‘It seems like he’s got an extra step. He’s been great. I think his consistency’s been there, he’s been great every night’
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What happens when your best player hasn’t been your best player?
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In the case of the Edmonton Oilers, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Not with all the other things they have to worry about right now.
Connor McDavid is on pace for yet another 100 point season — marking his eighth in 10 years — and sitting fourth overall in scoring, with 85 points (24 goals, 61 assists) in 60 games.
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While his production is down a little bit, averaging 1.42 points per game this season compared to his career benchmark of 1.51, he would have had 91 points heading into Sunday’s game against the New York Rangers, which would have still had him in fourth place in the points race.
But as it stands, McDavid would still be the top offensive player on 29 other NHL clubs this season.
Just not his own.
That title belongs to none other than Leon Draisaitl, who came into the season with the ink barely dry on a new eight-year, $112-million contract extension, before showing he is worth every American penny of it.
Having already hit the 100-point mark Friday in a badly needed 2-1 overtime win against the New York Islanders, the 29-year-old product of Cologne, Germany, leads the league in goals with 49 going into Sunday’s game, and is on pace for a career-high 60 on the season.
He woke up Sunday second overall in points, just two behind the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon, but with a game in hand.
Draisaitl’s been so consistent all season long that it doesn’t seem to matter that his team is going through a post-4 Nations Face-Off lull and lost eight of their previous 12 games to drop from third overall in the standings to 12th place.
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That didn’t stop him from taking a career-high 17-game personal point streak (14 goals, 12 assists) into Sunday’s game after having scored the overtime winner against the Islanders.
But it begs the question, what has been the difference for Draisaitl this year?
“That’s a great question,” McDavid told The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman following Sunday’s morning skate at Madison Square Garden. “It seems like he’s got an extra step. He’s been great.
“I don’t have an answer as to what’s been different. I think his consistency’s been there, he’s been great every night.”
It’s not the first time Draisaitl has outshone McDavid’s immensely bright star.
In their rookie seasons together in 2015-16, Draisaitl edged McDavid’s 48-point total by three points, though it took him playing 27 more games while McDavid was injured to do it.
Then again in 2019-20, when Draisaitl won the Art Ross trophy as the league’s top scorer with 110 points in 71 games, compared to 97 points in 64 games by McDavid — the only other time the Oilers captain failed to hit triple digits in his career.
But as good as Draisaitl’s season is going this year, on pace to reach 124 points, it still wouldn’t eclipse his high-water mark of 128 points (52 goals, 76 assists) from 2022-23 (when McDavid stormed to a career-high of his own with 153 points).
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And while the main focus of the Oilers right now is to stop the bleeding and climb back up the standings to hit playoffs on a high note after league play wraps up in one month’s time, every single one of Draisaitl’s teammates wants to see his numbers continue to climb.
“We’re always trying to get him the puck, he’s a great goal scorer,” said McDavid, who is always looking for his teammate with a one-time pass to the left circle whenever they’re together on the power play. “He’s dangerous from that side, so we’re obviously always trying to get him the puck there.”
Of course, even the best player in a given season can’t do it alone. Even if there were two of them.
Outside of Draisaitl and McDavid, their wingers haven’t been playing up to snuff. And neither has the secondary scoring, the defence or goaltending, which is something that will eventually catch up with a team over the course of a season.
“I think we were at a low point right after the break,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, who suffered through a five-game losing skid for the first time. “Since that point, we’ve been building, getting better play.
“I think we could have had a couple more wins during that time, but it is what it is. Sometimes you don’t win games that you should and vice-versa, but there’s a lot to be optimistic about. But we know we still need to get better. We can’t be content on where we are right now.”
E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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