Draisaitl could be first Edmonton Oilers player to hit this specific mark since Gretzky
The Edmonton Oilers are chasing down the Vegas Golden Knights for the division title, but Leon Draisaitl also has history in his sights.
After recording an assist in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers, Draisaitl extended his career-best point streak to 18 games. Not only is that the longest streak of his career, it’s also the longest of any of his Oilers teammates, outside of Corey Perry’s 19-game streak in the 2009-10 season.
If the German superstar can find a way to get on the score sheet in tomorrow night’s game against the Utah Hockey Club, he will be the first Oilers player to record a 19-game point streak since Wayne Gretzky did so in 1986-87.
NHL.com
Draisaitl is already in elite company as he joins just Gretzky, Paul Coffey and Jari Kurri, who are the only Oilers to record an 18-game streak. It’s a bit surprising that not even Connor McDavid has been able to put together a streak this long. The Oilers captain’s best so far is a 17-game streak back in the 2022-23 season.
It almost seems automatic that Draisaitl will score in just about every Oilers game lately. He has amassed an incredible 14 goals and 27 points throughout this current run dating back to a January 27 game against the Seattle Kraken.
He is miles ahead of everyone else in the Rocket Richard race with 49 goals and may hit the 50-goal plateau before anybody else in the league records 40. That would be Draisaitl’s fourth 50-goal season, but he has yet to win the Rocket.
Points-wise, he ranks second in the NHL with 101 points and is just two back of Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead. He has done all this, mind you, while playing the majority of his minutes away from McDavid and with two underperforming wingers in Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson.
It’s clear that Draisaitl has been the Oilers’ MVP this season, and as he prepares to join an exclusive club with Gretzky and Coffey, it’s starting to feel like he should be getting a lot more consideration for the Hart Trophy.