The New Year has not been good to the Edmonton Oilers. Winless in 2010, the last time the Oilers put two points on the board was Dec. 30, when they topped the Maple Leafs 3-1. The only other point they’ve added was a Jan. 5 overtime loss to Phoenix. Including those two games, the Oilers are 1-13-1 since Dec. 15; the worst mark in the National Hockey League, by far. Over that span, the Oilers have been outscored 59-30.

Over the 15-game period, only Patrick O’Sullivan has reached the double-digit mark for points. He has four goals and seven assists. The next closest is Ryan Potulny with eight. Those two, and Robert Nilsson, are the only players on the Edmonton roster to net four goals since Dec. 15, and over the course of an 82-game season, are the only three players on pace to hit 20 goals. Unless guys like Dustin Penner and Sam Gagner can break out of their slumps, misery is going to continue in Edmonton.

The Oilers have free-fallen to the basement of the Western Conference, and even if today’s three-point NHL, it will be hard for them to climb back out of the hole they’ve dug. They seem to have lost the edge that kept them with the pack of mid-level teams. With the Avalanche, Canucks and Stars on deck this week, followed by Chicago next, things don’t look like they’ll be getting any easier for the Northern Albertans.

The Oilers may be the only team in the Western Conference ready to concede the playoff spots to the stronger teams. With the Olympics putting a three-week halt on trade talks, the trade deadline itself is a lot closer than it appears to be, and the Oilers will likely be sellers at that point in order to look towards the future and a stronger on-ice product. The problem with that right now is that if their movable pieces don’t start performing, Edmonton may not have anything to sell.