The 1980–81 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers' second season in the NHL, and they finished with 74 points, a 5-point improvement from their first season. Wayne Gretzky ran away with the Art Ross Trophy, awarded to the leading scorer, as he finished with 164 points, 29 points ahead of runner-up Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky also won his second consecutive Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the MVP of the NHL. His 164 points were an NHL record, previously held by Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins in the 1970–71 NHL season when he scored 152 points. Youngsters Jari Kurri and Mark Messier have very good offensive seasons, finishing 2nd and 3rd on the Oilers scoring list. Eddie Mio got the majority of the action in the Oilers' goal, playing in a team-high 43 games and having 16 wins, which set a franchise record. In the playoffs, the Oilers faced the heavily favoured Montreal Canadiens in the first round, and they shocked the hockey world by sweeping Montreal in 3 games. In the quarter-finals, the Oilers played the defending Stanley Cup champion and heavily favored New York Islanders and took them to 6 games before being eliminated. The season also saw one of their roster players, Don Ashby died in a car accident in the Okanagan Valley. The vehicle that he was driving was hit head-on by a pickup truck. Ashby was critically injured in the accident and died afterward from massive internal injuries in the hospital in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Playoffs

In Game One of the series versus Montreal, Wayne Gretzky had five assists. This was a single game playoff record.

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Goaltending

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Goaltending

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

Transactions

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Waivers

Signings

Draft picks

Edmonton's draft picks at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft