May 8, 2023 by Josh Boulton

Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl has 13 goals in his first eight playoff games of the 2023 playoffs. I could end the article right there and it would be newsworthy, but let’s dive into some context of what has made this playoff run truly special for the big German.

Fact One: Nathan MacKinnon scored the same number of goals in last year’s playoffs to tie Evander Kane for the most in the league. MacKinnon led the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup, while Kane only reached the Western Conference Final with the Oilers.

Fact Two: Draisaitl himself had seven goals total in 16 games in the 2022 playoffs. The three-time 50-goal scorer had seven goals in the six games he played in opening round against the Los Angeles Kings alone.

Fact Three: The record for most goals in any entire single playoff season is 19, shared by both Reggie Leach (1976) and Jari Kurri (1985). Leach and Kurri each made it to the Stanley Cup Final in those years. At his current clip of 1.63 goals per game, Draisaitl is on pace to beat that playoff record some time during his 12th game, so potentially in the second round.

Fact Four: Draisaitl is scoring more consistently, and evenly than Kurri was in 1985. Kurri has the record for most hat tricks in a single playoff season with four, and also the most hat tricks in a single playoff series with three (both set in that 1986 playoffs). Kurri scored three goals in the first six games, two against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and one in the first three games of the second round against the Winnipeg Jets, before busting out and scoring a hat trick in Game 4 to finish the sweep.

Related: Can the Edmonton Oilers take the next step? Lessons from the dynasty years, Part Two

In the six-game second round against the Chicago Blackhawks, Kurri scored an incredible 12 goals (also an NHL record for most goals in a playoff series), but they were all clumped into four of those games. Kurri didn’t score another goal until Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Philadelphia Flyers. Though Kurri tied the NHL record for most goals in a playoff year, he was still held goalless in nine of his 18 games (50%), including a staggering four out of five games in the Final.

Fact Five: When Kurri tied the record he had 19 goals in 18 games, he had a pace of 1.05 goals per game. As mentioned, Draisaitl is on a pace of 1.63 goals per game, which is almost unthinkable in the modern game. But even if he dropped down to Kurri’s pace of 1.05, he’d still potentially only need six more playoff games to break the record, so early in the third round.

What’s even more mind blowing is Draisaitl scored 52 goals in 80 regular season games, a pace of 0.65 goals per game. He only needs six more goals to tie the record, meaning even if he somehow faltered all the way back to his regular season pace for the rest of these playoffs (or almost half the pace Kurri scored at in 1985) he’d still reach the 19-goal mark to tie the record in 10 more games, or exactly in his 18th game played, just like Jari Kurri.

Fact Six: Last year, Draisaitl set the record for the most points in a five game series in NHL history by racking up 17 points in a second round match up against the Calgary Flames. That’s just two point shy of the 1983 record for a seven game series of 19 points set by Rick Middleton.

That doesn’t have much to do with the chase for 19, but it’s just a really impressive playoff feat and speaks to the kind of playoff performer Draisaitl has proven to be over the last four playoff series. He’s shown no reason to believe at the very least he wouldn’t be able to maintain his regular season clip, and given every sign that he gets better as the playoffs wear on.

We could very likely see the first-ever 20-goal scorer in the playoffs this spring. That record is in serious jeopardy, and not enough people are talking about it.