Oates began his career with the Detroit Red Wings.

Within a year Federko had retired and McKegney had been traded away again. In St. Louis, however, Oates' fortunes took a completely different turn. Playing on a line with Brett Hull, he quickly gained the reputation as one of the NHL's premier passing centres and established himself as the number-one setup man for his high-scoring linemate.

Oates is regarded as one of the best set-up men of his era.

Oates put up a career-high 142 points for Boston in 1992-93.

Oates split that rookie year between Detroit and Adirondack of the AHL. His Detroit tenure was short-lived, and it was only within the freer offensive system in place in St. Louis that he was able to come into his own as a playmaking centre. After establishing his game there, Oates was traded again, this time to Boston in 1992. Oates spent parts of six seasons with the Bruins where he established a career-high 45 goals and 97 assists for 142 points in 1992-93. He joined the Washington Capitals in the late stages of the 1996-97 season and, upon arriving, was instrumental in leading the Caps to their first Stanley Cup Final in 1998.

Oates led the NHL in assists on three occasions.

Oates topped the 2002-03 campaign by leading his Ducks to the Stanley Cup Final, only to lose to the New Jersey Devils in a hard-fought seven game series. He finished with a team-high 13 playoff points.

Oates joined the Washington Capitals in 1996.

Through twenty NHL seasons, Adam Oates scored 341 goals and contributed a staggering 1,079 assists for a total of 1,420 points in 1,337 regular season NHL games. He also scored 42 goals and 114 assists for 156 points in 163 playoff contests.

In 2012, the outstanding playmaking skills of Adam Oates were recognized when he was elected for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.