Q: How is Linus Omark doing in Russia?Will he make the Edmonton Oilers next season or do they already have too many small forwards?

(Alan Szeto)

A: The 22-year-old winger Omark, at five-foot-nine and 168 pounds, is the third-leading scorer on Moscow Dynamo behind Mattias Weinhandl and Jiri Hudler. He has 10 goals and 16 points in 28 games for the middle-of-the-road Dynamo team in the Russian Continental League. The Oilers wouldn't give him a one-way contract, so he went to Russia, at least for one year. Edmonton does have a bundle of small forwards with their best prospect, Jordan Eberle, leading the Western Hockey League in scoring, in that 175-pound range, too. I think the Oilers could trade some of their small guys, however, to find room for both Omark and Eberle.

Q: In a salary-cap world, you need superior talent evaluation, but the Oilers traded for the uncoachable Joni Pitkanen, the ice-cold Joffrey Lupul and Patrick O'Sullivan, and they wanted the disaster Michael Nylander. What does this say about our professional scouts?

(Dennis Wong)

A: Don't blame the Oilers pro scouts. Dave Semenko, Morey Gare and Mike Abbamont go to the games and watch opposing players, but it's background. Trades are made by guys higher up in the food chain.

In Pitkanen's case, he was a bust here, but he hasn't exactly been all-world with the Carolina Hurricanes. And his problem is physical more than anything. He's hurt--a lot.

Lupul was a lightning rod for criticism here as a local product, and had an awful season. He was good in Philadelphia for two years, but back in Anaheim he has been very ordinary this season. He has lots of talent, but he's had trouble solidifying himself as a solid NHL second-line forward.

O'Sullivan is working hard, but his hands are stone-cold. The Oilers were counting on him to be a 20-goal, 50-point player. He has just four goals. Somebody has to help Dustin Penner and it should be O'Sullivan.

As for Nylander, the best thing that happened was when his wife told him that she wanted no part of Edmonton when the Oilers wanted to sign him as a free agent in 2007. He's eating away at the Washington Capitals' salary cap; they've been trying to loan him to a Russian team to get out from under his onerous contract. I guess what I'm trying to say is this: you always take a chance in a trade. Gilbert Brule for Raffi Torres looks pretty good right now. Denis Grebeshkov for Marc-Andre Bergeron doesn't seem too bad, either. As much as O'Sullivan has struggled, Erik Cole was doing the same here most of last season, and O'Sullivan is cheaper and younger.

Q: How many players have the Oilers lost on hits from behind this season? And how many total penalty minutes did the players who did the hitting get assessed?Would the league fine the Oilers management for publicly voicing those comparative numbers?

(Jerry Wouk)

A: Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla got two minutes for boarding, I believe, when he got his stick between Sheldon Souray's skates and Souray stepped on the blade and crashed into the end boards in early October. Souray missed 16 games.

Michal Handzus of the Los Angeles Kings got a two-minute boarding penalty last Wednesday when he plowed into Ales Hemsky, who will miss the final 57 Oilers games with shoulder surgery. But his shoulder was barely manageable before the hit. Would the NHL frown on the Oilers' blasting them for the inequity of it all? Probably. There would be a fine. A hefty one.

Q: Without Hemsky, the Oilers have little offence to go with a suspect defence. Will this force management to get off their backsides to improve the team or will they break it up and start over?

(CK in Vancouver)

A: I'm sure Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini is on the phone daily trying to make moves. He knows he needs a top-six forward. He needed one before Hemsky got hurt. The new forward has to be well over six-feet and 200 pounds. But nobody's offering him Patrick Sharp, for example, the multi-purpose Chicago Blackhawks forward who might be a salary/trade consideration this summer with the Blackhawks signing Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith to long-term deals. As I've said, there have been three minor trades in the first two months of this NHL season. Nobody is trading. As soon as some of the Oilers'wounded or sick(Ryan Stone, Robert Nilsson, Mike Comrie, Marc Pouliot, Fernando Pisani) return, the Oilers will have too many bodies. Somebody's going on waivers, if there's no trade.

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You can e-mail any questions about the NHL, along with your full name to: jmatheson@thejournal.canwest.com. Jim will answer a sampling of your queries every Tuesday in Journal Sports. Check out the Journal's website for an archive of previous questions and answers: edmontonjournal.com