Tracking Draisaitl — an ‘almost impossible’ task
Junior rival recalls difficulty of checking top Oilers draft pick
JASPER — For the last two seasons, whenever their Western Hockey League clubs squared off, Dylan Bredo had a six-foot-one, 201-pound headache on his hands.
The Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman was routinely tasked with the assignment of checking Leon Draisaitl.
“It was tough, almost impossible,” Bredo said of those matchups with the Prince Albert Raiders’ star centre. “You just had to try to limit him as much as you could.”
Draisaitl, selected third overall by the Oilers at the last month’s NHL entry draft, and Bredo, a camp invite, were among the 30 prospects at Edmonton’s orientation session in Jasper.
From here, Draisaitl will head to Edmonton, rather than head home to Germany, where he’ll settle in for the summer to train under the direction of the Oilers’ strength and conditioning coach.
He has every intention of making every effort to make the NHL club out of training camp in the fall.
“I think it’s a learning process for any 18-year-old kid, but at the same time, if a player is ready to play and step in and make an impact, why wouldn’t you let him play and give him a chance?” he said as his first week as an Oiler drew to a close.
“Obviously, there are a lot of guys who aren’t ready. Every 18-year-old kid is not as strong as an NHL player, so I think it’s a learning process, but I think if a player is ready, and he wants to make any impact, there’s no way you can get around letting him play.”
Draisaitl, who has spent the last two years with the Raiders, will have to return to the WHL if he doesn’t make the Oilers’ roster.
“Obviously, I have to gain some strength as well, but for me personally, it’s more about the speed,” he said. “Those are the two biggest things I need to work on.”
Defenceman Ben Betker has seen plenty of Draisaitl at the camp — and didn’t have any questions about his size, and he’s no waif at six-foot-six, 215 pounds.
With the Everett Silvertips, he saw him only once, and his side came out of it with a 5-1 victory. The game came at the end of a U.S. swing, and Betker figured the Raiders just wanted to wrap up the trip and head home.
Still, he knows how much trouble a player of his ilk can be to play against. In fact, he said he’s had challenges this week with Draisaitl and Jujhar Khaira, who stands 6-foot-1, 193 pounds.
“He is a big body. When he and Jujhar are out there together, it’s not easy. For big guys, they’re quite mobile.”
Bredo, whose junior career has come to an end, says in some twisted way, he’s going to miss those matchups with the Raiders centre.
“He’s one of those players who can take over the game at any second. He’s got so much skill,” Bredo said. “He can find someone out of nowhere and thread a pass. He can create something out of nothing, so he’s one of those special players with lots of talent.”