Edmonton Oilers Mount Rushmore

[Spawn]

Really tough who the 4th player is.

Gretzky
Messier
McDavid

Are locks

Very easy arguments for Kurri, Coffey or Fuhr.

I think you could also argue for Draisaitl and make it a “Hart” Rushmore.

Kevin Lowe probably deserves some consideration as the longest serving Oiler as well as having a long career with the organization after (although so much of it negative, that isn’t necessarily a positive lol)

But ultimately I think I’d probably go with Ryan Smyth. He represented an entire era of the Oilers from the mid 90s to the mid 2000s. He was the heart and soul of the organization for a decade and was beloved by the fan base as a guy who bled copper.

 

[Puck Dogg]

Surprised to find that Gretzky had less games for Oilers than Shawn Horcoff.

 

[Fourier]

At the end of the day, this is a question best answered by Oilers fans (similar to a statue) since nuance plays a role here, so obviously your opinion is more important. I’m just speaking from an outsiders perspective.

I don't think it's unreasonable for others to weigh in. The way players are viewed outside the fan base matters. For the record, I have an exceptionally high opinion of a guy like Kurri. It was hard for me to choose between he and Coffey. But I have already said that in time I think that Draisaitl might force himself into the conversation, especially if he plays his whole career in Edmonton.

The other aspect of this is that the salary cap and the penchant for UFA's to want to go to warmer and less intense climes makes it harder for a team like Edmonton to win than it was back in the 80's. Just having to pay McDavid and Leon has impacted the potential to build depth. The league is far more balanced and there is no way that the dynasty team would have been able to stay together under the current rules. So team accomplishments are a bit of an unfair standard in assessing a player like McDavid.

 

[Albatros]

Surprised to find that Gretzky had less games for Oilers than Shawn Horcoff.

And Ryan Smyth has more PP goals than Gretzky.

 

[La Bamba]

Gretzky, Messier, McDavid, Coffey in that order right now. If McDavid and Draisaitl play their entire careers with Edmonton and continue their pace: Gretzky, McDavid, Draisaitl, Messier

 

[centipede2233]

Coffey was only there for 7 seasons. Great 7 seasons but that's gotta detract some.

I think if we do this poll 15 yrs from now, drasaitl likely takes coffey’s place….

 

[LightningStorm]

Gretzky, McDavid and Messier are definitely the top 3. 4th is more of a tossup, but I'd go with Coffey. Even with Kurri playing a little longer in Edmonton (10 vs 7 seasons), I'm comfortable choosing Coffey, as I thought he was better. I do think Leon playing more than a decade with the Oilers and continuing finishing towards the top in league scoring would cement his spot in the top 4 though.

I think Smyth's inclusion is mostly based on sentimentality. Put that aside, and I don't see his case being much better than Anderson's.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

The 3 multi time MVPs are no brainers. Then it's between Coffey/Kurri/Fuhr/Drai for the final spot. I gave it to Coffey but Drai can absolutely push himself past the others with a few more legendary seasons.

 

[centipede2233]

Gretzky, McDavid and Messier are definitely the top 3. 4th is more of a tossup, but I'd go with Coffey. Even with Kurri playing a little longer in Edmonton (10 vs 7 seasons), I'm comfortable choosing Coffey, as I thought he was better. I do think Leon playing more than a decade with the Oilers and continuing finishing towards the top in league scoring would cement his spot in the top 4 though.

I think Smyth's inclusion is mostly based on sentimentality. Put that aside, and I don't see his case being much better than Anderson's.

Smyth is deserving to be on the mount rushmore of a lot of teams if his career was on other teams. But Edmonton is just stacked historically and smith just isn’t on Edmonton’s Mount Rushmore, as much of a feel good story it would be.

ryan smyth is the LA kings version of Dustin brown without the cups and entire career with one team

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

Surprised Coffey is beating out Kurri TBH. Kurri had a longer stint with the Oilers. All time leader in playoff goals with 92. Lead the postseason in goals for 4 of the Oilers cups including for an NHL record 19 one year.

Coffey to me is more representative of "80s Oilers style" than Kurri despite the shorter tenure. When you think the high flying all out offense Oilers the second thing you think of behind Gretzky is Coffey leading the rush/fast break down the ice. Both are valid choices though.

 

[Mr Kot]

Smyth wore the Oilers crest and embodied a tough working 90's - mid 2000's Oilers that were always underdogs. He was the face of the oilers during that time. I'm surprised so many oilers fans don't have him there.

 

[rogking65]

It's kind of hard to do, I went Gretzky, Messier, Smyth, McDavid only because Gretzky/Messier you have to have, Smyth represents the post-Gretzky era and then McDavid is probably the 2nd best talent to play for the team and represents the modern era. Maybe Ryan Smyth shouldn't be there, and then the next one up would be Paul Coffey, but that was my logic.

come on,get real. You chose Ryan Smyth when you have all those other options?
.

 

[Soundwave]

come on,get real. You chose Ryan Smyth when you have all those other options?
.

That was my question ... if you're just picking the 4 best players, well that's not terribly hard. Gretzky, Messier, McDavid, Coffey. If you're picking based on the four faces that represent the franchise the best through the existence of the franchise, well then Smyth would make sense. It's not like he was a scrub player either, if you put him on those 80s teams, he'd have sky high offensive numbers too.