Division 4th Smythe 1979–80 record 28–39–13 Road record 11–25–4 | Conference 8th Campbell Home record 17–14–9 Goals for 301 (9th) | |
The 1979–80 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' eighth season, their first season in the National Hockey League (NHL), as they were one of the teams that were part of the WHA-NHL merger that took place on June 22, 1979.
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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 fewer goals than winner Marcel Dionne. Gretzky, however, would win the Hart Trophy as MVP of the NHL, but was declared ineligible for the Calder Trophy due to his playing days in the WHA.
Edmonton played 6 goaltenders during the season, and was led by Eddie Mio's 9 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 would make the playoffs, however 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.
Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Goaltending
Awards and records
Trades
*Oilers promised to not make Paul Shmyr one of its priority selections in the 1979 NHL expansion draft
Draft picks
Edmonton's draft picks at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft:
Expansion draft picks
Edmonton's expansion draft picks at the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft