The 1987-88 season will forever live in franchise folklore as easily the most significant in team history. It was one in which the Oilers hoisted their fourth Stanley Cup in five seasons, capping a dominating 16-2 playoff performance with a four-game sweep of the Boston Bruins on May 26, 1988.
It would also prove to be the last season Wayne Gretzky would play for the Oilers. With another Stanley Cup celebration fresh in the minds of Oiler fans, owner Peter Pocklington sold Gretzky, the greatest player to ever lace his skates in the NHL, to the Los Angeles Kings for $15 million, Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas and three draft picks.
With the announcement of the trade Aug. 9, 1988, outraged Oiler fans went from partying on Jasper Avenue 12 weeks earlier to hanging and burning Pocklington in effigy after Los Angeles owner Bruce McNall swung the deal with Pocklington, then jumped a private jet for Tinseltown with the Great One aboard after a tearful farewell at Molson House.
The Cup win aside, everything else that season became a footnote.
RECORD 44-25-11 (99 points), 2nd in Smythe Division 
GD 363-288 plus 75 SH% 15.5 SV% .880

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS

Los Angeles Kings Acquire 
Date
Edmonton Oilers Acquire
Wayne Gretzky
Mike Krushelnyski
Marty McSorley
August 9, 1988 
Jimmy Carson
Martin Gelinas
1989 1st round pick (#18-Jason Miller)
1991 1st round pick (#20-Martin Rucinsky) 
1993 1st round pick (#16-Nick Stajduhar)
cash
Edmonton Oilers Acquire
Date
Washington Capitals Acquire
Greg C. Adams
July 22, 1988
rights to Geoff Courtnall
Boston Bruins Acquire
Date
Edmonton Oilers Acquire
Andy Moog
March 8, 1988
Geoff Courtnall
Bill Ranford
1988 2nd round pick (#39-Petro Koivunen)
Boston Bruins Acquire
Date
Edmonton Oilers Acquire
Moe Lemay
March 8, 1988
Alan May
Buffalo Sabres Acquire
Date
Edmonton Oilers Acquire
Scott Metcalfe
1989 9th round pick (#183-Donald Audette) 
February 11, 1988 
Steve Dykstra
1989 7th round pick (#140-Davis Payne)
Minnesota North Stars Acquire
Date
Edmonton Oilers Acquire
Moe Mantha
January 22, 1988
Keith Acton
Edmonton Oilers acquire
Date
Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire
Dave Hannan
Chris Joseph
Moe Mantha
Craig Simpson
November 24, 1987 
Paul Coffey
Dave Hunter
Wayne Van Dorp
Edmonton Oilers Acquire
Date
Chicago Blackhawks Acquire
Dave Donnelly
October 19, 1987
future considerations (cash)

LEADING SCORERS

Player
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
Wayne Gretzky
64
40
109
149
39
24
211
19.0
Mark Messier
77
37
74
111
21
103
182
20.3
Jari Kurri
80
43
53
96
25
30
207
20.8
Glenn Anderson
80
38
50
88
5
58
255
14.9
Esa Tikkanen
80
23
51
74
21
153
142
16.2
Craig Simpson
59
43
21
64
15
43
118
36.4
Steve Smith
79
12
43
55
40
286
116
10.3
Mike Krushelnyski
76
20
27
47
26
64
124
16.1
Charlie Huddy
77
13
28
41
23
71
163
8.0
Craig MacTavish
80
15
17
32
-3
47
90
16.7

SEASON RECAP

It didn’t take long after McNall assumed ownership of the Kings from Dr. Jerry Buss until he started working Pocklington about the possibility of acquiring Gretzky. A fourth Cup secured, despite a year in which the Oilers had a stretch of six straight seasons with at least 100 points snapped and with 44 wins marking the lowest total since Edmonton’s first two years in the NHL, Pocklington was willing to listen.
By the time the NHL handed out its year-end awards in Toronto, McNall was in hot pursuit. “McNall leaned over and said, ‘I’ll give you $15 million, plus some players.’ At that time, $15 million was $18.5 million Canadian,” said Pocklington. “I said, ‘Let me think about it,’ and called him a week later and said, ‘I could live with that.’”
Most Oiler fans, it goes without saying, had more difficulty living with the Gretzky sale. Reaction was over the top. Pocklington received death threats. There was even discussions by members in the House of Commons about proposing legislation that would block the trade. Everything took a back seat to the events of August – the Cup win, the trade earlier in the season of Paul Coffey, Gretzky’s marriage to Janet Jones in Edmonton. 

RETHINKING THE SEASON

GM Glen Sather began the season by dipping into what many assumed or hoped was an untouchable core group of players when he traded Coffey (along with Dave Hunter and Wayne Van Dorp) to Pittsburgh for Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Chris Joseph and Moe Mantha. Later, he sent Andy Moog to Boston for Geoff Courtnall and Bill Ranford.
The Oilers, clearly, were a team in transition with Coffey and Moog dealt away. Keeping The Boys on the Bus, winners of three Cups and on the way to a fourth, together was becoming a pricey proposition. Then McNall came calling with his sales pitch and $15 million to back it up.
Just 27 when he was traded, Gretzky’s time in Edmonton would see his name engraved on the Stanley Cup four times. He’d win the Hart Trophy as MVP eight times. He won seven scoring titles. He’d tally 1,669 points in just 696 regular season games and re-write the NHL record book along the way. Then, he was gone. Sold. 
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260.

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