Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl did not mince words during the team's final press conference of the 2025-26 season, offering a blunt assessment of both his own play and the team's downward trajectory.
Draisaitl's Honest Assessment
“I am concerned because we’re not trending in the right direction,” Draisaitl told reporters. “We’ve taken big steps backwards and we got to get a grip of this and head back in the right direction.”
The German forward acknowledged that the team lost some of the intensity that fueled their deep playoff runs in previous years. “I think maybe we lost a little bit of that fire that we had the last two years because it has been a lot of hockey, it has been a long season,” he said.
Regular Season Struggles
Draisaitl pointed to the regular season as the root of the problem, where both he and the team failed to execute in crucial moments. “We didn’t do a good enough job of properly winning games,” he explained. “And I don’t like using the terminology of taking the regular season ‘serious,’ because we do. We go into every game and we try to do it right. We say the right things. But I think you really have to get comfortable in these moments. And we didn’t do that this year and it ended up showing in the first round.”
Leadership and Team Dynamics
The Oilers star emphasized that while he, Connor McDavid, and Evan Bouchard need to step up in critical moments, success requires contributions from everyone. “It’s not a three-man team. It’s not a four-man team. You need everybody to feel important. Need everybody to want to be important, and I think that’s something to look forward to next season,” Draisaitl said.
He also expressed concern about maximizing the next two years, the duration of McDavid’s new contract.
Injury and Defensive Concerns
Draisaitl revealed that his knee injury affected his playoff performance. “I would say for sure, didn’t feel like I had the pop in my step that I would like to have or maybe that I usually have,” he said. “All in all, it felt strong. It felt good enough to have an impact in certain moments, but certainly not at 100%.”
When asked about the team's defensive play, Draisaitl took personal responsibility. “I take myself right to the top of that. I wasn’t necessarily happy with the way I defended all season, or the details in my game. I feel like they slipped away from me a little bit. And that’s certainly something that I really want to focus on.”
Reflecting on Earlier Comments
Draisaitl clarified his earlier February comments about the team needing improvement from coaches and players. “My comments came from a general objective of our organization, of our team. And I don’t like singling out anyone,” he said. “I know it’s perceived as, like, I went after the coach and all this, and yes, I did go after coaching. But I also said, ‘I have to be better. Our leaders have to be better.’ I think our group took a step back. And I think the same thing about our coaching, about our management. I think the whole organization, we took a step back and that needs to be fixed. At the end of the day, I can only control what I can control, and I have to be honest with myself, my details slipped away from me, not too much to my standard, and that’s something that I will change.”
