Top 100 Oilers: No. 64 — Tom Gilbert

Notable

Gilbert was sheltered early on by veteran defencemen like Sheldon Souray and Lubomir Visnovsky, which allowed him to find his footing and focus on what he did best — moving pucks and making smart plays under pressure. Eventually, though, those veterans moved on, and Gilbert found himself at the top of Edmonton’s depth chart.

By 2010, he was logging heavy minutes every night on a blue line that also featured Ryan Whitney and Kurtis Foster. The problem was, the more he played, the less effective he became. His production dropped from a 45-point season in 2008–09 to just 26 points two years later. To be fair, the Oilers were in the thick of a painful rebuild, and Gilbert was asked to do more than he realistically could.

He never played with much of an edge, either, which didn’t sit well with fans. Eventually, it was clear that both sides needed a change.

At the 2012 trade deadline, the Oilers sent him home to Minnesota in exchange for Nick Schultz. The deal didn’t move the needle much either way — Edmonton moved out a younger puck-mover for a veteran stay-at-home type who didn’t add much offence.

The Story

Gilbert’s rights came to Edmonton from Colorado in the 2004 Tommy Salo trade, back when he was still at Wisconsin. He spent four strong years there, developing into one of the best all-around defencemen in the program’s history. That 2006 national title and All-American nod put him on the map, and he transitioned smoothly into the NHL soon after.

He had a nice run in Edmonton — 33, 45, and 31 points in consecutive seasons — but never really built on it once he left. After the trade to Minnesota, he bounced around the league, with stops in Florida, Montreal, and Los Angeles. His best post-Edmonton season came in Florida in 2013–14, when he put up 28 points.

After a brief stint in the AHL and a few seasons overseas, Gilbert wrapped up his playing career in 2021 with Nürnberg in Germany’s DEL. These days, he’s back home in Wisconsin, behind the bench as an assistant coach with the Madison Capitols of the USHL, where he’s been since the 2022–23 season.

What Brownlee said

I wasn’t a big fan of how Gilbert approached the game during his time with the Oilers. He was one of those players, like Tom Poti, who never used his size to his advantage. He preferred to get in the way as opposed to banging bodies and imposing his physical will on opponents in the corners and in front of the net. Like Poti, Gilbert just wasn’t wired that way.

I always thought Gilbert could’ve been more than he was had he possessed even a modest amount of the nasty dimensions players like Sheldon Souray or Boris Mironov did – they not only moved the puck and produced points but would happily knock your teeth out – but it wasn’t to be. Even so, it would be unfair not to appreciate what Gilbert did bring to the table.

Gilbert played the best hockey of his NHL career during a three-year stretch in which he put up 33, 45 and 31 points with the Oilers. The 33 points came in his second season. The 45-point campaign (2008-09) came in his third and had some people projecting a ceiling much higher than he ever attained again. Gilbert’s best season since his 31 points in 2009-10 came with Florida in 2013-14, when he had 28 points.

The Last 10

• No. 74 — Raffi Torres
• No. 73 — Don Jackson
• No. 72 — Andrew Cogliano
• No. 71 — Anson Carter
• No. 70 — Adam Graves
• No. 69 — Vincent Damphousse
• No. 68 — Dustin Penner
• No. 67 — Roman Hamrlík
• No. 66 — Pat Hughes
• No. 65 — Dave Brown