Edmonton Oilers

About the Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers began play in 1972 as the Alberta Oilers, one of the original franchises in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The team adopted the Edmonton Oilers name the following year.

Edmonton spent seven seasons in the WHA before joining the NHL in 1979 alongside the Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets. The four former WHA teams entered the NHL as expansion franchises following the dissolution of their former league.

The Oilers went on to build one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history during the 1980s, winning five Stanley Cups in seven seasons.

Edmonton is also one half of the Battle of Alberta, the long-running rivalry with the Calgary Flames.

Division History

When Edmonton joined the NHL in 1979, the Oilers became members of the Smythe Division in the Campbell Conference.

The Oilers remained in the Smythe Division throughout their dominant run in the 1980s. When the NHL reorganized its conferences and divisions in 1993, the Campbell Conference became the Western Conference and the Smythe Division was replaced by the Pacific Division.

Edmonton has remained in the Pacific Division since then, with one exception. During the shortened 2020-21 season, the NHL temporarily reorganized its divisions and placed all seven Canadian teams together in the North Division.

The Oilers returned to the Pacific Division the following season.

Championship History

The Oilers developed into an NHL powerhouse remarkably quickly after joining the league.

Edmonton reached its first Stanley Cup Final in 1983 but lost to the New York Islanders. The Oilers returned the following year and defeated the Islanders to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

That victory began one of the NHL's great dynasties.

The Oilers won Stanley Cups in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990, capturing five championships in seven seasons. Wayne Gretzky led the first four championship teams, while Mark Messier captained Edmonton to its fifth title in 1990 after Gretzky had been traded to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Oilers did not return to the Stanley Cup Final until 2006. Edmonton entered the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference and advanced all the way to Game 7 of the Final before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Another lengthy period without a deep playoff run followed, but Edmonton eventually returned to championship contention behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

The Oilers reached the Western Conference Final in 2022 before advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive seasons in 2024 and 2025.

Edmonton faced the Florida Panthers in both Finals. The Oilers came back from a 3-0 series deficit in 2024 to force Game 7 before Florida won the deciding game. The Panthers defeated Edmonton again in 2025, this time winning the series in six games.

The two appearances gave Edmonton nine trips to the Stanley Cup Final in its NHL history. The franchise continues to seek its sixth championship and first since 1990.

Home of the Oilers

The Oilers play their home games at Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton.

For most of the franchise's early history, Edmonton played at Northlands Coliseum, which opened in 1974 and became home to all five of the Oilers' Stanley Cup championship teams. The arena carried several names over the years, including Edmonton Coliseum, Skyreach Centre and Rexall Place.

The Oilers played their final game at the old arena in 2016 before moving to Rogers Place for the beginning of the 2016-17 season.

Rogers Place opened in September 2016 and has a hockey capacity of 18,347.

Notable Oilers

Wayne Gretzky became the centerpiece of the Oilers dynasty and established many of the scoring records that helped earn him the nickname “The Great One.”

Gretzky joined Edmonton during the franchise's final WHA season and remained with the Oilers when they entered the NHL in 1979.

In NHL regular-season play for Edmonton, Gretzky recorded 583 goals, 1,086 assists and 1,669 points. He helped the Oilers win four Stanley Cups and won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP eight consecutive times during his years in Edmonton.

Gretzky's No. 99 was retired league-wide by the NHL in 2000.

Mark Messier was another central figure in the Oilers dynasty. He played on all five Edmonton Stanley Cup championship teams and became team captain following Gretzky's departure.

Messier recorded 1,034 regular-season points during his time with the Oilers and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1984. He later captained Edmonton to the 1990 Stanley Cup and won the Hart Trophy that same season.

Jari Kurri formed one of hockey's greatest offensive combinations with Gretzky. The Finnish forward recorded 1,043 regular-season points for Edmonton and helped the Oilers win five Stanley Cups.

Kurri scored 71 goals during the 1984-85 season and remains one of the highest-scoring European players in NHL history.

Paul Coffey became one of the most dynamic offensive defensemen the league has seen. He won three Stanley Cups with Edmonton and captured the Norris Trophy twice during his time with the Oilers.

Coffey scored an NHL-record 48 goals by a defenseman during the 1985-86 season, a record that still stands. He recorded 669 points during his first seven seasons with Edmonton.

Connor McDavid became the face of a new era after the Oilers selected him with the first overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.

McDavid quickly developed into one of the league's dominant offensive players. He has won multiple Art Ross Trophies as the NHL's leading scorer, multiple Hart Trophies as league MVP and multiple Ted Lindsay Awards as the outstanding player selected by his peers.

In 2024, McDavid recorded 42 points during Edmonton's run to the Stanley Cup Final and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP despite the Oilers losing the championship series. Later that year, he became the fourth-fastest player in NHL history to reach 1,000 career points.

Leon Draisaitl has been another central figure in Edmonton's modern era. The German forward won the Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award during the 2019-20 season and has consistently ranked among the NHL's leading scorers.

In December 2025, Draisaitl became the fifth player to record 1,000 NHL points in an Oilers uniform, joining Gretzky, McDavid, Kurri and Messier. He was also the first German-born player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

Other prominent players in Oilers history include Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, Kevin Lowe, Ryan Smyth, Doug Weight and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.