Oilers 2024-25 Report Cards: Leon Draisaitl

As the offseason rolls on, so do the Edmonton Oilers’ player grades. The last report card graded Connor Brown, and now we turn our attention to superstar forward Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl had a fantastic season, finishing with 52 goals and 106 points in 71 games, despite battling through injuries late in the regular season. He led the Oilers in points and was tied for third in the NHL in that category. He won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the league’s leading goalscorer and was also a Hart Trophy finalist alongside Nikita Kucherov and eventual winner Connor Hellebuyck.

On Wednesday (July 16), he was also named Best NHL Player at the 2025 ESPYS, the annual award show put on by ESPN to celebrate the greatest athletes in sports each year. It’s his first time winning that award, and he became the first German-born player and fourth European player to win that honour. An Oiler has won that award four consecutive years, with Connor McDavid winning it the last three. Draisaitl’s dominant season resulted in more hardware, unfortunately, it wasn’t the trophy he was looking for.

The German superstar continued his incredible seasons in the playoffs, recording 11 goals and 33 points in 22 games, tied with McDavid for the team lead. He was undoubtedly Edmonton’s best player last season, and proved why he got a massive eight-year extension with a $14 million cap hit, starting this season. He’s easily a top-five player in the league, and is finally being paid like one.

Draisaitl Makes Everyone Better

Elite players bring out the best in their teammates, and that’s what Draisaitl does. The organization’s biggest need heading into last offseason was to find wingers to play with him, so management added Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner in free agency. Unfortunately, those signings didn’t work out as expected, and they weren’t mainstays on his wings. Therefore, other players were thrusted into those roles, but they made the most of it. McDavid has legitimate top-six wingers in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman on his line, but Draisaitl doesn’t have that luxury.

The 29-year-old spent a lot of the season centring Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen. No offence to them, but they aren’t top-six players. Podkolzin was acquired ahead of the season for a fourth-round pick, and Kapanen was a mid-November waiver claim. They were supposed to be depth pieces, but got elevated roles. They found chemistry with No. 29, and he got the best out of them. Furthermore, they bring intangibles that complement Draisaitl extremely well. Kapanen brings speed, and Podkolzin is a physical and tenacious forechecker who helps retrieve pucks for the German superstar.