Leon Draisaitl discussing his love for Edmonton, his friendship and kinship with teammate Connor McDavid, the pain of losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and much more is all featured in this week's episode of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast.
Co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke sat down with Draisaitl, the Edmonton Oilers center, at the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas last week and covered various topics with him, including the reason why he signed an eight-year, $112 million contract on Sept. 3.
"When you get drafted somewhere you create a type of love for that team and your original thought is that they wanted me and I want to pay it back to that team, and I want to be with this team forever," Draisaitl said. "That's always the initial thought of every player. For me it's just the passion that the city brings toward hockey, toward us. The people just admire us and they just love us so, so much and they support us. I'm very happy and I take great pride in wearing the Oilers jersey and playing for our city."
Roarke and Rosen also sat down for a 15-minute interview with NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly that can be heard later in the episode. In that interview, Daly talks about how the Utah Hockey Club got up and running so quickly and various other business- and hockey-related topics, including his view of Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin chasing Wayne Gretzky's goal record and the impact Ovechkin and Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby have had on the game with each entering his 20th NHL season.
The co-hosts open the show discussing Crosby's two-year contract with the Penguins and the greater impact of his $8.7 million salary cap charge. They also talk about Lucas Raymond signing his eight-year, $64.6 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings and other players who remain restricted free agents, including Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.
They debate the Oilers as a favorite to win the Stanley Cup after the Draisaitl interview. Roarke isn't as high on them as Rosen is.
To close the episode, the co-hosts discuss Roarke's impressions from attending and covering the 2024 Rookie Faceoff in El Segundo, California, where he watched center Macklin Celebrini play his first game in a San Jose Sharks uniform, the Utah Hockey Club play its first game and reported on forward Cutter Gauthier's physical growth giving him an edge to make the Anaheim Ducks roster.
The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
