Despite their struggles in more recent years, there were very few, if any, teams who had a dynasty as dominant as the Edmonton Oilers did in the 1980s.
The Edmonton Oilers lineup featured a number of players who went on to have Hall of Fame careers, as well as many other great talents who never got the recognition they deserved due to playing behind some of the biggest superstars the game has ever seen.
After the great run in the ’80s, the Oilers have gone through some pretty dark times as an organization. Sure, there have been some successful seasons, but there were also some very rough ones, proven by the fact they picked first overall four times in six drafts from 2010-2015.
Thankfully, things appear to be on the up and up for the Oilers, who have some of the best top-end talent in the entire game. In fact, on this list that will review the top five centermen ever in Oilers history, there are a few faces that fans of this current team will find very familiar. Let’s take a look at them and the others who make up this list.
5. Doug Weight
During the 1992-93 season, the Oilers made an unpopular but in hindsight great trade when they chose to deal forward Esa Tikkanen to the New York Rangers in exchange for a forward by the name of Doug Weight. Though Edmonton fans didn’t know much about the player they acquired at the time, it didn’t take them long to figure out just how special he was.
Prior to the trade, Weight’s career-high in points was just 31, but in his first full season with the Oilers, he went off for 24 goals and 74 points. He went on to have several more successful years in Edmonton including a career-high 104 points in the 1995-96 season.
His 577 points during his time wearing copper and blue are seventh all-time in franchise history, while his 1033 career points rank eighth all-time amongst American-born skaters. Perhaps even more impressive when it comes to his time in Edmonton is that he was able to post those numbers while playing on what for the most part were pretty weak teams.