Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl receives first place vote for Selke Trophy, finishes sixth in voting

Draisaitl had an excellent season in terms of his defensive play, posting career-high marks in many defensive metrics at five-on-five per hour rates, including shot attempts against (50.4), high-danger scoring chances against (9.74), high-danger goals against (1.07). Other metrics, such as goals against (2.28), expected goals against (2.35), and scoring chances against (24.76) were his second best marks of his career.

Where Draisaitl likely lost some love from voters was due to the fact he didn’t spend time on the penalty kill this season after averaging 58 minutes per season over the last three years. The fact he finished sixth in the voting, despite that, is impressive, as while Barkov averaged 1:30 in penalty kill time per game this season, all the other names in the top five averaged over two minutes there.

Beyond the first and second place votes he received, Draisaitl received 11 votes each as the third, fourth and fifth on ballots. It’s a testament to how much he has worked on his defensive side of his game, something that Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said this year was underrated.

“I can’t see why he wouldn’t,” he said in March when asked about Draisaitl being in the Hart Trophy race. “He’s been doing it all. Not only Hart Trophy, but Selke Trophy — the defensive plays he makes every single night.

“You look at the first period, the back check. He stripped a player of the puck, they go counter, and I believe he set up Perry for a Grade A scoring chance in the slot. He’s been making those plays all season. You look at the goals he’s getting, the primary assists he’s setting up, you often overlook the defensive plays he’s making, but every single night he’s making plays like that.”

In April, Draisaitl himself spoke about how important winning a Selke Trophy would be, highlighting how he feels it’s “almost more important” than any other individual award.

“That would be “almost mdradraore important than any other (individual) trophy at this point in time,” he said. “Obviously, there’s been a lot of chatter about when we were younger that we can’t defend. And the reason we don’t win is because Connor and I can’t defend or don’t defend. And I think we’ve really changed that narrative around the league and especially the last couple of years.

“We’re both really, really good defenders when we want to be. I think it’s just the consistency part of doing it every night. And I think I’ve done that for the most part this year.”

Draisaitl’s sixth placed finish is the highest he’s had in Selke voting, previously being 13th on the ballot after the 2020-21 season, and 33rd in the 2019-20 season.

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