When you create a list of the best young players who got away from the Edmonton Oilers in the post-Stanley Cup era, there’s no shortage of names that come to mind. In many cases, the Oilers simply couldn’t afford to keep them. In others, the player didn’t get much of a chance here or didn’t hit his stride until after he left town. Sometimes, management just blew it. Roman Hamrlik falls into the first category.
The Oilers knew exactly how good Hamrlik, the first overall pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992, was when they obtained him in December 1997. Hamrlik lived up to that billing in 196 games in Edmonton silks, but they couldn’t afford to pay him. At the 2000 Entry Draft in Calgary, Kevin Lowe, in his first couple months as GM after taking over from Glen Sather, dealt the minute-munching Czech blueliner to the New York Islanders for young, cheaper players. Such was the reality for Oiler fans in those budget-conscious days.

Roman Hamrlik

Defense — shoots L
Born Apr 12th, 1974 — Zlin, Czech Rep.
Height 6.01 — Weight 207 [185 cm/94 kg]
Drafted by Tampa Bay Lightning
Round 1 #1 overall 1992 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season
Age
Tm
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
ATOI
1992-93
18
TBL
67
6
15
21
-21
71
113
5.3
1993-94
19
TBL
64
3
18
21
-14
135
158
1.9
1994-95
20
TBL
48
12
11
23
-18
86
134
9.0
1995-96
21
TBL
82
16
49
65
-24
103
281
5.7
1996-97
22
TBL
79
12
28
40
-29
57
238
5.0
1997-98
23
TOT
78
9
32
41
-15
70
198
4.5
1997-98
23
TBL
37
3
12
15
-18
22
86
3.5
1997-98
23
EDM
41
6
20
26
3
48
112
5.4
1998-99
24
EDM
75
8
24
32
9
70
172
4.7
23:49
1999-00
25
EDM
80
8
37
45
1
68
180
4.4
25:18
2000-01
26
NYI
76
16
30
46
-20
92
232
6.9
25:12
2001-02
27
NYI
70
11
26
37
7
78
169
6.5
25:32
2002-03
28
NYI
73
9
32
41
21
87
151
6.0
26:34
2003-04
29
NYI
81
7
22
29
2
68
182
3.8
24:35
2005-06
31
CGY
51
7
19
26
8
56
89
7.9
21:51
2006-07
32
CGY
75
7
31
38
22
88
125
5.6
24:52
2007-08
33
MTL
77
5
21
26
7
38
129
3.9
23:08
2008-09
34
MTL
81
6
27
33
4
62
143
4.2
21:55
2009-10
35
MTL
75
6
20
26
-2
56
100
6.0
23:26
2010-11
36
MTL
79
5
29
34
6
81
129
3.9
22:17
2011-12
37
WSH
68
2
11
13
11
34
58
3.4
19:13
2012-13
38
TOT
16
0
1
1
-4
8
7
0.0
11:29
2012-13
38
WSH
4
0
1
1
-1
2
2
0.0
15:36
2012-13
38
NYR
12
0
0
0
-3
6
5
0.0
10:06
6 yrs
TBL
377
52
133
185
-124
474
1010
5.1
4 yrs
MTL
312
22
97
119
15
237
501
4.4
22:40
4 yrs
NYI
300
43
110
153
10
325
734
5.9
25:27
3 yrs
EDM
196
22
81
103
13
186
464
4.7
24:35
2 yrs
CGY
126
14
50
64
30
144
214
6.5
23:39
2 yrs
WSH
72
2
12
14
10
36
60
3.3
19:01
1 yr
NYR
12
0
0
0
-3
6
5
0.0
10:06
Career
1395
155
483
638
-49
1408
2988
5.2
23:32

PLAYOFFS

Season
Age
Tm
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
ATOI
1995-96
21
TBL
5
0
1
1
-1
4
10
0.0
1997-98
23
EDM
12
0
6
6
-4
12
19
0.0
1998-99
24
EDM
3
0
0
0
1
2
1
0.0
16:23
1999-00
25
EDM
5
0
1
1
-4
4
10
0.0
24:44
2001-02
27
NYI
7
1
6
7
-6
6
21
4.8
29:09
2002-03
28
NYI
5
0
2
2
-2
2
9
0.0
29:24
2003-04
29
NYI
5
0
1
1
0
2
10
0.0
25:30
2005-06
31
CGY
7
0
2
2
-7
2
10
0.0
19:44
2006-07
32
CGY
6
0
1
1
-3
8
9
0.0
26:53
2007-08
33
MTL
12
1
2
3
-3
8
15
6.7
22:55
2008-09
34
MTL
4
0
0
0
-5
2
10
0.0
25:19
2009-10
35
MTL
19
0
9
9
-1
15
21
0.0
20:08
2010-11
36
MTL
7
0
3
3
-1
6
4
0.0
23:20
2011-12
37
WSH
14
1
3
4
8
12
18
5.6
22:17
2012-13
38
NYR
2
0
1
1
0
2
0
7:16
Career
113
3
38
41
-28
87
167
1.8
22:55

WITH THE OILERS

Photo Credit: Brian Bahr
Hamrlik was a bonafide first-pairing guy. He could run the power play. He could defend. He had all the tools you’d expect from a first overall draft pick and he was the best of the bunch on an Edmonton blueline that included Boris Mironov and Janne Niinimaa. The problem for the cash-strapped Oilers in the summer of 2000 was Hamrlik was coming off a 45-point season and he was due for a raise on a contract that had paid him $2.25 million.
Hamrlik was just 26 years old and already had 573 NHL games between Tampa Bay and Edmonton on his resume when Lowe dealt him to New York for Eric Brewer, Josh Green and a second-round pick that turned into Brad Winchester. Brewer, 21 at the time of the trade and on an entry level deal at $925,000, was no slouch, and he’d go on to play 315 games with the Oilers, but he was no Hamrlik either. Green and Winchester were never more than bottom-six forwards here.

DOWN THE ROAD

Photo Credit: Brian Bahr
Hamrlik ended up with a four-year deal with the Islanders that was worth $12.8 million, well beyond what the Oilers, who’d transitioned from Peter Pocklington to the Edmonton Investors Group in ownership, would have been able to pay at the time. With Mironov traded the summer before (1999) and Hamrlik gone, the Oilers had Niinimaa, Brewer, Jason Smith, a young Tom Poti and Igor Ulanov on the blueline, but that group was nowhere near what it had been two seasons before at the top end.
All told, Hamrlik would play another 822 regular season games after leaving the Oilers, many of those in the heart of his prime years. Hamrlik went on to make stops with the Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Washington Capitals and New York Rangers. Between when he left Edmonton and when he retired, Hamrlik had six seasons with 30-or-more points, including two with 40-or-more.
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.

RECENTLY BY ROBIN BROWNLEE