Draisaitl’s legend with Oilers, in Germany grows on cusp of 1,000 NHL points

EDMONTON -- Growing up in Cologne, Germany, Leon Draisaitl never envisioned joining the NHL’s exclusive 1,000-point club.

“It’s certainly something that I never thought would be possible, something that was only truly a dream,” Draisaitl said. “So to be closing in on that and hopefully being able to achieve that in the near future, is something that is hard to explain.”

The dream is about to become a reality for the Edmonton Oilers forward.

Draisaitl pulled within one point of the milestone with three assists in a 6-3 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, bringing his NHL career total to 999 points (416 goals, 583 assists) in 822 games.

He can reach the milestone as early as Sunday, when the Oilers play the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, SNW, NHLN).

“It’s impressive how fast he’s been able to do it,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “He’s been such a great player for us for so long and it’s special to see him get there. It’s always exciting when someone gets to a big milestone.”

Only 102 players in NHL history have reached the 1,000-point plateau, and Draisaitl would be the first Germany-born player to get there.

The 30-year-old has single-handedly raised the profile of hockey in his home country, paving the way for a new generation of NHL players from Germany. Draisaitl’s popularity is likely to rise to unprecedented levels when he leads Germany at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

“Leon is a rock star in Cologne,” said Buffalo Sabres forward JJ Peterka, a native of Munich. “It helps a lot If you have a superstar in the NHL who plays as good as Leon does every night. It’s covered more in the media, it’s noticed everywhere and more kids look up to him. They look over to North America and see a German there racking up so many points, it influences a lot.”

Selected by Edmonton with the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Draisaitl has long surpassed Marco Sturm (487 points) as the highest-scoring Germany-born player, and will continue to elevate the bar. He is in his 12th NHL season and the first season of an eight-year, $112-million contract ($14 million average annual value) with Edmonton.

“He’s the best German player to ever play the game, that’s for sure,” said Sturm, the current coach of the Boston Bruins. “He’s a guy that’s going to hit a lot of milestones coming up. I don’t know anyone else even in the future who is going to be that good. He’s a special player, a special person. For me, it’s so much fun to look at him and watch him play the game.”

But Draisaitl isn’t considered just the best Germany-born player in the NHL, he’s also looked up as one of the best of his generation from any country.

The 30-year-old won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the League’s leading goal-scorer with 52 goals last season.

In 2019-20, Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy as League MVP, the Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player as selected by his peers, and Art Ross Trophy for winning the scoring title with 110 points (43 goals, 67 assists) in 71 games. He had an NHL career-high of 128 points (52 goals, 76 assists) in 80 games in 2022-23.

Draisaitl has scored at least 50 goals in four of his first 11 seasons and has hit at least 100 points six times. He helped the Oilers reach the Stanley Cup Final the past two seasons, and has 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 31 games this season.

“Leon is a top-five player in the world, that’s the category that he is at,” said Minnesota Wild forward Nico Sturm, a native of Augsburg, Germany. “For me, he is already the best German player to ever play the game. Hopefully, if everyone stays healthy, he should be the face of our team at the Olympics and we need that because we don’t have the media coverage that maybe soccer gets. Whenever you have stars, they attract fans. You need those kind of players.”

Draisaitl has inspired young Germans to take up hockey and will get international exposure at the men’s Olympic hockey tournament from Feb. 11-22. In June, he was one of six players named to the preliminary roster for Germany, which is in a group with the United States, Denmark, and Latvia.

“He’s our guy, he’s a bright star that is just shining in the spotlight as he should be, and as he deserves,” said Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider, who is from Zell, Germany said. “We’re fortunate enough to have him on the national team and we’re proud of that and it just shows how much of an impact he has on a daily basis. He doesn’t just show up here and there, he shows up every single game and I think that’s the most remarkable thing and it kind of reflects on the points for sure.”

Perhaps more impressive than reaching 1,000 points is the number of games it will take Draisaitl to get there. He’s in the same neighborhood as Pat LaFontaine (847) Adam Oates (830), Mark Messier (822), Brett Hull (815), and Joe Sakic (810).

“It’s a huge accomplishment, but I think if you ask him, he would say he accomplished more by going to the Final twice and making a push to win the Stanley Cup,” said Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle of Viersen, Germany. “So yeah, he’s a special player. I love watching him. It’s a pleasure to be able to play with him for the Olympics.”

Draisaitl is one of 40 Germany-born players (34 skaters, six goalies) to play at least one game in the NHL. He only trails Marco Sturm (938), Dennis Seidenberg (859) and Jochen Hecht (833) in games played. By the time Draisaitl is done he will hold every NHL record for a Germany-born player.

But that’s not what drives him.

“I don’t want to start a competition with other Germans or whoever,” Draisaitl said. “I am the player I am, I want to have the best career that I can possibly have in team success and individual success. I don’t compare myself to anyone nor do I want to. Those were all amazing hockey players, but I try to write my own history, my own story.”

That story will include a 1,000-point celebration with his teammates.

“I’m going to try to enjoy it in the moment of course,” Draisaitl said. “Sometimes those moments can be hard to enjoy because you’re in the heat of the battle and you never know how that specific game is going to go. Sometimes it depends on the situation of the game. I’m certainly going to try to enjoy it, but I think that’s certainly something that comes after the game and potentially years later.”

NHL.com independent correspondents Darrin Bauming and Craig Merz, and NHL.com senior director of editorial Shawn P. Roarke contributed to this report