Oilers’ All-Time Top 5 European Forwards

About to enter his 13th season with the Oilers, Draisaitl ranks fourth for games played (855), third for goals (434), fourth for assists (619), third for points (1,053), first for power-play goals (178) and second for game-winning goals (75) in franchise regular season history.

The only thing Draisaitl hasn’t won yet is the Stanley Cup, although he did help Edmonton reach the NHL championship series in 2024 and 2025.

Ales Hemsky (Czechoslovakia)

Drafted 13^th overall by Edmonton in 2001, Pardubice native Ales Hemsky made his NHL debut at the start of the 2002-03 season and played for the Oilers until March 2014 when he was traded to the Ottawa Senators.

Over parts of 11 seasons with the Oilers, Hemsky totalled 477 points in 652 games. Hemsky is tied for 10^th in franchise history with 335 assists.

Hemsky was Edmonton’s assists leader in four consecutive seasons from 2005-06 to 2008-09, and paced the Oilers in points three times. He was selected to the NHL All-Star Game in 2011, but was unable to play due to injury.

The speedy winger was a big part of Edmonton’s Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, scoring an iconic series-winning goal when the Oilers upset the President’s Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings in Round 1.

Petr Klima (Czechoslovakia)

Petr Klima first came to Edmonton via trade from the Red Wings in November 1989 and played for the Oilers until being dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning in June 1993. He later returned for a stint in 1997.

While Klima had a bit of a reputation for not always giving 100% effort, there was no denying his pure scoring ability. The Chomutov product was Edmonton’s goal leader in two of his three full seasons with the team, tallying 40 times in 1990-91 and notching 32 goals in 1992-93. Over 274 total regular season games with the Oilers, Klima scored 119 times.

His defining moment as an Oiler came in Game 1 of the 1990 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins. Only 15 seconds into his first shift after being benched for most of sudden death, Klima snapped a shot past Andy Moog at 15:13 of triple overtime, lifting his team to victory in what was then the longest game in both Stanley Cup Final and Oilers postseason history. Edmonton went on to win the series in five games, capturing its fifth and most recent championship.

The winger also holds the franchise playoff record for fastest three goals, scoring three times in a span of 5:13 against the Minnesota North Stars in Game 2 of the 1991 Campbell Conference Final.

Jari Kurri (Finland)

Most would agree that, after the incomparable Wayne Gretzky, winger Jari Kurri was the next best offensive player on the explosive teams of Edmonton’s dynasty era in 1980s.

In Oilers regular season history, Kurri ranks second for goals (474), fifth for assists (579), fourth for points (1,043) and second for plus-minus (+373). He’s the franchise’s all-time playoff leader for goals (92) and plus-minus (+99).

Over his decade in Edmonton, 1980-81 to 1989-90, Kurri was selected to the NHL First All-Star Team twice and another three times to the Second All-Star Team. The Helsinki native never scored less than 32 goals in any of his seasons with the Oilers, and led the NHL with 68 goals in 1985-86.

Kurri is one of just six skaters to be part of all five of Edmonton’s Stanley Cup victories (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990), and one of only eight players to have his number retired by the Oilers. He’s also the lone European that’s part of each of those exclusive clubs.

Esa Tikkanen (Finland)

Among the best two-way forwards in team history, Esa Tikkanen played in Edmonton from 1985 to 1993, winning the Stanley Cup four times (1985, 1987, 1988, 1990) during his Oilers tenure.

The winger from Helsinki totalled 178 goals and 258 assists over 522 regular season games with Edmonton. He scored at least 30 goals in a season three times, and led the Oilers with 69 points in 1990-91.

Tikkanen had a well-earned reputation as a pest, shadowing the opposition’s top offensive player to great effect, even neutralizing his former linemate Gretzky in multiple playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings.

In Game 7 of the 1991 Smythe Division semi-final against the archrival Calgary Flames, Tikkanen had one of the great single-game performances in Oilers history, with three goals and one assist, leading Edmonton’s comeback from a 3-0 second period deficit and scoring the series-winning goal in overtime at the Saddledome.

The Oilers’ legacy of European forwards will continue when the 2026-27 NHL season gets underway next month, with Draisaitl, Swede centre Mattias Janmark, Finnish winger Kasperi Kapanen, Russian winger Vasily Podkolzin, and German centre Josh Samanski all likely to be in the lineup for Edmonton.