How Leon Draisaitl and Celeste Desjardins turned hockey fame and hollywood exposure into a multimillion-dollar fortune | NHL News
When the NHL’s highest-paid player marries a Hallmark actress inside a 15th-century French chateau, it stops being just a love story and becomes a financial narrative worth examining. Leon Draisaitl carries an eight-year, $112 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers, averaging $14 million per season. His wife, Celeste Desjardins, has built her own income base through television films, acting contracts, and dramatic series royalties. Together, they represent a quietly powerful dual-income household that is only growing.
What is Leon Draisaitl’s net worth and how did he build it?
Leon Draisaitl did not land at $14 million per year by accident. He earned it the hardest way possible: over a decade of relentless, elite-level play in one of the world’s toughest sports leagues.His career earnings reached approximately $86.25 million as per Spotrec, but the real acceleration came with his new deal. That eight-year extension made him the NHL’s highest-paid player by average annual value, surpassing even Auston Matthews. And this follows a previous contract that, in hindsight, was a historic bargain for Edmonton.The numbers on the ice justify every dollar. Draisaitl wrapped up 2025-26 with 35 goals and 97 points in only 65 games, a plus-13 rating and over 21 minutes of ice time a night. A lower-body injury cut his year short, yet he still finished ninth in the NHL scoring race, and even returned to lead Edmonton in playoff scoring. The productivity doesn’t dip; it barely wobbles.Beyond the rink, Draisaitl works with brands including Puma, Tylenol, and Warrior. Analysts estimate these partnerships contribute millions annually, reflecting his strong marketability as a German-born superstar who has helped grow the sport globally. His projected hockey fortune, accounting for his current contract, sits at over $182 million. That is a generational number for a player who has barely turned 30.“For me, it was always the Oilers,” Draisaitl said. “Obviously we haven’t gotten the job done yet, which makes it to me even more special.”
What does Celeste Desjardins do and how much does she earn?
Celeste Desjardins is not simply attached to Leon Draisaitl’s story. She has written her own.Her professional growth accelerated when she landed a recurring role in the action-thriller series Taken in 2017. Following that, she became a lead and supporting actress in romantic holiday productions, including Christmas Wedding Planner and the Flower Shop Mystery film series alongside Brooke Shields.Her most recent major credit came in 2024. Her Hallmark film “An Ice Palace Romance” debuted on the Hallmark Channel in July 2024, the same month Draisaitl proposed on a Mallorca beach. It was a parallel moment of career and personal momentum for both of them.She makes her money through acting, brand endorsements, sponsorship deals and TV commercials. Since joining the industry in 2014, she has appeared in over 20 TV shows. Desjardins’ net worth estimates are all over the map depending on the source, ranging from a conservative $500,000 to several million dollars, with her residual checks and ongoing projects still bringing in the cash. .
How did the Draisaitls’ wedding and public profile elevate their combined brand?
The financial equation between Leon Draisaitl and Celeste Desjardins is not just about individual salaries. There is a brand value attached to their relationship that functions differently to either career in isolation.The couple, both 29, married in a luxurious wedding at a chateau in the south of France on August 2, 2025. The guest list read like a cross-section of elite NHL and entertainment circles. Maid of honour Lauren Kyle McDavid shared photos widely on social media, with guests describing the event as a “magical weekend.”The couple first met through their mutual friends, Lauren and Connor McDavid. “That night everything just clicked,” Celeste recalled. That social connection to the McDavids, arguably the most prominent couple in Canadian hockey, has only amplified both their public profiles.Desjardins has cultivated genuine media presence independent of her husband. Her Hallmark audience and her social media following, now over 173,000 on Instagram, give her brand reach in entertainment spaces where NHL fandom does not automatically extend. That crossover appeal is commercially valuable in ways that are difficult to quantify but impossible to ignore.“We’re not consistent enough, and this league’s too hard to just lollygag through games,” Draisaitl said bluntly during a rough stretch of the 2025-26 season. His willingness to speak plainly and hold himself publicly accountable has, paradoxically, made him more marketable. Authenticity sells, and Draisaitl has never pretended otherwise.Together, the Draisaitls represent something the sports world occasionally produces: two careers that grow each other rather than compete. The ice and the screen make for an unlikely partnership, but the numbers are not arguing.
