Leon Draisaitl is by far the best goal scorer in the 2024/25 NHL season. A German who dominates the best ice hockey league in the world at will – while he is considered a superstar in Canada, Draisaitl still flies under the radar in Germany.
Yet the Cologne native has already played his way into an incredibly illustrious circle that DEB players could previously only dream of.
Fourth season with 50 goals: Leon Draisaitl already in the top 12
50 goals is a magical mark in the NHL that only very few players achieve. Mike Bossy managed to score 50 goals nine times in ten seasons with the New York Islanders in the 1970s and 80s.
He shares this record of nine 50-goal seasons with field hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and the still active Alex Ovechkin, who will not score 50 goals in 2025, but could still catch up with Gretzky’s all-time goal record.
Three players (Guy Lafleur, Mario Lemieux, Marcel Dionne) have scored 50 goals six times in their career and five other players have scored five times. Then comes Leon Draisaitl.
The German had his fourth season with 50 goals for the Edmonton Oilers in 2024/25. This puts him in 12th place in the all-time list of best players.
If Draisaitl also scores at least 50 goals in 2025/26, he will move up to seventh place in a league that has existed since 1917 and in which serious defence was not a priority for a long time.
In fact, in well over 100 years of NHL history, only 101 players have managed to score 50 goals in a season. And since Pavel Bure in the 2000/01 season, Draisaitl is the only one besides Ovechkin to bag more than three 50-goal seasons.
Where is the attention in Germany for Draisaitl?
Not only has Leon Draisaitl produced four 50-goal seasons so far, he has also landed at 100+ points a whole six times. This puts him in 6th place in NHL history, ahead of legends such as Jaromir Jagr, Steve Yzerman and Brett Hull.
And yet: while basketball superstar Dirk Nowitzki was once a household name for every child in Germany, this is not the case for Leon Draisaitl. In ice hockey circles, of course, he is beyond any doubt, but a random person on the street will not usually recognize him.
What is clear is that basketball is still ahead of ice hockey worldwide. No wonder, as basketball can be played practically anywhere, whereas the skaters can normally only compete in colder regions.
Nevertheless, at some point before it is too late, the Germans should also realize what an exceptional talent represents the black, red and gold colors overseas.
After all, a player who performs so consistently deserves to be recognized in this country, as has always been the case with Nowitzki. Perhaps it will also help if the NHL players are finally back at the 2026 Olympics.
In Milan, Germany has the chance to compete against Finland, the Czech Republic and Denmark, mostly on equal terms, for a place in the knockout round and then hopefully fight for the medals – also for Leon Draisaitl’s fame at home.
