Oilers' Leon Draisaitl wants to equal rival superstar's style of play this season
Photo credit: USA Today Sports
According to a recent NHL.com article, Oilers' Leon Draisaitl is intent on winning next year's Selke Trophy, and would like to it by emulating two-time Selke winner Anze Kopitar's game.
«I'd like to be in the Selke conversation at the end of this year,» Draisaitl said on Friday. «Obviously there's a lot of things that go into that and a lot of things that I can learn and get better at, but there are also things that I think I do really well already.»
Edmonton's defensive-specialist looks to get even better at 200-foot game
Though imitation may be a form of flattery, as with Draisaitl's desire to play like Kings' captain Anze Kopitar, Draisaitl's 200-foot game is already refined, as his coach certainly believes.
"I think last year, he should have had more votes,» Knoblauch said. «If anyone saw him play regularly, understands that he's a tremendous defensive player and takes a lot of pride in that."
While known for his elite offensive skills, Draisaitl's improved defensive play suggests he's evolving into a more complete two-way player. He finished sixth in the 2024-25 Selke Trophy voting.
Draisaitl consistently meets the criteria of being a high-scoring center with a strong faceoff percentage (53.0% career win rate) and possession numbers, as his Corsi rating suggests (above 50% for the last five seasons), as per NHL.com.
It's easy to see why Leon is the player he is today, after modelling his game after his childhood hero.
"Kopi' was always my idol growing up, one of two guys I really looked up to,» Draisaitl said Friday. «I've learned so much from playing against him, from watching him. I had the privilege of playing with him at the World Cup in 2016, and he kind of took me under his wing and we've had a close friendship ever since.»
Kopitar announced he will be retiring at the end of next year, his 20th, all of which were played with the Kings. Draisaitl wasted no time congratulating his friend and mentor..
«First of all, an amazing career, truly one of the best to do it,» Draisaitl said. «We'll see maybe we still have a couple more battles against him, so I won't let him off the hook yet, but just a fantastic career.
It's as good as it gets, it's as good as you'll ever see. And it's the consistency part, he's done it for a long time, he does it every day, every game and I think that's something that I took a little bit in getting to. But I'm at a point now where I'm the same way, and hats off to truly an amazing player.»
It's as good as it gets, it's as good as you'll ever see. And it's the consistency part, he's done it for a long time, he does it every day, every game and I think that's something that I took a little bit in getting to. But I'm at a point now where I'm the same way, and hats off to truly an amazing player.»
Leon Draisaitl will to continue his own consistency as on the league's best defensive players.
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