Draisaitl trying to emulate Kopitar, win Selke Trophy with Oilers

EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl has always admired Anze Kopitar and his complete game.

It’s a reason the Edmonton Oilers center wants to continue to develop his defensive side this season, which will be the last playing against the Los Angeles Kings captain.

“'Kopi' was always my idol growing up, one of two guys I really looked up to,” Draisaitl said Friday. “I’ve learned so much from playing against him, from watching him. I had the privilege of playing with him at the World Cup in 2016, and he kind of took me under his wing and we’ve had a close friendship ever since.”

Kopitar announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the season, his 20th, all with the Kings. Draisaitl said he reached out to congratulate Kopitar.

“First of all, an amazing career, truly one of the best to do it,” Draisaitl said. “We’ll see maybe we still have a couple more battles against him, so I won’t let him off the hook yet, but just a fantastic career.”

Kopitar, 38, won the Stanley Cup twice with Los Angeles (2012, 2014). He ranks first in Kings history in games (1,454) and assists (838), is third in goals (440) and second in points (1,278) behind Marcel Dionne (1,307). He is also first in playoff games (103), second in assists (62) to Wayne Gretzky (65), tied for second with Luc Robitaille in points (89) and third in goals (27).

Kopitar also won the Selke Trophy in 2016 and 2018, voted as the best defensive forward in the League.

“It’s as good as it gets, it’s as good as you’ll ever see,” Draisaitl said. “And it’s the consistency part, he’s done it for a long time, he does it every day, every game and I think that’s something that I took a little bit in getting to. But I’m at a point now where I’m the same way, and hats off to truly an amazing player.”

Kopitar said he is retiring to spend more time with his family, but is looking forward to one final season with the Kings. Edmonton has eliminated Los Angeles in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past four seasons.

“He’s played for a long time and he’s won everything there is to win,” Draisaitl said. “I’m very happy for him, and I’m sure he’s excited for one more year.”

Along with winning the Stanley Cup, Draisaitl is looking to follow in Kopitar’s footsteps by being one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL.

The 29-year-old is already one of the top offensive players with six 100-plus point seasons. Draisaitl had 106 points (52 goals, 54 assists) in 71 games last season and 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 22 playoff games. He won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy last season as the top goalscorer.

“I’d like to be in the Selke conversation at the end of this year,” Draisaitl said. “Obviously there’s a lot of things that go into that and a lot of things that I can learn and get better at, but there are also things that I think I do really well already.”

Draisaitl was sixth in voting for the Selke last season, won by Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers. Kopitar was eighth.

Selected No. 3 by the Oilers in the 2014 NHL Draft, Draisaitl said the defensive side of his game has been a work in progress since entering the League in 2014-15.

“That’s every player coming into the League I think, especially every highly touted offensive player,” he said. “Your first couple of years you want to put up numbers, you want to establish yourself as somebody that can score and make plays and at times, even be flashy. That’s just a little bit of immaturity and every kid has that.

“With age, you just learn to grow and that the other parts of the game are actually just as much fun as scoring and assists and all those things. Stripping someone and playing good defense is a lot of fun too. It’s a lot of work but it’s a lot of fun.”

Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch feels Draisaitl is already a strong defensive player and does not get enough credit for it around the League.

“I think last year, he should have had more votes,” Knoblauch said. “If anyone saw him play regularly, understands that he’s a tremendous defensive player and takes a lot of pride in that.

“You don’t usually see the best offensive players commit to defense like that. I think he should definitely have one or two Selke trophies because he is a good defensive player.”