Edmonton Oilers forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are set to hit the ice today (Feb. 3) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game. McDavid and Draisaitl are serving as captain and assistant captain of Team McDavid, respectively.
This will be the 37th time the All-Star Game has taken place since Edmonton joined the NHL in 1979, and the Oilers have had at least one player in all of them, with a high of nine Oilers appearing in the 1986 edition.
It’s not easy for a player to shine brightest when they’re surrounded by stars, which makes a standout performance at the All-Star Game extra special. Here are the top 3 performances by an Oilers player at the NHL’s midseason classic.
Wayne Gretzky, 1983 All-Star Game
The Great One became the first player with more than three goals in an All-Star Game when he scored four times in the Campbell Conference’s 9-3 victory over the Wales Conference at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale on Feb. 8, 1983. That itself would have been spectacular, but here’s the kicker: all four goals came in the same period.
Leading a scoring barrage by the Campbell Conference that turned a one-goal game into a complete blowout, Gretzky lit the lamp at 6:20, 10:31, 15:32, and 19:08 of the third period. His first of the four goals would turn out to be the game-winner.
Not surprisingly, Gretzky was named the game’s most valuable player, the first of three All-Star Game MVPs he would win in his career, but his only as a member of the Oilers.
Doug Weight, 2001 All-Star Game
Edmonton’s captain reunited with his former Oilers linemate and close friend Bill Guerin to lead Team North America to a 14-12 victory over Team World at the All-Star Game in Denver on Feb. 4, 2001. Guerin had been traded by the Oilers to the Boston Bruins less than 12 weeks earlier.
Just like during their two and a half years playing together in Edmonton, the close friends combined to make magic, with Weight assisting on two goals by Guerin and Guerin assisting on a goal by Weight. Guerin was named MVP after recording a hat trick and picking up two assists, but he couldn’t have done it without the help of Weight, who had a goal and three assists.
“He’s so gifted,” Guerin said of Weight after the game. “He’s so unselfish. All you have to do is get open and go to the net.”
Leon Draisaitl, 2020 All-Star Game
The German center totaled six points from a pair of 20-minute three-on-three games as he helped the Pacific Division come out on top at the All-Star Game in St. Louis on Jan. 25, 2020.
In a 10-5 semi-final win against the Central Division, Draisaitl scored three times and added an assist. He then picked up a goal and an assist in the final as the Pacific Division beat the Atlantic Division by a score of 5-4.
Despite his heroics and the team’s victory, Draisaitl wasn’t named MVP – that honor went to Atlantic Division forward David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins, who also had four goals and two assists over two games.
Maybe this will be Draisaitl’s year to drive away in the new vehicle that is awarded to each All-Star Game’s most valuable player. It’s been 41 years since Gretzky’s third-period explosion in New York that an Oilers player has won MVP of the midseason event.
Related: Edmonton Oilers’ All-Time Top All-Star Skills Performances
This has already been a great All-Star Weekend for McDavid, who won the All-Star Skills Competition on Friday (Feb. 2) to snag a $1M US prize.
Today’s action begins at 1 p.m. MT (3 p.m. ET) with Team McDavid against Team MacKinnon, followed by Team Hughes versus Team Matthews. The winning teams will meet in the 2024 All-Star finale.
