2003–04 Edmonton Oilers season

The 2003–04 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' 25th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a 36–26–11–9 record in 2002–03, earning 92 points, and returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence. The Oilers were then defeated by the Dallas Stars in six games in the opening round.

2003–04 Edmonton Oilers
Division	4th Northwest
Conference	9th Western
2003–04 record	36–29–12–5
Home record	22–12–4–3
Road record	14–17–8–2
Goals for	221
Goals against	208
Team information
General manager	Kevin Lowe
Coach	Craig MacTavish
Captain	Jason Smith
Alternate captains	Ethan Moreau Ryan Smyth
Arena	Rexall Place[a] Commonwealth Stadium (1 game)
Average attendance	17,677 (105.0%)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Toronto Roadrunners (AHL) Columbus Cottonmouths (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Ryan Smyth (23)
Assists	Ryan Smyth (36)
Points	Ryan Smyth (59)
Penalty minutes	Georges Laraque (99)
Plus/minus	Igor Ulanov (+19)
Wins	Ty Conklin (17) Tommy Salo (17)
Goals against average	Ty Conklin (2.42)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

During the off-season, the Oilers and Mike Comrie could not come to a contract agreement, and Comrie would not start the season with the team. Comrie would eventually be traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in December for Jeff Woywitka and the Flyers' first-round draft pick in 2004.

The club would start off the season on the right foot, having a record of 10–7–2–0 in the first 19 games. However, Edmonton would go into a slump and have a 10–17–6–1 in their next 34 games, falling to 12th place in the Western Conference. The Oilers would later emerge from the slump and finish the season with a 16–5–4–4 in their remaining 29 games. Despite the season turnaround, the Oilers would finish in ninth in the West, two points behind the eighth-placed Nashville Predators for the final playoff spot, thereby failing to qualify for the post-season for the second time in three seasons.

Offensively, Ryan Smyth would lead the club with 23 goals, 36 assists and 59 points. Radek Dvorak would finish just behind Smyth with 50 points, while Ethan Moreau and Raffi Torres would each score 20 goals. Marc-Andre Bergeron would lead the defense with 9 goals and 26 points, while Eric Brewer would finish just behind him with seven goals and 25 points. Georges Laraque would lead the club in penalty minutes, with 99.

In goal, Tommy Salo would begin the season as the starter. However, he would lose his job and eventually be traded to the Colorado Avalanche before the season was over. He won 17 games and had a 2.58 goals against average (GAA), along with three shutouts, with Edmonton. Ty Conklin took over the starting duties, where he would win 17 games, attain a 2.42 GAA and earn a shutout along the way.

Heritage Classic

The Heritage Classic^[1] was an outdoor ice hockey game played on November 22, 2003, in Edmonton between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. It was the second NHL outdoor game and the first regular season outdoor game in the history of the NHL, and was modeled after the success of the "cold war" game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in 2001. The first NHL game to be played outdoors was in 1991 when the Los Angeles Kings played the New York Rangers in an exhibition game outside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.^[2] The event took place in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in front of a crowd of 57,167, the largest number of people to ever watch a live NHL game, despite temperatures of close to -18 °C, -30 °C (-22 °F) with wind chill. It was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers joining the NHL in 1979. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television broadcast also set the record for most viewers of a single NHL game with 2.747 million nationwide. This was the first NHL game broadcast in HDTV on CBC. Montreal won the game 4–3.

Season standings

Northwest Division^[3]

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
1	3	Vancouver Canucks	82	43	24	10	5	235	194	101
2	4	Colorado Avalanche	82	40	22	13	7	235	198	100
3	6	Calgary Flames	82	42	30	7	3	200	176	94
4	9	Edmonton Oilers	82	36	29	12	5	221	208	89
5	10	Minnesota Wild	82	30	29	20	3	188	183	83

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference^[4]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	P- Detroit Red Wings	CE	82	48	21	11	2	255	189	109
2	Y- San Jose Sharks	PA	82	43	21	12	6	255	183	104
3	Y- Vancouver Canucks	NW	82	43	24	10	5	235	194	101
4	X- Colorado Avalanche	NW	82	40	22	13	7	236	198	100
5	X- Dallas Stars	PA	82	41	26	13	2	194	175	97
6	X- Calgary Flames	NW	82	42	30	7	3	200	176	94
7	X- St. Louis Blues	CE	82	39	30	11	2	191	198	91
8	X- Nashville Predators	CE	82	38	29	11	4	216	217	91
8.5
9	Edmonton Oilers	NW	82	36	29	12	5	221	208	89
10	Minnesota Wild	NW	82	30	29	20	3	188	183	83
11	Los Angeles Kings	PA	82	28	29	16	9	205	217	81
12	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PA	82	29	35	10	8	184	213	76
13	Phoenix Coyotes	PA	82	22	36	18	6	188	245	68
14	Columbus Blue Jackets	CE	82	25	45	8	4	177	238	62
15	Chicago Blackhawks	CE	82	20	43	11	8	188	259	59

Divisions: CE – Central, PA – Pacific, NW – Northwest

P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched division; X – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

2003–04 regular season[5]
October: 4–5–0–0 (home: 4–2–0–0; road: 0–3–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 9 San Jose Sharks 2 – 5 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 1–0–0–0 2 W 2 October 11 Edmonton Oilers 0 – 3 Vancouver Canucks Salo 18,630 1–1–0–0 2 L 3 October 14 Edmonton Oilers 0 – 1 Calgary Flames Salo 16,009 1–2–0–0 2 L 4 October 16 Buffalo Sabres 1 – 4 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 15,502 2–2–0–0 4 W 5 October 18 Colorado Avalanche 3 – 6 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 3–2–0–0 6 W 6 October 21 St. Louis Blues 6 – 4 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,043 3–3–0–0 6 L 7 October 23 Edmonton Oilers 1 – 6 Colorado Avalanche Conklin 18,007 3–4–0–0 6 L 8 October 25 Calgary Flames 4 – 2 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 3–5–0–0 6 L 9 October 30 Columbus Blue Jackets 3 – 4 Edmonton Oilers OT Salo 15,946 4–5–0–0 8 W
November: 6–6–3–0 (home: 3–3–1–0; road: 3–3–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 10 November 1 Detroit Red Wings 4 – 4 Edmonton Oilers OT Salo 16,839 4–5–1–0 9 T 11 November 4 Edmonton Oilers 4 – 2 Montreal Canadiens Salo 18,218 5–5–1–0 11 W 12 November 6 Edmonton Oilers 3 – 3 Ottawa Senators OT Salo 15,216 5–5–2–0 12 T 13 November 8 Edmonton Oilers 1 – 4 Toronto Maple Leafs Salo 19,340 5–6–2–0 12 L 14 November 10 Edmonton Oilers 5 – 4 New York Rangers Conklin 17,887 6–6–2–0 14 W 15 November 11 Edmonton Oilers 3 – 4 Boston Bruins Conklin 12,456 6–7–2–0 14 L 16 November 13 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 0 Minnesota Wild Conklin 18,568 7–7–2–0 16 W 17 November 15 Calgary Flames 1 – 2 Edmonton Oilers OT Conklin 16,839 8–7–2–0 18 W 18 November 18 Chicago Blackhawks 2 – 5 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 9–7–2–0 20 W 19 November 20 Toronto Maple Leafs 2 – 3 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 10–7–2–0 22 W 20 November 22 Montreal Canadiens 4 – 3 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 57,167 10–8–2–0 22 L 21 November 25 Edmonton Oilers 3 – 3 Columbus Blue Jackets OT Conklin 16,465 10–8–3–0 23 T 22 November 26 Edmonton Oilers 1 – 7 Detroit Red Wings Conklin 20,066 10–9–3–0 23 L 23 November 28 Colorado Avalanche 4 – 1 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 10–10–3–0 23 L 24 November 30 San Jose Sharks 2 – 1 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 10–11–3–0 23 L
December: 3–6–4–0 (home: 1–4–2–0; road: 2–2–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 25 December 3 Minnesota Wild 1 – 0 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,198 10–12–3–0 23 L 26 December 6 Pittsburgh Penguins 3 – 4 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 11–12–3–0 25 W 27 December 9 Carolina Hurricanes 3 – 2 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,179 11–13–3–0 25 L 28 December 11 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 2 San Jose Sharks OT Conklin 14,853 11–13–4–0 26 T 29 December 12 Edmonton Oilers 3 – 3 Phoenix Coyotes OT Salo 13,609 11–13–5–0 27 T 30 December 14 Edmonton Oilers 3 – 2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Conklin 12,426 12–13–5–0 29 W 31 December 16 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 4 Los Angeles Kings Salo 18,118 12–14–5–0 29 L 32 December 18 Minnesota Wild 1 – 1 Edmonton Oilers OT Conklin 16,145 12–14–6–0 30 T 33 December 20 Vancouver Canucks 3 – 0 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 12–15–6–0 30 L 34 December 23 Edmonton Oilers 1 – 2 Calgary Flames Salo 18,389 12–16–6–0 30 L 35 December 27 Edmonton Oilers 6 – 2 Vancouver Canucks Salo 18,630 13–16–6–0 32 W 36 December 28 Calgary Flames 2 – 1 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 13–17–6–0 32 L 37 December 30 Minnesota Wild 2 – 2 Edmonton Oilers OT Salo 16,839 13–17–7–0 33 T
January: 7–7–1–1 (home: 4–3–0–0; road: 3–4–1–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 38 January 2 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 1 Minnesota Wild Salo 18,568 14–17–7–0 35 W 39 January 4 Edmonton Oilers 4 – 3 Chicago Blackhawks Salo 10,101 15–17–7–0 37 W 40 January 5 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 3 New Jersey Devils OT Salo 11,724 15–17–7–1 38 OTL 41 January 8 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 3 New York Islanders Conklin 11,087 15–18–7–1 38 L 42 January 10 Edmonton Oilers 3 – 0 Philadelphia Flyers Salo 19,561 16–18–7–1 40 W 43 January 11 Edmonton Oilers 0 – 1 Washington Capitals Salo 12,704 16–19–7–1 40 L 44 January 13 Florida Panthers 2 – 4 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 17–19–7–1 42 W 45 January 15 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 0 – 1 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 18–19–7–1 44 W 46 January 17 Edmonton Oilers 1 – 2 Nashville Predators Salo 15,861 18–20–7–1 44 L 47 January 18 Edmonton Oilers 4 – 4 Columbus Blue Jackets OT Conklin 18,136 18–20–8–1 45 T 48 January 20 Dallas Stars 0 – 3 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 19–20–8–1 47 W 49 January 22 Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – 2 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 19–21–8–1 47 L 50 January 24 Nashville Predators 4 – 3 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 19–22–8–1 47 L 51 January 27 Edmonton Oilers 1 – 3 Colorado Avalanche Conklin 18,007 19–23–8–1 47 L 52 January 29 Chicago Blackhawks 2 – 5 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 20–23–8–1 49 W 53 January 31 Los Angeles Kings 4 – 3 Edmonton Oilers Salo 16,839 20–24–8–1 49 L
February: 6–3–2–1 (home: 4–0–1–0; road: 2–3–1–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 54 February 2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 1 – 2 Edmonton Oilers OT Conklin 16,183 21–24–8–1 51 W 55 February 4 St. Louis Blues 3 – 5 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,569 22–24–8–1 53 W 56 February 11 Atlanta Thrashers 1 – 5 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 23–24–8–1 55 W 57 February 13 Edmonton Oilers 0 – 3 Minnesota Wild Conklin 18,568 23–25–8–1 55 L 58 February 15 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 2 Nashville Predators Salo 14,276 23–25–9–1 56 T 59 February 16 Edmonton Oilers 1 – 2 Detroit Red Wings Salo 20,066 23–26–9–1 56 L 60 February 18 Edmonton Oilers 5 – 1 Colorado Avalanche Salo 18,007 24–26–9–1 58 W 61 February 21 Vancouver Canucks 3 – 4 Edmonton Oilers OT Salo 16,839 25–26–9–1 60 W 62 February 23 Detroit Red Wings 1 – 1 Edmonton Oilers OT Salo 16,839 25–26–10–1 61 T 63 February 25 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 4 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Salo 15,235 25–27–10–1 61 L 64 February 27 Edmonton Oilers 7 – 2 Phoenix Coyotes Salo 16,721 26–27–10–1 63 W 65 February 29 Edmonton Oilers 4 – 5 Dallas Stars OT Salo 18,257 26–27–10–2 64 OTL
March: 10–1–2–3 (home: 6–0–0–3; road: 4–1–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 66 March 2 Phoenix Coyotes 4 – 5 Edmonton Oilers OT Salo 16,839 27–27–10–2 66 W 67 March 4 Edmonton Oilers 1 – 1 St. Louis Blues OT Markkanen 16,559 27–27–11–2 67 T 68 March 7 Edmonton Oilers 4 – 3 Chicago Blackhawks OT Salo 12,839 28–27–11–2 69 W 69 March 9 Edmonton Oilers 1 – 1 Calgary Flames OT Markkanen 18,479 28–27–12–2 70 T 70 March 10 Colorado Avalanche 3 – 2 Edmonton Oilers OT Conklin 16,839 28–27–12–3 71 OTL 71 March 12 Vancouver Canucks 4 – 3 Edmonton Oilers OT Markkanen 16,839 28–27–12–4 72 OTL 72 March 14 Ottawa Senators 1 – 3 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 29–27–12–4 74 W 73 March 16 Columbus Blue Jackets 2 – 3 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 30–27–12–4 76 W 74 March 19 Nashville Predators 4 – 5 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 31–27–12–4 78 W 75 March 21 Edmonton Oilers 5 – 2 San Jose Sharks Markkanen 16,176 32–27–12–4 80 W 76 March 22 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 1 Los Angeles Kings Conklin 18,118 33–27–12–4 82 W 77 March 24 Dallas Stars 4 – 3 Edmonton Oilers OT Conklin 16,839 33–27–12–5 83 OTL 78 March 26 Los Angeles Kings 1 – 3 Edmonton Oilers Conklin 16,839 34–27–12–5 85 W 79 March 28 Phoenix Coyotes 2 – 4 Edmonton Oilers Markkanen 16,839 35–27–12–5 87 W 80 March 30 Edmonton Oilers 0 – 1 St. Louis Blues Markkanen 19,646 35–28–12–5 87 L 81 March 31 Edmonton Oilers 3 – 1 Dallas Stars Markkanen 18,532 36–28–12–5 89 W
April: 0–1–0–0 (home: 0–0–0–0; road: 0–1–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 82 April 3 Edmonton Oilers 2 – 5 Vancouver Canucks Conklin 18,680 36–29–12–5 89 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point) OTL Overtime loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Oilers only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Oilers only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
94	Ryan Smyth	LW	82	23	36	59	11	70
20	Radek Dvorak	RW	78	15	35	50	18	26
16	Mike York	C	61	16	26	42	18	15
10	Shawn Horcoff	C	80	15	25	40	0	73
14	Raffi Torres	LW	80	20	14	34	12	65
83	Ales Hemsky	RW	71	12	22	34	−7	14
18	Ethan Moreau	LW	81	20	12	32	7	96
34	Fernando Pisani	RW	76	16	14	30	14	46
24	Steve Staios	D	82	6	22	28	17	86
47	Marc-Andre Bergeron	D	54	9	17	26	13	26
2	Eric Brewer	D	77	7	18	25	−6	67
36	Jarret Stoll	C	68	10	11	21	8	42
23	Cory Cross	D	68	7	14	21	9	56
21	Jason Smith	D	68	7	12	19	13	98
15	Brad Isbister	LW	51	10	8	18	−2	54
55	Igor Ulanov†	D	42	5	13	18	19	28
77	Adam Oates†	C	60	2	16	18	0	8
27	Georges Laraque	RW	66	6	11	17	7	99
93	Petr Nedved†	C	16	5	10	15	1	4
28	Jason Chimera	LW	60	4	8	12	−1	57
19	Marty Reasoner	C	17	2	6	8	5	10
32	Scott Ferguson	D	52	1	5	6	−5	80
5	Alexei Semenov	D	46	2	3	5	8	32
12	Mike Bishai	C	14	0	2	2	0	19
33	Peter Sarno‡	C	6	1	0	1	2	2
26	Mikko Luoma	D	3	0	1	1	0	0
42	Tony Salmelainen	LW	13	0	1	1	−1	4
35	Tommy Salo‡	G	44	0	0	0		2
1	Ty Conklin	G	38	0	0	0		17
44	Doug Lynch	D	2	0	0	0	0	0
30	Jussi Markkanen†	G	7	0	0	0		2
22	Jani Rita	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0
40	Steve Valiquette‡	G	1	0	0	0		0

Goaltending

• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Oilers only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Oilers only.

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
1	Ty Conklin	39	17	14	4	959	84	2.42	.912	1	2085
35	Tommy Salo‡	44	17	18	6	1024	107	2.58	.896	3	2486
30	Jussi Markkanen†	7	2	2	2	182	12	1.83	.934	0	393
40	Steve Valiquette‡	1	0	0	0	7	2	9.23	.714	0	13

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (in-season)	NHL Defensive Player of the Week	Ty Conklin (November 17)	[6]
	NHL YoungStars Game selection	Alexei Semenov	[7]
		Raffi Torres
Team	Community Service Award	Georges Laraque	[8]
	Defenceman of the Year	Jason Smith	[8]
	Molson Cup	Ryan Smyth	[8]
	Most Popular Player	Ryan Smyth	[8]
	Top Defensive Forward	Shawn Horcoff	[8]
	Top First Year Oiler	Not awarded	[9]
	Unsung Hero	Igor Ulanov	[8]
	Zane Feldman Trophy	Ethan Moreau	[8]

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Raffi Torres	1st NHL Goal	October 9, 2003
Eric Brewer	200th NHL PIM	October 16, 2003
Tony Salmelainen	1st NHL Game	October 30, 2003
Radek Dvorak	200th NHL Assist 200th NHL PIM	November 1, 2003
Mike York	200th NHL Point
Tony Salmelainen	1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	November 4, 2003
Peter Sarno	1st NHL Game 1st NHL Goal 1st NHL Point
Steve Staios	700th NHL PIM
Shawn Horcoff	200th NHL Game	November 6, 2003
Ryan Smyth	200th NHL Assist	November 10, 2003
Jarret Stoll	1st NHL Goal
Ty Conklin	1st NHL Shutout	November 13, 2003
Steve Staios	100th NHL Point	November 22, 2003
Jason Smith	700th NHL PIM	December 6, 2003
Cory Cross	600th NHL PIM	December 12, 2003
Jason Chimera	100th NHL Game	December 23, 2003
Georges Laraque	700th NHL PIM	December 30, 2003
Mikko Luoma	1st NHL Game 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point
Doug Lynch	1st NHL Game	January 2, 2004
Ryan Smyth	600th NHL Game	January 5, 2004
Ales Hemsky	100th NHL Game	January 10, 2004
Tommy Salo	200th NHL Win 500th NHL Game
Adam Oates	1,300th NHL Game	January 13, 2004
Steve Staios	500th NHL Game	January 15, 2004
Brad Isbister	500th NHL PIM	January 17, 2004
Igor Ulanov	1,100th NHL PIM	January 22, 2004
Ryan Smyth	400th NHL Point	January 24, 2004
Mike Bishai	1st NHL Game	January 29, 2004
Eric Brewer	100th NHL Point
Mike Bishai	1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	January 31, 2004
Brad Isbister	400th NHL Game
Ethan Moreau	700th NHL PIM
Scott Ferguson	200th NHL Game	February 16, 2004
Ryan Smyth	500th NHL PIM	February 23, 2004
Shawn Horcoff	100th NHL Point	February 25, 2004
Ethan Moreau	100th NHL Goal	February 27, 2004
Georges Laraque	400th NHL Game	February 29, 2004
Fernando Pisani	100th NHL Game	March 12, 2004
Raffi Torres
Jason Smith	700th NHL Game	March 14, 2004
Cory Cross	600th NHL Game	March 21, 2004
Eric Brewer	400th NHL Game	March 26, 2004
Ethan Moreau	600th NHL Game
Petr Nedved	300th NHL Goal
Igor Ulanov	700th NHL Game	March 30, 2004

Transactions

The Oilers were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.^[10]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 21, 2003 (2003-06-21)	To New Jersey Devils 1st-round pick in 2003	To Edmonton Oilers 1st-round pick in 2003 2nd-round pick in 2003	[11]
June 30, 2003 (2003-06-30)	To New York Rangers Jussi Markkanen Conditional draft pick[b]	To Edmonton Oilers Rights to Brian Leetch	[13]
December 16, 2003 (2003-12-16)	To Philadelphia Flyers Rights to Mike Comrie	To Edmonton Oilers Jeff Woywitka 1st-round pick in 2004 3rd-round pick in 2005	[14]
February 16, 2004 (2004-02-16)	To Vancouver Canucks Peter Sarno	To Edmonton Oilers Tyler Moss	[15]
March 3, 2004 (2004-03-03)	To New York Rangers Steve Valiquette Rights to Dwight Helminen 2nd-round pick in 2004	To Edmonton Oilers Jussi Markkanen Petr Nedved	[16]
March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09)	To Colorado Avalanche Tommy Salo 6th-round pick in 2005	To Edmonton Oilers Rights to Tom Gilbert	[17]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15)	Rocky Thompson	Florida Panthers	2-year	Free agency	[18]
	Steve Valiquette	New York Islanders	1-year	Free agency	[18]
August 21, 2003 (2003-08-21)	Dan Smith	Springfield Falcons (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	[19]
September 2, 2003 (2003-09-02)	Jamie Wright	Philadelphia Flyers	2-year	Free agency	[20]
October 8, 2003 (2003-10-08)	Steve Valiquette	Florida Panthers		Waivers	[21]
November 17, 2003 (2003-11-17)	Adam Oates	Anaheim Mighty Ducks	1-year	Free agency	[22]
January 5, 2004 (2004-01-05)	Igor Ulanov	Florida Panthers	1-year	Free agency	[23]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[c]	Ref
June 30, 2003 (2003-06-30)	Daniel Cleary	Phoenix Coyotes[d]	Buyout	[26]
July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)	Todd Marchant	Columbus Blue Jackets	Free agency (V)	[27]
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)	Brian Swanson	Atlanta Thrashers	Free agency (VI)	[28]
July 28, 2003 (2003-07-28)	Kari Haakana	Modo Hockey (SHL)	Free agency (II)[e]	[30]
July 30, 2003 (2003-07-30)	Brian Leetch	New York Rangers	Free agency (III)	[12]
October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03)	Steve Valiquette	Florida Panthers	Waiver draft	[31]
April 3, 2004 (2004-04-03)	Adam Oates		Retirement	[32]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 30, 2003 (2003-06-30)	Cory Cross	3-year	Re-signing	[26]
July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)	Jan Horacek	1-year	Re-signing	[33]
	Mikko Luoma	1-year	Entry-level	[33]
	Mathieu Roy	3-year	Entry-level	[33]
July 28, 2003 (2003-07-28)	Chad Hinz	1-year	Re-signing	[34]
	Jason Smith	1-year	Re-signing	[34]
July 29, 2003 (2003-07-29)	Brad Isbister	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
August 1, 2003 (2003-08-01)	Marty Reasoner	2-year	Re-signing	[36]
	Raffi Torres	2-year	Re-signing	[36]
August 5, 2003 (2003-08-05)	Bobby Allen	1-year	Re-signing	[37]
	Michael Henrich	1-year	Re-signing	[37]
	Shawn Horcoff	2-year	Re-signing	[37]
August 14, 2003 (2003-08-14)	Ryan Smyth	2-year	Re-signing	[38]
August 21, 2003 (2003-08-21)	Fernando Pisani	3-year	Re-signing	[39]
September 2, 2003 (2003-09-02)	Peter Sarno	2-year	Re-signing	[20]
September 11, 2003 (2003-09-11)	Joe Cullen	2-year	Entry-level	[40]
	Georges Laraque	3-year	Re-signing	[40]
	Ethan Moreau	1-year	Re-signing	[40]
	Brad Winchester	2-year	Entry-level	[40]
September 29, 2003 (2003-09-29)	Ethan Moreau	4-year	Re-signing	[41]
November 19, 2003 (2003-11-19)	Steve Staios	3-year	Extension	[42]
May 31, 2004 (2004-05-31)	Jeff Deslauriers	3-year	Entry-level	[43]

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 2003 NHL entry draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.^[44]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	22	Marc-Antoine Pouliot	Canada	Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
2	51	Colin McDonald	United States	New England Jr. Coyotes (EJHL)
2	68	Jean-François Jacques	Canada	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
3	72	Mikhail Zhukov	Russia	Arboga (Sweden)
3	94	Zack Stortini	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
5	147	Kalle Olsson	Sweden	Frolunda HC (Elitserien)
5	154	David Rohlfs	United States	Detroit Compuware Ambassadors (NAHL)
6	184	Dragan Umicevic	Sweden	Sodertalje SK (SEL)
7	214	Kyle Brodziak	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
7	215	Mathieu Roy	Canada	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
8	248	Josef Hrabal	Czech Republic	HC Vsetin (Czech Extraliga)
9	278	Troy Bodie	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)

Notes

1. Renamed from Skyreach Centre in January
2. 4th-round pick in 2004^[12]
3. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[24]
4. Cleary signed with Phoenix on July 15.^[25]
5. Edmonton retained Haakana’s NHL rights through the 2005–06 season.^[29]