Happy Monday, fine citizens. May your day go by quickly and the faces of your co-workers go un-punched. Here is another edition of the Mailbag to help you kill off some company time, and give you an opportunity to learn something at the same time. Magic, right? As always, this feature is completely dependent on you guys. If you’ve got a question you can email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or DM on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk. Until then, enjoy another round of free lessons from our writers.

It will be another wrinkle, and likely the main reason the NHL pulled out. It can be used as leverage in the next negotiations. It is gross how the NHL has more trouble finding labour peace compared to the other big sports. Embarrassing.

I think the NHL and NHLPA are heading to another gigantic storm. Negotiations between these two yahoos usually BEGINS with about half a season cancelled. Tiresome behaviour on both sides.

It will create hard feelings heading into the next few years. The player response was strong to the news of no Olympics. I don’t like the direction this is heading with just a couple of years away from CBA negotiations.

Donald Fehr says there’ll be payback in the next CBA talks. Not sure what that means. We won’t know if that’s just posturing until we get there.

The short answer is that we’ll see. The NHL tried to pressure the NHLPA into a CBA extension in exchange for Olympic participation, knowing that it’s something a lot of (but not all) players see as important. The NHLPA declined to accept their offer. That won’t keep either side from potentially bringing it up in future negotiations, but it does establish that the players are only willing to bend so much to secure something that they see as being in the general interest of the sport. The X-factor in all of this to me is the fallout from the league not going: if it can be demonstrated that the NHL has suffered in some manner from going head-to-head with the Olympics (TV ratings, attendance, etc.) then perhaps it becomes a bigger issue the next time the CBA comes up.

Not a good one, that’s for damned sure. The players want to go. They feel it’s their right to play for their countries at the Olympics. The NHL will agree to send them but it means concessions by the players. Bettman drives a hard bargain. Players will not like this at all.

Honestly, not much. It doesn’t sound like the NHLPA fought too hard with the NHL to go to the Olympics so I feel like they won’t have much leverage to negotiate anything more in the upcoming CBA. The new contract MAY have some guidelines and rules in order to get players to future Olympics, but I’m not expecting much right now.

Gary Bettman loves lockouts and it seems like he’s trying to do everything in his power to have another one. I get why the owners wouldn’t want hundreds of millions of dollars in assets heading over for a tournament where they can get injured, but the NHL is also trying to grow the game. The whole situation is gross and it’s the fans that are going to suffer… again.

They have tried many things all season. They’ve moved banners which they thought were impacting air flow. They’ve altered the temperature in the building. It is an issue and they are trying to improve it.

It can be fixed and I think it is getting better. If they can’t fix it in the first year, I don’t know how they ever will though, because I imagine there are only so many tricks.

Rogers place is a new building. It is hard to get the temp, humidity, etc right for the perfect ice. I have noticed the building is much cooler than it was in October. That is most likely part of the plan. I have skated on the ice and I would say it is similar to what other new buildings were like.

There isn’t just a “Making Ice for Dummies” book out there. Every system takes tweaking over time to get the kinks out and match it to the conditions — humidity etc — in which that system must operate. This has been an ongoing issue since the building opened and will continue until they get it right.

Jim Matheson put together a nice write-up on ice conditions back in November on some of the difficulties with getting the ice correct in a new building. My inclination is to chalk up those difficulties this year to the learning curve that comes with any new facility.

From what I’ve heard they’ve already started to address issues like having the banners in the right spot so they don’t prevent the air cooling system from working (seriously). It will get better. They want everything about the arena to be world class. I’ll be shocked if we don’t hear about how much better it is in October. Not sure what it will be like if the Oilers make a long run in the playoffs though.

The ice is terrible but thankfully Connor’s rocket skates aren’t affected by ice conditions. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the Oilers are just used to it which makes them play so much better at home against other teams. I’d call it an advantage, no?

The bright side about the horrible ice is that both teams have to play on it. The downside is that this has gone on all year and it still isn’t fixed yet.

They would need two injuries before one of those three players you mentioned played. If they have two injuries, then the remaining five D would play a lot and whoever comes in as the #6 would play minimal minutes. Only an issue if two injuries occur.

Fayne would be my first choice as a call-up, but I stand alone on that front. After that, anyone’s guess.

D-men are worth their weight in gold in the NHL playoffs. Injuries will happen to every team and I think that the first option with be either Gryba or Benning, whichever one wasn’t playing that game. After that, I would go with Fayne. He has experience in the playoffs and that would be a nice luxury to drop into the third pair. If the Oilers lose so many D that they have to dress either Oesterle or Reinhart that would mean they have lost three regulars. Big trouble.

It would take a lot of bad luck before Oesterle or Reinhart would be considered options of any kind. Don’t see it.

I’m still a little worried about the depth at centre, to tell you the truth; I don’t think David Desharnais has adequately addressed the third line centre slot. I’d be much less concerned on defence. Mark Fayne is a good option on the right side, and probably one the Oilers should be thinking about – not only is he a veteran, but he’s survived the kind of matchup minutes that Eric Gryba has never played and as long as there’s a puck mover on his left side he should be fine. I think both Oesterle and Reinhart will be in the NHL next season, with the Oilers or elsewhere, and I’m not too worried about elevating them up the depth chart if the need arises. Peter Chiarelli has done a good job of building up depth on the back end.

I see Oesterle as having a better chance of covering Benning’s minutes and Fayne having a better chance of covering Russell’s minutes. I see Reinhart being able to eat a lot of popcorn while he searches for places to rent in Vegas. I know Fayne appears to be on the outs but I’d like to think his contract was a bigger issue than his actual play and $$$ is not an issue in the post-season.

Yeah, I can agree with that thought. I’d rather not have Oesterle or Reinhart have to come up in a playoff series but worse case scenario, we double shift Connor as a defenceman which could make it a win-win in my opinion.

If the Oilers need to rely on Reinhart for the playoffs then they’re in a world of trouble. That said, Davidson has only played nine games with the Habs and has had a hard time staying healthy.

Kassian and Letestu have been very good. Letestu has really excelled on special teams, especially the PP, while Kassian has been the best EV player in the bottom-six.

Zack Kassian. He’s faster, effective at both ends, and his 5×5 scoring rates are not far from 2.00/60, which is very good. What’s more, he’s done it (mostly) without McDavid or really any of the high skill guys. I am a fan of this player.

Kassian has exceeded my low expectations for him. He has become an important player for the team. I love that I was wrong about him. His speed, consistent approach to the game and competitiveness are impressive.

Mark Letestu and Zack Kassian. Both are versatile and contribute on special teams.

I have two answers to this one. The first is Tyler Pitlick, who scored eight goals in 31 games before (yet another) season-ending injury. History suggests that he’ll have trouble repeating that performance, but he did it and it helped Edmonton win some games. The other is Zack Kassian, who I’ve come to like a lot as a potential long-term fit at third-line RW.

Letestu. He had a massive bounce back after a disaster season prior. He really needed this year to be good and he’s been everything the team thought they were getting when they signed him. The power play production has been really impressive though. They gave him a role, lowered his minutes, and he flourished.

I love Zack Kassian’s story. Yes, I know how ironic it is that everyone loves him now, but I think it’s awesome how much value he now brings to our team. He’s had a great year which makes it more impressive how this chance with Edmonton was essentially his last shot at the NHL.

Since everyone is saying Kassian and Letestu I’m going to do something different. I’ve really liked the way that Drake Caggiula has played since getting moved back to the wing. I think it’s given him more freedom to focus on offence and he’s looked really good since the deadline.

Costa Rica. I loved it. Flew into Liberia and stayed in Tamarindo. It was beautiful. I learned to surf, not very well, but it was fun. The weather, food and slow-paced culture was perfect. It was over Christmas and they had “Festival” in each small town. They had a rodeo and built huge circular “arenas” where you could sit and watch. Anyone could go in the ring when they let the bull and rider out. There was no time limit they see how long you can stay on. Once rider falls off or jumps off the bull runs around the arena/ring and people try to avoid getting hit, while also seeing how close they can run by him. I was in the arena/ring for an hour one night. It was a blast.

Lake Louise, Alberta. It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, and I’ve been there with all of the people I hold dear in my life. I go every summer and think about all of those people, some who are gone and most who remain. It is my peaceful place, cannot imagine a better one.

Rome. Love that city. Can’t wait to go back. The history there is amazing as is the food and language.

Shangri-la Mactan in Cebu, Philippines. The most beautiful beaches and ocean I’ve ever seen.

It’s hard to narrow it down to just one, but I’m going to say London, England. Seeing the British Museum is something that will stick with me the rest of my life, but there’s just so much going on: food, culture, everything you’d expect from the city which ruled a worldwide empire for as long as it did.

I met my wife in Julcuy, Ecuador while on an archaeological field school trip…so not there. I’ll say Rome. I know it’s tourist-y and all that, but there’s a reason for it. It’s beautiful, the history is everywhere around you in all directions, and the food is delicious.

Confession time: I’ve never actually left Canada ?. BUT I have toured through the Maritimes which a lot of people can’t say they have. Those tiny provinces over there are definitely my favourite part of Canada.

I’ve been lucky enough to spend over two years of my life travelling and I’ve seen so many cool places. In Australia, there’s this rad little hippie town called Byron Bay that was so chilled out and right up my alley. In Thailand, I spent most of my time living on the island of Phi Phi and if you’ve ever seen the movie the Beach you’ll have a good idea why.