from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

With 19 points in 29 games, a 1-13 record in their past 14 and coming off two losses in a row on their California road trip, the Oilers have zero chance of making the playoffs. They are 15 points out of the final spot and would need to leapfrog seven teams to get there. It isn’t going to happen.

Luckily, the consolation prize for being really bad is really good. One could argue that the last true generational players to play in Canada were Wayne Gretzky and/or Mark Messier. To have a McDavid or an Eichel land in Edmonton would create symmetry, if nothing else. But to think MacTavish’s hands are completely tied is a false premise too. There are two steps he could take – one likely obvious to him, the other maybe not – to make the final two-thirds of the season productive on some futures level.

The first would be to shop for a lateral trade.

This is a strategy that has fallen out of favour in the 21st-century NHL for reasons that are difficult to explain.

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