For Edmonton Oilers fans who’ve been around to watch Leon Draisaitl transform from an 18-year-old kid into the dominant player he is today, delivering many wonderful memories in Oil Country, it was a proud moment seeing him wave the flag for Germany at the Olympic opening ceremonies.

On top of that, Draisaitl was recently named captain of Team Germany for the Winter Olympics, and his German teammate, Tim Stützle, had some high praise for his Olympic captain, saying, “He’s a huge role model, especially in Germany, but even in Canada and the NHL, he’s a huge role model.” He added, “Everybody loves him. Obviously, I’m really happy for him; he really deserves it.”

By far, Draisaitl is already the most productive German-born player in NHL history, with 1036 career points that almost double Marco Sturm’s 487 points. And with him about to captain Germany on the biggest international stage, let’s look back at the impact he’s made while representing his country.

During the 2011–12 season, the then 16-year-old Draisaitl suited up for Team Germany 32 times, competing in the U17 and U18 World Challenge, U18 Four Nations, U18 Two Nations, and the U18 World Championship, recording 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) in those games. Additionally, back then, a pre-scouting report for the 2012 World Hockey Challenge described him as follows:

After watching him use his big body to bully the opposition over 12 NHL seasons and pile up 1036 regular-season points, I can safely say that the scouting report turned out to be pretty spot on.

That said, in 2012, Draisaitl was drafted second overall in the CHL Import Draft by the Prince Albert Raiders and a year later, the centerman was selected to play in the 2013 World Juniors as a 17-year-old, where he led Germany with six points (two goals and four assists) in six games. Fun fact: he also played on that team with future Oilers Tobias Rieder and Dominik Kahun, who are now part of his 2026 Olympic squad as well.

Team Germany finished ninth in the 2013 World Juniors, which included a 9-3 loss to Team Canada in the preliminary round. In that game, Draisaitl got his first glimpse of a youngster and future teammate: Team Canada’s captain, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who had a five-point night (one goal, four assists). Ironically, both Draisaitl, who tallied an assist, and Nugent-Hopkins were selected as ‘Best Player’ in that game, for their respective teams.

Above all, Draisaitl came up clutch at the 2013 World Juniors when it mattered most. In Germany’s final game of the tournament, it was a must-win against Team Latvia, with the loser facing relegation. Much like we would see the future Oilers superstar rise to the occasion many times in his NHL career, he did so in that game as well, recording two goals and two assists in a 5-2 win to secure Germany’s spot at the 2014 World Juniors.

Thanks to Draisaitl’s heroics, Germany returned to the 2014 World Juniors, where he was selected as team captain. He finished the tournament with six points (two goals and four assists) in six games, though Germany still finished near the bottom of the standings.

However, the biggest story of that tournament was his whopping 52 penalty minutes over those six contests. He received two game misconducts, including one for a hit from behind on Team USA’s Andrew Copp, which was perhaps an early glimpse of a “Pissy” Draisaitl. That said, his 52 PIMs rank sixth all-time in a single U20 World Juniors tournament.

Still, despite his penalty-laden World Juniors performance, he remained highly coveted by NHL teams leading up to the 2014 NHL Draft and, at the NHL Combine, spoke about how proud he was of his German heritage, saying:

That said, the Oilers selected him third overall at the 2014 NHL Draft and later that year, the centerman represented Germany’s senior team at the 2014 World Hockey Championships as an 18-year-old, recording four points in seven games. Afterward, while he wasn’t technically playing for Team Germany, Draisaitl represented Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, registering two points.

In 2017, Draisaitl’s hockey season started early in September when he suited up in three games for Germany in an IIHF Olympic Qualification Tournament in Riga, Latvia. He tallied a goal and an assist in a win over Latvia, helping Germany secure a spot in the 2018 Olympics. NHL players did not participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics, but Germany finished with a silver medal in a miraculous run, and while the Oilers forward didn’t earn a medal himself, he definitely earned an assist for his role in getting his nation’s hockey team there through the qualifying tournament.

Following that, the Oilers failed to make the playoffs in the 2017–18 season. But a 22-year-old Draisaitl put up 70 points (25 goals, 45 assists) for his NHL club that season and was selected for the 2018 World Championships to represent his country, and he made an even bigger impact than he had four years earlier. His team finished 11th in the tournament, but Draisaitl led Germany in points, recording nine (two goals and seven assists) in seven games, proudly wearing the ‘C’ for his country once again.

Additionally, the Oilers didn’t qualify for the playoffs again in 2018–19. Coming off his first-ever 50-goal NHL season, Draisaitl returned to the World Championships in 2019 and was even more impactful for his nation, with Germany improving on the previous year’s finish by placing sixth. The German centerman recorded eight points (five goals, three assists) in eight games, which includes scoring the game-winning goal with 27 seconds left against Slovakia. He averaged just over 22 minutes per game, contributed 44.4% of his team’s offence and dominated the faceoff circle, winning 60% of his draws.

Overall, Draisaitl has made a big impact each time he’s represented his country, and I often think of how he was once called the ‘German Gretzky.’ With that reference, I can’t help but think of the impact Wayne Gretzky had on hockey culture and growth in the United States when he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Similarly, as we watch Draisaitl dominate on a nightly basis in Edmonton, the influence he’s having on youth and growing the game in Germany is likely massive, with him on a path to become a future Hall of Famer.

And just as Draisaitl is proud to represent his country, Oil Country is equally proud of him for being a role model for many and for all of the accomplishments he’s achieved so far with Team Germany, who are set to face Denmark in their first Winter Olympics game this afternoon.