Something happens to Leon Draisaitl in that moment, and it’s actually incredible that there’s a camera that captures it all. The professional ice hockey players from the Edmonton Oilers enter the locker room after the game against the Florida Panthers. In the background, the hall announcer announces that colleague Connor McDavid has been voted the most valuable player in the final series. The Oilers lost the decisive seventh game in the Stanley Cup final series 1-2, one goal missing from about 15 chances to go to overtime.
But McDavid has no desire to collect the individual trophy. He takes off his jersey, sits down – then he starts to cry, Draisaitl’s hand on his thigh; and you can see that Draisaitl is not only mourning with his colleague, but also thinking. That he is consciously aware of what is happening in this moment, including to himself.
:Leon Draisaitl gets what he’s worth
The German ice hockey player is extending his contract with the NHL team in Edmonton – for a fantastic salary. But he is also taking this step out of loyalty to the club.
Nobody except the very best in a discipline can imagine what it’s like: when you are more successful than ever before (McDavid and Draisaitl had never reached the finals series in nine years together) – and this is the saddest moment of your career, perhaps of your life is. “I don’t think the average fan can understand these moments,” says McDavid in the six-part series “Faceoff: Inside the NHL,” which is currently streaming on the streaming portal Amazon Prime can be seen. The documentary begins with this moment, but it doesn’t end with it, but with images of McDavid and Draisaitl in the weight room: preparation for the new season in the National Hockey League (NHL), which for the Oilers starts this Wednesday with a home game against the Winnipeg Jets begins.
Draisaitl’s $112 million contract is also a nod to teammate McDavid
“I am now happy that this drudgery is starting again,” said Draisaitl on the phone with reporters from home on Monday: “It has been painful for a long time, but as much as it hurts: life goes on.” For Draisaitl, however, it had also asked the question, wo it would do that. There are only two options for athletes after disappointment – and one should not forget that the Oilers were only the third team in NHL history to overturn a 3-0 deficit in the final series, only to lose everything.
So the first option: get away from this place. Draisaitl’s old contract in Edmonton still ran for one year until last summer, but it was clear that the Oilers would either extend a long-term deal with him or try to get at least some value through an immediate swap deal before Draisaitl could move freely next summer can. “The Oilers were always the first choice,” he now says about the franchise for which he has played since the beginning of his professional career ten years ago: “But of course a change is always an option during negotiations.” The Boston Bruins, for example, were keenly interested .
Draisaitl then extended, and even though the new contract with the Oilers ($112 million for eight seasons) makes him the highest-paid professional ice hockey player in the world, the message is different – and also to Connor McDavid, the guy Draisaitl was in the He has seen the locker room grieve and will be faced with the same decision next summer as he was this one: extend or change.
Draisaitl’s message is therefore the second variant of dealing with disappointments: the now-especially-defiance that has helped so many athletes cross the finish line into the promised land. “There is no additional pressure because of the contract. It’s more of an expression of appreciation, and I think I’ve earned it,” says Draisaitl. That’s certainly true: including the playoffs, he has collected 958 points scorer in 793 NHL games, making him one of the best attackers in league history. “It takes the pressure off,” he says: “I now know where I will be. I know what I’m going to earn.”
And he knows he can win the Stanley Cup with the Oilers. McDavid is still there and is also filled with now-more-now defiance: “One day, when we lift this trophy, we will point to this moment and say, ‘It was all worth it!’ Nobody wants the Cup more than me, and I’ll keep trying until I can’t anymore.”
Stanley Cup or wedding ring? Preferably both, says Draisaitl
In any case, McDavid, together with Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, forms the most well-rehearsed and therefore probably most dangerous forward line in the NHL. When she comes off the ice, it’s not a change this season, but a reload for the Oilers: Draisaitl will form the second line with the additions of Viktor Arvidsson (Los Angeles Kings) and Jeff Skinner (Buffalo Sabres), which is similarly dangerous after play-in time could be. “You have to give us a little time,” says Draisaitl: “They are great guys, but it will take a while until we find the vibe.” In moments of superiority, coach Kris Knoblauch is likely to send his two stars onto the ice together again – That wouldn’t be reloading, but rather a pistolero with two revolvers in his hands.
In their opinion, McDavid and Draisaitl have now learned enough from defeats. “We have experienced how intense a final series like this is, how much greater the pressure is,” says Draisaitl, who now only wants to learn one thing in his illustrious career: what the greatest possible triumph feels like: “I can only imagine what it will be like when you finally make it.”
The 28-year-old wants to spend the rest of his career in Edmonton and the rest of his life with partner Celeste Desjardins – the two got engaged in July. He doesn’t want to say which ring he wants on his finger faster: the one for wedding vows or the one for the championship. With a mischievous smile he says: “The goal is definitely to get both of them.”