural goal-scorer, I guess," Draisaitl said. "I always knew that I had a decent shot. I try to use it a little more, shoot it a little more. Obviously, I try to get it off my stick as quickly as possible. Try and use my one-timer as much as I can.
"They're going in right now, knock on wood."
If Draisaitl remains hot and can help the Oilers (30-30-7) climb back into the playoff race, he could have a shot at a 50-goal season. He'll need nine in the Oilers' final 15 games to join Gretzky and Kurri.
"I'm not going to think about that," Draisaitl said.