Whether we are ready for it or not, February is now here which means that the NHL trade deadline is now fully in our peripheral. About this time each season, we fans begin to speculate on contract size, future potential, and the various aspects of moving this player versus moving that player. There are times where trade deadline fodder is easy to digest and predict. Yet, there are rare seasons where a player is moved and virtually no one saw it coming. This is what makes the deadline so intriguing. For as much as we over hype the situation, there are times where a certain move can pay off dearly for an organization.

Last season, the Oilers made a few deadline moves with minor league implications. It goes without saying that the Dustin Penner trade weighed heavy on the hearts of Oilers fans everywhere. Despite your feelings now about that situation, one thing lost in that move was that Colten Teubert became an Oiler. Subsequently, and in a separate move, the Barons upgraded the dinged up Shawn Belle for Kevin Montgomery. Now for most, these seem like un-important milestone on the Oilers timeline of "rebuild", and truthfully they aren't NHL impacting to some degree. However, those two moves strengthened a minor league core which has panned out into a successful 2011-12 Barons campaign in the chase for the Calder Cup.

So as we begin the trade deadline talks, I feel it might be important to know what might be on the table. Yes, there are a few American League Barons that might be interesting trade pieces that might further sweeten (or spoil depending on how you look at it) the final deal. I mainly looked at those that were in their final season of a contract, or were nearing that point. Why? Because these seem like the most affordable enticements to other teams needing some immediate help even in the minors. I've broken it down based on position as well as their likelihood of being moved.

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The Oklahoma City Barons returned to action after the All-Star Break looking to extend their six-game winning streak and in turn, extend their lead over the rest of the league. This week, the Barons continued their four-game homestand against the San Antonio Rampage and the Charlotte Checkers.

The San Antonio Rampage came into the Cox Center having won the last two meetings between the two teams. The Rampage were also riding a seven-game win streak coming into this one. Yann Danis started in net for the Barons, with Dov Grumet-Morris in net for San Antonio. The 1st period started with a power play chance for each team, but no scoring until the final minute of the period as Hunter Tremblay scored his 11th goal of the season with assists from Magnus Paajarvi and Mark Arcobello at 19:02. The 2nd period was much of the same, both teams getting a power play chance, but the Barons took advantage of a second chance in the period as Michael Caruso took a high-sticking penalty at 18:58. Ryan Keller scored his sixteenth goal of the season at 19:35 with an assist from Josh Green to make it a 2-0 game with the Barons leading the shots 18-15 after forty minutes.

Each team would once again get a power play chance in the 3rd, but neither could convert it into a goal. And just like the last two periods, this one once again came down to the final minutes. Luckily, it stayed on the Barons side and Ryan O`Marra scored his eighth goal of the season with assists from Antti Tyrvainen and Tanner House at 17:22. That was all the Barons needed with Yann Danis standing tall in net and turning away 26 shots to earn his fourth shutout of the season and give the Barons the 3-0 win and their seventh straight.

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The All-Star break marks the halfway point of the season in the AHL, and with every team taking several days off, it's as good a time as any to go through the AHL gamesheets to get a better idea of which of the Barons are scoring (and out-scoring their opponents) during five-on-five play, which players look like they're getting the most ice time, and which ones are being tasked with the tough assignments.

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The American Hockey League leading Oklahoma City Barons returned home after winning three games in three nights last week on the road - and riding a four-game win streak. With the NHL and the Oilers off for the All-Star break, the Barons got a nice boost in the lineup with the additions of Teemu Hartikainen, Taylor Chorney, and Magnus Paajarvi. For the upcoming weekend, the Barons would take on the Houston Aeros who were trying to keep pace with the Barons, and the Texas Stars.

Friday night, the Barons looked to make it 6-0 this season against the Aeros. Having had all the success this season against them, Yann Danis was in net. Matt Hackett was in net for Houston, making it a battle of All-Star goalies as both had been chosen for the AHL All-Star Classic taking place Monday night. The Barons wanted to put this one away quick, and started to do so with Josh Green receiving a pass from Ryan Keller in the slot and shooting it past Hackett to give the Barons the 1-0 lead at 5:57. Just about ten minutes later on a Casey Wellman interference penalty, Mark Arcobello shot the puck from the faceoff circle and with a screen right in front of Hackett, he was able to make it 2-0 Barons with a power play goal that has seemed a bit rare during the winning streak. That was the score as the teams headed to the locker room with the Barons doubling up Houston on the shots 16-8.

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It really is quite remarkable. Young Philippe Cornet, who's emerged as a steady Barons goal wizard, has surprised everyone this season on the farm. After playing 60 games last year, and only scoring 7 goals, his now 20 goals in 36 games this season is an impressive upgrade. As it stands today, Cornet is tied for fourth in the American League goal scoring totals. He's impressed enough people to earn some time in the AHL All-Star festivities this coming weekend in Atlantic City, New Jersey. What a difference a year can make.

A good friend of this site, Patricia at Artful Puck who brought us the in-depth Kirill Tulupov interview, has sewn together a fantastic interview with Oklahoma City's only 20 goal scorer at the mid-point of the minor league season. Cornet is indeed an interesting and sincerely frank young man. He's quietly determined and steely in his focus. As you'll read, he's becoming a prospect worth watching (our readers seem to agree as well).

After the jump, a couple of the highlights on that fantastic interview:

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Last Monday, the Oklahoma City Barons had just completed a three-in-three, losing to Rockford in overtime and then splitting a two-game set with division rival Abbotsford. This past weekend, the Barons had another three-in-three on the schedule, this time all on the road as the team head to Rochester, New York for the first time in franchise history and ended in Cleveland, Ohio. The last time around that the Barons faced the Americans, Rochester swept the Barons in the two-game set, taking both games in extra time. With Abbotsford and Houston hot on their tails, the Barons needed some points in a big way on the road trip.

Entering the trip, the Barons were 14-5-0-1 on the road, and they looked to keep that trend going with Yann Danis in net against the Americans' David Leggio. Just like the last two games against Rochester, the Americans opened the scoring first as Paul Szczechura scored his fifth of the season and his third against the Barons at the 7:53 mark. It didn't take long for the Barons to answer back as Hunter Tremblay evened the score at 1-1 just 2:05 later, getting the assist from Mark Arcobello. That wasn't all we heard from Arcobello that night however as he scored nine minutes later at the 18:41 mark to give the Barons the 2-1 lead heading into the intermission with Tremblay and Chris VandeVelde getting the assists.

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In July of last year, the regular staff of Oilers writers at Copper and Blue dissected the game of then-WHL player Tyler Pitlick in their Top 25 Oilers Under 25 yearly installment. For all practical purposes, the kid slipped six spots in a single year going from #7 to #13. There was also some concern about a nagging ankle injury and his offensive play inside a pool of really strong goal scorers. What I took away from that ranking and subsequent commentary was that Pitlick was a pretty fragmented player. He has natural giftedness, but hasn't quite lived up to his potential as he turns pro.

October rolled around and Tyler Pitlick hit the Oklahoma City roster with a lot of eyeballs keeping tabs on his progression. Through 33 games as a Baron, he's about where I expected him to be in terms of goals scored, assists given, and +/- earned. Coming off a seemingly successful year in Medicine Hat where he earned 62 point in 56 games, he's only managed 4 goals and 5 assists while on the farm in Oklahoma City. With a few healthy scratches, some minor injuries, and a disjointed spot in the lines, Pitlick continues to be one to watch moving forward both for the Oklahoma City Barons and for the parent club in Edmonton. Why? Simply because the sink or swim mentality probably kicks in a bit quicker knowing that he's surrounded by a lot of young players in an organization that is still hitching its future success on the play of the young.

So without further hesitation, here's the details on Tyler Pitlick's rookie season.

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When I last checked in on the Barons, they were sitting at 12-5-1 and at the top of the Western Conference, but there were significant concerns both on and off the ice. On the ice, their shot differential at that time was -4.8 per game and their PDO (in all situations) was 104.4, which gave me the impression that their record was unlikely to hold up over the long term. Since that time, several key players have either been injured or called to Edmonton to replace injured Oilers, which put the team under even more pressure. Off the ice, attendance had recovered from a very disappointing opening week, but remained near the bottom of the league. After the jump, we'll see how the Barons look now that we're halfway through the year.

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