2020–21 Edmonton Oilers season

The 2020–21 Edmonton Oilers season was the 42nd season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 22, 1979, and 49th season overall, including their play in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Oilers made the playoffs for the second straight year after being eliminated by the Chicago Blackhawks in the qualifying round of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Due to the Canada–U.S. border restrictions brought in as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oilers were re-aligned with the other six Canadian franchises into the newly formed North Division. The league's 56-game season was played entirely within the new divisions, meaning Edmonton and the other Canadian teams had an all-Canadian schedule for the 2020–21 regular season and the first two rounds of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.

On May 3, 2021, the Oilers clinched a playoff berth after they defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5–3. They were swept in the first round by the Winnipeg Jets, with a 4-3 triple overtime loss in game four on May 24.

Standings

Divisional standings

Schedule and results

Regular season The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020. 2020–21 game logJanuary: 5–6–0 (Home: 3–4–0; Road: 2–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 13 Vancouver 5–3 Edmonton Koskinen 0 0–1–0 0 2 January 14 Vancouver 2–5 Edmonton Koskinen 0 1–1–0 2 3 January 16 Montreal 5–1 Edmonton Koskinen 0 1–2–0 2 4 January 18 Montreal 3–1 Edmonton Koskinen 0 1–3–0 2 5 January 20 Edmonton 3–1 Toronto Koskinen 0 2–3–0 4 6 January 22 Edmonton 2–4 Toronto Koskinen 0 2–4–0 4 7 January 24 Edmonton 4–3 Winnipeg Koskinen 0 3–4–0 6 8 January 26 Edmonton 4–6 Winnipeg Koskinen 0 3–5–0 6 9 January 28 Toronto 4–3 Edmonton Koskinen 0 3–6–0 6 10 January 30 Toronto 3–4 Edmonton OT Koskinen 0 4–6–0 8 11 January 31 Ottawa 5–8 Edmonton Skinner 0 5–6–0 10 February: 9–3–0 (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 6–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 12 February 2 Ottawa 2–4 Edmonton Koskinen 0 6–6–0 12 13 February 6 Edmonton 4–6 Calgary Koskinen 0 6–7–0 12 14 February 8 Edmonton 3–1 Ottawa Smith 0 7–7–0 14 15 February 9 Edmonton 3–2 Ottawa Koskinen 0 8–7–0 16 16 February 11 Edmonton 3–0 Montreal Smith 0 9–7–0 18 17 February 15 Winnipeg 6–5 Edmonton Koskinen 0 9–8–0 18 18 February 17 Winnipeg 2–3 Edmonton Smith 0 10–8–0 20 19 February 19 Edmonton 2–1 Calgary Smith 0 11–8–0 22 20 February 20 Calgary 1–7 Edmonton Koskinen 0 12–8–0 24 21 February 23 Edmonton 4–3 Vancouver Smith 0 13–8–0 26 22 February 25 Edmonton 3–0 Vancouver Smith 0 14–8–0 28 23 February 27 Toronto 4–0 Edmonton Smith 0 14–9–0 28 March: 8–5–1 (Home: 6–2–0; Road: 2–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 24 March 1 Toronto 3–0 Edmonton Koskinen 0 14–10–0 28 25 March 3 Toronto 6–1 Edmonton Smith 0 14–11–0 28 26 March 6 Calgary 2–3 Edmonton Smith 0 15–11–0 30 27 March 8 Ottawa 2–3 Edmonton Koskinen 0 16–11–0 32 28 March 10 Ottawa 1–7 Edmonton Smith 0 17–11–0 34 29 March 12 Ottawa 2–6 Edmonton Smith 0 18–11–0 36 30 March 13 Edmonton 1–2 Vancouver Koskinen 0 18–12–0 36 31 March 15 Edmonton 3–4 Calgary Smith 0 18–13–0 36 32 March 17 Edmonton 7–3 Calgary Smith 0 19–13–0 38 33 March 18 Winnipeg 1–2 Edmonton Koskinen 0 20–13–0 40 34 March 20 Winnipeg 2–4 Edmonton Smith 0 21–13–0 42 — March 22 Edmonton Montreal Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 30. — March 24 Edmonton Montreal Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 10. — March 26 Edmonton Montreal Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 12. 35 March 27 Edmonton 3–4 Toronto OT Smith 0 21–13–1 43 36 March 29 Edmonton 3–2 Toronto OT Smith 0 22–13–1 45 37 March 30 Edmonton 0–4 Montreal Koskinen 0 22–14–1 45 April: 7–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 5–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 38 April 2 Calgary 2–3 Edmonton Smith 0 23–14–1 47 — April 3 Vancouver Edmonton Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 6. 39 April 5 Edmonton 2–3 Montreal OT Smith 0 23–14–2 48 40 April 7 Edmonton 4–2 Ottawa Koskinen 0 24–14–2 50 41 April 8 Edmonton 3–1 Ottawa Smith 0 25–14–2 52 42 April 10 Edmonton 0–5 Calgary Smith 0 25–15–2 52 — April 12 Vancouver Edmonton Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 8. — April 14 Vancouver Edmonton Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 15. — April 16 Edmonton Vancouver Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 3. 43 April 17 Edmonton 3–0 Winnipeg Smith 0 26–15–2 54 44 April 19 Montreal 1–4 Edmonton Smith 0 27–15–2 56 45 April 21 Montreal 4–3 Edmonton Smith 0 27–16–2 56 46 April 26 Edmonton 6–1 Winnipeg Smith 0 28–16–2 58 47 April 28 Edmonton 3–1 Winnipeg Koskinen 0 29–16–2 60 48 April 29 Calgary 3–1 Edmonton Smith 0 29–17–2 60 May: 6–2–0 (Home: 2–2–0; Road: 4–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 49 May 1 Calgary 1–4 Edmonton Smith 0 30–17–2 62 50 May 3 Edmonton 5–3 Vancouver Koskinen 0 31–17–2 64 51 May 4 Edmonton 4–1 Vancouver Smith 0 32–17–2 66 52 May 6 Vancouver 6–3 Edmonton Koskinen 0 32–18–2 66 53 May 8 Vancouver 3–4 Edmonton Smith 0 33–18–2 68 54 May 10 Edmonton 4–3 Montreal OT Koskinen 0 34–18–2 70 55 May 12 Edmonton 4–3 Montreal OT Smith 0 35–18–2 72 56 May 15 Vancouver 4–1 Edmonton Koskinen 0 35–19–2 72 Legend:

Playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffsNorth Division first round vs. (N3) Winnipeg Jets: Winnipeg won 4–0 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 May 19 Winnipeg 4–1 Edmonton Smith 0–1 2 May 21 Winnipeg 1–0 Edmonton OT Smith 0–2 3 May 23 Edmonton 4–5 Winnipeg OT Smith 0–3 4 May 24 Edmonton 3–4 Winnipeg 3OT Smith 0–4 Legend:

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Player 56 33 72 105 +21 20 56 31 53 84 +29 22 56 8 40 48 +4 10 56 16 20 36 +27 57 52 16 19 35 −4 22 55 15 10 25 +6 16 52 8 13 21 +9 26 45 9 7 16 −10 33 48 9 6 15 −3 2 52 7 6 13 +2 37 40 3 8 11 −1 42 29 5 5 10 −2 11 56 4 6 10 +2 24 38 5 4 9 −4 6 30 3 6 9 0 6 35 0 9 9 0 8 43 2 6 8 −1 14 27 2 3 5 −4 15 27 2 3 5 −11 10 14 2 3 5 −2 2 33 0 4 4 −7 6 34 2 1 3 −6 10 8 0 2 2 0 0 19 0 2 2 0 9 † 10 0 2 2 +1 2 18 1 0 1 −7 2 10 0 1 1 −2 0 9 0 0 0 −2 4

Playoffs Player 4 2 3 5 −2 2 4 1 3 4 −2 0 4 1 1 2 −2 0 4 1 1 2 0 0 4 1 1 2 0 0 4 0 2 2 −4 2 4 1 0 1 −2 6 3 1 0 1 −2 0 2 0 1 1 −2 0 4 0 1 1 0 0 4 0 1 1 0 2 4 0 1 1 +1 0 4 0 1 1 −2 2 3 0 0 0 −1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 −1 0 4 0 0 0 −4 2 3 0 0 0 −3 0 4 0 0 0 −1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4

Goaltenders Regular season Player 32 30 1,846:33 21 6 2 71 2.31 921 .923 3 0 2 6 26 25 1,437:39 13 13 0 76 3.17 756 .899 0 0 2 0 1 1 59:41 1 0 0 5 5.03 38 .868 0 0 0 0

Playoffs Player 4 4 299:48 0 4 12 2.40 136 .912 0 0 0 0 †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Oilers. Stats reflect time with the Oilers only. ‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Oilers only.

Awards and honours

Milestones Regular season Player Milestone Reached Mikko Koskinen 100th NHL game January 16, 2021 Stuart Skinner 1st NHL game1st NHL win January 31, 2021 William Lagesson 1st NHL assist1st NHL point February 6, 2021 Mike Smith 40th NHL shutout February 11, 2021 Connor McDavid 500th NHL point February 17, 2021 Dave Tippett 600th NHL win (coach) February 17, 2021 Darnell Nurse 100th NHL assist February 19, 2021

Transactions The Oilers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.

Trades Date Details Ref To San Jose Sharks3rd-round pick in 2020To Edmonton Oilers4th-round pick in 20205th-round pick in 2020 To New Jersey Devils4th-round pick in 2022To Edmonton OilersDmitri Kulikov To Chicago BlackhawksCaleb JonesConditional 3rd-round pick in 2022To Edmonton OilersDuncan KeithTim Söderlund To Carolina HurricanesDylan WellsTo Edmonton OilersFuture considerations

Free agents Date Player Team Contract term Ref Matt Benning to Nashville Predators 2-year Josh Currie to Pittsburgh Penguins 1-year Anton Forsberg from Carolina Hurricanes 1-year Seth Griffith from Winnipeg Jets 2-year Tomas Jurco to Vegas Golden Knights 1-year Alan Quine from Calgary Flames 1-year Kyle Turris from Nashville Predators 2-year Tyson Barrie from Toronto Maple Leafs 1-year Logan Day to Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) 1-year Shane Starrett to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) 1-year Dominik Kahun from Buffalo Sabres 1-year Cameron Hebig to Florida Everblades (ECHL) 1-year Slater Koekkoek from Chicago Blackhawks 1-year Andreas Athanasiou to Los Angeles Kings 1-year Ryan Kuffner to ERC Ingolstadt (DEL) 1-year Riley Sheahan to Buffalo Sabres 1-year Keegan Lowe to San Diego Gulls (AHL) 1-year Devin Shore from Columbus Blue Jackets 1-year Joakim Nygård to Färjestad BK (SHL) 6-year Adam Cracknell to Bakersfield Condors (AHL) 1-year Gaëtan Haas to EHC Biel (NL) 5-year

Waivers Date Player Team Ref Anton Forsberg to Carolina Hurricanes Troy Grosenick from Los Angeles Kings to Los Angeles Kings Alex Stalock from Minnesota Wild

Signings Date Player Contract term Ref Jesse Puljujarvi 2-year Tyler Ennis 1-year Kris Russell 1-year Mike Smith 1-year William Lagesson 2-year Philip Kemp 3-year Ethan Bear 2-year Michael Kesselring 3-year Dylan Holloway 3-year Ilya Konovalov 2-year Devin Shore 2-year Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 8-year

Draft picks

Below are the Edmonton Oilers' selections at the 2020 NHL entry draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The draft was held October 6–7, 2020 virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)114 Dylan Holloway C Canada University of Wisconsin (WCHA)4100 Carter Savoie LW Canada Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)5126 Tyler Tullio C/RW Canada Oshawa Generals (OHL)5138 Maxim Beryozkin LW Russia Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)6169 Filip Engaras C Sweden University of New Hampshire (Hockey East)7200 Jeremias Lindewall LW Sweden Modo Hockey (HockeyAllsvenskan)

References