Unless they finish with a strong surge, the Edmonton Oilers will finish dead last in the NHL standings.

That’s not where the once-powerhouse franchise wants to be, but a miserable season has the Oilers buried in the Western Conference. Edmonton has just 56 points, eight behind Colorado in the West and seven behind Ottawa in the “race” for the bottom of the NHL pile.

Edmonton’s 23 victories are the fewest by any team in the league. A goals-for/goals-against differential of minus-64 has kept the Oilers from putting together any sustained stretch of good hockey this season.

And as the season boils down toward its conclusion, the struggle continues for the Oilers. Edmonton is 3-5-1 in its past 10 games. The Oilers have lost seven in a row and have not won since March 5.

The Oilers travel Thursday to St. Louis.

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Remember when the Edmonton Oilers won all those Stanley Cups in the 1980s? Well, the current model isn’t your father’s Oilers.

Edmonton posted the second-lowest point total in franchise history last season, finishing with only 62 points. A 0-10-2 January doomed the Oilers to the bottom of the NHL standings, and a fourth-consecutive season without a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

New coach Tom Renney is charged with turning around the once-proud franchise. Renney took over when former coach Pat Quinn moved upstairs into the front office.

There will be an influx of young talent coming, if not this year, than soon. It’s led by Taylor Hall, the first overall pick in this summer’s draft. Edmonton took four of the first 48 players drafted.

The season begins Oct. 7 at home against Calgary.

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After a season during which they finished at the bottom of the National Hockey League in wins and points, the Edmonton Oilers are hoping to turn things around at next weekend’s NHL Draft.

The once-proud franchise won just 27 of its 81 games in 2009-10, finishing with a league-worst 62 points. But with the draft comes an opportunity to begin the climb back to respectability in the Western Conference.

Edmonton holds the overall No. 1 selection in the draft, but the Oilers’ chances for making an impact on the roster don’t end there. Thanks to a pair of second-round picks, Edmonton will select three players in the first 48 picks, and hold 10 spots overall in the draft.

The Oilers have indicated they will not deal the top pick. In addition to the three picks in the first two rounds, Edmonton will select two players in the third round, one in the fourth (giving Edmonton six selections in the first 91), one in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the seventh.

The NHL Draft is June 25-26 in Los Angeles.

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