Feb. 4, 2026 was a day that Edmonton Oilers Superstar Leon Draisaitl will never forget. In the morning, he received a call from the German Olympic Committee informing him that they wanted him to carry the German flag and lead the German Winter Olympic team into the opening ceremonies of the 2026 Milano/Cortina Olympic Games.
The phone call that was captured on video showed an immensely proud and humbled Draisaitl receiving the news and then thanking Oilers fans and Canadian hockey fans for voting for him to receive the honour.
Playing in the Olympics Means More Than You Can Imagine for Draisaitl
Representing Germany in the Olympic Men’s Hockey Tournament is without a doubt a dream come true for Draisaitl. His father, Peter, who was Leon’s coach and mentor growing up, represented Germany in three Winter Olympic Games: Calgary 1988, Albertville 1992 and Nagano 1998. You can bet that the news Leon received yesterday is yet another moment of pride for the Draisaitl family.
Draisaitl’s Road to International Stardom Took Some Interesting Turns
In order to further his promising hockey career, Leon and his family made the difficult decision to have Leon leave home at the age of 17 to play junior hockey in Canada. He was selected second overall in the 2012 CHL Import Draft by the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He complied impressive back-to-back seasons with the Raiders in 2012-13 and 2013-14, including 105 points in his final season in Prince Albert.
The Oilers drafted Draisaitl #3 overall in the first round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft behind #1 overall pick Aaron Ekblad and #2 Sam Reinhart. He was called up to the Oilers in the 2014-15 NHL season and was eventually sent back to the WHL where he was traded to the Kelowna Rockets during the 2015 World Junior Championships. Draisaitl led the Rockets to the 2015 WHL Championship, where he was named playoff MVP. He went on to win the Stafford Smythe Trophy as Memorial Cup MVP by leading the Rockets to the Memorial Cup Final where they lost 2–1 in overtime to the Oshawa Generals.
The next season, 2015-16, Draisaitl made the permanent leap to the NHL with the Oilers. He spent six games with the Oilers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate in Bakersfield that season, and after getting called up to the Oilers, he never looked back.
Draisaitl Might Be the Best European-Born Player to Ever Play in the NHL
Since his arrival in Edmonton, Draisaitl has quickly become one of the most dominant players in the NHL. He has amassed 1036 career points in 845 games and has won the Art Ross, Maurice Rocket Richard and Hart Trophies along the way. His performances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been dominant, as he and his good friend Connor McDavid have led the Oilers to back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances. He still has a ways to go to catch Jaromir Jagr’s 1,921 career points total as the top European scorer of all time in the NHL, but with Leon you can never say never.
Draisaitl Will Be Surrounded by Friends on the German Olympic Team
In a feature story about Draisaitl on the website Olympics.com, he mentioned, “I’m incredibly happy to be there for the first time, and I’m just really looking forward to playing for Germany again, putting the jersey back on”. And he added: “Hopefully, playing with some of my closest friends and the other guys.”
Related: Leon Draisaitl Will Get His Chance to Shine at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Draisaitl is close friends with German national teammates Dominik Kahun and Marc Michaelis.
The three were born in 1995 and came up through the Mannheim youth system together. Draisaitl and Kahun won the German Junior League title in 2012 with Jungadler Mannheim, tallying 137 points between them; they also lived and attended school together. Another familiar face joining Draisaitl will be current Oilers teammate Josh Samanski, who, despite starting the season with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, has shown a lot of promise since being called up to the NHL with the Oilers.
With a team that also includes NHL stars Tim Stutzle of the Ottawa Senators and Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings, look for the Germans to have a strong showing in the 2026 Olympic Hockey Tournament. Team Germany will be in Pool C along with the United States, Denmark and Latvia. As for Draisaitl, look for his name at the top of the scoring leaders during the Olympics; it’s a place he’s very familiar with.
