Leon Draisaitl: The offence is ready, the defence a work in progress
9 years ago
The Oilers’ lopsided 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday featured a lovely combination of an inept offence and porous defence, but there were some exceptions to those trends.
One of them was rookie forward Leon Draisaitl, whose defensive game could have been better but who looked far, far better than the scoring wingers on his line when he entered the offensive zone.
Shift by Shift
The following are my shift-by-shift notes for Draisaitl against Chicago, and the one item that really stands out is his playmaking vision – again and again the young German set his linemates up with lovely feeds that they couldn’t quite cash:
- Shift 1. Went to the net following a Nail Yakupov shot on his very first shift; there was no rebound… there was a man in the slot behind him in the defensive zone that neither he nor the defence seemed aware of; he did get over there to fight for the puck when it went in that direction, though… nicely carried the puck into the corner and behind his own net under pressure before making a short pass…
- Shift 2. retrieved the puck in the corner on the power play… took a one-time shot that missed the net and rang around the boards and out of the zone… carried the puck in despite pressure, skated around behind the Chicago net and fed a pass out front that hopped past David Perron…
- Shift 3. camped out in front of the net, redirected a Perron shot just wide… took a neutral zone pass and tried to skate through two Blackhawks into the offensive zone but had the puck knocked loose…
- Shift 4. won an offensive zone draw on the power play but Teddy Purcell couldn’t hold the line… into the corner after the puck in a battle the Oilers won…
- Shift 5. intercepted a puck in the neutral zone but promptly gave it back… went into the corner and won the puck against two Blackhawks in the defensive zone; Perron gave it right back… back in the corner fighting for the puck along with both of his defencemen; followed the puck out to the point rather than going to the front of the net, where Bryan Bickell was all alone and tipped the puck home for a 1-0 Chicago lead…
- Shift 6. won a defensive zone draw… fought for and gained the puck on the sideboards after it was given away… went high to cover for a pinching Andrew Ference… went to the corner in the defensive zone and won a battle for the puck; made a sharp pass…
- Shift 7 (Second period). Lost a defensive zone draw… stole the puck out of a battle featuring two Blackhawks and two Oilers but lost it to enemy action a fraction of a second later… engaged with his check in the defensive zone but couldn’t push him off the puck…
- Shift 8. slow to get back to his own end when the puck left the offensive zone… gained the blue line and dumped the puck in…
- Shift 9. …
- Shift 10. won a defensive zone draw… took a pass in the slot on the power play; he couldn’t get a shot away but batted it right back to Purcell on the sideboards instead… made a really nice pass to Yakupov, who put a dangerous shot off the goalie’s pads…
- Shift 11. won an offensive zone draw on the power play… bad shot/pass blocked and cleared by Chicago…
- Shift 12. …
- Shift 13 (Third period). Won a neutral zone draw…
- Shift 14. couldn’t handle a defensive zone pass from Yakupov… gained the puck at centre but had to settle for chipping it in after running into Jeremy Morin…
- Shift 15. gained the zone nicely and made a sharp cross-ice pass to Perron, who couldn’t handle it… cycled back to Yakupov, who couldn’t handle the puck either…
- Shift 16. went to the corner in the defensive zone and landed a hit after no other Oiler showed the inclination to go get the puck… got the puck in the corner again and passed it to the opposite corner, where Yakupov should have been but wasn’t… covered in the slot for Jordan Oesterle, who had moved out of it…
- Shift 17. he had good positioning n the defensive zone, covering the front of the net as the Oilers’ two defenders fought for the puck just behind it… made a really nice setup to Yakupov, who had a dangerous shot…
- Shift 18. gorgeous offensive zone setup for Perron, who whiffed on the play…
- Shift 19. carried the puck out of the defensive zone, into the offensive zone and made a decent pass… lost an offensive zone draw.
The Short Version
Linemates mean a lot in hockey, and Draisaitl was set up to succeed in that regard with David Perron and Nail Yakupov, two guys with NHL experience and who have significant goal-scoring ability. It didn’t matter; the centre kept setting them up and (with the exception of a couple of nice Yakupov shots) not much came of his excellent work.
It’s an interesting potential line combination, and Yakupov and Draisaitl had reasonable chemistry in the offensive zone. In the defensive zone, Draisaitl played like a guy who won’t turn 19 for a month, and that’s a concern, particularly if he’s playing with Yakupov; he’s big and strong enough but he lacks the polish of a guy like Arcobello. Interestingly, head coach Dallas Eakins singled Yakupov’s responsible play out for praise in his postgame comments. The two guys complement each other nicely in a lot of ways but it will take some guts to keep that duo together in the regular season when every opposing line is filled with legitimate NHL’ers.
Wherever he slots into the lineup, there doesn’t seem to be much question that Draisaitl will make the team on opening night. The state of the depth chart means there was a job available to lose; he hasn’t come close to doing that and probably improved his standing with his work against the Blackhawks.
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