This NHL trade deadline - so important to so many Stanley Cup contenders - represents a cleansing and cathartic possibility for the bottom-feeding Edmonton Oilers.
It'll be out with the old and in with the new if general manager Steve Tambellini succeeds in reshaping his team today. After four years with no postseason appearances, the appetite for change in the Alberta capital is great and the timing couldn't be better.
Think of how much has changed since 2006, as it specifically relates to Edmonton's fortunes. Four years ago, the Oilers were serious players in the post-Olympic craziness, qualifying for the playoffs at the 11th hour and then making it all the way to the Stanley Cup final, before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Turin Winter Games cast a large shadow over postseason play that year. All four top seeds in the Western Conference were bounced in the opening round, as the hangover lingered and undermined the top teams - and, now, the Olympics are the wild card again.
Everyone thinks they can win the Stanley Cup, with a little piece here and a little extra there. Only a handful of NHL teams are in a position to sell - and happily, the Oilers are one of them.
They have puck-moving defencemen (Tom Gilbert, Sheldon Souray, Lubomir Visnovsky); they have experienced leaders with glittering playoff résumés (Ethan Moreau, Fernando Pisani); they have a No. 2 centre (Shawn Horcoff), who would attract far more interest if he weren't being paid like a No. 1 centre.
That's the challenge for Tambellini - and other NHL GMs - if he wants to make a big splash.
The only way you can trade any player earning more than $5-million (U.S.) a year with a contract beyond this season is to take someone else's overpaid, underachieving star in return. And the sorts of deals being concocted on talk radio - Horcoff for Montreal Canadiens centre Scott Gomez, anyone? - require skill and intuition, plus deep-seated belief a player struggling in another market will succeed in yours.
No, for the Oilers, the future is really in the future - and specifically in draft choices. Organizationally, they have done a poor job for a lot of years of turning their picks into top young players. But at long last, the Oilers realize the game is for the skilled, daring kids: Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, et al. All they need to see is how much an infusion of front-end young talent has meant to the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings to understand the opportunity in front of them in June, when they get the first- or second-overall pick in the entry draft.
In the meantime, Tambellini needs to keep turning warm bodies into draft choices. (As he did earlier this week, sending defenceman Denis Grebeshkov to the Nashville Predators for a second-round pick.)
Getting the rights to premium draft slots in exchange for rental players is becoming rare, but that doesn't mean you can't do your homework and maybe get a little lucky.
The Washington Capitals, in the throes of a major rebuilding a few years back, got the 29th overall pick from the Detroit Red Wings for Robert Lang. The Caps later turned that into Mike Green, and the Wings threw in Tomas Fleischmann as well.
Draft junkies will remember how Edmonton played it the other way in 2006, renting Sergei Samsonov from the Boston Bruins. Boston turned the second-rounder that came their way in the deal into Milan Lucic, who'd look pretty good in orange-and-blue right now.
Moreau is a known commodity, although a another season at $1.75-million is frightening some teams off. Souray and Visnovsky's value rose after the Minnesota Wild took Marek Zidlicky off the market yesterday by signing him to a contract extension.
And while Edmonton figures to have an active day, their neighbours to the south, the Calgary Flames, face an altogether different challenge.
By the time they resume play tonight, the Flames - challenging for top spot in the Northwest Division not so long ago - will be outside of the playoff picture in ninth place. The larger issue in Calgary is - with one-third of their roster turned over before the Olympic break - if they can get any chemistry going down the stretch.
They don't need more changes; the Flames need to ensure the changes they've made fit in.
Today, amid the frenzy and blogging and instant analysis, the challenge for Edmonton will be to think big-picture thoughts, and make something good happen for down the road.
For Calgary, the something good needs to happen in the here and now.