Yahoo Sports 'This League Humbles You So Goddamn Quick': Leon Draisaitl Isn't Taking His Hot Start For Granted
Leon Draisaitl knows a little something about scoring goals.
He's authored three 50-goal seasons in his career, and he ranks third in the NHL in goals since his first full season in 2015-16 with 357, behind only Alexander Ovechkin and Auston Matthews.
He's up to his old tricks to start this season, with 12 goals through the first 16 games of the year. That puts him in a three-way tie with Sam Reinhart and Cole Caufield for first in the NHL. Better yet, 10 of those goals have come at even strength, which places him in another three-way tie for first with Nikita Kucherov and Tage Thompson.
Draisaitl's not letting his hot start get to his head, however.
"You gotta be careful with things like that," Draisaitl told reporters after the Oilers' overtime win on Tuesday night, "because this league humbles you so goddamn quick, it's scary."
Draisaitl is speaking from experience. His 12-goal, 20-point hot streak isn't the hottest start of his career -- in fact, it's not even all that close.
Back in 2021, he started the season with 17 goals and 33 points in his first 16 games. You don't need me to tell you that he didn't finish the 2021-22 season with 87 goals and 169 points like he was pacing to after the first month and a half of the season.
This season's scoring outburst is the third-best goal-scoring start of his career, and his 20 points are somehow fairly low for him at this point in the season. He hasn't had so few points through his first 16 games since 2018-19.
He'll pick up more assists (he has only 8 so far) as the season goes on and his linemates and powerplay get hot, but his 30% shooting percentage will go down to balance that out. Draisaitl knows this.
"I've been around long enough to understand that there's phases of it going well and it going ice cold," he told reporters on Tuesday night. "I'm creating chances, obviously they're going in right now, but I'm very well aware that can change in a hurry."
That being said, 12 goals in 16 games is just over a 60-goal pace. That's a lofty sum, but Draisaitl can absolutely get there with a bit of luck. Would it really be a surprise to see him claim his first Rocket Richard trophy?
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