Players are linked to the numbers on their backs, so it only makes sense to learn about why they’re associated with their specific digits.
The question was simple: “Why do you wear your jersey number?”
The following are answers from each Edmonton Oilers player who’s been on the roster at some point this season and remains with the organization. (Sorry, Travis Dermott.)
No. 2: Evan Bouchard
I’ve worn it growing up my whole life. On my minor hockey team, it was only Nos. 2 to 17. That was the one that was open. That’s what I got and that’s what I stuck with.
In Bakersfield I wore it. In junior I wore it. Then, they gave me 75 (in 2018 training camp). I was going to switch, but that was the year Duncs (Duncan Keith) came. I figured I might as well go back to it (after he retired).
No. 8: Drake Caggiula
Nine is retired and can’t wear 91 like the first stint.
No. 10: Derek Ryan
It was one of the numbers I had growing up that I liked. I had 7, 10, 11. As a kid, you just have numbers that you prefer. Ten was actually my first number when I played Jr. B in Spokane. I started to be a pretty good player at that point. That’s where it stuck.
No. 13: Mattias Janmark
I had 26 (when Jesse Puljujarvi was on the team), but 13 was the one I had when I broke into the league, so I tried to go back to it. I always thought 13 was my NHL number. Whenever that’s been available, I’ve had it.
No. 14: Mattias Ekholm
I grew up wearing 12, actually. I got into pro and there were numbers that were busy and 14 was close enough. I just stuck with that. My rookie year, I had 42 in Nashville. It was just too high. It didn’t look great. I had to find something that was a bit lower, but I don’t have a rhyme or reason behind it.
There was a lot going on when I got traded to Edmonton. They called me and asked what I wanted for a jersey number. Kenny (Holland) just said, “I’ll look into it.” I didn’t hear much and when I got here it was 14. I didn’t even know Devin Shore switched (to 19).
No. 18: Zach Hyman
Who wore 11? (Laughs.) I knew right away I couldn’t have my old number (from the Toronto Maple Leafs). (Mark) Messier was a pretty good player and a legend here, so 11 wasn’t available. But it was kind of nice for me to go to a new place and change my number. In Toronto, I’ll be remembered for No. 11. Now, in Edmonton, it’s 18. It’s unique for me to have two different numbers in two different cities.
Eighteen — my (eldest) son, Theo, was born on Dec. 18. Wearing 18 for him was a natural fit. Also, I’m Jewish and, in Judaism, 18 is a lucky number. It means “chai,” which means “life” in Hebrew. I know a bunch of people in my community are pretty happy I chose that number. But really, it was for Theo. I wanted to do something for him.
No. 19: Adam Henrique
I was a Steve Yzerman fan growing up. Fourteen was obviously taken here and 19 was available, so that was it. At the time, too, my brother Mike’s little guy, William, was wearing 19 on his Timbits team, so that also helped. I was asking them what number I should wear, and he sent over the (hockey) card. So, it was William (reason) one and Yzerman two.
No. 25: Darnell Nurse
When I was a kid, I had a choice between 5, which was my uncle’s (Donovan McNabb) number (in the NFL); 85, which was my dad’s (Richard) number (in the CFL); and then 25 just because no one had it. I picked 25 just because I wanted to have my own path. I stuck with the 5 — everyone’s got 5 — so that was the cool part about it.
No. 27: Brett Kulak
No. 7 is my favourite number. I wore 77 in Montreal, but that one was off-limits (due to injured blueliner Oscar Klefbom). From what I remember on the sheet of available numbers when I was traded here, 27 was the nicest one to me that stuck out. I like that number.
No. 28: Connor Brown
When I got to (OHL) Erie, I wasn’t really on the team, so I was just on my gitch loop (bag for holding long underwear in the laundry) when I got there. They just had given it to me, and I just liked it. The 2 and the 8 looked big on my back, too. It makes you look a little bigger out there. After that, I just wanted to stick with it.
I had a couple numbers in Toronto. I was bouncing around. When I was called up, I had 16 for seven games and then Mitchy (Marner) made the team, and he got 16. (Then GM) Lou (Lamoriello) had a certain amount of numbers you could pick. I had no numbers I could pick. (Laughs.) I was number 12. Then we signed Patty (Marleau). I got 28. That was the first time I was able to pick a number.
No. 29: Leon Draisaitl
I like the number. I like how it looks. I’ve worn it for a while now. Another thing is my dad (Peter), who was a coach in Germany, he used to have a player with 29. He was my favourite player when I was younger. His name is Ben Thomson. He actually played at the U of A, so that has a little bit to do with it as well.
No. 30: Calvin Pickard
It was given to me. (Laughs.) That’s the only reason, but now I’m sticking with it. I was 1 through junior in (WHL) Seattle, but it didn’t look great when I turned pro. I don’t think I could even wear 1 when I was in Cleveland. It was retired by Johnny Bower, so I had to find a new number. I was 31 and rolled with 31 in different places. I was 30 in Arizona. I was 33 in Philly. I’m not a number guy at all. I was 31 in Bakersfield, but it’s obviously retired here.
No. 33: Viktor Arvidsson
I wore it early in my junior career and then I went away from it. I always liked the Sedins. My brother, Emil, wore 22, so I wore 33.
No. 36: John Klingberg
Three is retired. Arvy has 33. So, I chose 36, which is my grandpa’s (Olof Klingberg) birth year. He passed away last year, so I thought it was a good time to switch it up and go 36.
No. 42: Kasperi Kapanen
It’s pretty self-explanatory. My dad (Sami) had 24 and eventually we started playing on the same team (KalPa in the Finnish league in 2012-13 and 2013-14) and I couldn’t take 24, so I flipped it around to 42. He came out of retirement because I was getting pretty good, pretty fast and he knew we had a chance (to play together), which was special for us.
In Toronto, I was 24. At some point, I went to Pitt and got a fresh start there. I decided to honour my dad and just let him have 24 and went back to 42. It’s been pretty good.
No. 44: Josh Brown
I’ve worn 3 for a lot of my career. It’s obviously retired here. Forty-four, Sheldon Souray wore it. Chris Pronger wore it. I like those bigger-style D men. I just thought it was a good number for a D-man, and maybe even a bigger D-man. I just thought, “Sure, let’s go with that one.” I’m used to wearing just one number — just the 3 — so it’s cool to see them both on (the jersey). It’s something different.
No. 48: Noah Philp
It was given to me. I’ve worn a lot of different numbers in my career. I’m not too superstitious with it. It’s my number right now and likely I’ll stick with it. I don’t think too deeply into it. I just roll with what I’ve got.
No. 49: Ty Emberson
Forty-nine was my first year of juniors with the U17 national team. They actually gave us our numbers. They gave me 49 and right away I hated it. I was like, “This is the worst number ever. It’s a weird high number.” But by the end of the year, I was like, “OK, I actually like it a lot.” I went to school (at Wisconsin) and was (number) 10 and then 10 got retired. I switched to 21 just because there weren’t many options.
Then I signed (an NHL contract). I decided to go back to a number that I liked and no one’s ever going to take again. I was 49 my first two years of pro and then last year in San Jose, Scott Sabourin, a vet, was 49. I think there are a couple 49s in the league, and I happened to go to one team that had a 49. They gave me 6. When I came here and Gleese (Ben Gleason) was 6 and it wasn’t available, I figured I’d go back to 49.
I hated the number to begin with, but now it’s a random number that I enjoy.
No. 51: Troy Stecher
I signed with Vancouver out of North Dakota as a free agent and that was the number in my stall. I didn’t expect to make the team. I played four games in (AHL) Utica, and I got called back up. I just didn’t feel comfortable switching numbers. I ended up playing 70-something games that year as a rookie in Vancouver. Being from there, all my friends and family got jerseys. I felt like an asshole if I was going to change my number, so I just stuck with it.
No. 53: Jeff Skinner
When I was really little, I wore 23 because my mom said I reminded her of Eddie Shack. I was going around the ice waving and she thought I was a bit of a showman. I was like 3 years old. She gave me 23. I wore that until I got to junior. Someone was wearing 23 and, so I got 53 by flipping the 2. It stuck since my first year of junior. When I first came in — and it still is — it’s a bit of a training camp number, but you see more and more guys with higher numbers now.
No. 74: Stuart Skinner
Growing up, my oldest brother, Stephen, was (number) 71. My second oldest, Scott, was 72. Then Sheldon had 73. So, I took 74.
No. 90: Corey Perry
I couldn’t wear 10. I couldn’t wear 94, which I wore in junior and in Montreal. That’s a number I always had in the back of my mind when I was younger. So, I split them down the middle. That’s the reason why it’s 90. It just seemed fitting.
No. 91: Evander Kane
I chose No. 91 because No. 9 is retired here in Edmonton. I went to 91 because it’s my birth year. I thought I’d join Connor and Nuge.
No. 9 wasn’t retired in Winnipeg. I talked to Bobby Hull, and he said, “Go ahead. No problem.” I wore 9 since I was in junior.
The reason I wore 9 is I had always normally worn 19 — Joe Sakic was one of my favourite players — but it was taken by James Wright when I went to the (Vancouver) Giants. Gordie Howe was one of our minority owners at the time and he wore No. 9. So, I said, “I’m going to wear No. 9.” That’s what I stuck with.
No. 92: Vasily Podkolzin
I was 19 my whole life until maybe 19 years old. I love Evgeny Kuznetsov. He was 92 here (in the NHL) for a long time. It’s a little piece of him. In Vancouver, Markus Naslund had it (because it was retired) and Rico has it here. But I have a jersey from the draft. It was 19 because it was 2019.
No. 93: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Well, I would have worn 9, but it’s obviously taken here. Ninety-three I also wore when 9 was taken in bantam. I like it. It’s the year I was born. It’s not really the reason that I wear it, but I like Doug Gilmour. That’s a cool addition, too. He was a pretty feisty guy, obviously a great player and (had) a good, long career — and a successful one.
No. 97: Connor McDavid
Pretty easy. I chose it when I was 7 years old. I made the 8-year-old team with the ’96-borns. I thought it would be cool to wear 97 because I was born in ’97. It’s something that’s stuck with me.
(Photo: Andy Devlin / NHLI via Getty Images)
