1979–80 Edmonton Oilers season


The 1979–80 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' eighth season, their first season in the National Hockey League, as they were one of the teams that were part of the WHA-NHL merger that took place on June 22, 1979.
The Oilers were led offensively by rookie superstar Wayne Gretzky, as he tied for the lead league in points at 137, however lost the Art Ross Trophy due to scoring 2 fewer goals than winner Marcel Dionne. Gretzky, however, wom the Hart Memorial Trophy as MVP of the NHL but was declared ineligible for the Calder Memorial Trophy due to his playing days in the WHA.
Edmonton played six goaltenders during the season and was led by Eddie Mio's nine wins, while Ron Low, who came over in a trade with the Quebec Nordiques, would go 8–2–1 in 11 games with the Oilers.
They made the playoffs, however, they were quickly swept out by the powerful Philadelphia Flyers in 3 games, but Oilers fans were very excited about being part of the NHL, and of the future of the team.

Regular season

Final standings

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Goaltending

;Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Goaltending

Awards and records

Milestones

Transactions

Trades

*Oilers promised to not make Paul Shmyr one of its priority selections in the 1979 NHL expansion draft

Free agents

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft:
Round#PlayerNationalityCollege/Junior/Club Team
121Kevin LoweQuebec Remparts
348Mark MessierCincinnati Stingers
469Glenn AndersonDenver Pioneers
484Max KostovichPortland Winter Hawks
5105Mike ToalPortland Winter Hawks
6126Blair BarnesWindsor Spitfires

Expansion draft picks

Edmonton's expansion draft picks at the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft
PickNationalityPlayerPosAgeDrafted FromGPGAPTSPIMWLTGAA
1G25Minnesota North Stars173033643101204.06
2G34Colorado Rockies373088152123153693.17
3RW24Montreal Canadiens2313439
4D24Buffalo Sabres32986876424
5D24New York Islanders18284553104
6D26Pittsburgh Penguins297176077584
7D32Los Angeles Kings45575360180
8C22Buffalo Sabres
9LW31St. Louis Blues42711612323998
10RW30Atlanta Flames452122129251103
11D24Chicago Black Hawks357206383241
12D24Pittsburgh Penguins15817708767
13LW25Pittsburgh Penguins2646841109137
14D21Boston Bruins3204415
15RW22Washington Capitals454268
16LW33Chicago Black Hawks42587109196687

Trades

Farm teams