Usually around this time of year, hockey fans are beginning to get excited about the upcoming NHL All-Star Game and wondering who to vote for. However, it's a different situation this time around as there will be no All-Star Game, due to the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament which will be taking place next month in Montreal and Boston.
For the Edmonton Oilers specifically, they have a proud tradition of representatives being selected for the NHL All-Star Game, going all the way back to when they first entered the league for the 1979-80 campaign. That season saw Wayne Gretzky and Blair MacDonald receiving the honour, for the 32nd installement of the All-Star extravaganza.
The beginning of something special
The 1979-80 season would start a sequence of Gretzky being selected for the All-Star Game every year as an Oiler, until his stunning trade to the Los Angeles Kings following the 1987-88 campaign. The one exception was in 1986-87, when the event was replaced by a two-game series between a team of NHL All-Stars and the Soviet Union national team. (No surprise that Gretzky was also selected for this series, along with six of his Oilers teammates.)
Arguably the heartbeat of the team, Mark Messier was also regularly selected for the NHL All-Star Game, beginning in 1981-82. Messier didn't get picked in 1984-85, but aside from this was similarly a regular until his own trade to the New York Rangers following the 1990-91 campaign.
As you'd anticipate, the Oilers did well in general for All-Star Game selections during the 1980s, as they won five Stanley Cups (with the last one in 1989-90). The likes of Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Kevin Lowe and Paul Coffey were all regulars during a decade of dominance in the NHL.
It won't surprise people to know that following that last Stanley Cup win and the aforementioned trades of Gretzky and Messier, not as many Oilers were selected for the All-Star Game on an annual basis. Between 1992 and 2016, the team would usually have just one representative, with the only exception coming in 2001, when both Janne Niinimaa and Doug Weight were picked for the 51st All-Star Game.
The magic returns in Edmonton
However, things started to pick up again following the drafting of Leon Draisaitl in 2014 and then Connor McDavid a year later. McDavid made an immediate impact in the NHL and was selected to the All-Star Game in 2017 and 2018, before Draisaitl started to join the party the following year. (We've always maintained that McDavid would have made the All-Sta Game in his rookie season, if not for an a fractured left clavicle which limited him to 45 games.)
As a result, since 2019 the Oilers have always had both McDavid and Draisaitl picked every time, with Stuart Skinner also earning a selection in 2023. Here is a look at every Oilers player ever selected to for the NHL All-Star Game:
Name | Years | Total selections |
|---|---|---|
Wayne Gretzky | 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 | 8 |
Blair MacDonald | 1980 | 1 |
Paul Coffey | 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 | 5 |
Grant Fuhr | 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989 | 6 |
Mark Messier | 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 | 8 |
Jari Kurri | 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990 | 7 |
Glenn Anderson | 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 | 4 |
Kevin Lowe | 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990 | 6 |
Mike Krushelnyski | 1985 | 1 |
Andy Moog | 1985, 1986 | 2 |
Lee Fogolin | 1986 | 1 |
Jimmy Carson | 1989 | 1 |
Bill Ranford | 1991 | 1 |
Steve Smith | 1991 | 1 |
Vincent Damphousse | 1992 | 1 |
Dave Manson | 1993 | 1 |
Shayne Corson | 1994 | 1 |
Doug Weight | 1996, 1998, 2001 | 3 |
Jason Arnott | 1997 | 1 |
Roman Hamrlik | 1999 | 1 |
Tommy Salo | 2000, 2002 | 2 |
Janne Niinimaa | 2001 | 1 |
Eric Brewer | 2003 | 1 |
Ryan Smyth | 2007 | 1 |
Shawn Horcoff | 2008 | 1 |
Sheldon Souray | 2009 | 1 |
Ales Hemsky | 2011 | 1 |
Jordan Eberle | 2012 | 1 |
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 2015 | 1 |
Taylor Hall | 2016 | 1 |
Connor McDavid | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 | 7 |
Leon Draisait | 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 | 5 |
Stuart Skinner | 2023 | 1 |
As you can clearly see, McDavid sits just one behind Gretzky and Messier, for the most ever NHL All-Star selections. Barring a disastrous turn of unlikely events, i.e. he decides to sign somewhere else on his next deal, the superstar centre will soon own first place all to himself.
Along these lines, Draisaitl has an excellent chance to overtake Gretzky and Messier in the coming years, thanks to the long-term deal he signed prior to this season. No one else should expect to come anywhere close for a long time to come.
Other Oilers All-Star notes
Glen Sather and John Muckler were also selected to the All-Star Game as coaches for the Oilers. Sather was selected in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989, while Muckler was picked in 1991 ... The most ever All-Star Game selections the Oilers had was 10, in 1986 ... The only time the Oilers have had no selections since joining the NHL was in 2004, for the 54th All-Star Game.