Shocking new rumor links Leon Draisaitl to California NHL team
NHL insider Greg Wyshynski posed a very interesting question about Leon Draisaitl yesterday on the Jeff Marek Show.
He actually revealed that there has been 'speculation' around the NHL for about a year that Draisaitl to the Sharks could be a thing. One notable connection that Wyshynski pointed out was that Draisaitl is the biggest German Hockey star in the world and the Sharks are owned by German businessman Hasso Plattner. Plattner was a co-founder of SAP but he still resides in Germany most of the time. It would make sense for Plattner to feel particularly excited to pursue the talent of his countryman in free agency.
While the Sharks may be a bad team right now, the additions of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith figure to give the forward core a big boost. Give them a year of development and then add Leon Draisaitl to the mix and the rebuild might be accelerated quite a bit.
Draisaitl, 28, will be entering the final year of an eight-year, $68M contract this next season ('24-'25).
And if the Sharks do manage to make the playoffs with Draisaitl in the lineup? Look out, they could be dangerous right away. The German center is a certified playoff performer, already accumulating 97 career playoff points in just 58 games. That would make him the all-time leader in career playoff points for for than a third of the league.
— Carolina
— Columbus
— Florida
— Minnesota
— Nashville
— New York Rangers
— Seattle
— Toronto
— Utah
— Vegas
— Winnipeg
Playoff Drai is different.
This year he's been just as good as he's ever been if not better. He has 9 goals and 20 points through nine games. He's put on a clinic of offense, especially on the powerplay, where he's tallied a whooping 6 times. This has put him in absolutely elite company on NHL all-time leaderboards.
Leon Draisaitl (2024)
Connor McDavid (2022)
Mario Lemieux (1992)
The Oilers still have one year left to find a way to re-sign Draisaitl. So far, there has been no indication that they won't come to an agreement. But he will be due a massive raise over his current 8.5 million dollar cap hit. With McDavid due a raise the following year, it could be difficult for the team to keep both players long-term.
Source: HockeyFeed
Monster rumour sends Leon Draisaitl to California!
| POLL | ||
MAI 16 | 122 ANSWERS Shocking new rumor links Leon Draisaitl to California NHL team Do you think Leon Draisaitl will actually sign with the San Jose Sharks in free agency after the 2024-25 NHL season? | ||
| Yes | 41 | 33.6 % |
| No | 81 | 66.4 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||