Raiders sign second overall Import draft pick Draisaitl

In the words of Prince Albert Raiders general manager Bruno Campese, the Raiders “took some extraordinary steps” to sign a guy they feel could an extraordinary player.

The Raiders announced Tuesday they have officially signed German centreman Leon Draisaitl, the second overall pick in this year’s CHL Import Draft—and pulled out all the stops to get the deal done.

Campese flew halfway across the world to Germany to talk with in person Draisaitl and his family to finalize the deal, along with being in regular contact with him for the past four weeks.

After selecting him second overall and opting to not trade down to get a player more likely to sign, it was imperative the Raiders get Draisaitl in a PA uniform.

“It’s been our number one priority and we spent a lot of time in contact with Leon, his dad (Peter) and his agent,” said Campese. “At the end of the day, Leon really wants to play in the CHL, there were some things, obviously, that we had to work out but the kid’s extremely excited about playing in the CHL, about playing in the Western Hockey League and playing for the Prince Albert Raiders.

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“It’s a real good thing for us; he’s a top quality kid and really looking forward to him coming over here,” added Campese. “With his attitude, wanting to be here so bad, it’s going to be huge.”

Draisaitl showed that excitement on his twitter account @PAR_29 as his profile picture is the Raiders’ logo and all his tweets are related to playing hockey in PA this year.

“So Happy to play for the @PARaidersHockey next season ! Can't wait to meet the team and go for a GREAT season !” Draisaitl tweeted on Tuesday after the deal was made official.

To help get the deal done, Campese and staff got a hold of former Raider and German-born Max Brandl to talk to Draisaitl about what it’s like to play for the Raiders.

Brandl, who was drafted in the 2007 CHL Import Draft as a 19-year-old gave Draisaitl a call about how good of an experience the 2007-2008 season was in PA.

“That really helped the process along as well,” said Campese. “Having players in your program that had a good experience and having them talk about it to others is extremely powerful.”

The Raiders also been in regular contact with Draisaitl, his family and his agent for approximately the last four weeks to get the deal done, and the Raiders feel he was worth all that.

Draisaitl had a ton of success at the International level for Germany this season, as the 16-year-old competed at both the U18 and U17 levels and lead Germany in scoring in both tournaments.

He registered seven points in six games at the IIHF U18 World Hockey Championships and five points in as many games at the U17 World Hockey Challenge.

Draisaitl also scored 56 points in 35 games at the U18 level for Jungadler Mannheim.

Last year at the U16 level, Draisaitl had a whopping 192 points in just 29 games, scoring 97 goals and 95 assists in that span.

With all his recent success, the Raiders used their second overall pick and selected Draisaitl, something he considers an honour.

“(The Draisaitl’s) were very, very receptive and very appreciative of the fact that we took him so high.

He feels it’s an honour to play in the Western Hockey League,” said Campese. “He’s a real good kid from a real good family.”

According to Campese, Draisaitl was raised the right way on and off the ice. Leon’s father Peter, who’s originally from the Czech Republic, played 18 years of professional hockey in Germany between the Elite German league, the Deutsch Eishockey Liga (DEL), and German Bundesliga 2, one league below the DEL.

“(Peter) was an outstanding hockey player in his own right,” said Campese. “(Leon) comes from a hockey family, there’s a lot of experience as far as the International game goes. I look forward to seeing him, he made a very strong impression.”

Draisaitl will report to Raiders Training Camp, starting on Aug. 28 at the Art Hauser Centre.

jdandrea@panow.com

Twitter: @jeff_dandrea

dwilson@panow.com

Twitter: @RaidersVoice