Jake Walman is set to make his debut with the Edmonton on Saturday.
Walman will also be the first player in team history to wear the No. 96, which he has worn throughout his NHL career.
A lot of Oiler greats have had high numbers. There’s obviously Connor McDavid’s No. 97 as well as Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99. Fan favourite Ryan Smyth also wore No. 94 throughout his career, the only Oilers to ever do so. An uncommon number, No. 98, was worn by Jesse Puljujärvi from the 2016-17 until the 2018-19 season, before switching to No. 13.
A handful of Oilers players also have jersey numbers in the 90s. Corey Perry is the first and only Oiler to wear No. 90. Evander Kane is the fifth Oiler to have No. 91 on his back, preceded by Mike Comrie, Magnus Pääjärvi, Drake Caggiula, and Gaetan Haas. Vasily Podkolzin is the second player to wear No. 92, following Tomáš Jurčo in 2019-2020.
Of course, the longest-tenured Oiler, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, has had No. 93 on his back since his rookie season in 2011-12, since he was born in 1993. McDavid wears No. 97 and now Walman wears No. 96.
The Oilers could be the first team that has all numbers in the 90s worn by one player, as they’re only missing a player who has worn No. 95. Of course, only three other teams have the opportunity to have all 90 numbers worn – the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, and St Louis Blues. Those were the three Gretzky played for and the Rangers also only needed one more number (No. 98) to have all 10 numbers in the 90s worn.
Other numbers have never been worn before, such as No. 61, but if Roby Järventie makes the National Hockey League, that could change. We may never see an Oiler wear No. 66 though, as that number is unofficially retired league-wide for Mario Lemieux. Obviously, No. 69 isn’t used because it’s hilarious.
Those four numbers, No. 61, No. 66, No. 69, and No. 95 are the only unique numbers remaining in Oilers history now that Walman has claimed No. 96. There are two plausible numbers we’ll see in the future, No. 61 and No. 95. The former has been worn by Clark Bishop, Trevor Lewis, Jacob Quillan, Riley Stillman and Mark Stone this season while Järventie is one call-up away. As for the latter, a handful of players currently wear that number, such as André Burakovsky, Matt Duchene, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Vinni Lettiere, Ilya Mikheyev, and Victor Olofsson.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.