Draisaitl stays with Oilers; what that means to Raiders

Leon Draisaitl will remain as the second-line centre of the Edmonton Oilers as he’s preparing to play his 10^th game with the team. That’s some great news for him and the Oil, but not so much for the Prince Albert Raiders.

Because boy howdy could the Raiders ever use him and his offensive punch.

Even after Tuesday’s 5-0 win on the road over the Kootenay Ice, the Raiders are still only scoring 2.71 goals per game, ranking 18^th out of the 22 Western Hockey League teams in that department.

That huge output also came against the struggling Ice, who have given up five goals against on average during their six game losing streak.

Draisaitl has been a crucially important cog to the Raiders offence in the previous two years. Last year, Draisaitl scored or had an assist on 43.2 per cent on all Raiders goals—scoring 105 points on the Raiders 243 total goals.

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Having Draisaitl return would have had a huge impact on the Raiders offence, but since he’s preparing to play his 10^th game, he likely won’t return to the WHL in the immediate future. By overcoming the 10-game threshold, the first year of Draisaitl’s three-year entry level contract will be in use this season.

He could still return to the Raiders at any time before the 39-game mark, because if he plays his 40^th game in the NHL, Draisaitl will become an unrestricted free-agent a year earlier (as early as 25 years old) than if he’s sent back to the WHL.

Regardless, if Draisaitl does come back to the Raiders or to the WHL at some point, it won’t be anytime soon. That’s especially true when you look at the Oilers depth chart at centre. Since the Oilers traded away Sam Gagner in the offseason just days after drafting Draisaitl, the Oilers are short at the pivot position behind the King of Leon.

According to a piece by the Edmonton Journal’s David Staples, Draisaitl ranks the best among Oilers centremen in chances for and against, and has been very effective defensively.

This year with the Oilers, Draisaitl has three points in his first nine games. Two of those points have come in his last three games, including his first NHL career goal Oct. 24 against the Carolina Hurricanes—which was the game winner.

The Raiders offence now

Although he had a slow start to the year, Jayden Hart has really started to catch fire.

Hart has scored a goal in each of his last five games, the longest current goal scoring streak in WHL. He’s also managed seven points in that span as well, and now has 10 points in 12 games.

Hart’s huge uptick in production has come since moving to the right wing next to centre Matteo Gennaro and left winger Gage Quinney.

In his first six games, Hart had one goal and two assists. Hart also missed the entire training camp and preseason with a groin injury and has really started to get going.

Hartsie’s hot-streak has come at the right time Reid Gardiner has missed the last two games with an upper body injury. Gardiner led the Raiders in goals (seven) and points (10) before he was injured.

Gardiner was the victim of a checking to the head major Friday against Portland Winterhawks’ forward Alex Schoenborn—who has since been suspended four games for the hit.

On Sunday, Gardiner tweeted images of his injuries, adding he had a broken nose and 16 stitches as a result of the hit. (Warning; images are graphic). Gardiner is officially listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury.

New comer Marcus Messier registered his first point as a Raider on Tuesday, an assist.

On Television

The Raiders game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes will be broadcast Wednesday night at 7 p.m. local time on Shaw.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea