Vincent Damphousse might not rate as highly on this list with some fans as I have him because he only played one season — 80 regular season and 16 playoff games — with the Edmonton Oilers. During the post-1990 era, Damphousse was never face of the franchise material like, say, Ryan Smyth, who would certainly be at or near the top of any list of most beloved Oilers, any era, to be sent away. That’s a trade that remains a stain on the franchise.
Unlike Smyth, who enjoyed his best days as an Oiler, a lot of what I’ve been looking at in compiling this list is what players went on to do after they were traded by the Oilers – guys who went on to play their prime years and enjoy the best hockey of their NHL careers after they left Edmonton. In that regard, there’s no doubt at all that letting Damphousse get away, for a lousy return no less, earns him the No. 2 spot in the post-Stanley Cup years.

Vincent Damphousse

Center
Born Dec 17th, 1967 — Montreal, QC
Height 6.01 — Weight 191 [185 cm/87 kg]
Drafted by Toronto Maple Leafs
Round 1 #6 overall 1986 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season
Age
Tm
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S%
ATOI
1986-87
19
TOR
80
21
25
46
-8
24
14.8
1987-88
20
TOR
75
12
36
48
2
40
10.8
1988-89
21
TOR
80
26
42
68
-8
75
13.7
1989-90
22
TOR
80
33
61
94
2
56
14.4
1990-91
23
TOR
79
26
47
73
-31
65
10.5
1991-92
24
EDM
80
38
51
89
10
53
15.4
1992-93
25
MTL
84
39
58
97
5
98
13.6
1993-94
26
MTL
84
40
51
91
0
75
14.6
1994-95
27
MTL
48
10
30
40
15
42
8.1
1995-96
28
MTL
80
38
56
94
5
158
15.0
1996-97
29
MTL
82
27
54
81
-6
82
11.1
1997-98
30
MTL
76
18
41
59
14
58
11.0
1998-99
31
TOT
77
19
30
49
-4
50
10.0
20:17
1998-99
31
MTL
65
12
24
36
-7
46
8.2
20:27
1998-99
31
SJS
12
7
6
13
3
4
16.3
19:21
1999-00
32
SJS
82
21
49
70
4
58
10.3
20:26
2000-01
33
SJS
45
9
37
46
17
62
8.9
20:49
2001-02
34
SJS
82
20
38
58
8
60
11.6
19:38
2002-03
35
SJS
82
23
38
61
-13
66
13.1
19:09
2003-04
36
SJS
82
12
29
41
-5
66
7.7
17:09
7 yrs
MTL
519
184
314
498
26
559
12.3
20:27
6 yrs
SJS
385
92
197
289
14
316
10.8
19:18
5 yrs
TOR
394
118
211
329
-43
260
12.8
1 yr
EDM
80
38
51
89
10
53
15.4
Career
1378
432
773
1205
7
1188
12.3
19:28

PLAYOFFS

Season
Age
Tm
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
TOI
1986-87
19
TOR
12
1
5
6
-3
6
18
5.6
1987-88
20
TOR
6
0
1
1
-3
10
4
0.0
1989-90
22
TOR
5
0
2
2
1
2
10
0.0
1991-92
24
EDM
16
6
8
14
5
8
45
13.3
1992-93
25
MTL
20
11
12
23
8
16
52
21.2
1993-94
26
MTL
7
1
2
3
-1
8
14
7.1
1995-96
28
MTL
6
4
4
8
2
0
26
15.4
1996-97
29
MTL
5
0
0
0
-5
2
7
0.0
1997-98
30
MTL
10
3
6
9
-4
22
42
7.1
1998-99
31
SJS
6
3
2
5
1
6
22
13.6
138
1999-00
32
SJS
12
1
7
8
-5
16
28
3.6
267
2000-01
33
SJS
6
2
1
3
-1
14
15
13.3
122
2001-02
34
SJS
12
2
6
8
-1
12
17
11.8
231
2003-04
36
SJS
17
7
7
14
0
20
37
18.9
321
Career
140
41
63
104
-6
142
337
12.2
1079

WITH THE OILERS

The Oilers sent Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson and Craig Berube to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Damphousse, who was coming off a 73-point season, Luke Richardson, Scott Thornton and Peter Ing in September 1991 as GM Glen Sather continued to dismantle what remained of the Boys on the Bus teams that had won Five Stanley Cups. Just 24, Damphousse delivered in a big way with 38-51-89 in the regular season before adding 14 points in 16 playoff games.
Damphousse led the Oilers in goals, assists, points, PP goals (12) and game-winning goals (eight). His 14 post-season points put him third on the team behind Joe Murphy and Bernie Nicholls in a year the Oilers were swept by Chicago in the Campbell Conference final. Simply put, the big, smooth-skating centre was a real find during Peter Pocklington’ 1990s belt-tightening era. Keep him? No. In August 1992, the Oilers sent Damphousse and a fourth-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Shayne Corson, Brent Gilchrist and Vladimir Vujtek. I shudder just to think of it.

DOWN THE ROAD

For my money, Corson went on to become the worst captain in the history of the Oilers. A selfish player, he divided the dressing room. Gilchrist (10-10-20 in 60 games with the Oilers) and Vujtek (5-25-30 in 70 games over two seasons) didn’t have much of an impact. Damphousse, meanwhile, went on to win the 1993 Stanley Cup with the Habs. In his first four seasons with the Canadiens, Damphousse had 97, 91, 40 (48 games) and 94 points. In those same four seasons, the increasingly dysfunctional Oilers missed the playoffs.
All told after leaving the Oilers, Damphousse went on to score 276-511-787 in stops with Montreal and San Jose on the way to career point totals of 432-773-1,205 in 1,378 regular season games. He had another 104 points in 140 playoff games. While those kinds of numbers likely won’t get Damphousse into the HHOF – he was a very, very good, but not great, player for a long time — it does make you wonder if the Oilers might have avoided that black hole of the mid-1990s had they kept him.
This series of various Top 10 lists will focus on the post-1990 Oilers – the players who haven’t played on a Stanley Cup winner in Edmonton.

Previously in this Series: