No doubt, the Kings are upset about their fourth consecutive series defeat at the hands of the Oilers. Last year, they were oh so close, but blew a 2-0 series lead with late leads in Games 3 and 4. Will there be a fifth matchup this season? Time will tell.

Bitter rivals don’t tend to trade with one another, at least when both are playoff teams at the same time. Such is the case for the Kings and the Oilers. Although the teams haven’t made any trades in recent time, the two divisional rivals have made five trades since the turn of the century. In this edition of Throwback Thursday, we’ll look at those trades.

Oilers acquire Ľubomír Višňovský

Shortly after the Wayne Gretzky trade on Aug 9, 1988, the Oilers and Kings made two trades in less than a year, made a small move early into the 1993 season, and then didn’t make another trade until 2008. On Jun. 29, 2008, the Oilers sent Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene to the Kings in exchange for defenceman Ľubomír Višňovský.

Stoll was drafted 36th overall by the Oilers in 2002, and was a big part of their Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2006. In his rookie campaign in 2003-04, Stoll scored 10 goals and 21 points in 68 goals, but exploded for 22 goals and 68 points in 82 games in 2005-06 once the lockout ended. He added four goals and 10 points in 24 playoff games.

The Melville, Saskatchewan native never hit those heights again as an Oiler, scoring 13 goals and 39 points in 51 games in 2006-07, and 14 goals and 36 points in 81 games during the 2007-08. Once traded, Stoll scored back-to-back 40+ point seasons, including hitting the 20-goal mark during the 2010-11 season.

More importantly, Stoll won Stanley Cups with the Kings in both 2012 and 2014. Just like the Oilers six years before, the Kings were the eighth-seeded team in the Western Conference, but actually became the first team to win the Cup from that position, doing so in dominant fashion. Stoll played for the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild in 2015-16, ending his career after that season.

Greene, a defenceman, had a similar path to Stoll. Like the centre, Greene was selected in the second round of the 2002 draft (44th overall), played a role in their Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2006, and went on to win two Stanley Cups with the Kings, ending his career after the 2016-17 season.

Unlike Stoll, Greene’s career-highs came with the Kings, scoring two goals and 14 points in 72 games once joining the team. The only season he put up better numbers was in 2011-12, where he scored four goals and 15 points, then added two goals and six points en route to the Kings’ first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

So, was Višňovský worth the price they paid? Nope, at least not with the Oilers. Before joining the Oilers, the left-shot defenceman had played seven seasons with the Kings, scoring 70 goals and 279 points in 499 games. That included a 17-goal, 67-point season in 2005-06, and an 18-goal, 58-point season in 2006-07.

In his one and only full season with the Oilers, Višňovský scored eight goals and 31 points, down from the eight-goals and 41 points he scored in his final season as a King. Through 57 games with the Oilers in 2009-10, Višňovský scored 10 goals and 32 points, but was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Ryan Whitney and a 2010 pick, which became Brandon Davidson.

This trade tree eventually led to David Desharnais’ overtime winner against the San Jose Sharks in 2017, so maybe it was okay?

Oilers trade Dustin Penner

Before the St. Louis Blues gave offer sheets to Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, the Oilers gave an offer sheet to Dustin Penner. Signed to a five-year deal worth $21.25 million, the Oilers gave up their 2008 first, second, and third.

If you’re wondering what happened with those picks, the first was used to select Tyler Myers three picks before Erik Karlsson. Funnily, the pick after Myers belonged to the Kings, but more on that in a second. The second was used to select Justin Schultz, yes, that Justin Schultz, and the third was used to select Kirill Petrov, who never played in the NHL.

Penner scored 29 goals and 45 points in 82 games during the 2006-07 season, helping the Ducks win the Cup. He spent parts of four seasons with the Oilers, scoring 93 goals and 186 points in 304 games. In his final full season with the Oilers, Penner scored 32 goals and 63 points, his career-high, while scoring 21 goals and 39 points with the Oilers in 2010-11 before the trade.

On Feb. 28, 2011, the Oilers sent him to the Kings for Colten Teubert, a 2011 first-round pick, and third-round pick in 2012. Teubert was the player selected immediately after Myers, and two picks ahead of Karlsson, but he only played 24 games in 2011-12, picking up an assist and 25 penalty minutes.

The third round pick in 2012 was used to select Russian forward Daniil Zharkov, who never played professionally in North America, spending most of his career in Russia’s version of the American Hockey League. However, that first was used to select Oscar Klefbom.

It’s hard not to be sad about how Klefbom’s career turned out. In 378 career games, Klefbom scored 34 goals and 156 points, including a career-high 12 goals and 38 games in 82 games, the only season he played over 70 games.

Klefbom’s final NHL season was in 2019-20, essentially retiring at the age of 26 years old, far too soon as that’s the age defencemen start to hit their stride. The Oilers won the trade, even if Penner won a Stanley Cup with the 2012 Kings, but it’s hard to think what could’ve been if Klefbom remained healthy.

Oilers re-acquire Ryan Smyth

By the end of January, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will likely become the first Oiler in franchise history to play 1,000 games with the team. His former teammate, Ryan Smyth, should’ve been the first.

Drafted sixth overall in the 1994 draft, number 94 went on to become one of the most well-known Oilers in the mid-to-late 90s and early-to-mid noughties. In his first stint, Smyth scored 265 goals and 549 points in 770 games. Just a year before the first trade involving Oilers and Smyth, he had scored 36 goals and 66 points, including seven goals and 16 points in 24 playoff games in 2006.

But a dispute in his extension, about $300,000, caused the Oilers to trade him to the New York Islanders before the 2007 trade deadline for Robert Nilsson, Ryan O’Marra, and a first-round pick in 2007, used to select Alex Plante.

Smyth played 18 regular season games with the Islanders and five postseason games. He signed a five-year deal with the Avalanche during the 2007 off-season, playing two seasons with them and scoring 40 goals and 96 points in 132 games, before being traded to the Kings.

In his two seasons with the Kings, Smyth scored 45 goals and 100 points in 149 games. At the 2011 draft, he returned to where it all started, as the Oilers sent Colin Fraser and a 2012 seventh-rounder to the Kings for Smyth. Fraser won the Cup with the Kings in 2011-12, but retired after the 2015-16 season. The seventh-rounder was eventually traded to the Dallas Stars, who used it to select Russian Dmitry Sinitsyn, who never played in the NHL.

Smyth went on to score 19 goals and 46 points in 82 games in his first season back in Edmonton. During the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Smyth scored two goals and 13 points in 47 games, but rebounded with 10 goals and 23 points in 72 games.

His final NHL game was one I remember vividly. Captain Canada wore the Oilers’ C for the first time in his career as he looked to break the record for most power play goals in franchise history. He drew four minor penalties in this game, but was unable to surpass Glenn Anderson’s 126 goals, settling for tying it. After the game, the Canucks came out and shook his hand, easily one of the best memories in the Decade of Darkness.

The first teammate he embraced when the horn went off? Netminder Ben Scrivens.

Oilers acquire Ben Scrivens

On Jan. 15, 2014, the Oilers sent a 2014 third-round pick to the Kings for Ben Scrivens. That pick was used to select Dominic Turgeon, who only played nine NHL games (all with the Detroit Red Wings), but is still active in the second tier of German hockey.

What Scrivens is most known for as an Oiler is his 59-save shutout performance. However, at the end of the month, I plan to write about that in a different Flashback Friday, as Jan. 30 is the 12 year anniversary of that game. I won’t touch on that too much in this article.

The Oilers 2013-14 season was an interesting, so much so that before the start of the 2024-25 season, I wrote an article about the six goalies the Oilers used during the 2013-14 season. On top of Scrivens, the Oilers used Devan Dubnyk, Ilya Brzgalov, Viktor Fasth, Jason LaBarbera, and Richard Bachman.

Aside from Dubynk, who the Oilers should not have traded, Scrivens played the most games of the other four goalies. In 21 games, Scrivens had a .916 save percentage, which is already solid in its own right, but factor in that he was allowing three goals a game on average (3.01 goals against average), and you can tell that the 59-save shutout performance wasn’t that much of an outlier, as he was getting shelled.

The Oilers turned to him as their starter in 2014-15, where his results were far less spectacular, an .890 save percentage and 3.16 goals against average in 57 games. After they acquired Cam Talbot during the 2015 draft, Scrivens began the season with their American Hockey League team. Shortly after the holiday roster freeze, Scrivens was traded to the Montréal Canadiens for Zack Kassian.

Kassian went on to become a fan favourite with the Oilers, reaching the 15 goal mark twice in 2018-19 and 2019-20. His best moment as an Oiler was in Game 2 of the Oilers’ first round of the 2017 playoffs. He laid two massive hits and even scored his first career playoff goal in the Oilers’ first postseason win since Game 6 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. A close second is him singlehandly making the Battle of Alberta hot in 2019-20.

In Kassian’s final season as an Oiler, he scored six goals and 19 points in 58 games, with two goals and four points in 16 playoff games. But by the time the 2022 draft rolled around, the Oilers needed cap space, trading Kassian to the Arizona Coyotes with their 2022 first, a third in 2024, and a second in 2025 for a first round pick a few selections after where the Oilers intially drafted.

With that first, the Oilers selected Reid Schaefer, but he was later traded with Tyson Barrie, a 2023 first-round pick, and a 2024 fourth-round pick for Mattias Ekholm and the pick used to draft Oilers’ prospect, Albin Sundin.

So, the Scrivens tree kicked off an ongoing trade tree for the Oilers, fun!

Oilers acquire Michael Cammalleri

The 2017-18 and 2018-19 Oilers were rather sad to watch. All momentum from going to Game 7 of the second round in the 2017 playoffs ended, as the Oilers missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. The Kings were in the same boat at this time, as they didn’t win a playoff game from 2016-17 until 2021-22.

On Nov. 14, 2017, the two teams made their most recent trade, as the Oilers sent Jussi Jokinen to the Kings for Michael Cammalleri. Both players were far past their prime at this point, as Cammalleri scored four goals and 22 points in 51 games with the Oilers, giving him seven goals and 29 points in 66 games. He didn’t play another NHL game after the 2017-18 season, retiring shortly after.

Jokinen had a weird season, as he played for four different teams. With the Oilers, he picked up an assist in 14 games. With the Kings, he scored and had five assists in 18 games, then picked up an assist in 14 games with the Vancouver Canucks. His final NHL action was with the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he scored four goals and 10 points in, you guessed it, 14 games.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.