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But it’s a fool’s pursuit, comparing this losing season to the last losing season and the one before that, and so on. The bar is forever too low, as Chiarelli acknowledged on Sunday. The sheer volume of statistics charted these days inevitably offers signs of hope and progress to even the most moribund non-playoff squads.

Fact is, with 70 points in 29th place, these Oilers are not as good as Chiarelli thought or hoped they would be when he considered their chances before the first puck drop.

“Frankly I thought we’d be at 82 points. That was my goal. … But I knew you don’t turn it around in a season.”

No, that’s a process. It began last summer at the draft and in free agency, continued this season with the acquisition of Zach Kassian, the contract extension for starting goalie Cam Talbot, the trade deadline dealing away of Justin Schultz, Ted Purcell and Anders Nilsson and the acquisitions of Pat Maroon, Adam Pardy and Adam Cracknell. They dealt away passive players and brought in bulk and aggression.

To get out of our division you’re going to need some guys that can lean on the bigger players in L.A. and Anaheim

“I like size,” Chiarelli said. “Especially in our division. To get out of our division you’re going to need some guys that can lean on the bigger players in L.A. and Anaheim.”

He talked about the impact of his moves at the trade deadline.

“You see how it changed the complexion. So that’s something we’re going to try to continue to do.”

But that’s just one facet of the rebuild. They’re not as mobile or skilled on defence as they have to be to get the puck in stride to a talented forward corps that still doesn’t score enough. So there is work to be done there, too. It’s generally accepted that an upgrade on defence will come at the expense of their surplus at forward.