The Calgary Flames were informed by their top Wing, Matthew Tkachuk, that he had no interest in resigning a long-term deal.  They found a quick suitor in Florida, who gave up a lot to get the forward, but in the brief time we are looking at this list, it seems to be well worth it.

In his first season that Tkachuk played for the Panthers, he set a career-high in 109 Points and was a Second Team All-Star.  Tkachuk also led Florida into the Easter Conference Finals, and was the playoff leader in Penalty Minutes (74) and Game-Winning Goals (4).  Tkachuk was awarded a Second Team All-Star, was third in Hart voting, and even received Frank J. Selke votes as the best defensive forward.  Last season, he again was great with 88 Points, and he a goal-saving dive on an empty net in the Finals (though Edmonton scored a second later), but at the end of the day, Tkachuk was hoisting the Stanley Cup.

He might have only been a Panther for one year as of this writing, but it is one of the best of any winger in franchise history, and for a team that has such a brief history, Tkachuk belongs in this spot

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.