Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl scored the final goal of his team’s 4-2 win against the host Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Friday (Jan. 3), firing the puck into an empty Kraken net with just under two minutes remaining to seal victory for the visitors. The goal was Draisaitl’s 29th in 39 games this season, putting the 29-year-old centre on pace to score 60 times in 2024-25.
Sixty goals in a season is one of hockey’s rarest achievements. It has only happened 43 times in NHL history, and just 23 players have accomplished the feat. Half of the NHL’s teams have never had a player reach 60 goals in a season, and the Oilers are the only club that has more than two players with a 60-goal campaign.
Edmonton’s 60-goal club comprises Wayne Gretzky (92 in 1981-82, 71 in 1982-83, 87 in 1983-84, 73 in 1984-85, 62 in 1986-87), Jari Kurri (71 in 1984-85 and 68 in 1985-86), and Connor McDavid (64 in 2022-23). So long as he doesn’t miss more than a game or two the rest of this season, Draisaitl has a real shot of becoming that club’s fourth member.
Draisaitl Is Producing Consistently This Season
Draisaitl is hot of late: after scoring in Seattle, he’s on a four-game goal streak. But players go on heaters all the time. The only path to 60 goals is sustained production, and that is where Draisaitl shines.
Edmonton has almost reached the midpoint of its 2024-25 schedule, and Draisaitl has yet to go more than two games without a goal. Incredibly, he doesn’t even have a hat trick yet this season. He’s reached 29 goals not from a handful of monster performances, but by converting with remarkable consistency, scoring in 24 of the Oilers’ 39 games.
Draisaitl Just Missed Getting 60 in 2021-22
Draisaitl has flirted with 60 before, coming closest in 2021-22 when he played 80 games and lit the lamp 55 times. He had 54 goals with seven games to play that season, but only managed to score once in the next six games and then sat out Edmonton’s final game of the regular season.
In 2021-22, Draisaitl’s scoring came a bit more in fits and starts. He had six streaks of at least three games without scoring, and more than half of his goals came from two months combined: November, when he tallied 15 times; and March when he had 13 goals.
So far this season, Draisaitl has averaged 0.72 goals per game in October, 0.69 goals per game in November, 0.77 goals per game in December, and now has scored twice in Edmonton’s first two games this month.
Draisatil Has Taken Big Lead in NHL Goals Race
Though January has barely begun, Draisaitl is already threatening to run away in the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race. His 29 goals are six more than anyone else in the NHL has so far this season.
Related: Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl Should Be Hart Trophy Favourite
Draisaitl also leads the league with nine game-winning goals and four overtime goals. He’s on pace to break the NHL’s all-time single-season record of 16 game-winning goals and is only one sudden-death tally away from equalling the single-season NHL record of five overtime goals. He’s already tied the franchise record for most overtime goals in a season, set by McDavid in 2021-22.
Oilers fans could be watching history unfolding with Draisaitl. Sixty goals could just be one of the milestones he achieves in 2024-25, but the pursuit over the next few months brings an added level of excitement every time the Oilers take the ice. Case in point, Edmonton’s very next game, against the Boston Bruins tomorrow (Jan. 7) at TD Garden.
Edmonton has won four straight games in Boston, during which Draisaitl has scored five times including two game-winning goals. The last time the Oilers visited TD Garden, Draisaitl scored both of his team’s goals in a 2-1 overtime victory. If he gets just one goal tomorrow, the German centre will be halfway to 60. The chase is on.
