Now 22, he has known a few current Sharks since they played together as kids at 6, 7 and 8 years old. He and Sharks goaltender Hannibal Weitzmann are best friends and have vacationed together in the offseason. Weitzmann said their families were excited to see them play against each other for the first time since junior.
"They are just like brothers," his father said. "They are close to each other. So every time they have a chance to meet each other, they take advantage."
This is Muller's 16th season with the Sharks. He has known Draisaitl since he was a kid and has played with him on the German national team. He said he followed closely when Draisaitl spent two seasons with Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League, was selected by the Oilers with the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, split the 2014-15 season between Edmonton and Kelowna of the WHL and then took off. Draisaitl ranked eighth in the NHL in scoring with 77 points (29 goals, 48 assists) in 2016-17, his second full season in the League.
"We saw him getting over there, and we were hoping for him to do well," Muller said. "We all knew that he had the talent and everything for it, but sometimes you need the right timing and everything. We're really happy that he had this breakout and played the way he did in the second year, and after that I think he became an NHL superstar."
Draisaitl knows other Sharks from the German national team and everyone else from training camp. The Deutsch Eishockey Liga -- the German Ice Hockey League, in English -- opens its season before the NHL does, so the Sharks reported to camp Aug. 1.
Draisaitl showed up almost as if he were one of them to work out off the ice, participate in their practices and sharpen his skills with assistant coach Thomas Brandl. The Sharks shared a photo of Draisaitl wearing a Cologne jersey with the rest of his Edmonton gear.
"It's cool for everybody to have Leon around," said Jones, who played 334 games in the NHL from 2008-14, including 247 with the Oilers, and is now in his fifth season in Cologne. "These young guys, they see what he does in an off-ice [regimen], and that's something they can kind of put into their own lives. He's a good guy, he's a phenomenal hockey player and he works hard. If you're around here for our camp, he's doing everything we do and then more, which says a lot. He didn't get to where he was on accident. There's skill, but there's a lot of hard work and determination that goes into where he is."
Considering all that, now imagine what this means to Draisaitl, his father, the Sharks and the Cologne fans, especially the youngest ones. Draisaitl is already the sixth-ranked German scorer in NHL history with 207 points (75 goals, 132 assists) at age 22. The local kid made good in North America but hasn't forgotten where he came from.
"We need that," Muller said. "We need those guys that go over, become superstars. You know how it is. Little kids play, and they identify themselves with the best. If you have one German who's one of the best, then he's a great role model for the kids and the sport of hockey in Germany."
