Quoting: Jack_
Where are we counting Draisaitl? As a centerman he hasn't been as good as eichel or matthews, thats not hard to see at all. Where draisaitl is best is beside McDavid and I haven't seen McDavid play anywhere else but center so something doesnt add up. I'm not being biased in any way when saying matthews and eichel are better centers then draisaitl because its true, look at their production at center and tell me it's not true
Quoting: Jack_
Yes. Matthews is better then eichel. Matthews is also a better center then draisaitl without question. On your list you have him as a center. Compare matthews' and draisaitl's production/stats while playing center. Its not close. Draisaitl's production away from McDavid is a whole different conversation but theres no doubt that draisaitl is a fantastic player. Just not as good of a centerman as Matthews or eichel
You should look up the actual stats before spewing such nonsense. This year, Draisaitl and McDavid played on the same line most of the time up until the December 31st game against NYR, when Leon started the game on the 2nd line with Nugent-Hopkins. Here are the splits:
Pre-December 31st:
McDavid: 41, 22-41-63 -7
1.54 P/GP (1st in league)
Draisaitl: 41, 22-39-61 -18
1.49 P/GP (2nd)
December 31st on:
Draisaitl: 30, 21-28-49 +11
1.63 P/GP (1st in league)
McDavid: 23, 12-22-34 +1
1.48 P/GP (2nd)
So his production went UP when he was moved off of McDavid's line, while McDavid's dropped slightly.
Also, prior to Dec 31st Draisaitl took 606 faceoffs (14.8/GP) vs 373 for McDavid (9.1/GP). From Dec 31 onward, Draisaitl took 663 faceoffs (22.1/GP) vs 297 for McDavid (12.9/GP).
As far as "history as a center", in the past 4 years Draisaitl has taken 4779 faceoffs, good for 21st in the league. In #22 is Nathan MacKinnon. Eichel is #33 and Matthews is #47. Don't tell me this guy doesn't play center.
Oh, and here are those 3 players stats over the past 3 years:
Draisaitl: 231, 118-167-285
1.23 P/GP
Matthews: 200, 118-98-216
1.08 P/GP
Eichel: 212, 89-135-224
1.06 P/GP