EDMONTON - Mike Comrie was only three years old when the Edmonton Oilers won the first of five Stanley Cups in 1984.

Signed to a three-year deal worth $10 million US last December, Comrie is now touted as the club's hope for the future. The Oilers expect Comrie and speedsters Shawn Horcoff and Dan Cleary, who were both five when the Oilers ended the New York Islanders dynasty, and defenceman Eric Brewer who was four, to help lead the club back into the upper echelons of the league. But in small-market Edmonton, where not making the playoffs will dunk the community-owned club in red ink, the future is now.

With a tenuous grip on the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Oilers need their young guns to start firing.

So far, it looks like they are up to the task.

In the last two victories over Calgary and Dallas, the young guns led the way.

Cleary, 22, was the first star in a 3-1 victory over the Oilers' archrival Flames, setting up the club's first two goals Saturday night. He scored his ninth goal of the year Sunday in a 3-2 overtime victory over the Stars.

Comrie, 20, who had 79 points in 39 games with the WHL's Kootenay Ice, has fit in nicely although it took him nearly three weeks to pot his first NHL goal. Since the all-star break, he has notched six assists.

I am pleasantly surprised with Mike Comrie and the way he plays, said head coach Craig MacTavish. He's a very intelligent player.

Horcoff, 22, a former Michigan State all-star who didn't get called up from the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs until Dec. 6, scored his seventh of the year against the Flames.

Brewer, 21, a talented young defenceman acquired with Josh Green from the New York Islanders in exchange for Roman Hamrlik, also recorded an assist in the game that gave the Oilers a 10-point lead over their Alberta rivals.

Throw in feisty centre Domenic Pittis, who topped the AHL in playoff scoring the last two seasons, and the Oilers have quite a youth movement brewing.

MacTavish, a former Oilers captain who was a big part of the Oilers' dynasty, said the emergence of the kids gives him a lot of options down the stretch.

If we see somebody is playing well, they are going to play a lot and if you don't get off to a good start you may not have much of an opportunity later in the game, he said.

With the emergence of guys like Mike Comrie, Shawn Horcoff, Dan Cleary and Domenic Pittis, it gives us some good depth up front and we can make those decisions.

Cleary, who didn't score in his first 11 games, stayed in the lineup initially only because of his defensive play. But he has been such a sparkplug of late that he earned some time on the team's No. 1 line.

Acquired in March 1999 from the Chicago Blackhawks, along with Ethan Moreau, Christian LaFlamme and Chad Kilger in exchange for Boris Mironov, Dean McAmmond and Jonas Elofsson, Cleary spent most of last year on the Oilers farm with the Bulldogs.

He said when he started the season this year, he felt at times like he was skating in sand.

It continued until he looked in the mirror one day and didn't like the reflection he saw.

There was a stretch of a month where I was not the kind of player that I should have been, says the native of Riverhead, Nfld. I looked at myself in the mirror when I got home and it really ate me up inside that I wasn't playing the way I should have been.

He stopped being tentative with the puck and began playing more aggressively.

I figured if I am going to be skating, I might as well be gritty.

MacTavish told him to start moving his feet more. He said it seemed that every time Cleary got the puck he was looking to make a pass rather than skate.

Now when he gets the puck he is skating and he is creating a lot more room for himself, says MacTavish. Now he's backing the defence off with some incredible outside speed.

His teammates noticed the turnaround immediately.

He has sure stepped up his game, says winger Ryan Smyth, a player whose work ethic and grit is never questioned by his coaches. He is a very skilled player. He controls the play. He is not a very big guy, but he gets in there and digs. He is hungry for the puck.

MacTavish says that aside from team captain Doug Weight, Cleary may be the best passer on the club and one of the best at getting the puck out of the Oilers end.

He is a gritty guy, says MacTavish. He's competitive and he's really vocal in the locker room.