On Thursday night, the Edmonton Oilers face the Colorado Avalanche for the second time this season.

Funnily enough, the two franchises have only made two trades since the Québec Nordiques moved to Denver, the most recent one being on Feb. 28, 2011, when they traded Shawn Belle for Kevin Montgomery. The other trade is the one we’ll look at in this edition of Throwback Thursday.
On Mar. 8, 2004, the Oilers traded netminder <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2023/03/20/throwback-to-1999-edmonton-oilers-acquire-tommy-salo-and-ethan-moreau-in-trade-deadline-shake-up/">Tommy Salo</a> and a 2005 sixth-rounder to the Avalanche for Tom Gilbert. The sixth-rounder was used to pick Justin Mercier, who played nine games in the National Hockey League. Salo played five games for the Avalanche before departing for Europe.
On the other hand, Gilbert had a lengthy National Hockey League career. But first, let’s look at the trade tree that brought Gilbert to the Oilers.
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<h2>What brought Gilbert to the Oilers?</h2>
In 1979, the Oilers joined the National Hockey League from the World Hockey Association. One of their picks in the following expansion draft was Reg Thomas, who was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a sixth-round pick in the 1981 draft. Interestingly, the Leafs traded him to the Québec Nordiques a few months later.
On Jun. 10, the Oilers selected Steve Smith with the 111th overall pick. The stay-at-home defenceman had a successful Oiler career, scoring 46 goals and 218 points in 385 games, winning three of the Oilers’ five Stanley Cups in the 1980s. However, the Oilers traded him on Oct. 2, 1991, to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenceman Dave Manson and a third-round pick in 1992, which turned out to be Kirk Maltby.
The Oilers eventually traded both players, Maltby was traded for Dan McGillis, who was then traded for Janne Niinimaa, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/throwback-thursday-the-paul-coffey-trade-tree">a player at the backend of the Paul Coffey trade tree</a>, which I wrote about a few months ago in a different Throwback Thursday.
Manson was traded six times in his career. However, the second trade he was involved in came four seasons later, when the Oilers traded him and a sixth-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Mats Lindgren, Boris Mironov, a 1994 first-round pick (Jason Bonsignore), and a 1994 fourth-rounder (Adam Copeland). Mironov was involved in another trade tree to acquire future captain Ethan Morenu, but <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/throwback-thursday-edmonton-oilers-trade-for-kevin-mcclelland">I wrote about that here in a different Throwback Thursday</a>.
The player of note from this trade is Mats Lindgren, who was traded to the New York Islanders with a 1999 eighth-round pick for Salo. It was a solid Oiler career for Salo, as he helped the Oilers reach the postseason in 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, and 2002-03. Unfortunately, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/throwback-thursday-all-of-the-oilers-who-played-at-the-2002-salt-lake-city-olympics">a blunder in the 2002 Olympics derailed his career</a>, and he was sent to the Colorado Avalanche with a 2005 sixth-round pick for Gilbert.
<h2>Tom Gilbert had an underrated career</h2>
Gilbert was selected in the fourth round of the 2002 draft by the Avalanche from the United States Hockey League’s Chicago Steel. He attended the University of Wisconsin for four seasons, being traded in his sophomore season.
In 2006-07, Gilbert made his National Hockey League debut with the Oilers where he scored a goal and six points in 12 games. He became a regular the next season, scoring a career-high 13 goals along with 33 points. In 2008-09, he scored five goals but managed 45 points.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Tom Gilbert&#39;s first career NHL goal.
Very under-appreciated defenceman. His 45 points in the 2008-09 season was the last time an Oiler defenceman hit the 40+ point mark until Darnell Nurse did it in 2018-19. <a href="https://t.co/8cTzL4nB6W">pic.twitter.com/8cTzL4nB6W</a>
&mdash; Ryley Delaney🏳️‍⚧️ (@Ryley_L_D) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ryley_L_D/status/1879984043271589904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Those 45 points were the last time an Oiler defenceman reached the 40+ point mark in a long time, with Darnell Nurse finally reaching the mark a decade later in 2018-19 with 41 points. The 45-point mark by a defenceman wasn’t reached until Tyson Barrie picked up 48 points in 2020-21, 12 seasons later.
In 2009-10, Gilbert scored five goals and 31 points, followed by six goals and 26 points in the 2010-11 season. The 2011-12 season was his final as an Oiler, where he scored three goals and 17 points in 47 games.
Gilbert went on to play parts of two seasons with the Minnesota Wild, scoring three goals and 18 points in 63 games. He spent a season in Florida with the Panthers the following season, scoring three goals and 28 points in 73 games. The next two seasons of Gilbert’s career were spent with the Montréal Canadiens, where he scored five goals and 14 points in 117 games, before wrapping up his National Hockey League career with the Los Angeles Kings in 2016-17, playing 18 games with them.
Beginning in 2017-18, Gilbert played four seasons with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany. He hung up his skates after the 2020-21 season.
<h2>The rest of the tree</h2>
At the 2012 trade deadline on Feb. 27, the Oilers traded Tom Gilbert to the Minnesota Wild for fellow defenceman Nick Schultz. He played 128 games with the Oilers, scoring a goal and 17 points. As they were in the midst of their decade of darkness, the Oilers traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fifth-round pick in 2014.
That pick wasn’t used by the Oilers, as they traded it back to the Blue Jackets for the rights of defenceman Nikita Nikitin. If you’re curious, the pick was used to select right-winger Tyler Bird, who never played a National Hockey League game, but currently plays with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.
Nikitin, who was involved in a trade for Kris Russell earlier in his career, is where this trade tree ends. The Oilers signed him to a two-year deal worth $4.5 million., one of the worst moves the team made with Craig MacTavish at the helm. Nikitin played two seasons with the Oilers, scoring four goals and 11 points in 53 games. The left-shot defenceman signed with Omsk Avangard of the Kontinental Hockey League to start the 2016-17 season, spending three seasons in the KHL to end his career.
If you enjoy my content, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.
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On Thursday night, the Edmonton Oilers face the Colorado Avalanche for the second time this season.



Funnily enough, the two franchises have only made two trades since the Québec Nordiques moved to Denver, the most recent one being on Feb. 28, 2011, when they traded Shawn Belle for Kevin Montgomery. The other trade is the one we’ll look at in this edition of Throwback Thursday.

On Mar. 8, 2004, the Oilers traded netminder <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2023/03/20/throwback-to-1999-edmonton-oilers-acquire-tommy-salo-and-ethan-moreau-in-trade-deadline-shake-up/">Tommy Salo</a> and a 2005 sixth-rounder to the Avalanche for Tom Gilbert. The sixth-rounder was used to pick Justin Mercier, who played nine games in the National Hockey League. Salo played five games for the Avalanche before departing for Europe.

On the other hand, Gilbert had a lengthy National Hockey League career. But first, let’s look at the trade tree that brought Gilbert to the Oilers.
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<h2>What brought Gilbert to the Oilers?</h2>
In 1979, the Oilers joined the National Hockey League from the World Hockey Association. One of their picks in the following expansion draft was Reg Thomas, who was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a sixth-round pick in the 1981 draft. Interestingly, the Leafs traded him to the Québec Nordiques a few months later.

On Jun. 10, the Oilers selected Steve Smith with the 111th overall pick. The stay-at-home defenceman had a successful Oiler career, scoring 46 goals and 218 points in 385 games, winning three of the Oilers’ five Stanley Cups in the 1980s. However, the Oilers traded him on Oct. 2, 1991, to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenceman Dave Manson and a third-round pick in 1992, which turned out to be Kirk Maltby.

The Oilers eventually traded both players, Maltby was traded for Dan McGillis, who was then traded for Janne Niinimaa, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/throwback-thursday-the-paul-coffey-trade-tree">a player at the backend of the Paul Coffey trade tree</a>, which I wrote about a few months ago in a different Throwback Thursday.

Manson was traded six times in his career. However, the second trade he was involved in came four seasons later, when the Oilers traded him and a sixth-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Mats Lindgren, Boris Mironov, a 1994 first-round pick (Jason Bonsignore), and a 1994 fourth-rounder (Adam Copeland). Mironov was involved in another trade tree to acquire future captain Ethan Morenu, but <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/throwback-thursday-edmonton-oilers-trade-for-kevin-mcclelland">I wrote about that here in a different Throwback Thursday</a>.

The player of note from this trade is Mats Lindgren, who was traded to the New York Islanders with a 1999 eighth-round pick for Salo. It was a solid Oiler career for Salo, as he helped the Oilers reach the postseason in 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, and 2002-03. Unfortunately, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/throwback-thursday-all-of-the-oilers-who-played-at-the-2002-salt-lake-city-olympics">a blunder in the 2002 Olympics derailed his career</a>, and he was sent to the Colorado Avalanche with a 2005 sixth-round pick for Gilbert.
<h2>Tom Gilbert had an underrated career</h2>
Gilbert was selected in the fourth round of the 2002 draft by the Avalanche from the United States Hockey League’s Chicago Steel. He attended the University of Wisconsin for four seasons, being traded in his sophomore season.

In 2006-07, Gilbert made his National Hockey League debut with the Oilers where he scored a goal and six points in 12 games. He became a regular the next season, scoring a career-high 13 goals along with 33 points. In 2008-09, he scored five goals but managed 45 points.

https://twitter.com/Ryley_L_D/status/1879984043271589904

Those 45 points were the last time an Oiler defenceman reached the 40+ point mark in a long time, with Darnell Nurse finally reaching the mark a decade later in 2018-19 with 41 points. The 45-point mark by a defenceman wasn’t reached until Tyson Barrie picked up 48 points in 2020-21, 12 seasons later.

In 2009-10, Gilbert scored five goals and 31 points, followed by six goals and 26 points in the 2010-11 season. The 2011-12 season was his final as an Oiler, where he scored three goals and 17 points in 47 games.

Gilbert went on to play parts of two seasons with the Minnesota Wild, scoring three goals and 18 points in 63 games. He spent a season in Florida with the Panthers the following season, scoring three goals and 28 points in 73 games. The next two seasons of Gilbert’s career were spent with the Montréal Canadiens, where he scored five goals and 14 points in 117 games, before wrapping up his National Hockey League career with the Los Angeles Kings in 2016-17, playing 18 games with them.

Beginning in 2017-18, Gilbert played four seasons with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany. He hung up his skates after the 2020-21 season.
<h2>The rest of the tree</h2>
At the 2012 trade deadline on Feb. 27, the Oilers traded Tom Gilbert to the Minnesota Wild for fellow defenceman Nick Schultz. He played 128 games with the Oilers, scoring a goal and 17 points. As they were in the midst of their decade of darkness, the Oilers traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fifth-round pick in 2014.

That pick wasn’t used by the Oilers, as they traded it back to the Blue Jackets for the rights of defenceman Nikita Nikitin. If you’re curious, the pick was used to select right-winger Tyler Bird, who never played a National Hockey League game, but currently plays with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.

Nikitin, who was involved in a trade for Kris Russell earlier in his career, is where this trade tree ends. The Oilers signed him to a two-year deal worth $4.5 million., one of the worst moves the team made with Craig MacTavish at the helm. Nikitin played two seasons with the Oilers, scoring four goals and 11 points in 53 games. The left-shot defenceman signed with Omsk Avangard of the Kontinental Hockey League to start the 2016-17 season, spending three seasons in the KHL to end his career.

If you enjoy my content, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.
<h2>ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365</h2>
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Throwback Thursday: Tom Gilbert’s trade was one of two the Oilers have made with the Avalanche

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