Edmonton Oilers player review and 2023-24 preview: Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl
By Zach Laing
9 months agoWelcome to the 2022-23 season review and 2023-24 season preview player-by-player! In this and other articles, we’ll be, well, reviewing the 2022-23 season of Edmonton Oilers players and previewing their 2023-24 season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.
Welcome back to the dynamic duo.
| Connor McDavid | ||||||||||||||||
| 5×5 | NHL GP | TOI + TOI/GP | G – A – P | CF | CA | CF% | SCF | SCA | SCF% | GF | GA | GF% | xGF | xGA | xGF% | PDO |
| Individual | 82 | 1308.27 | 27-32-59 | 1404 | 1186 | 54.21 | 814 | 592 | 57.89 | 75 | 62 | 54.74 | 76.22 | 55.95 | 57.67 | 1.01 |
| Per/60 | 15.95 | 1.61-0.80-2.41 | 64.39 | 54.39 | 37.33 | 27.15 | 3.44 | 2.84 | 3.5 | 2.57 | ||||||
| Per/60, RelTm% | 9.7 | 2.28 | 3 | 9.31 | 0.2 | 6.92 | 0.8 | 0.43 | 2.49 | 0.82 | 0.02 | 6.43 |
| Leon Draisaitl | ||||||||||||||||
| 5×5 | NHL GP | TOI + TOI/GP | G – A – P | CF | CA | CF% | SCF | SCA | SCF% | GF | GA | GF% | xGF | xGA | xGF% | PDO |
| Individual | 80 | 1269.72 | 34-17-51 | 1278 | 1173 | 52.14 | 706 | 613 | 53.53 | 74 | 70 | 51.39 | 66.65 | 60.01 | 52.62 | 1.00 |
| Per/60 | 15.87 | 1.63-0.74-2.37 | 60.39 | 55.43 | 33.36 | 28.97 | 3.5 | 3.31 | 3.15 | 2.84 | ||||||
| Per/60, RelTm% | 3.76 | 3.77 | -0.15 | 3.38 | 2.67 | 0.25 | 0.91 | 1.09 | -2.49 | 0.29 | 0.4 | -1.3 |
As if there was ever any other way to look at both of their success’ than a combined review article.
It doesn’t need to be said anymore, but Connor McDavid and Leon Drasiatl are two of, if not the, best hockey players in the world. We saw McDavid take his game to another level this past season, smashing through the 60-goal plateau, and that’s a number his for the taking once again. His offensive game continues to grow with every passing year, and much of the same can be said for Leon Draisaitl, who posted a career-high in points last season, smashing his prior high.
But what’s becoming more and more apparent from both players is their commitment to a well-rounded game. As their impact charts above show, both players are well above elite first-line talents and have seen growth in their defensive play. For McDavid, the corner turned seasons ago, but for Draisaitl, last year marked a significant increase in his defensive impact.
The chart and underlying numbers undervalue some of what he does, at least in my eyes. For example, there’s a significant discretion between Draisaitl’s goals against per hour and his expected goal against per hour numbers, suggesting he’s found himself — at least statistically — on the short end of the stick. Nonetheless, it’s still a significant improvement over where he has been in the past.
This year, expect much more of the same from these two. McDavid shouldn’t have any issue scoring 60 again this year, and in Draisaitl’s case, a 130+ point season is well within his grasp.
DRAISAITL’S CAREER SO FAR
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2012-13 | Prince Albert Raiders | WHL | 64 | 21 | 37 | 58 | 22 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2013-14 | Prince Albert Raiders | WHL | 64 | 38 | 67 | 105 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 2014-15 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 37 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 4 | -17 | |||||
| 2014-15 | Kelowna Rockets | WHL | 32 | 19 | 34 | 53 | 25 | 14 | 19 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 12 |
| 2015-16 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -5 | |||||
| 2015-16 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 72 | 19 | 32 | 51 | 20 | -2 | |||||
| 2016-17 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 29 | 48 | 77 | 20 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 19 |
| 2017-18 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 78 | 25 | 45 | 70 | 30 | -7 | |||||
| 2018-19 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 50 | 55 | 105 | 52 | 2 | |||||
| 2019-20 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 71 | 43 | 67 | 110 | 18 | -7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 2020-21 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 56 | 31 | 53 | 84 | 22 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 2021-22 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 80 | 55 | 55 | 110 | 40 | 17 | 16 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 6 |
| 2022-23 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 80 | 52 | 76 | 128 | 24 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 18 | 10 |
NHL Totals | 638 | 306 | 438 | 744 | 230 | 49 | 31 | 46 | 77 | 37 |
McDAVID’S CAREER SO FAR
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2012-13 | Erie Otters | OHL | 63 | 25 | 41 | 66 | 36 | -24 | |||||
| 2013-14 | Erie Otters | OHL | 56 | 28 | 71 | 99 | 20 | 47 | 14 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 2 |
| 2014-15 | Erie Otters | OHL | 47 | 44 | 76 | 120 | 48 | 60 | 20 | 21 | 28 | 49 | 12 |
| 2015-16 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 45 | 16 | 32 | 48 | 18 | -1 | |||||
| 2016-17 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 30 | 70 | 100 | 26 | 27 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| 2017-18 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 41 | 67 | 108 | 26 | 20 | |||||
| 2018-19 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 78 | 41 | 75 | 116 | 20 | 3 | |||||
| 2019-20 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 64 | 34 | 63 | 97 | 28 | -6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| 2020-21 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 56 | 33 | 72 | 105 | 20 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 2021-22 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 80 | 44 | 79 | 123 | 45 | 28 | 16 | 10 | 23 | 33 | 10 |
| 2022-23 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 64 | 89 | 153 | 36 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 0 |
NHL Totals | 569 | 303 | 547 | 850 | 219 | 49 | 29 | 46 | 75 | 14 |
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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