Draisaitl aims to become ‘even better’ defensively for Oilers

Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl during team training camp at the Downtown Community Arena on Sept. 19, 2025. (TSN)

He’s been one of the top offensive players in the National Hockey League for much of his career, but Leon Draisaitl says he’d like to take more strides to become just as effective without the puck.

The star Edmonton Oilers centre told reporters Friday he’d “like to be” in the conversation for the league’s Selke Trophy, awarded annually to its top defensive forward.

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Draisaitl said while he’s working to improve his defensive game, he feels he’s doing some things right.

“There are a lot of things that I can learn and get better at, but there’s also a lot of things that I think I do really well already, so I’m looking to chip away at it and get even better,” Draisaitl said after practice at Oilers training camp.

The 29-year-old, whose eight-year contract extension worth $14 million annually begins this season, said when highly touted offensive players start their careers, they “want to put up numbers” and establish themselves as scoring threats, but that over time, they can learn to evolve into more complete players.

“With age, I think you just learn to grow (and find) that the other parts of the game are actually just as much fun as scoring and assists and all those things,” said Draisaitl, last season’s top NHL goal-scorer who won a scoring title and the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player in 2020. “Stripping someone (of the puck), playing good defence is a lot of fun, too.”

One role model of Draisaitl’s who embodies this type of player is Anze Kopitar, the veteran Los Angeles Kings captain who has won two Selke awards over his 19-year career. Kopitar, 38, announced Thursday he will retire after the coming NHL season.

Draisaitl played alongside Kopitar nine years ago on Team Europe at the preseason World Cup of Hockey tournament.

“He kind of took me under his wing there, and we’ve had a close friendship ever since,” Draisaitl said.

“I love his two-way game. It’s as good as it gets; it’s as good as you’ll ever see, and it’s the consistency part. He’s done it for a long time. He does it every day, every game, and I think that’s something that I took a little bit in getting to, but I’m at a point now where I’m the same way.”