Being on the same team as Connor McDavid may make a fellow player’s unending achievements seem a little less impressive, but that isn’t the case for Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl.
Though he is also one of the NHL’s top players, Draisaitl is still amazed by how dominant McDavid is on a nightly basis. The German power forward has had a front-row seat for each of the Oilers captain’s 995 points and is sure to be right there when McDavid finally hits the 1,000-point plateau later this month.
“I don’t think there has been a player like him before,” Draisaitl told reporters Tuesday morning. “I don’t think there is a player that can create out of nothing like him ever in hockey.
“Him getting to a thousand points at his age and how few games he’s played, it’s a little mind-blowing at times to see him break all these records.”
“In my eyes, there’s never been a player like him, especially in the modern era. No player has created chances the way he does at the speed & consistency that he has over 10 years.”
Leon Draisaitl on Connor McDavid approaching 1,000 points. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/9pbUldFBPI
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 12, 2024
It’s expected that McDavid will go down as the fourth-fastest player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points, behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Mike Bossy. Hitting the plateau will also make him just the fourth Oilers player to do so, alongside Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Jari Kurri.
Of course, McDavid is naturally a talented hockey player, but Draisaitl says a lot of work goes on behind the scenes that fans and media don’t see from the Oilers captain.
“There is a lot of work that goes into it for him that a lot of people don’t see,” Draisaitl explained. “We’re very fortunate to get to see him and watch him every day and see how much he cares about the game of hockey or how he cares about himself.
“It’s just fun to watch.”
McDavid, famously, is not the type of player who enjoys talking about himself or his accomplishments. He usually deflects questions about his achievements with answers about the team or how he is only focused on winning hockey games.
Draisaitl explained that McDavid isn’t in it for the personal glory or the showboating and says he’s more concerned with the end product for the team as a whole.
“He’s not a guy that likes the show about it all, he likes the end product of it and he puts his work into it every single day,” Draisaitl said. “I’d be lying if I said he doesn’t want to achieve it as soon as possible, that’s human nature, but he’s not for the show and he’s never been for the show.
“That’s probably the thing I respect about him most. He goes about his things so quietly and in a way almost doesn’t want the attention to all these things even though he will get it and he should get it.”
With just five points to go until he hits the milestone, it may be a bit unrealistic to expect that he joins that club tonight against the New York Islanders. That being said, you should never doubt greatness.