Craig MacTavish’s place in Oilers history is complicated, but it’s also impossible to ignore. In the updated Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, he lands at No. 21, down from No. 17 on Robin Brownlee’s original 2015 ranking.
That placement reflects a career in Edmonton that stretched across almost every corner of the organization. MacTavish won three Stanley Cups with the Oilers as a player, then came back behind the bench to coach a young team all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, and later moved into the front office, where his draft picks included Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl. Whatever role he had, the organization seemed to come out better for it.
His arrival in Edmonton, though, was anything but ordinary. Glen Sather signed him as a free agent after MacTavish had served a year in jail for vehicular homicide in the 1984 death of 26-year-old Kim Radley in Massachusetts.
Radley died after a multi-car crash in which her car was struck by another driven by MacTavish, who was under the influence of alcohol at the time. When MacTavish later returned to Boston with the Oilers, he met with Radley’s parents, Ron and Hazel Foote, and the two sides made peace.
“I was real apprehensive about doing it,” MacTavish told the New York Daily News. “Sure I was nervous.
But I knew it was something I had to do. I wanted to do it . . . it was definitely a turning point.
It alleviated some of my guilt, obviously. I can’t say enough about them.
They were unbelievable. Just unreal people.
They’re a real religious family, and I think their attitude toward it was it being an act of God rather than my irresponsibility.”
On the ice, MacTavish carved out a reputation as the kind of player coaches trust when the game gets tight. He was never the flashiest name in those Oilers lineups, but he gave them something they always needed: a hard-nosed defensive centre who could be counted on to handle pressure and protect a lead.
“I always knew if we had to protect a lead with Mac, I was pretty comfortable,” Kevin Lowe told The Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson in 2024. “If we were down a goal, I was never worried because one of the offensive guys would get a goal for us and it wouldn’t be me.
“And conversely, the top guys all felt comfortable that the role players could finish the game off for them. It was harmonious. They knew if MacT was out there or Doc Gregg, we were safe.”
MacTavish did have offensive moments, too. He scored 20 or more goals six times over his 17-year career, including four seasons in Edmonton, and his best scoring year came in 1988-89, when he posted career highs with 21 goals, 31 assists and 52 points.
Across 701 regular-season games with the Oilers, he finished with 155 goals and 331 points, along with a .22 goals-per-game rate and .47 points-per-game rate. In the playoffs, the numbers dipped, but the defensive impact remained obvious: 13 goals and 37 points in 113 games, plus a plus-15 rating.
His time as an Oilers player ended in March 1994, when he was traded to the Rangers for Todd Marchant.
MacTavish retired in 1997, but his return to Edmonton came quickly. Two years later, he joined the Oilers as an assistant coach, then took over as head coach in 2000-01. His teams were competitive and feisty in the years leading up to the 2006 Stanley Cup run, and that 2006 club became the clearest reflection of the edge he brought to the job.
After the 2008-09 season, GM Steve Tambellini fired MacTavish during the early days of the Decade of Darkness. MacTavish later replaced him as GM in April 2013, and after the Oilers won the draft lottery to select Connor McDavid, he was replaced by Steve Tambellini. He remained with the organization for four more years as senior vice-president of hockey operations and now appears on Sportsnet panels, where he makes fun of Bob Stauffer.
Brownlee’s original take on MacTavish summed up the length and complexity of his Edmonton run. His tenure with the Oilers spans 32 years, including parts of nine seasons and 701 games as a player, three Stanley Cups, and two seasons as team captain. It also includes his work as a coach and manager, with far less success than he had as jersey No. 14 with the Boys on the Bus.
The last 10 in the Top 100 Oilers list are Dave Hunter at No. 31, Dave Lumley at No.
30, Sam Gagner at No. 29, Jordan Eberle at No.
28, Jason Smith at No. 27, Zach Hyman at No.
26, Andy Moog at No. 25, Steve Smith at No.
24, Lee Fogolin at No. 23 and Randy Gregg at No. 22.
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