The Edmonton Oilers represent the highs and lows of an NHL franchise quite well, throughout their nearly 50 year tenure in the league. Going from a dynasty in the 1980's to a laughing stock in the early 2010's and now multiple deep playoff runs, including back-to-back Stanley Cup finals visits -- as well as one in 2006.
Being an Oilers fan is an emotional rollercoaster and many will tell you has been quite a thrill to enjoy (at least now). That being said, putting together a quarter century team is probably about as good as any other franchise, despite the lack of any real success in the trophy cabinets of Rogers Place.
There is quite the cast of high-end forwards and some solid defensemen with goaltenders who are capable of putting on impressive performances. This is more than many teams can boast. Especially looking through the NHL's quarter century team lists -- which largely inspired this roster.
I have tried to split this up by position, going with left wing, centers, and right wingers as well as left and right defensemen as best as I can. It is difficult and did make some changes especially in the case of some players who played multiple positions. I also did take a few liberties with the positioning but again, tried to do the best to keep it as authentic as possible, even trying to pair players up with their respective eras where possible.
The total roster by the end is made up of 27 players in total with 15 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goaltenders.
The Forwards
The top line to me is a no-brainer; Connor McDavid is the best Oiler since Wayne Gretzky and Zach Hyman has been a wonderful compliment to him and with Ales Hemsky being a legitimate star in the province's capital for many years. The second line as well, with Leon Draisaitl as the pivot because he is the second best Oiler of this century and with Captain Canada (Ryan Smyth) and Sam Gagner on his wings, two Oilers fan favourites. Then the third line is dominated by the kids of yesteryear; Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Jordan Eberle. The prodigal sons of Oilers past.
Then to round it out the fourth line and extra forwards are riddled with a few long tenured Oilers, captains (Ethan Moreau and Shawn Horcoff), and Fernando Pisani who is a legend in the city of Edmonton for his efforts in the 2006 Stanley Cup run. Dustin Penner, Mike Comrie, and Andrew Cogliano are the extra forwards who all had relatively long careers in Edmonton and were standout players during their time.
These are the lines:
Hyman - McDavid - Hemsky
Smyth - Draisaitl - Gagner
Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Moreau - Horcoff - Pisani
Ex. Penner, Comrie, Cogliano
The Defense
Much of this century, the Oilers have had a relatively weak blueline but there have been a few players in each era that have made their mark and stood out above the rest. On top we have Ekholm who has not been an Oiler for a long time but has been a stabilizing force on the backend and a player who has been able to help transform the defense. Bouchard is by far the most dynamic of any player the club has employed there for many years and could have a legitimate shot at winning a James Norris Trophy someday.
Darnell Nurse and Adam Larsson were two workhorses on the Oilers blueline throughout the late 2010's and Nurse himself has been an Oiler for over a decade. Jason Smith and Steve Staois were two players that in their time were solid blueliners for the Oil, Smith being a captain for five seasons and both being solid defensive defenders and minute munching players for a long time.
Finally, Oscar Klefbom likely would be high up on this list but his career was cut short way too soon and now at 32 years old has been forced to retire. Ladislav Smid and Tom Gilbert were two defensemen that were long tenured guys that suffered by playing through some dark years in Edmonton, likely causing them to be a bit underrated and underappreciated.
These are the lines:
Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Larsson
Smith - Staois
Ex. Klefbom, Smid, Gilbert
The Goaltenders
Since 2000, the Oilers have had a number of goaltenders man the crease for them, with many taking on quite the workload. The starting goalie for this team is Dwayne Roloson who was between the pipes for four seasons, most notably standing on his head for the 2006 cup run.
Right behind him is Stuart Skinner who despite his detractors has been able to be between the pipes for back-to-back cup runs and although some shaky starts, he has given his all for the Oilers in his tenure as the starter. Behind him is Cam Talbot who may in fact be the best of the three goalies, given his career numbers.
Talbot unfortunately did not make it to a Cup finals with the club but was able to stand on his head and pull off prime Martin Broduer seasons, starting over an incredibly large number of games in his time as an Oiler. If he was between the pipes today, it is hard to imagine that McDavid would not have a cup ring.
This is the final team:
Hyman - McDavid - Hemsky
Smyth - Draisaitl - Gagner
Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Moreau - Horcoff - Pisani
Ex. Penner, Comrie, Cogliano
Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Larsson
Smith - Staois
Ex. Klefbom, Smid, Gilbert
Roloson
Skinner
Talbot