Top 100 Oilers: No. 67 — Roman Hamrlík
Photo credit: Jacob Lazare
Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Roman Hamrlík comes in at No. 67 on our updated 2025 list. He was ranked No. 66 on Brownlee’s original list.
The player who best epitomizes the game of musical chairs that defined the late-’90s and early-2000s Oilers has to be Roman Hamrlík.
A small-budget operation during the pre-salary cap era, Edmonton constantly saw quality players come and go because they couldn’t write cheques as large as the league’s richest teams. What helped the Oilers punch above their weight during those years was their knack for making astute moves on the trade market.
Getting two-and-a-half seasons of top-pairing play from Hamrlík and then flipping him for futures was among those impressive maneuvers.
Notable
The Tampa Bay Lightning held the first overall pick in the 1992 NHL Draft as an expansion franchise and used it to select Roman Hamrlík from ZPS Zlín. The skilled defenceman had led Czechoslovakia to gold medals at the U18 European Junior Championships in both 1991 and 1992, earning Top Defenceman honours in the first of those tournaments.
Hamrlík jumped straight into the NHL as an 18-year-old, posting 21 points in 67 games during his rookie season while the Lightning went 23-54-7 in their inaugural campaign. After a couple of difficult years at the bottom of the standings, Tampa reached the playoffs for the first time in 1995–96. Hamrlík finished second in team scoring with 65 points in 82 games and placed seventh in Norris Trophy voting.
When the Lightning fell back out of contention over the next few seasons, management decided to shake things up. In December 1997, Tampa traded Hamrlík to the Edmonton Oilers along with Paul Comrie in exchange for Jason Bonsignore, Steve Kelly, and Bryan Marchment.
After parts of three seasons in Edmonton, Hamrlík was on the move again, this time to the New York Islanders. He spent four years on Long Island, returned to ZPS Zlín during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, and then signed with the Calgary Flames for the 2006-07 season. His later stops included the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers.
Hamrlík announced his retirement in October 2013 and was inducted into the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame in January 2019. He ranks 16th all-time among NHL defencemen with 1,395 games played and 41st with 638 points. Though he never captured a Stanley Cup, Hamrlík was part of the Czech Republic’s historic gold medal-winning team at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
The Story
Hamrlík was involved in two major trades during his time with the Edmonton Oilers. The first came courtesy of Glen Sather, the savvy veteran executive who had no trouble fleecing a struggling expansion team. The second was orchestrated by Sather’s successor, Kevin Lowe, who made an impressive first splash as general manager.
When Edmonton acquired Hamrlík from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the move shocked the young defenceman. Tampa had selected him with the franchise’s first-ever draft pick, and the expectation was that he would anchor their blueline for years to come. Instead, he was dealt during his sixth season with the club.
For the Oilers, the trade filled a massive need. Hamrlík provided a much-needed top-four presence capable of driving offence and logging heavy minutes. He made an immediate impact, scoring 26 points in 41 games after arriving in Edmonton midway through the 1997-98 season, and he earned an All-Star nod the following year in 1998-99.
The deal turned out to be a disaster for the Lightning. Bryan Marchment was flipped to the San Jose Sharks after just 22 games in Tampa, while former first-round picks Jason Bonsignore and Steve Kelly both failed to live up to expectations.
Hamrlík’s stay in Edmonton proved short-lived. When it became clear the Oilers wouldn’t be able to afford him long-term, rookie GM Kevin Lowe traded him to the New York Islanders in exchange for Eric Brewer, Josh Green, and a second-round draft pick.
That solid haul helped ease the pain of losing an important part of the team’s defence. Brewer became an effective shutdown defender for the Oilers before later being moved to St. Louis as part of the return for Norris Trophy-winner Chris Pronger.
What Brownlee said
On a personal note, I’ll never forget Hamrlík’s debut with the Oilers, which came Jan. 2, 1998 in a 5-3 loss to Montreal at Rexall Place. During the game, Hamrlík went down the tunnel to the dressing room and collapsed. Up in the press box, I’m thinking, “Shit, this can’t be good.” Turns out Hamrlík wasn’t injured, he was cramping up. Disaster avoided. The other memory is bumping into Hamrlík shopping for shoes in Ottawa. He had four or five boxes of high-end leather under his arm. “They’re on sale,” said Hamrlík, who was making a couple million bucks a season then. “You should buy some.” I did.New GM Kevin Lowe would make his first big splash after taking over from Sather at the 2000 Entry Draft in Calgary when he traded Hamrlík to the New York Islanders for Eric Brewer, Josh Green and a draft pick the Oilers used to select Brad Winchester. It was as much a budget move as a trade. Brewer was still on his entry level deal ($925,000), while Hamrlík was at $2.25 million and due for a bump.Fans saw far too many really good players leave Edmonton in the 1990s and 2000s as the Oilers struggled to compete financially, and Hamrlík was one of them. Hammer Time led New York D-men in scoring the season after Lowe dealt him. He played a dozen seasons after his too-short stint in Edmonton.
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