Draisaitl focused on bigger picture, 'here to win' for Oilers

EDMONTON --Leon Draisaitl may be leading the NHL in goals and points for the Edmonton Oilers six weeks into the season, but the forward said he's focused instead on the bigger picture.

"We're all here to win," Draisaitl said earlier this month. "Individual stats, individual awards, I've been there, I've done that. I'm very proud of it, but that's not why I'm here.
"And that's not why [Connor McDavid is] here. That's why nobody's here. We all want to win."
Draisaitl has scored 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) in 17 games while McDavid has scored 32 (12 goals, 20 assists), which is second in the NHL.
McDavid led the League in points last season with 105 (33 goals, 72 assists) in 56 games, and Draisaitl was the leading scorer in 2019-20, when he scored 110 (43 goals, 67 assists) in 71 games. Along with the Art Ross Trophy, each player also won the Hart Trophy voted as NHL most valuable player and the Ted Lindsay Award, given annually to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by members of the NHL Players' Association, in their respective seasons.
However, the Oilers were eliminated in the first round of the postseason in each of the past two seasons, and Draisaitl said the individual accomplishments mean nothing.
"We've got a great group and the start is great for me personally, for us as a group, but just looking to continue to keep the confidence, help the team win, do the little things right and just continue to get better and win," Draisaitl said.
The Oilers (13-4-0) have been winning, currently sitting one point behind the Calgary Flames for first in the Pacific Division entering their game at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, HULU, SNW, NHL LIVE).
Perhaps a big key has been Draisaitl's continuing ability to evolve his game.
After Draisaitl was selected by Edmonton with the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, he was known as a deft passer during his first four seasons.

Now in his eighth NHL season, Draisaitl has cemented himself as one of the top scorers in the NHL. It was a dramatic change that surfaced in 2018-19, when he scored 50 goals and had 55 assists, finishing second in the goals race to Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (51).
"Obviously, he's playing really well right now," McDavid said. "He's getting open and burying his chances. You've seen him score a lot from that one side (the right) and he's dangerous over there. We're going to find him on that side and he usually puts them away.
"He came in as a pass-first guy. He's definitely changed that over the last couple of years. He can still pass the puck among the best, so it's impressive what he's been able to do with his game."
With Draisaitl having scored more than a goal per game this season (1.06), opponents are in a tough position when it comes to defending him. Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele acknowledged that but said his mindset has not changed about his Western Conference rival.
"I'd still call him a passer," Scheifele said. "Obviously, he's scores. He's a guy who's a fantastic player, gets to the open areas, has great hands around the net. But look at all the passes he makes, the opportunities that he sets up.
"He's one of those guys you watch during the game where he doesn't typically ever miss a pass. He never misses a guy's tape and he's a guy you've got to be aware of at any time. He can make a play from nothing and he can score from everywhere, so I'd still call him a passer even though he has an outrageous amount of goals."
But to Jets coach Paul Maurice, it's never been a matter of one label or the other.
"I don't know that I ever felt that he was an over-passer," Maurice said. "I always felt he just makes really good decisions with the puck because he's going to make the offensive correct play, the numbers say more often than not. So he'll pass the ones he's supposed to and shoot the ones he's supposed to."
Maurice had a close look at the Germany-born forward when he was an assistant for Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey 2016, when Draisaitl was 20, and said he believes the increase in goal-scoring is just natural.
"I think there's a truth that in every young player," Maurice said. "They get to a point where they stop deferring to other people on the ice, ... to make people happy. I did see it early in his career at the World Cup when he was first there. We played Team North America twice and he got banged up for some minuses on that because he was with a lot of what I would have assumed were his idols on that team. I mean it's an older team, but even in that tournament he changed. He scored three against Sweden, so he grew and learned in that tournament alone."