KEEP THOSE BAGS PACKED, BOYS

Not much left for fans to look forward to other than next week’s trade deadline

With the trade deadline Monday, half the Edmonton Oilers should have come to Rogers Place Tuesday night either with their knees knocking in fear or their hearts pounding with excitement and anticipation.

The trouble was figuring out which was which.

If they’re guys who had pretty much counted on spending most of the next decade playing with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the nucleus of the overachieving team we watched here last year, their knees should have been knocking.

If they’d prefer to get away from a 26th-place team that likely is going to end up back in a decade of darkness draft lottery and go on to play for a Stanley Cup contender instead, the excitement should have been easy to see.

I’m not sure if Ryan Strome is one who is hoping to stay or hoping to go, but the guy who failed

to score in two months was the only forward with a shot on goal in the first period and it resulted in his second goal in back-toback games.

The Oilers were outshot 13-3, led the period 1-0 and you could make the case it could have been 2-0 or even 3-0. Kris Russell hit the post and McDavid made a spectacular play to create another scoring chance.

It was a strange game that way as Edmonton led most of the way before dropped a 3-2 decision to the Boston Bruins with the winner fired with 1:04 remaining and the Oilers outshot 45-20.

Guys like Jujhar Khaira, Mike Cammalleri and a few others had a positive moment or two to show the scouts.

But there weren’t many of them.

Moments.

Or scouts.

Only seven scouts, representing the Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, were in the building.

It’s hardly like the vultures are circling around the Oilers’ carcass here.

With rumours that you’d have to give up a first-round draft choice to get Pat Maroon and odds slim that general manager Peter Chiarelli will be able to make a deal to get his wish list pieces to the puzzle — a Jari Kurri type to play with McDavid, a puck-moving defenceman to get the puck up to McDavid or a goaltender to challenge Cam Talbot — who knows what to expect at the trade deadline.

Chiarelli came here and had what looked like two pretty good years to begin as GM, but his stock has dropped like the stock market in 1927 with all the moves that went wrong this year. Fans aren’t sure if they want him to do something or do nothing.

You’d figure there would be pressure to do something to try to keep fans’ interest in the final 11 home games remaining.

The Oilers play Colorado at home Thursday and then head on the road for three with the trade deadline hitting on Monday.

The way Maroon seemed to go through the motions Tuesday night, it seemed like either he’d already come to grips with the idea he was going to be gone or figured maybe if he mailed it in nobody would want him.

It’s the time of year when you invariably read too much into just about everything.

There’s no conversation remaining on the Oilers’ playoff chances.

Remarkably the debates lasted long after the forks were stuck in them.

But the latest loss made it seven losses in their last eight games.

Should the Oilers (and please don’t spew your coffee here) win their remaining 23 games, the best they could end up with is 96 points. That’s the number most people have been projecting as the likely number of points that are going to be required to make the Western Conference playoffs.

Going into Tuesday, Chiarelli had a perfect record with the Oilers winning every game over his former employers in Boston.

The Bruins, however, are now on a 27-6-4 tear since losing 4-2 to Edmonton in Boston Nov. 26. The Oilers had six straight wins against the Bruins going into Tuesday night.

Nothing is going right for Chiarelli right now.

Should the Oilers ... win their remaining 23 games, the best they could end up with is 96 points.