Saturday night brings an All-Canadian matchup that sees division rivals go to battle as the Vancouver Canucks host the Edmonton Oilers on Hockey Night in Canada. This is the second game between the Ca

Draisaitl's elite production has led the Oilers to a top-five position in the NHL standings and he is firmly in the mix to take home his second Hart Trophy. Per FanDuel Sportsbook, Draisaitl has the third-best odds to win the award at +320. Only Nathan MacKinnon at +280 and his Oilers teammate Connor McDavid at +300 have shorter odds.

Leon Draisaitl is having a Hart-Trophy calibre season this year, but fans and media outside of Edmonton are still sleeping on the Oilers superstar - with TSN not even naming him as an MVP candidate.

The Edmonton Oilers are second in the Pacific Division, and they have Leon Draisaitl to thank for that. While their 27-13-3 record through 43 games was largely expected, how they got there has been somewhat surprising.

Here are the report cards for the first half Oilers in 2024-25.

The top unit of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evan Bouchard, and Zach Hyman are still spearheading a sharp unit as the Oilers rank No. 8 overall in power-play efficiency, but they ended last season at No. 4.

That’s when Leon Draisaitl and friends took charge and produced the 59th-minute game winner, with the Big Diesel starting the play by staving off two checkers along the wall to kick off the cycle, then finishing it with a terrific shot from the slot.

With McDavid out with an injury in early November and the Oilers already struggling for traction, Draisaitl put up back-to-back three-point nights, factoring in on six of Edmonton’s nine goals in 5-1 and 4-2 wins over Nashville and Calgary.

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Nugent-Hopkins, whose two-way acumen has him stapled to the top line most games, moved down the depth chart against the Wild. He moved from left wing to centre, playing with wingers Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson for much of the evening.

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The Edmonton Oilers will face the Colorado Avalanche in this NHL matchup at Ball Arena on Thursday, January 16th. WATCH: Oilers vs Avalanche Live | Stream free