NHL: Leon Draisaitl: Ice hockey star is in contact with Julian Nagelsmann

The new NHL season starts on October 4th with the Buffalo Sabers game against the New Jersey Devils in Prague, Czech Republic. In North America the games will begin on October 8th.

Immediately before the season, BILD am SONNTAG conducted the following exclusive interview with the best German ice hockey professional and last year’s Stanley Cup finalist Leon Draisaitl (28, Edmonton Oilers).

BILD am SONNTAG: In the final, after a fantastic comeback, you were only defeated by the Florida Panthers in game seven. Have you come to terms with the defeat now?

Leon Draisaitl: This defeat will gnaw at me for the rest of my life. But I have prepared intensively for the new season and want to get back to the top with the Oilers.

Bad luck in games, good luck in love. They proposed to their friend Celeste Desjadins (28) and are engaged. Are wedding bells ringing soon?

We are currently working on it, planning the wedding.

In the USA, the engagement ring should be worth three months’ salary. That would be about $2 million for you. Did you stick to it?

I would like to keep the financial terms of my marriage proposal to myself (laughs). Just this much: the ring is very valuable.

Engagement ring, wedding ring and Stanley Cup ring. That would be it…

Yes, that’s the plan. I don’t care about the order. I want all three rings.

You recently signed an 8-year, $112 million contract with the Oilers. By the way, as a Cologne resident, do you still have an account with the Sparkasse in Cologne?

No, not at the savings bank. But I still have an account at a bank in Germany.

How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?

No more than twenty dollars.

If someone could guarantee you that you would win the Stanley Cup, would you take the ice without paying a dime?

Yes, I would do that.

The Olympics are coming up in 2026 with all NHL stars. Will you play for Germany?

If the coach nominates me, of course. I was already in contact with Harry Kreis. We won’t be favorites against the big players in world ice hockey, but we will definitely have a very good team together that will deliver good ice hockey.

They are also very interested in football. Will Germany under Julian Nagelsmann be the first to become world champions in 2026 or will they be the first to win the Stanley Cup in 2025?

Unfortunately, I have to think about myself and hope that we and the Oilers will win the Cup after this season. But Julian Nagelsmann is also a big ice hockey fan and he will certainly understand that. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the footballers in 2026. I haven’t met Julian Nagelsmann in person yet, but we occasionally write to each other via WhatsApp. With him as a coach, a lot is possible.