Octagon client Leon Draisaitl took several awards for his performance this season.getty images
Octagon scored a kind of hat trick last month, as the agency is representing the most valuable players of three major leagues in 2020 — the NBA, WNBA and NHL.
Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson was named the 2020 WNBA MVP on Sept. 17. She is represented at Octagon by Erin Kane and Jade-Li English.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo won the NBA MVP award on Sept. 18. Octagon NBA agent Alex Saratsis represents Antetokounmpo.
On Sept. 21, Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl won the NHL’s Hart Trophy, given to the league MVP as voted by the media. On the same day, Draisaitl won the NHL Players’ Association Ted Lindsay Award, given to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by fellow players. Draisaitl, the No. 3 overall pick of the 2014 NHL draft, is the first German-born hockey player to win either award.
“If you said to someone five or six years ago that a German-born player would win the Hart Trophy, at the time that might have been a bit far-fetched,” said Mike Liut, Octagon Hockey managing director. “People might have not quite been able to wrap their head around that.”
Joked Liut, “A friend of mine explained the importance of hockey in Germany. He said, ‘The No. 1 sport is soccer, the No. 2 sport is soccer, the No. 3 sport is soccer, and everything else is fourth.’”
Draisaitl is represented on the ice by Liut and agent Andy Scott. Rob Grant, client manager at Octagon Hockey, helps build marketing and other off-ice opportunities for Draisaitl.
Draisaitl also won the Art Ross Trophy in May for being the leading scorer in the NHL’s coronavirus-shortened regular season. He finished with 43 goals and 67 assists, more than his star teammate Connor McDavid, who was the league’s second-leading scorer.
Draisaitl’s father, Peter Draisaitl, played center for Germany’s national team and played for the country in the 1988, 1992 and 1998 Winter Olympics. Leon Draisaitl moved to Canada and played for the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League before being drafted into the NHL.
Draisaitl, 24, is playing under an eight-year, $68 million deal and will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025 when he is 29 years old.
With the NHL draft coming up this week on Oct. 6 and 7, Octagon has much attention focused on its hockey clients. The agency is representing more than 10 prospects including Jan Myšák, a center/wing on HC Litvinov in the Czech Extraliga; Eemil Viro, a defenseman playing on TPS in the Finnish Liiga; and Tim Stuetzle, a center/left wing who plays for Adler Mannheim in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Octagon Hockey co-managing director Allan Walsh represents Myšák. Octagon agent Scott represents Vero and agent Ben Hankinson represents Stuetzle.
Stuetzle, like Draisaitl, is German, and is the No. 1 European skating prospect, according to NHL Central Scouting, for this year’s draft. The New York Times wrote about him recently, comparing him to Chicago right wing Patrick Kane and noted he could become the highest-selected German-developed player in NHL history.
Liut said, “He’s been playing as a 17-year-old in a men’s league” of Stuetzle, who turned 18 in January. That’s important, he said, because teams are trying to assess whether 18-year-olds can play with men.
WASSERMAN SIGNS 2021 NFL DRAFT PROSPECT: Wasserman has signed University of Washington defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike, a first-round defensive prospect, for representation in the 2021 NFL draft.
Wasserman NFL agents C.J. LaBoy and Doug Hendrickson are representing Onwuzurike, who was ranked No. 20 overall on CBS Sports’ 2021 mock draft last month.
Levi Onwuzurike sat out this college football season because of COVID concerns. His mother is a nurse and has seen the effects of the virus.wasserman
As previously reported, multiple college football players, including Onwuzurike, who are projected first-round 2021 picks have opted out of playing because of the uncertainty the COVID-19 pandemic cast over this fall’s college season.
“Unlike some of the others, Levi Onwuzurike is a relatively well-established NFL prospect despite last season being his first as a full-time starter,” said Rob Rang, a longtime NFL draft analyst and consultant to NFLDraftScout.com. “At 6-3, 293 pounds — school measurements — he is perhaps a little lighter than some teams would prefer at defensive tackle but he plays big, using active hands, long arms and good core strength to hold up at the point of attack, while also showing the initial quickness and agility to be a factor as a pass rusher. “
LaBoy said about a dozen agents interviewed to represent Onwuzurike, but Wasserman was fortunate to sign someone he thinks will be a defensive playmaker in the NFL. “He’s had multiple sacks,” LaBoy said. “Multiple tackles for loss. He’s a very disruptive defender. He understands how to use his explosiveness, his strength, his speed, his agility, to wreak havoc on offenses.”
Opting out was a tough decision for Onwuzurike, who reveres University of Washington head coach Jimmy Lake, but the uncertainty surrounding the season, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, played a part in his decision, LaBoy said. His mother, Ijeoma Onwuzurike, is a nurse who has seen the disease firsthand, LaBoy said.
“What nobody knows is how [NFL] teams are going to react to players who had COVID and whether or not COVID impacted their bodies — whether it’s their lung capacity or their hearts, that’s all going to be evaluated here, through this draft cycle,” he said.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
