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.

2020–21 Edmonton Oilers
Division	2nd North
2020–21 record	35–19–2
Home record	16–12–0
Road record	19–7–2
Goals for	183
Goals against	154
Team information
General manager	Ken Holland
Coach	Dave Tippett
Captain	Connor McDavid
Alternate captains	Leon Draisaitl Adam Larsson Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Darnell Nurse
Arena	Rogers Place
Minor league affiliate(s)	Bakersfield Condors (AHL) Wichita Thunder (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Connor McDavid (33)
Assists	Connor McDavid (72)
Points	Connor McDavid (105)
Penalty minutes	Darnell Nurse (57)
Plus/minus	Leon Draisaitl (+29)
Wins	Mike Smith (21)
Goals against average	Mike Smith (2.31)
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

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.^[1] 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

North Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Toronto Maple Leafs	56	35	14	7	29	187	148	+39	77
2	x – Edmonton Oilers	56	35	19	2	31	183	154	+29	72
3	x – Winnipeg Jets	56	30	23	3	24	170	154	+16	63
4	x – Montreal Canadiens	56	24	21	11	20	159	168	−9	59
5	Calgary Flames	56	26	27	3	22	156	161	−5	55
6	Ottawa Senators	56	23	28	5	18	157	190	−33	51
7	Vancouver Canucks	56	23	29	4	17	151	188	−37	50

Source: National Hockey League^[2]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.^[3]

2020–21 game log
January: 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 [4] 2 January 14 Vancouver 2–5 Edmonton Koskinen 0 1–1–0 2 [5] 3 January 16 Montreal 5–1 Edmonton Koskinen 0 1–2–0 2 [6] 4 January 18 Montreal 3–1 Edmonton Koskinen 0 1–3–0 2 [7] 5 January 20 Edmonton 3–1 Toronto Koskinen 0 2–3–0 4 [8] 6 January 22 Edmonton 2–4 Toronto Koskinen 0 2–4–0 4 [9] 7 January 24 Edmonton 4–3 Winnipeg Koskinen 0 3–4–0 6 [10] 8 January 26 Edmonton 4–6 Winnipeg Koskinen 0 3–5–0 6 [11] 9 January 28 Toronto 4–3 Edmonton Koskinen 0 3–6–0 6 [12] 10 January 30 Toronto 3–4 Edmonton OT Koskinen 0 4–6–0 8 [13] 11 January 31 Ottawa 5–8 Edmonton Skinner 0 5–6–0 10 [14]
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 [15] 13 February 6 Edmonton 4–6 Calgary Koskinen 0 6–7–0 12 [16] 14 February 8 Edmonton 3–1 Ottawa Smith 0 7–7–0 14 [17] 15 February 9 Edmonton 3–2 Ottawa Koskinen 0 8–7–0 16 [18] 16 February 11 Edmonton 3–0 Montreal Smith 0 9–7–0 18 [19] 17 February 15 Winnipeg 6–5 Edmonton Koskinen 0 9–8–0 18 [20] 18 February 17 Winnipeg 2–3 Edmonton Smith 0 10–8–0 20 [21] 19 February 19 Edmonton 2–1 Calgary Smith 0 11–8–0 22 [22] 20 February 20 Calgary 1–7 Edmonton Koskinen 0 12–8–0 24 [23] 21 February 23 Edmonton 4–3 Vancouver Smith 0 13–8–0 26 [24] 22 February 25 Edmonton 3–0 Vancouver Smith 0 14–8–0 28 [25] 23 February 27 Toronto 4–0 Edmonton Smith 0 14–9–0 28 [26]
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 [27] 25 March 3 Toronto 6–1 Edmonton Smith 0 14–11–0 28 [28] 26 March 6 Calgary 2–3 Edmonton Smith 0 15–11–0 30 [29] 27 March 8 Ottawa 2–3 Edmonton Koskinen 0 16–11–0 32 [30] 28 March 10 Ottawa 1–7 Edmonton Smith 0 17–11–0 34 [31] 29 March 12 Ottawa 2–6 Edmonton Smith 0 18–11–0 36 [32] 30 March 13 Edmonton 1–2 Vancouver Koskinen 0 18–12–0 36 [33] 31 March 15 Edmonton 3–4 Calgary Smith 0 18–13–0 36 [34] 32 March 17 Edmonton 7–3 Calgary Smith 0 19–13–0 38 [35] 33 March 18 Winnipeg 1–2 Edmonton Koskinen 0 20–13–0 40 [36] 34 March 20 Winnipeg 2–4 Edmonton Smith 0 21–13–0 42 [37] — March 22 Edmonton Montreal Postponed due to COVID-19.[38] Rescheduled for March 30.[39] — March 24 Edmonton Montreal Postponed due to COVID-19.[40] Rescheduled for May 10.[39] — March 26 Edmonton Montreal Postponed due to COVID-19.[40] Rescheduled for May 12.[39][41] 35 March 27 Edmonton 3–4 Toronto OT Smith 0 21–13–1 43 [42] 36 March 29 Edmonton 3–2 Toronto OT Smith 0 22–13–1 45 [43] 37 March 30 Edmonton 0–4 Montreal Koskinen 0 22–14–1 45 [44]
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 [45] — April 3 Vancouver Edmonton Postponed due to COVID-19.[46] Rescheduled for May 6.[47][41] 39 April 5 Edmonton 2–3 Montreal OT Smith 0 23–14–2 48 [48] 40 April 7 Edmonton 4–2 Ottawa Koskinen 0 24–14–2 50 [49] 41 April 8 Edmonton 3–1 Ottawa Smith 0 25–14–2 52 [50] 42 April 10 Edmonton 0–5 Calgary Smith 0 25–15–2 52 [51] — April 12 Vancouver Edmonton Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 8.[47] — April 14 Vancouver Edmonton Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 15.[47][41] — April 16 Edmonton Vancouver Postponed due to COVID-19.[52] Rescheduled for May 3.[47][41] 43 April 17 Edmonton 3–0 Winnipeg Smith 0 26–15–2 54 [53] 44 April 19 Montreal 1–4 Edmonton Smith 0 27–15–2 56 [54] 45 April 21 Montreal 4–3 Edmonton Smith 0 27–16–2 56 [55] 46 April 26 Edmonton 6–1 Winnipeg Smith 0 28–16–2 58 [56] 47 April 28 Edmonton 3–1 Winnipeg Koskinen 0 29–16–2 60 [57] 48 April 29 Calgary 3–1 Edmonton Smith 0 29–17–2 60 [58]
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 [59] 50 May 3 Edmonton 5–3 Vancouver Koskinen 0 31–17–2 64 [60] 51 May 4 Edmonton 4–1 Vancouver Smith 0 32–17–2 66 [61] 52 May 6 Vancouver 6–3 Edmonton Koskinen 0 32–18–2 66 [62] 53 May 8 Vancouver 3–4 Edmonton Smith 0 33–18–2 68 [63] 54 May 10 Edmonton 4–3 Montreal OT Koskinen 0 34–18–2 70 [64] 55 May 12 Edmonton 4–3 Montreal OT Smith 0 35–18–2 72 [65] 56 May 15 Vancouver 4–1 Edmonton Koskinen 0 35–19–2 72 [66]
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffs
North 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 [67] 2 May 21 Winnipeg 1–0 Edmonton OT Smith 0–2 [68] 3 May 23 Edmonton 4–5 Winnipeg OT Smith 0–3 [69] 4 May 24 Edmonton 3–4 Winnipeg 3OT Smith 0–4 [70]
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season[71] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Connor McDavid 56 33 72 105 +21 20 Leon Draisaitl 56 31 53 84 +29 22 Tyson Barrie 56 8 40 48 +4 10 Darnell Nurse 56 16 20 36 +27 57 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 52 16 19 35 −4 22 Jesse Puljujarvi 55 15 10 25 +6 16 Kailer Yamamoto 52 8 13 21 +9 26 Alex Chiasson 45 9 7 16 −10 33 Dominik Kahun 48 9 6 15 −3 2 Josh Archibald 52 7 6 13 +2 37 Jujhar Khaira 40 3 8 11 −1 42 James Neal 29 5 5 10 −2 11 Adam Larsson 56 4 6 10 +2 24 Devin Shore 38 5 4 9 −4 6 Tyler Ennis 30 3 6 9 0 6 Kris Russell 35 0 9 9 0 8 Ethan Bear 43 2 6 8 −1 14 Zack Kassian 27 2 3 5 −4 15 Kyle Turris 27 2 3 5 −11 10 Evan Bouchard 14 2 3 5 −2 2 Caleb Jones 33 0 4 4 −7 6 Gaetan Haas 34 2 1 3 −6 10 Patrick Russell 8 0 2 2 0 0 William Lagesson 19 0 2 2 0 9 Dmitri Kulikov† 10 0 2 2 +1 2 Slater Koekkoek 18 1 0 1 −7 2 Ryan McLeod 10 0 1 1 −2 0 Joakim Nygard 9 0 0 0 −2 4

Playoffs[72] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Leon Draisaitl 4 2 3 5 −2 2 Connor McDavid 4 1 3 4 −2 0 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 4 1 1 2 −2 0 Zack Kassian 4 1 1 2 0 0 Jesse Puljujarvi 4 1 1 2 0 0 Adam Larsson 4 0 2 2 −4 2 Jujhar Khaira 4 1 0 1 −2 6 Alex Chiasson 3 1 0 1 −2 0 Devin Shore 2 0 1 1 −2 0 Slater Koekkoek 4 0 1 1 0 0 Darnell Nurse 4 0 1 1 0 2 Tyson Barrie 4 0 1 1 +1 0 Kailer Yamamoto 4 0 1 1 −2 2 Josh Archibald 3 0 0 0 −1 2 Tyler Ennis 2 0 0 0 0 0 Kris Russell 1 0 0 0 0 0 James Neal 2 0 0 0 −1 0 Ethan Bear 4 0 0 0 −4 2 Dmitri Kulikov 3 0 0 0 −3 0 Ryan McLeod 4 0 0 0 −1 0 Dominik Kahun 2 0 0 0 0 0 Gaetan Haas 2 0 0 0 0 4

Goaltenders

Regular season^[73]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Mike Smith	32	30	1,846:33	21	6	2	71	2.31	921	.923	3	0	2	6
Mikko Koskinen	26	25	1,437:39	13	13	0	76	3.17	756	.899	0	0	2	0
Stuart Skinner	1	1	59:41	1	0	0	5	5.03	38	.868	0	0	0	0

Playoffs^[74]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Mike Smith	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 game 1st NHL win	January 31, 2021
William Lagesson	1st NHL assist 1st 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
October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07)	To San Jose Sharks 3rd-round pick in 2020	To Edmonton Oilers 4th-round pick in 2020 5th-round pick in 2020
April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)	To New Jersey Devils 4th-round pick in 2022	To Edmonton Oilers Dmitri Kulikov
July 12, 2021 (2021-07-12)	To Chicago Blackhawks Caleb Jones Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2022	To Edmonton Oilers Duncan Keith Tim Söderlund
July 14, 2021 (2021-07-14)	To Carolina Hurricanes Dylan Wells	To Edmonton Oilers Future considerations

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	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
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	Tyson Barrie	from Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year
October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)	Logan Day	to Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL)	1-year
October 20, 2020 (2020-10-20)	Shane Starrett	to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)	1-year
November 2, 2020 (2020-11-02)	Dominik Kahun	from Buffalo Sabres	1-year
November 17, 2020 (2020-11-17)	Cameron Hebig	to Florida Everblades (ECHL)	1-year
December 26, 2020 (2020-12-26)	Slater Koekkoek	from Chicago Blackhawks	1-year
December 28, 2020 (2020-12-28)	Andreas Athanasiou	to Los Angeles Kings	1-year
	Ryan Kuffner	to ERC Ingolstadt (DEL)	1-year
January 8, 2021 (2021-01-08)	Riley Sheahan	to Buffalo Sabres	1-year
January 11, 2021 (2021-01-11)	Keegan Lowe	to San Diego Gulls (AHL)	1-year
January 13, 2021 (2021-01-13)	Devin Shore	from Columbus Blue Jackets	1-year
May 28, 2021 (2021-05-28)	Joakim Nygård	to Färjestad BK (SHL)	6-year
June 3, 2021 (2021-06-03)	Adam Cracknell	to Bakersfield Condors (AHL)	1-year
June 10, 2021 (2021-06-10)	Gaëtan Haas	to EHC Biel (NL)	5-year

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
January 12, 2021 (2021-01-12)	Anton Forsberg	to Carolina Hurricanes
January 16, 2021 (2021-01-16)	Troy Grosenick	from Los Angeles Kings
February 6, 2021 (2021-02-06)		to Los Angeles Kings
March 1, 2021 (2021-03-01)	Alex Stalock	from Minnesota Wild

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07)	Jesse Puljujarvi	2-year
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Tyler Ennis	1-year
	Kris Russell	1-year
	Mike Smith	1-year
November 4, 2020 (2020-11-04)	William Lagesson	2-year
November 25, 2020 (2020-11-25)	Philip Kemp	3-year
December 28, 2020 (2020-12-28)	Ethan Bear	2-year
March 22, 2021 (2021-03-22)	Michael Kesselring	3-year
April 16, 2021 (2021-04-16)	Dylan Holloway	3-year
May 3, 2021 (2021-05-03)	Ilya Konovalov	2-year
June 9, 2021 (2021-06-09)	Devin Shore	2-year
June 29, 2021 (2021-06-29)	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	8-year

Draft picks

See also: List of Edmonton Oilers 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)
1	14	Dylan Holloway	C	Canada	University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
4	100	Carter Savoie	LW	Canada	Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)
5	126	Tyler Tullio	C/RW	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
5	138	Maxim Beryozkin	LW	Russia	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL)
6	169	Filip Engaras	C	Sweden	University of New Hampshire (Hockey East)
7	200	Jeremias Lindewall	LW	Sweden	Modo Hockey (HockeyAllsvenskan)