"In the wake of Sam Gagner's marvellous eight-point night against the Blackhawks, there was much chatter about the asking price for him either going sharply up, or his coming off the NHL trade market altogether.

A better question, three weeks out from the Feb. 27 NHL trade deadline, might be: Was the 22-year-old centre ever on offer to begin with?

The answer very likely is no, especially since Oilers GM Steve Tambellini is all about step-by-step development and having the patience to stick with that process. Speaking of process, Tambellini met with his pro scouting staff on Friday in Edmonton as part of the preparation for the trade deadline.

Now, one game, however spectacular, is just one game, but it could be that the Oilers, not to mention their fans, are learning what the upside might look like for this young, talented team in the coming years?

"Maybe, in a strange kind of way, maybe the wheel has turned," head coach Tom Renney said. "Maybe we're going in the right direction here now and we can start to talk about more special things.

"That's what you can look forward to here. I'm not going to say it's going to be a high-wire act every night and we're going to be doing extraordinary things offensively every single time we play … but this team is going to be special, there's no question."

It's also a rebuilding team, a franchise in transition, Renney noted, which has implications for a variety of players as the deadline nears.

Wingers Ryan Smyth and Ales Hemsky and defenceman Andy Sutton all are unrestricted free agents on July 1, for example.

A report out of New York City suggested Smyth would be prepared to waive his no-movement clause to enable a trade to the first-place Rangers."