On this day in 2014, Edmonton Oilers legend Ryan Smyth plays final NHL game

Ryan Smyth was an Edmonton Oiler, through and through. He was drafted by the Oilers, he made his NHL debut with the Oilers, he played his best hockey with the Oilers, and he bled wearing the Oilers’ uniform, night in, night out. It was only right that he retired as an Oiler.

Selected with the sixth overall pick in the 1994 draft, the Banff native quickly became a key player for the Oilers during a time when the team was looking for a new identity. He broke into the league in the 1996-97 season with a 39-goal performance, helping the Oilers pull off an epic upset of the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs. Smyth would be the face of the Oilers for the next decade, routinely scoring at least 20 goals while playing harder than anybody else on the ice. Even losing multiple teeth wouldn’t stop Smyth.

That all came to an end in February of 2007. With Smyth’s camp and general manager Kevin Lowe at a stalemate over a contract extension, the soon-to-be free agent was shipped to the New York Islanders at the trade deadline for a package of magic beans.

Smyth helped the Islanders reach the playoffs that spring but then left in free agency to ink a five-year deal worth $6,250,000 with the Colorado Avalanche. Two years into that deal, he was flipped to the Los Angeles Kings during the 2009 off-season. In his two seasons in Los Angeles, Smyth and the Kings were dispatched in the first round of the playoffs.

At the same time in Edmonton, the Oilers were diving head-first into their rebuild, focusing on acquiring elite talent to build around through the draft. After a 2010-11 season in which Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff spent a good chunk of time on the shelf, it became clear the Oilers needed more veteran leadership in the mix.

It wasn’t easy for the team to attract high-quality veterans to be a part of a tank-and-rebuild effort, but, fortunately, a former Oiler wanted to make a return to Edmonton.

Bob McKenzie reported Smyth was interested in a return to the Oilers, and, just a few days later, it happened. Seeking to dump his cap hit, the Kings shipped Smyth to the Oilers in exchange for Colin Fraser and a seventh-round pick. Ryan Smyth was an Oiler once again. The response was unanimously ecstatic.

Smyth would go on to play three more seasons in an Oilers uniform before calling it quits. He would finish second in franchise history in games played with 971, fifth in goals with 296, sixth in points with 631, and tied for first with Glenn Anderson for power-play goals. He’s since been passed on some of those lists by this generation’s stars but Smyth’s name is one that’s etched all over the team’s history.

Sentimentally, Smyth’s return largely wiped away the messy story in the middle of his career, cementing the fact that he was essentially an Oiler for life. When it was all said and done, Edmonton got the opportunity to give a legend a well-deserved send-off. Smyth wore the captain’s “C” on his chest for the first time in his career with the Oilers and was showered with love from his teammates and fans.