Brandon Montour was traded from the Buffalo Sabres to Florida for their playoff run in 2021, and since his arrival he has ascended to one of their top Defenseman.

In Montour’s first full season in Florida, he scored 37 Points, three more than his previous best, but in 2022-23, he exploded in Points with 73, much of which was due to a new role on the power play.  He returned back to the previous level in 2023-24 with 33 Points, but he provided depth on Florida's run to their first Stanley Cup.  It was a great end for Montour in Florida, as he signed with the Seattle Kraken as a Free Agent afterward.

Montour had 147 Points with a Plus/Minus of +33.

Carter Verhaeghe was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, but was traded to the New York Islanders before he made the NHL.  He never played for the Isles either, as he was dealt to Tampa, where he won an AHL scoring title, and made it to the Lightning roster in 2019/20, where he played a small role in their Stanley Cup win.  As the Bolts were loaded at Center, they allowed him to leave for Free Agency, in a move that they might have regretted.  Verhaeghe stayed in state, signing with Florida, and he proved that he could be a scorer at hockey’s elite level.

Verhaeghe’s ice time doubles with the Panthers and in his first season (the COVID-shortened 2020/21) with the club he scored 36 Points in 43 Games, and had 55 Points in 2022-22.  He took it to another level two seasons ago, lighting the lamp 42 times which placed him ninth overall, and last year he had hid second straight 70-plus Point output and was a large component in their first Stanley Cup win.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022/23 revision of our top 50 Edmonton Oilers.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Edmonton made it to the Second Round of the playoffs where they were knocked out by the eventual champions, Vegas.  There are no new entrants on the Top 50, but four players increased their rank.

As always, we present our top five, which saw one change:

1. Wayne Gretzky

2. Mark Messier

3. Connor McDavid

4. Jari Kurri

5. Paul Coffey

You can find the entire list here.

Last year, McDavid had the best season of his life, and doesn’t that say something?  He won his third Hart, fifth Art Ross, sixth First Team All-Star, first Rocket Richard Award and set personal highs in Goals (64), Assists (89) and Points (153).

Leon Draisaitl continues his climb, moving from #7 to #6.

Fresh off his first 100-Point year, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins advanced to #13 from #16.

Defenseman, Darnell Nurse, moved to #20 from #24.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

If you are a regular visitor at Notinhalloffame.com, you know that we created the Notinhalloffame NHL Cup, where in every regular season game, we award points (5-4-3-2-1) to the top five performers.  This is the third year that we have done this, and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid won the first two.

To keep everyone regularly in the loop this time, we have decided to give regular updates, starting at Thanksgiving, and tell all of you the top ten.  We will be doing updates every Monday.

Here is the third current top ten in Notinhalloffame Cup Points:

1. David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins. 60 Cup Points:  29 Games, 17 G, 24 A, 41 P, +6, 5.0 PS. (#1 Last Week)

The Boston Bruins (like last year) have been the best team early in the season, and it is David Pastrnak who has led their offensive threat.  He is not currently leading the league in any category, but is fifth in Goals (17) and Points (41), and is Boston’s leading scorer, and is in the top ten in most essential scoring categories.  Could he win his first Hart?

2. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning.  55 Cup Points, 31 Games, 20 G, 32 A, 52 P, -1, 5.8 PS.  (#2 Last Week)

Kucherov is in his tenth season in Tampa, and is putting forth a season that could gain him another Hart or Art Ross.  He is leading the NHL in Points (52) and is second in Points (32) and third in Goals (20).  It is a minor surprise that he is not first in Cup Points.

3 (TIE). Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators.  52 Cup Points:  24 Games, 14-10-0 Record, .912 Save Percentage, 2.71 GAA, 4.5 GPS. (#3 Last Week)

Saros is a shock to be the highest ranked Goalie and to be in third in general.  With the exception of Filip Forsberg or maybe Roman Josi, the Preds are not loaded, and Saros is able to steal points easier than most Goalies.

4. Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators, 51 Cup Points:  31 Games, 16 G, 20 A, 36 P, +3, 4.1 PS (#4 Last Week)

Nashville is the first team with two players?  Yep, and here are the quirks of the NIHOF Cup.  Forsberg is ninth in Goals (16) and Shots (117).

5. Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils, 49 Cup Points:  24 Games, 14 G, 23 A, 37 P, 0, 4.2 PS.  (#8 Last Week)

Hughes is currently third in Points per Game (1.54) and is on pace for a third straight All-Star selection.

6. Thatcher Demko, Vancouver Canucks.  47 Cup Points:  23 Games, 16-7-0 Record, .921 Save Percentage, 2.34 GAA, 5.1 GPS. (#10 Last Week)

Demko, who was an All-Star last year, is the current league-leader in Wins (16) and Goalie Point Shares (5.1), and is fifth in GAA (2.34) and seventh in Save Percentage (.921).

7 (TIE).  Auston Mathews, Toronto Maple Leafs, 46 Cup Points:  27 Games, 23 G, 12 A, 35 P, +4, 4.5 PS. (Not in Top Ten Last Week)

The American sniper is back in the top ten and is back atop the leadership in Goals with 23.  If he holds that, Mathews will win his third Rocket Richard Trophy.

7 (TIE).  Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche, 46 Cup Points:  31 Games, 15 G, 24 A, 39 P, +5, 4.2 PS. (Not in Top Ten Last Week)

Rantanen returns to the top ten, and it just makes sense to have somebody from Colorado here!   Currently, he is eighth in Points (39).

9. Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers, 44 Cup Points:  30 Games, 17 G, 21 A, 38 P, +16, 5.0 PS.  (#3 Last Week)

It is a surprise to see Reinhart as the top Florida Panther, and he is on pace to have the best season of his career.  He is currently fifth in Goals (17) and eighth in Point Shares (5.0).

10 (TIE). Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers.  42 Cup Points, 29 Games, 16 G, 26 A, 42 P, -3, 4.6 PS (#6 Last Week)

The Russian veteran scored over 90 Points the last two seasons, and should be able to do so again if he maintains his current production.  He is ninth in Points (26) and sixth in Points (42).

10 (TIE). J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks.  42 Cup Points, 32 Games, 15 G, 30 A, 45 P, +12, 4.9 PS. (#7 Last Week)

Miller is third in Points (45), and is the league-leader in Short-Handed Goals (5).  He is also ninth in Point Shares (4.9).

Colorado’s Cale Makar and Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor fell out of the top ten.

Our next update will be next Monday.