GDB 12.0 Wrap Up: Dr. Drai

It’s Cat Silverman here, reporting as your emergency call-up game day recapper. I’m taking time out of my Halloween here to give you expert(ish) analysis on the Battle of Alberta tonight, since our lovely friends over at Oilers Nation are busy making sure that the streets of Edmonton are filled with giant Eberle faces. Glad to be back!

Since the first Battle of Alberta was a barn-burner in Calgary (and by barn-burner, I mean Edmonton burned down Calgary’s barn by making absolute fools out of the host club), it’s only fitting that their second meeting of the season was just as…. uh, fun.

Edmonton went down nice and early, then stormed back. Then they went down again, then they came back, then… 

Yeah, the Oilers lost. 

Leon Draisaitl. Holy smokes, that kid can play. 

Some of you may know me as the girl that once (meaning Thursday) jokingly suggested that the Oilers trade Leon Draisaitl to the Arizona Coyotes, using the logic that Edmonton loves to give Arizona really good German hockey talent before they’re fully developed. 

Honestly, I said that because I’m so excited about how Dr. Drai plays and I’m greedy. I want him here in Arizona so I can see him while I’m busy squandering my life away in the sweltering desert. 

Last year, Draisaitl got off to the kind of slow start that would have had more hasty GMs dealing him for a blue line asset this summer, but the Oilers held on to him – and is it ever paying off. He’s already had two multi-point games this season – and he’s only played in two games so far. He was one of the most offensively dominant players all night, and that’s not an exaggeration. I think it says a lot about what the Oilers have that I could see Dr. Drai only getting better from here; all the hype has been around the arrival of Connor McDavid this year (and rightfully so), but let’s not forget that last year’s third overall pick is reportedly heralded as the next Joe Thornton. 

Of course, it would have been even more beautiful if Sam Bennett had been less than impressive, but he had a pretty decent game himself. The 19 year old fourth overall selection, who was the source of a few too many debates in the time following the 2014 draft, got himself a primary assist and didn’t look too invisible.

Look, ON. I’m a goalie, so I’m usually the first person to point out when a play normally blamed on the goalie should have actually been blamed on the defense – but my God, Cam. That’s on you, bud. 

The biggest difference between this year’s ‘bad goals’ and last year’s, though, is how Talbot reacts to them. Last year, the team’s defense and Scrivens almost fed off one another in this downward spiral of cringeworthy suck; this year, things are mostly held together. 

That being said, the defense still needs a lot of work. Michael Frolik is an awesome player – I laughed at Winnipeg this summer when they let him go – but seriously, he has no business getting a hat trick against Edmonton with Cam Talbot in net and four goals for the Oilers in the process. 

We knew that Calgary was desperate to win, and Edmonton underestimated what that meant for the team that’s looked like steaming trash so far. Draisaitl, Hall, and the Nuge looked super, but there’s still a lot about the Oilers that needs to be improved upon.

Who went out tonight dressed as Eberle? The answer should be all of you – but if you didn’t, here’s a message from Eberle himself (via the computer. It’s the same as him talking to you in person, I swear). 

Thanks for having me, folks! Hope I didn’t offended your senses too much. Always happy to be OilersNation’s favorite emergency call-up.