It’s been a rocky start to the season for the Edmonton Oilers, and honestly, I didn’t think I would be saying that after the team picked up points in each of their first three games to start the year.

At this point in October, they were 2-0-1, and Stuart Skinner was coming off a brilliant shutout performance at Madison Square Garden. It looked like, for the first time in a handful of seasons, the Oilers were going to avoid their early-season slump.

That would not be the case. The team won just three of their next nine games to close out October and kicked off November by blowing back-to-back two-goal leads, then getting their teeth kicked in by the Avalanche on national television.

Not great.

The frustrating run of hockey has the fan base asking a lot of questions. Not just about the current state of this hockey team, but about the organization’s overall philosophy and how it can realistically improve from here.

To those fans wondering how this team can get better, I have some good news and some bad news.

This team is much better than it’s currently showing. While there are plenty of reasons to be legitimately concerned about what we’ve seen over the last month, bad luck has also played a role.

They’re not getting the bounces, the finishing luck has been off, and the goaltending hasn’t stolen many games. That’s not ideal, but it’s also not permanent. A few good weeks of hockey could turn everything around, and the core talent is still there to make that happen.

For the first time in a few seasons, I don’t think Oilers fans will see a big in-season move to bolster the roster. That might frustrate people, but the reality is that their salary cap situation is not good.

Once Zach Hyman returns, they’ll likely need to send down Ike Howard and another player — probably David Tomášek, Curtis Lazar, or Troy Stecher — just to be cap-compliant. That would leave them with barely any cap space to use at the trade deadline.

On top of already not having a ton of assets, the new CBA rules have essentially closed the double-retention loophole that helped the Oilers land Trent Frederic at last year’s deadline.

If a player on the roster were to get hurt, it could open up some temporary LTIR space, but with the new playoff salary rules, that wouldn’t really help. The team couldn’t use that money unless the player was going to be out for the entire season.

A lot of contenders across the league are going to be hurt by these two new rules, and the Oilers are no exception.

If the Oilers want to make a big splash before the deadline, it has to be a “money out, money in” type of trade. The only players on the roster who carry an AAV north of $2 million and don’t have any trade protection are Evan Bouchard, Brett Kulak, and Stuart Skinner.

So, hypothetically, you could package Kulak and Skinner together and free up north of $5 million in cap space. The problem is that it would create a glaring hole on your blue line and still wouldn’t free up enough to go after a true high-end goaltender like Juuse Saros.

You could target someone like Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but is that really a big enough upgrade to justify losing a dependable defenceman like Kulak?

And before anyone heads to the comments suggesting trading Evan Bouchard — stop. This team is trying to get better, not worse.

Even if the Oilers wanted to move one of those players, they’d be dealing with teams that are sellers and punting on their seasons. Why would a rebuilding team want Kulak or Skinner? Both are pending UFAs.

You could try sending Kulak to another contender, sure, but then you’re left asking the same question. Who can replace his minutes on the blue line? He’s not flashy, but he’s dependable, and the Oilers don’t exactly have NHL-ready replacements waiting in Bakersfield.

If the Oilers are going to get back to being a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, the solution is probably going to have to come from within.

That might frustrate people, and I get it, but what I don’t want to see is a panic trade that costs them one of their few remaining assets.

That doesn’t mean the team should sit on its hands either. There will be players available in the $1-$3.5 million range who could provide meaningful depth and secondary scoring. But let’s run through a hypothetical.

Let’s say the Oilers trade away Skinner and Kulak and use the cap savings to acquire Luukkonen from Buffalo because they think a change in net is what they need to win this season.

Fast forward to July, and Juuse Saros becomes available out of Nashville. Now you can’t afford him because you still have two years of Luukkonen’s deal on the books, and he has a no-trade clause. You couldn’t just dump him months after acquiring him.

Stan Bowman is in a tough spot. He’s paid a lot of money to solve problems like this, but creating cap space is not easy in today’s NHL. If you think he’s going to magically snap his fingers and swing a deal for a high-end goalie or a top-six forward, I think you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

As frustrating as it is to say, this season may come down to the players already in the locker room figuring it out themselves.

This is still a roster with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and a strong supporting cast. The top-end talent isn’t the issue. It’s the consistency, the starts, and the lapses that turn two-goal leads into losses.

The Oilers have proven before that they can go on long winning streaks when they start to roll. They just need to find that version of themselves again. The leadership group has to push through the noise, the depth players need to contribute more consistently, and the goalies have to make a few big saves when the team in front of them falters.

They’re not out of it, not by a long shot, but the margin for error is shrinking.

There isn’t a magic trade that’s going to fix all of this. The new CBA rules have tightened the noose around creative front offices, and the Oilers’ lack of flexibility makes big moves nearly impossible right now.

That means the answers have to come from within.

It’s not the most exciting conclusion, but it’s the honest one. The Oilers’ stars have to be stars, the depth has to rise to the occasion, and the coaching staff has to find the right balance to get this team back on track.

If they do that, the standings will start to look a lot better. If not, the conversation around this team is going to get much louder in the months to come.

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