Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Kelly Buchberger comes in at No. 43 on our updated 2025 list. He was ranked No. 27 on Brownlee’s original list.

The Edmonton Oilers’ dynasty years were built because of not just Wayne Gretzky, but also savvy drafting early in their National Hockey League days. Kevin Lowe, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Andy Moog, Grant Fuhr, and Steve Smith were all drafted in the first three rounds. They supplemented the key members of the dynasty with other notable draft picks in the mid-1980s, such as Kelly Buchberger.

Notable

Playing his junior hockey with the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors, Buchberger only scored 12 goals and 29 points in 51 junior games during his draft year, which led to the Oilers selecting him 188th overall in the 1985 draft.

Making his professional debut in 1987-88, Buchberger scored 12 goals and 32 points in 70 games with the American Hockey League’s Nova Scotia Oilers. He played three games with the Oilers during their 1987 playoff run, earning a Stanley Cup ring in the process.

The 1987-88 season was mainly spent in the AHL, but he appeared in 19 regular-season games, where he scored a goal. Becoming a National Hockey League regular in 1988-89, Buchberger scored five goals and 14 points in 66 games, but didn’t appear in a playoff game.

In 1989-90, he scored two goals and eight points in 55 games, then added an additional five points in 19 playoff games as the Oilers won their fifth Stanley Cup in seven years. In the following two years, the Oilers were still contenders, but they fell in back-to-back conference finals.

That said, Buchberger scored a career-high 20 goals and 44 points in 79 games with the Oilers in 1991-92. Buchberger and the Oilers missed the playoffs in the following four seasons, with the Langenburg, Sask. product becoming the ninth captain in franchise history in 1995-96 (counting their World Hockey Association days).

In Buchberger’s second season as captain, the Oilers just sneaked into the playoffs, but managed to upset the Dallas Stars in the opening round thanks to a massive save by Curtis Joseph and an overtime goal from Todd Marchant. They eventually fell to the Colorado Avalanche, who the Oilers beat in the first round of the 1998 playoffs.

The Oilers lost to the Stars in the second round of the playoffs, which began a stretch of six seasons where the Stars dominated the Oilers, eliminating them five times. Buchberger only reached the double-digit goal mark one other time after 1992-93, scoring 11 goals in 1995-96.

Eventually, he was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers during the expansion draft, making him the last player from the dynasty era to stick with the team.

The Story

Overall, Buchberger played 795 games with the Oilers, scoring 82 goals and 240 points. He only played part of one season with the Thrashers, scoring five goals and 17 points in 68 games. Before the trade deadline, they traded him to the Los Angeles Kings, finishing his season scoring two goals and three points in 13 games.

The 2000-01 season was spent with the Kings, scoring six goals and 20 points in 82 games, the final time he reached the 20-point mark. In the 2001 post-season, Buchberger added a goal in eight games, his final post-season goal. In his final season with the Kings during the 2001-02 season, Buchberger scored six goals and 13 points in 74 games, being held pointless in the seven games the Kings played that post-season.

Joining the Phoenix Coyotes for the 2002-03 season, Buchberger scored three goals and 12 points in 79 games, then a goal and four points in 2003-04 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. That season marked the end of his playing career, but he immediately transitioned to coaching, serving as an assistant coach of the AHL’s Edmonton Roadrunners in 2004-05. Buchberger returned to the Oilers as an assistant coach, with his tenure lasting from 2008-09 until 2013-14.

Not too shabby for a ninth-round pick in the middle of the Oilers’ dynasty years.

A June 26, 1999 article in the Edmonton Journal details the Oilers losing Kelly Buchberger to the Atlanta Thrashers in the 1999 expansion draft.

What Brownlee said

When I think of bust-ass guys who accomplished more with less as members of the Oilers, I think of Buchberger and Jason Smith, who also wore the captain’s C here. They’d do whatever it took to win because they had no other choice. While Buchberger was a NHL caliber skater — his ability to skate bought him more time than your garden variety grinder gets — it was his work ethic and dogged determination to compete that is his story.
If that meant taking an ass-kicking from Bob Probert, Buchberger was willing to do it. If it took dropping the gloves with Dave Brown, well, let’s get after it, big boy. Overmatched? No big deal. During his days as an Oiler, his entire career, for that matter, Buchberger was never afraid to pay the price, to shed sweat and blood to get the job done. As a member of the Kings, he got KO’d by Anson Carter, of all people.
Then, there was the night here in Edmonton, as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers, when Buchberger wanted to tangle with Georges Laraque. It was probably my imagination, but it seemed like almost everybody in the building, including those in the press box, shouted, “No, Bucky, don’t,” in unison. Whether it was playing a bit part behind Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier or assuming a leadership role after the Boys on the Bus were sold off piece by piece, Buchberger played the game the same way.