Last-minute guide for Craig MacTavish as he goes into the annual general manager year-end State of the Oilers media conference Tuesday:

After an eighth straight season out of the playoffs, the fans have voted in our annual 'You Be Da Boss' survey which has proved over the years to be as accurate a temperature-taking of the approval rating of the players on the team as you are likely to find.

One of the most interesting aspects of this year's survey was the extent it was a positive polling about the work MacTavish did on his first year on the job.

MacTavish should know that only 10% figure he's gotta go.

And many of the moves he made this year proved to be the players who received the highest grades.

Indeed, Spruce Grove native Ben Scrivens, the goaltender MacTavish acquired from the Los Angeles Kings for a third round draft pick received a 98% 'Keep Him' approval rating. And goaltender Viktor Fasth, acquired from Anaheim for a fifth-round draft pick this year and a third rounder in 2015, polled a positive 87% as well.

David Perron, who came to the Oilers in a trade with the St. Louis Blues, had the highest 97% positive polling of any skater.

Other MacTavish moves in his first year on the job drew positive keeper responses as well.

You liked the character Matt Hendricks 94% brought to the team following his trade for Devan Dubnyk with Nashville. You liked the toughness provided by enforcer Luke Gazdic 90%, claimed on waivers from the Dallas Stars. You liked what free agent Boyd Gordon 90% brought as a third-line centre and face-off specialist. And free agent signing Andrew Ference of Sherwood Park produced an 82% favourable response as well.

On the other hand 80% want MacT to admit his mistake and get rid of Jesse Joensuu, 78% have seen enough of Will Acton, 73% want to say so long to Mark Fraser and 60% don't want Phillip Larsen back next season.

Clearly, after paying the price of watching this team finish 30th, 30th, 29th, 24th and now 28th the past five years, you want to keep most of the young core nucleus of this team together.

The approval ratings of Taylor Hall 95%, Justin Schultz 91%, Jordan Eberele 85%, Ryan Nugent Hopkins 86% and the two young defencemen Oscar Klefbom 91% and Martin Marincin 88% are all way up there.

But when it comes to No. 1 overall pick Nail Yakupov after his decidedly disappointing sophomore jinx season it's an entirely different deal.

Voted a 97% last year after finishing up with six goals in his last three games, including a hat trick in his last one, Yakupov hit the skids in the survey as well with 49% of respondents saying get rid of the guy.

And time is totally up for Sam Gagner.

An astounding 82% want the guy gone.

Gagner wasn't the only guy you want to show the dressing-room door.

Ryan Jones out-polled him at 93% to be gone.

Last year the Oilers got rid of all the 'Get Rid Of Him' guys. Large percentages said it was time to say goodbye to Eric Belanger (89%), Ryan Whitney (88%), Ales Hemsky (88%), Nikolai Khabibulin (81%), Theo Peckham (75%) and captain Shawn Horcoff (67%).

Those surveyed this year aren't sure what to do about the other Oilers such as Jeff Petry (59%), Tyler Pitlick (57%), Anton Belov (47%) and Anton Lander (44%) in the 'Keep Him' column.

The tough calls last year were Teemu Hartikainen (68%), Lander (58%), Nick Schultz (48%), Corey Potter (48%), Jones (47%) and Lennart Petrell (45%).

The big surprise on the survey came with the Dallas Eakins question.

A significant 60% said get rid of the coach and keep his assistants, with 27% wanting an entirely new coaching staff, only 11% believing the entire coach staff should be retained and only 2% suggesting keep the head coach but hire new assistants.

Last year 56% were good with keeping Ralph Krueger as coach.

That such an overwhelming number of fans are hoping it works out that the Oilers either get Aaron Ekblad (58%) or trade the pick for immediate need (29%) while few are that excited about Sam Reinhart (7%), Leon Draisaitl (4%) and Sam Bennett (1%) is an eye-opener as well.

And the big one? Wait 'til next year? A healthy (51%) expect some improvement but not much, (27%) expect the Oilers to challenge for a playoff spot, (11%) expect the team to wander in the desert for many years to come and (11%) expect more of the same next year.

Last year a healthy 61% of you thought the Oilers would be on the up elevator to the playoffs while only 11% figured the team would remain languishing near the bottom of the standings again.

And there you have the story of the season.

The patience and belief in the rebuild with this, the most disappointing year in all of Oilers history, reached its expiry date.

You be the boss 2014

Roster (2013-2014 Salary, 2013-2014 Cap hit, Years left on contract after this season)

Jordan Eberle ($6M, $6M) 5 years

Keep him 85%

Get rid of him 15%

Taylor Hall($6M, $6M) 6 years

Keep him 95%

Get rid of him 5%

Sam Gagner ($4.4M, $4.8M) 2 years

Keep him 18%

Get rid of him 82%

David Perron ($3.5M, $3.8125M) 2 years

Keep him 97%

Get rid of him 3%

Boyd Gordon ($3M, $3M) 2 years

Keep him 90%

Get rid of him 10%

Matt Hendricks ($1.85M, $1.85M) 3 years

Keep him 94%

Get rid of him 6%

Ryan Jones ($1.5M, $1.5M) UFA

Keep him 7%

Get rid of him 93%

Jesse Joensuu($900K, $950K) 1 Year

Keep him 20%

Get rid of him 80%

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($925K, $925K) 6 Years

Keep him 86%

Get rid of him 14%

Nail Yakupov ($925K, $925K) RFA

Keep him 51%

Get rid of him 49%

Tyler Pitlick ($900K, $888.333K) RFA

Keep him 57%

Get rid of him 43%

Anton Lander ($900K, $880K) RFA

Keep him 44%

Get rid of him 56%

Will Acton ($680K, $680K) 1 Year

Keep him 22%

Get rid of him 78%

Steve Pinizzotto ($650K, $650) UFA

Keep him 65%

Get rid of him 35%

Luke Gazdic ($635K, $63K) RFA

Keep him 90%

Get rid of him 10%

Defence

Andrew Ference ($2.25M, $3.25M) 3 Years

Keep him 82%

Get rid of him 18%

Jeff Petry ($1.8M, $1.75M) RFA

Keep him 59%

Get rid of him 41%

Mark Fraser ($1.275M, $1.275M) UFA

Keep him 27%

Get rid of him 73%

Philip Larsen ($1.150M, $1.025M) RFA

Keep him 40%

Get rid of him 60%

Justin Schultz ($925K, $925K) RFA

Keep him 91%

Get rid of him 9%

Anton Belov ($925K, $925K) UFA

Keep him 47%

Get rid of him 53%

Oscar Klefbom ($925K, $894.167K) 2 years

Keep him 91%

Get rid of him 9%

Martin Marincin ($690K, $730K) 1 year

Keep him 88%

Get rid of him 12%

Goaltenders

Viktor Fasth ($2.4M, $2.9M) 1 year

Keep him 87%

Get rid of him 13%

Ben Scrivens ($625K, $550K) 2 years

Keep him 98%

Get rid of him 2%

Nagging questions

General manager Craig MacTavish made a number of significant moves since taking over from Steve Tambellini towards the end of last season, yet the Oilers have slid down the standings. Do the Oilers need to make a change in their general manager or should MacTavish be allowed to try and clean up the mess?

He should stay. 44%​

Keep MacTavish get rid of the rest of the management staff. 43%

He should go. 10%

Keep the entire management staff. 3%

Head coach Dallas Eakins was brought in by MacTavish to replace Ralph Krueger. The Oilers gave the rookie NHL coach a four-year contract, but Eakins was unable to get the team up the standings. The Oilers have been stuck at the bottom of the Western Conference for the entire season. Should Eakins stay or should he go?

Let Eakins go, but keep assistants. 60%

Bring in an entirely coaching new coaching staff. 27%

Keep Eakins and the entire staff. 11%

Keep Eakins, but hire new assistants. 2%

A number of deficiencies were exposed on the Oilers roster this season. It became obvious the team was in need of a top-end defenceman and a big physical centre, among other things. Both are in high demand around the league, so the Oilers might need to trade one of their young assets to acquire them.

Should the Oilers trade one of their young offensive players in order to acquire what they need to improve the roster immediately?

They need try and mover either or both Nail Yakupov and Sam Gagner to get what they need. 68%

No, they should keep their young players and let them develop. 12%

Everyone should be on the trading block, including Taylor Hall. 11%

Yes, they need to trade Jordan Eberle to acquire an asset. 9%

If the Oilers get the second overall pick in the draft lottery as expected, what should they do with it?

Take defenceman Aaron Ekblad. 58%

Trade the pick for an immediate need. 29%

Select center Sam Reinhart. 7%

Take left wing Leon Draisaitl. 4%

Select left-winger Sam Bennett if still available. 1%

Go off the board and take someone else. 1%

Will the Oilers challenge for a playoff spot next season or will there be more of the same misery?

Some improvement, but not much. 51%

Challenge for a spot. 27%

Will wandering in the desert for many years to come. 11%

More of the same next season. 11%