Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Ales Hemsky comes in at No. 14 on our updated 2025 list. He was ranked No. 22 on Brownlee’s original list.

For a generation of Edmonton Oilers fans, Ales Hemsky was their guy. 

He is among the craftiest forwards the Oilers have had since the glory years, a player whose skill set benefited from the lockout’s rule changes and the freedom of mobility, but was by no means soft. If he could be airdropped into today’s NHL, where the Robyn Regehrs of the world are few in number, Hemsky would be a consistent offensive threat. 

For parts of 11 seasons, Hemsky was the Oilers’ most dynamic option, and is cemented in the franchise’s lore for his net drives, slick hands, and natural skill. Those shoulders, though. He paid the price for that willingness to take the puck to the dirty areas, despite his slim frame, and he’d be a fan favourite throughout his Oilers tenure. 

“The fans, in my eyes, they were always great to me,” said Hemsky in 2020. “Even through bad things and good things they were, I think they were always fair to me. I don’t mind if I play bad, just give it to me. I’m an honest guy, and I know that I’m playing bad.”

Hemsky co-authored some of the most electric moments of the 2000s Oilers, when the bad times outnumbered the good. And thanks to Patrik Stefan (who, as Ray Ferraro reminds us, should be embarrassed for missing that wide-open net), Hemsky is shown continuously on all-time highlight countdowns. 

Notable

When the Oilers shipped out Bill Guerin in November 2000 to the Boston Bruins in a swap for Anson Carter, the Oilers got a first-round pick back in the deal they’d use on a kid from........

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