Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl named Germany’s flagbearer for 2026 Winter Olympics

Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl has been named as one of Germany’s flagbearers for the 2026 Winter Olympic opening ceremony, which is set to take place in Milan, Italy, on Friday.

Draisaitl will share duties with ski jumper Katharina Schmid after the pair won separate polls conducted by German athletes and the general public.

The Oilers forward has never represented Germany at the Olympic level, as NHLers did not take part in 2018 or 2022. Draisaitl is no stranger to playing for his country at the national team level, though, registering 27 points in 33 games over five World Championships, as well as various other junior national team events.

Draisaitl has played in a best-on-best tournament before, scoring two goals in six games for Europe at the World Cup of Hockey en route to a second-place finish.

The native of Köln is widely regarded as the best German hockey player of all time. Draisaitl has a Hart Trophy, a Ted Lindsay Award, a Rocket Richard Trophy and an Art Ross Trophy to his credit. The 30-year-old has spent his entire career with the Oilers, which includes 27 goals and 78 points in 54 games this year. Draisaitl is on track for 115 points, which would mark the second-best output of his career after putting up 128 in 2022-23.

If Draisaitl reaches 100 as expected, it will be the seventh time he has managed to do so, and the fifth year in a row.

Germany will kick off the men’s portion of the Olympic hockey tournament at 3:10 PM ET on Thursday, Feb. 12, against Denmark. They’ll then play Latvia on Feb. 14 before finishing their round-robin action against the United States on Feb. 15. The qualification round will commence on Feb. 17, with the tournament concluding on Feb. 22.

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