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Flashback Friday: Looking at when the Oilers acquired Roman Hamrlík from the Lightning
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Ryley Delaney
Mar 20, 2026, 23:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 20, 2026, 22:57 EDT
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Since the Tampa Bay Lightning broke into the league in 1992-93, the Edmonton Oilers have made nine trades.
Only two of those traded have come in the 21st century. The most recent one was before the 2024 trade deadline, as the Lightning retained 25 per cent of Adam Henrique’s contract. If you’re curious, the other one was after the 2013-14 season, as the Oilers sent Sam Gagner to the Lightning for Teddy Purcell.
Seven of their nine trades have come in the 1990s, and the most notable of the bunch came on Dec. 30, 1997. In this edition of Flashback Friday, we’ll take a look at the trade that brought Roman Hamrlík to the Oilers.

The Roman Hamrlík trade

The left-shot defenceman from Zlín, Czechia, had loads of potential. Hamrlík was drafted first overall in 1992, the only draft from 1976 until 2000 that didn’t produce a Hall of Famer. Still, he was productive when he came stateside, scoring six goals and 21 points in 67 games during his rookie campaign in 1992-93.
Hamrlík scored three goals and 21 points in 64 games during the 1993-94 season, then 12 goals and 23 points in just 48 games during the lockout-impacted 1994-95 season. He truly broke out in 1995-96, scoring 16 goals and 65 points in 82 games, with his point total being a career-best. In his final full season with the Lightning, he scored 12 goals and 40 points in 79 games.
After 37 games with the Lightning in 1997-98, the left-shot defenceman scored three goals and 15 points. On December 30th, 1997, the Lightning sent him and the rights of Paul Comrie to the Oilers for Bryan Marchment, Steve Kelly, and Jason Bonsignore.
If the Comrie last name sounds familiar, the Oilers went on to draft his brother, Mike, 91st overall in the 1999 draft. Mike had a much longer career, playing 589 games, even scoring 33 goals and 60 points with the Oilers in 2002-03. Paul played just 15 NHL games, scoring a goal and three points during the 1999-2000 season.
Hamrlík found immediate success with the Oilers, scoring six goals and 26 points in 41 games after the trade, helping the Oilers sneak into the playoffs as the seventh seed. Just like the year before, the Oilers caused an upset in the first round, knocking off the Colorado Avalanche in seven games, before eventually falling to the Dallas Stars, the team they beat the year before.
In 1998-99, Hamrlík scored eight goals  and 32 points in 75 games, then eight goals and 45 points during the 1999-00 season. Shortly following the 1999-00 season, Hamrlík was traded to the New York Islanders for Josh Green, Eric Brewer, and a 2000 second that turned out to be Brad Winchester.

READ NEXT: The Roman Hamrlik Trade Retrospective 

Edmonton Oilers Roman Hamrik Paul Comrie Jason Bonsignore Steve Kelly Bryan Marchment
Page D3 of the Dec. 31, 1997 edition of the Edmonton Journal details the Oilers acquisition of Roman Hamrlik and the rights to Paul Comrie. Newspapers.com/Edmonton Journal
The Hamrlík trade itself was good. Bonsignore, drafted fourth overall in 1994, played just 79 NHL games, while Kelly played 149 and scored just nine goals and 21 points, winning a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1999-00. Marchment was the best player of the three the Oilers gave up and at that point, he was already nearing 30.
Sometimes, a team will nail the trade that brought the better player, but then lose the second trade involving the player. That isn’t the case for the Oilers. Hamrlík went on to have a successful career, playing with the Islanders for four seasons, including a second 16-goal season. Then the left-shot defenceman played two seasons with the Calgary Flames, four seasons with the Montréal Canadiens, two with the Washington Capitals, and one with the New York Rangers.
Green’s best season with the Oilers was in 2001-02, as he scored 10 goals and 15 points in 61 games, but he was traded to the New York Rangers in late 2002. He had a second stint with the team before the end of his career, totalling 341 NHL games. Winchester played a similar number of games, 390, scoring 37 goals and 68 points.
However, Brewer was the main piece coming back, and he scored seven goals and 21 points in his first season after the trade. He followed that up with seven goals and 25 points in 2001-02, eight goals and 29 points in 80 games in 2002-03, then seven goals and 25 points in 77 games. While he was the weaker trade compared to Hamrlík, the Oilers sent him and two others to the St. Louis Blues for Chris Pronger before the start of the 2005-06 season.
These trades are just a few in the much larger Mark Messier trade. That trade tree eventually came to an end when Oscar Klefbom retired, with the final trade in the tree seeing Sam Gagner traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Andreas Athanasiou and two seconds.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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