I'm not going to get too overly excited analyzing the Oilers loss on Friday to the St. Louis Blues. The Oilers are on a ridiculously long road-trip that they're going to be lucky to finish with three wins over nine games. Three games in and the Oilers are 1-1-1, which is about as much as we can hope for.

With respect to the loss to the Blues, there were "okay" moments: That's the best I've seen Ryan Whitney play all season, which is important if we ever want to deal him. Nail Yakupov looked really good when he took over from Taylor Hall on the Hall/Nuge/Eberle line. Sam Gagner tried to be the Oilers best player again (give the kid an 'A' for effort every game) and Justin Schultz kept his points streak going. The rookie defenseman is tied for 6th in scoring for defensemen in the NHL; a pretty impressive stat at this point of the season for a rookie.

Oh, there were bad moments. First thing that stuck out was Hall getting hurt (not understanding this one; be bangs his arm and he leaves with a leg injury?) Devan Dubnyk let in three goals I think he could have stopped. The only other issue has to do with chance conversion. A few Oilers made some nifty plays out there, only to see a chance die on a different Oilers stick. The biggest issue was something the Oilers can't control: The Blues are a better team. Better D, better goalie and better forward depth. Tonight's result wasn't a surprise nor was is that bad. The Oilers played fairly well even though they lost.

When the Oilers were up by two goals I did something I don't usually do yet at this point of the season: I checked team standings. There's only six points difference between 3rd place Vancouver and 14th place Calgary. That's it: Six points. Between Edmonton and Vancouver, the distance is only four points. The Oilers still have four games to go before they reach the half-way mark of the season, so there's plenty of time to make up four points.

The Oilers are not really any better or any worse than most of the other teams in the league. Saying that makes me happy, because we all know how young the core of the team is. Playoffs might not happen this season, but they've clearly managed to accomplish one of their goals going into it: They're no longer the worst team in the league. I'm not sure they're a Bottom 5 team anymore. Progress. Ladies and gentlemen, we've made progress. Pause for a second and feel happy about it.

As of today, the Oilers have played just as many home games as road games - 10 each way - Their next six are on the road. Minnie is a team they'll likely lose to, but could win. Columbus is a team they can beat. Detroit is a loss if you ask me, but Nashville will be a win. Chicago is likely a loss, but Colorado is a win. So over the next six, I'm saying the Oilers will go 3-3. That brings the Oilers home with 22 games remaining, only eight being road games, and most likely still only around four points back of a playoff spot. If the Oilers can split the rest of this road trip, maybe playoff hockey isn't impossible with 14 of the last 22 games at home. 8-4-2 at home over those 14, plus a 4-4 split on the road would give the Oilers a final point total of 52pts. Very close to what a team would need for 7th or 8th place in the Western Conference.

I will comment on a few other things before I end tonight's blog. Everyone is asking me if the Oilers are going to deal anyone. From what I understand, Oilers management aren't making calls, but they're certainly listening when other teams call them. Oilers management believe the offers will get better as we get closer to the April 3 deadline.

Ryan Whitney is perhaps the only player I'll say for-sure is being dealt. The Oilers have too many D and Whitney hasn't bounced back from his injury situation the way team management hoped. Not dealing him means losing the asset completely, which is something the Oilers won't do. If they moved him today they could get a 3rd round pick for him. They'll wait it out hoping to turn that 3rd into a 2nd. The 2013 Entry Draft is deep and 2nd round picks will be quality. That, or, on draft day the Oilers can use 2nds and other assets to move up for a 2nd - 1st round pick.

The Oilers need to keep seven functional D, so it's completely possible Whitney is the only defenseman dealt by April 3. However, if Ladislav Smid or Mark Fistric are impossible to re-sign before the deadline, either could go too. I actually think Fistric will be re-signed because he brings a physical element no other Oilers defenseman can. Smid is perhaps a $4mil per season re-sign, which is plenty of money for a play who doesn't put up any offense. I'll be very interested to see what happens with Smid. If I'm the GM, I'm trying to re-up him long-term.

Last year's Tom Gilbert could be this season's Smid. I've heard rumblings that perhaps Smid doesn't fit in as well as some people believe, and that a deal could occur because of it. The Oilers absolutely need to add a puck-mover who players the left side...Smid could be one of the assets moved to make that happen.

Up front the Oilers really have no pressure to deal anything or for anybody. Keep in mind this isn't a last-place team anymore. The goal, as I've been saying all season, wasn't to make the playoffs; the goal was to improve, and they have. Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Nail Yakupov are long-term future members of the Oilers roster. I believe Sam Gagner has done enough to keep him on the team too. That's five of the Top 6. The one thing about keeping Gagner is that is means Ales Hemsky needs to be turned into a big winger. That could mean trading Hemsky+, or it could mean the Oilers draft strategically in June. The Oilers could always stick Gagner and Yakupov on the wings on the 2nd line, and draft a big center. If the Oilers draft somewhere between 5-10, you absolutely could see Aleksander Barkov or Sean Monahan's name called by Steve Tambellini.

The Bottom 6 is perhaps the group that needs the most work during the off-season. Shawn Horcoff is overpaid but the Oilers aren't nearly as good without him. I still don't like anything Eric Belanger does. If I had to pick between keeping Horcoff or keeping Belanger, I'd take Horcoff for next season, at least.

Ryan Smyth stinks now but there's nothing we can do about him being here. Just let him play out his contract in peace. I like Lennart Petrell and Ryan Jones because they work hard, but neither are spectacular in any way. Ben Eager makes at least one mistake for every one good thing he does, and I hate players like that. Teemu Hartikainen and Anton Lander are injured, and the Oilers keep giving Magnus Paajarvi the short-straw for some reason. Is there a place you can send your coach to train on how to create and utilize a functional Bottom 6 forward group? At this point I have zero confidence in our Bottom 6 and believe management should make big changes next season. Maybe the Bottom 6 next season is Horcoff, Smyth, Jones, Lander, Hartikainen and Paajarvi...meaning Petrell, Eager and Belanger could all be moved in minor deals at the deadline. And that's only IF the Oilers are clearly out of the playoff hunt.

Oilers next action is Sunday against the Wild. Hopefully we'll get a few players back and healthy before then. The Wild are the type of team the Oilers should never lose to, but always do. Perhaps that's when I'll know when the Oilers are "for real"...When they stop losing games like these.

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