While there’s no doubt whatsoever these last 10 years out of the playoffs represent the longest stretch of futility in the history of the Edmonton Oilers, the consolation is there is hope of better days ahead with the likes of Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl and Cam Talbot in the fold and an owner in Daryl Katz who is willing to spend to the salary cap limit.
There was no such hope for the 1992-93 edition of the Oilers, who set a single-season franchise low that still stands today with a .357 points percentage – that’s worse than any Oiler team, Dallas Eakins and all, during this decade of ineptitude. The five-time Stanley Cup champions were a budget team in 1992-93, dictated by owner Peter Pocklington’s crumbling financial house of cards. The Oilers were awful, there was no McDavid and no stack of money to buy them out of the mess.
RECORD 26-50-8 60pts. .357 5th Smythe Division
GD 242-337 minus-95 SH% 10.3 SV% .882
NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS
1993-03-22 – Mike Hudson traded by Chicago for Craig Muni.
1993-03-17 – Esa Tikkanen traded to NY Rangers for Doug Weight.
1993-03-05 – Todd Elik traded by Minnesota for Brent Gilchrist.
1993-02-24 – Igor Kravchuk traded by Chicago with Dean McAmmond for Joe Murphy.
1993-01-16 – Brian Benning traded by Philadelphia for Josef Beranek and Greg Hawgood.
1993-01-13 – Zdeno Ciger traded by New Jersey with Kevin Todd for Bernie Nicholls.
1993-01-01 – David Maley claimed on waivers by San Jose.
1992-12-11 – Kevin Lowe traded to NY Rangers for Roman Oksiuta and 3rd round pick in 1993 (Alexander Kerch).
1992-10-04 – Norm MacIver claimed on waivers by Ottawa.
1992-09-09 – Ian Herbers signed as free agent (formerly with Buffalo).
1992-08-27 – Shayne Corson traded by Montreal with Brent Gilchrist and Vladimir Vujtek for Vincent Damphousse and 4th round pick in 1993 (Adam Wiesel).
1992-07-29 – Mike Greenlay signed as free agent by Tampa Bay.
1992-06-20 – Joaquin Gage drafted 109th overall.
1992-06-20 – Joe Hulbig drafted 13th overall.
1992-06-20 – Ralph Intranuovo drafted 96th overall.
1992-06-20 – Kirk Maltby drafted 65th overall.
1992-06-20 – Marko Tuomainen drafted 205th overall.
1992-06-18 – Mark Lamb claimed by Ottawa in expansion draft.
1992-06-18 – Anatoli Semenov claimed by Tampa Bay in expansion draft.
LEADING SCORERS
Rk | Player | Pos | Age | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S | S% |
1 | RW | 28 | 68 | 32 | 16 | 48 | -15 | 100 | 175 | 18.3 | |
2 | LW | 26 | 80 | 16 | 31 | 47 | -19 | 209 | 164 | 9.8 | |
3 | LW | 25 | 60 | 24 | 22 | 46 | -14 | 36 | 91 | 26.4 | |
4 | D | 26 | 83 | 15 | 30 | 45 | -28 | 210 | 244 | 6.1 | |
5 | C | 31 | 46 | 8 | 32 | 40 | -16 | 40 | 86 | 9.3 | |
6 | LW | 28 | 66 | 14 | 19 | 33 | -11 | 76 | 162 | 8.6 | |
7 | RW | 26 | 69 | 15 | 17 | 32 | -4 | 147 | 114 | 13.2 | |
8 | RW | 26 | 83 | 12 | 18 | 30 | -27 | 133 | 92 | 13.0 | |
9 | C | 34 | 82 | 10 | 20 | 30 | -16 | 110 | 101 | 9.9 | |
10 | RW | 23 | 37 | 9 | 15 | 24 | -5 | 6 | 67 | 13.4 |
SEASON RECAP
How bad where the 1992-93 Oilers? The team’s leading scorer, Petr Klima, had 48 points. Shayne Corson, acquired from Montreal in a trade that sent Vincent Damphousse, Edmonton’s leading scorer from the previous season to the Habs, was the team captain. Yes, the me-me-me guy.
At the time, Edmonton’s 26 wins represented a franchise low that left them 27 points out of the playoffs. They lost 50 games, still a franchise record. The Oilers, once the highest-flying team in the NHL in terms of offensive prowess, finished tied for last in power play goals. They scored just 242 goals, third-last in the league (only San Jose and Ottawa scored less). We feared coach Teddy Green, as competitive a hockey man as you’ll ever meet, would clutch his chest and go down at any moment.
The Oilers, who’d reached the conference final the previous season, won just four times in their final 20 games and ended the campaign with six straight losses and opted for cheap again at the trade deadline – Sather sent Esa Tikkanen to the New York Rangers for Doug Weight and Bernie Nicholls to New Jersey for Zdeno Ciger and Kevin Todd.
OFF THE RAILS
The 1992-93 Oilers were the product of years of making trades based on dumping salaries and awful drafting. That’s a lethal combination. While Sather was hacking away at the big contracts, his scouting staff, lauded during Edmonton’s first three seasons in the NHL on the way to five Cup parades, couldn’t pick a winner in a one-horse race.
Edmonton’s drafting record, particularly in the first round, in the decade leading up to this season was atrocious. In 1992, they took Joe Hulbig 13th after taking Tyler Wright 12th and Martin Rucinsky 20th in 1991. They took Scott Allison 17th in 1990, Jason Soules 15th in 1989 and Francois Leroux 19th in 1988. Add in Peter Soberlak (1987), Kim Issel (1986), Scott Metcalfe (1985) and Selmar Odelein (1984) and it’s a stark stretch of nothing.
In a span of just 14 seasons, the Oilers had gone from being cocky new kids on the NHL block to five-time Stanley Cup champions with the best young players on the planet to bargain bin laughing stocks. These were easily the worst of times for the Oilers and their fans.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260.
