At the age of 39, Oates piled up a league-leading 64 assists, but somehow was not named to the Eastern Conference squad at the mid-season classic. Take for example, the 2001-02 NHL season, where Oates was overlooked. Oates was only named to the NHL All-Star Game five times, which is puzzling in itself. He also finished third in the NHL scoring race three times, which represents how elite of a producer he was during the prime of his career. His point totals are well over the standard for Hall of Fame forwards, as he averaged over a point per game over the course of his career.
Oates used crafty passes and puck handling to create opportunities for his wingers, and created space for skilled snipers such as Hull, Peter Bondra and Neely. There was little flash in Oates' game, but he made up for it with his intelligence and efficiency. Oates' greatest downfall was that he lacked goal scoring touch, so traditionally, his popularity didn't extend beyond the city he happened to be playing in (which changed quite frequently).
Oates was a playmaker, the type of pivot who turns 10-goal scorers into 29-goal snipers (see Chris Simon's stats from 1998-99), or a 50-goal man into an 86-goal phenomenon (Brett Hull's MVP season). This was the case with centerman Adam Oates.
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