TOP 100 OILERS: MIROSLAV SATAN (91)

8 years ago

Glen Sather is rightfully referenced as the architect who, in tandem with chief scout Barry Fraser, built the Edmonton Oilers into the team that would win five Stanley Cups and go into NHL folklore as the last true dynasty of the pre-salary cap era.

But even GMs as celebrated as Sather, inducted into the HHOF, have their share of face-palming moments they’d rather just forget. Sather’s decision to trade skinny, raw, talented Slovak winger Miroslav Satan after two promising seasons with the Oilers for a bunch of nothing is one of those moments.

Miroslav Satan #81

Right Wing

NUMBER:	81	BIRTHDATE:	October 22, 1974
HEIGHT:	6′ 3″	BIRTHPLACE:	Topolcany, Slovakia
WEIGHT:	191	DRAFTED:	EDM / 1993 NHL Entry Draft
SHOOTS:	Left	ROUND:	5th (111th overall)

BY THE NUMBERS

CAREER REGULAR SEASON STATISTICS

SEASON	TEAM	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	S	S%
1995-96	OILERS	62	18	17	35	0	22	6	0	4	113	15.9
1995-96	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	5	0	3	3		6
1996-97	OILERS	64	17	11	28	-4	22	5	0	2	90	18.9
1996-97	SLOVAKIA-W-CUP	3	0	0	0		2
1996-97	SABRES	12	8	2	10	1	4	2	0	1	29	27.6
1997-98	SABRES	79	22	24	46	2	34	9	0	4	139	15.8
1998-99	SABRES	81	40	26	66	24	44	13	3	6	208	19.2
1999-00	SABRES	81	33	34	67	16	32	5	3	5	265	12.4
1999-00	DUKLA TRENCIN-SLOVAKIA	3	2	8	10		2
1999-00	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	9	10	2	12		14	5	2	1	37	27.0
2000-01	SABRES	82	29	33	62	5	36	8	2	4	206	14.1
2001-02	SABRES	82	37	36	73	14	33	15	5	5	267	13.9
2001-02	SLOVAKIA-OLYMPICS	2	0	1	1		0
2001-02	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	9	5	8	13		2
2002-03	SABRES	79	26	49	75	-3	20	11	1	3	240	10.8
2002-03	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	9	6	4	10		2
2003-04	SABRES	82	29	28	57	-15	30	11	1	5	206	14.1
2003-04	HC SLOVAN BRATISLAVA-SLOVAKIA	7	6	4	10		41
2003-04	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	9	4	4	8		4
2004-05	SLOVAKIA-W-CUP	4	0	0	0	-7	4
2004-05	HC SLOVAN SLOVNAFT BRATISLAVA-SLOVAKIA	18	11	9	20		14
2004-05	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	7	2	2	4		8
2005-06	ISLANDERS	82	35	31	66	-8	54	17	0	2	253	13.8
2005-06	SLOVAKIA-OLYMPICS	6	0	2	2		2
2006-07	ISLANDERS	81	27	32	59	-12	46	7	1	2	216	12.5
2006-07	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	7	1	7	8		4
2007-08	ISLANDERS	80	16	25	41	-11	39	5	0	4	171	9.4
2008-09	PENGUINS	65	17	19	36	3	36	6	0	2	120	14.2
2008-09	WILKES-BARRE PENGUINS-AHL	10	3	6	9	1	4	2	0	0
2009-10	BRUINS	38	9	5	14	8	12	0	0	1	59	15.2
2009-10	SLOVAKIA-OLYMPICS	6	1	1	2		0
2009-10	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	2	0	0	0		0
2010-11	OHK DYNAMO MOSCOW-RUS-KHL	6	1	2	3		4
2010-11	HC SLOVAN BRATISLAVA-SLOVAKIA	10	10	6	16		22
2010-11	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	6	3	2	5	4	4	0	0	1
2011-12	HC SLOVAN BRATISLAVA-SLOVAKIA	49	23	29	52		127
2011-12	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	10	4	2	6	0	4	0	1	1
2012-13	HC SLOVAN BRATISLAVA-KHL	21	7	5	12		22
2012-13	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	8	1	2	3	0	2	1	0	0
2013-14	HC SLOVAN BRATISLAVA-KHL	23	9	3	12		8
2013-14	SLOVAKIA-WC-A	7	1	2	3	1	4	1	0	0	21
	NHL TOTALS	1,050	363	372	735	20	464	120	16	50	2,582	14.1

CAREER PLAYOFF STATISTICS

SEASON	TEAM	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	S	S%
1996-97	SABRES	7	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	5	0.0
1997-98	SABRES	14	5	4	9	-9	4	4	0	1	20	25.0
1998-99	SABRES	12	3	5	8	3	2	1	0	1	25	12.0
1999-00	SABRES	5	3	2	5	2	0	0	0	0	11	27.3
2000-01	SABRES	13	3	10	13	4	8	1	0	0	40	7.5
2004-05	HC SLOVAN SLOVNAFT BRATISLAVA-SLOVAKIA	18	15	7	22		16
2006-07	ISLANDERS	5	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	10	10.0
2006-07	SLOVAKIA-WC-A					0					0	0.0
2008-09	PENGUINS	17	1	5	6	1	11	0	0	0	21	4.8
2009-10	BRUINS	13	5	5	10	4	16	2	0	3	37	13.5
2010-11	OHK DYNAMO MOSCOW-RUS-KHL	2	0	0	0		0
2011-12	HC SLOVAN BRATISLAVA-SLOVAKIA	12	8	14	22		10
2013-14	HC SLOVAN BRATISLAVA-KHL	2	1	0	1		0
	NHL TOTALS	86	21	33	54	4	41	8	0	5	169	12.4

NOTABLE

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By the time Satan played his first game in Edmonton in 1995-96, the Oilers were a bargain basement outfit being run on a shoestring payroll as owner Peter Pocklington cut corners. Outside of Doug Weight, Zdeno Ciger and Jason Arnott, they didn’t have an abundance of offensive talent up front.

Even so, Satan, just 21, scored 18 goals and had 35 points in just 62 games in his rookie season. Like many young players, Satan was obviously talented and capable of spectacular moments, but inconsistent. Warts and all, most people inside and outside the organization saw a real player there.

In his second season, Satan had 17 goals through 64 games when Sather, not making the progress wanted in contract talks with Satan’s agent and fearing he might return to the Czech Republic, went Full Palmer and pulled the trigger on a deal that sent him to Buffalo for Craig Millar and Barrie Moore.

THE STORY

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If you’re wondering who they were, you’re not alone. Millar, a defenseman, would play 36 games with the Oilers. Moore, a winger, wore Oiler silks in just four games. After 126 games with the Oilers, Satan would go on to play another 924 games with the Sabres, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Satan hit the 20-goal mark 10 times, had 30-or-more goals four times and 40 goals once on the way to finishing up with 363 goals for his career – he added another 21 in 86 playoff games. The Oilers damn sure could have used some of what Satan delivered during some lean seasons in the late-1990s, but it wasn’t to be.

The Oilers never got the best of Satan because money got in the way, and that’s a shame. He’d be a dead-sure top-25 guy on this list if he’d have put up the numbers he did as a member of the Oilers, but fans here got only a glimpse of what was to come.

This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.

Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260.