The Edmonton Oilers have many players who are willing to drop the gloves and defend their teammates. These three got in the most fights in the 2022-23 season.

There is no denying that hockey can be one of the most physical sports in the entire world. Players are constantly being body checked, slashed with sticks, in addition to crashing into the boards, player benches and nets. There is also a lot of fighting.

During the 2022-23 regular season the Edmonton Oilers recorded 14 fighting majors. That is significantly lower than the team ranked at number one with 37 fights, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Let's look at the Oilers who fought the most this past season.

*Please note, all fighting statistics used in this article can be found here.

Honorable Mention: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is not afraid to drop the gloves. He's had to fight four times in his NHL career. The last time was in the third period of the Oilers' March 1st game against the Toronto Maple Leafs' defender Justin Holl. On the Hockey Fights website users can vote for who they thought won the fight. For this particular tilt, 96.6% voted in favor of Nugent-Hopkins.

3. Darnell Nurse

Not only can Darnell Nurse be productive on the scoresheet, he's a fighter too. He only fought twice this past regular season. This year he fought Adam Lowry of the Winnipeg Jets and Corey Perry of the Lightning. According to Hockey Fights voting, he lost the fight to Lowry and defeated Corey Perry. Nurse is such a competitive and fiery player that it feels like he fights more often, but over the past six regular seasons he's only fought twice or three times every year.

2. Jesse Puljujarvi

He may no longer be with the organization, but Jesse Puljujarvi had an impact on this team before his trade deadline departure. In the 2022-23 regular season he dropped the gloves twice. Both were in the first half of the season. A November game against the Nashville Predators and in January against the Los Angeles Kings.

Puljujarvi lost his fight to Phillip Danault of the Kings, while earning a draw against Kiefer Sherwood of the Predators. These are the only two fights of Puljujarvi's NHL career. He had one previous tilt in the American Hockey League in the 2018-19 season.

1. Klim Kostin

Klim Kostin was acquired to bring depth to the organization, while adding a physical element to the lineup. Evander Kane suffered a cut wrist a month into Kostin's time with the team. One of the ways he stepped up was standing up for teammates which led to him engaging in four on-ice fights this season. His willingness to stick up for his teammates endeared him to fans, who are clamoring for him to be re-signed by the organization.

According to Hockey Fights, he won twice, lost once, and earned a draw in his four in season fights. Even if he doesn't return to the team for the 2023-24 season, fans will still remember what he contributed to the Oilers during his time.

Are you surprised by this list? Is there someone you expected to be on here that wasn't? Let me know in the comments!