and Glenn Anderson were traded to Toronto, Steve Smith was traded to Chicago, and Kurri was traded to Philadelphia. Charlie Huddy was claimed by Minnesota in the expansion draft, and Mark Messier was traded to the New York Rangers a day after the season began. The Oilers even lost their head coach, as John Muckler left to become head coach and general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. Ted Green replaced Muckler as head coach, and Kevin Lowe succeeded Messier as captain. Despite the number of changes, the Oilers produced a comparable season to 1990–91, finishing third in the Smythe Division with 36 wins and 82 points. In the first round of the playoffs, the Oilers again met the Los Angeles Kings. Again, for the third time since the Gretzky trade, the Oilers defeated the Kings. In the next round, the Oilers defeated the Vancouver Canucks in six games to return to the Campbell Conference Final for the third straight season, this time facing the Chicago Blackhawks. However, the Oilers unexpected run in the playoffs came to a crashing halt, as the Blackhawks dominated every game and swept the series. The departures of the stars from the 1980s exposed serious deficiencies in the Oilers' development system. They had done a poor job of drafting during the dynasty years, and the younger players had not had enough time to develop before the core of the 1980s dynasty left the team. This did not become apparent for a few years; as noted above, the Oilers still had enough heft to make the conference finals two years in a row. However, it was obvious that they were nowhere near being the powerhouse that had dominated the league in the previous half-decade. In 1992–93, they missed the playoffs for the first time as an NHL team. They did not return to the postseason for four years, despite the emergence of young centremen Doug Weight and Jason Arnott. In the 1993–94 season, the Oilers were placed into the Western Conference's Pacific Division. Return to the playoffs and seventh Cup Final appearance (1996–2006) In 1996–97, the Oilers made the playoffs for the first time in five years, thanks to stellar goaltending by Curtis Joseph. In the first round, they upset the Dallas Stars, who had compiled the league's second-best record, in a seven-game series. The Oilers won game seven on a goal by Todd Marchant in overtime.