Monday Mailbag – Does Johansen’s contract affect Draisaitl negotiations?

Welcome, welcome to the 212th edition of the Monday Mailbag here at Oilersnation.com. As always, I’m happy to have you here with us and give you all an opportunity to learn a little something and have your questions answered by our panel of all knowing bloggers and life coaches. If you’ve got a question, you can email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Not much. Johansen gave up a lot more UFA years than Draisaitl will if he gets an eight-year deal. Those are the most expensive seasons for a team to buy.

It might have a very small impact, but Johansen gave up seven UFA years. If Draisaitl signed for eight years he’d only be giving up three UFA seasons.

If anything, it helps the Oilers. Nashville bought more free-agent seasons than the Oilers will.

Normally I would say absolutely it places an upper limit on Draisaitl’s contract. RyJo’s deal is buying significantly more UFA years and he’s their 1C where Draisaitl will never be higher than 2C if he stays at centre at all. However, I’m not convinced Chiarelli knows how to negotiate a value deal. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before the Oilers announce a full boat payment based on one year as McDavid’s winger.

Honestly, I think it might drive it up a little bit. If I’m Leon, I wouldn’t want to get paid less than RyJo. Granted Leon is younger and hasn’t proved himself to be as consistent as RyJo YET, but I don’t think that signing was good for us and the Drai negotiations.

I think, and maybe I’m just hoping here, that it will bring the price of Leon’s deal down. Johansen gave up more UFA years than Leon will be asked to and those years are expensive. Then again, maybe I’m just a dreamer.

I don’t see three risks. Not waiting for the wheels to fall off this team. The default answer is likely an injury to Cam Talbot, but all but a handful of teams would be challenged by losing their No. 1 goaltender. That’s not a “risk” that applies only to the Oilers.

Injury to key players is the biggest. I think the Oilers are pretty solid top to bottom, and unless they suffer some key injuries I don’t see them struggling very much. Second risk would be young D struggling and third would be lack of scoring on RW.

Injuries are a big one, and I do think the Sekera injury leaves the team vulnerable on that second pairing. The third worry is RW, although there are plenty of options there.

Three biggest risks:

1) The second pairing cannot withstand losing its anchor

2) Talbot either gets injured or otherwise, cannot play 70+ games

3) Internal growth doesn’t happen or only happens to a small degree while others like Maroon regress

Number one is pretty much a guarantee. Number two scares me. Number three has me praying Maroon is just McDavid’s perfect LW.

Health. for obvious reasons. What kind of assets/space will be available at the trade deadline, and, to be different, can Laurent Brossoit provide consisten backup goaltending for 20 games or so?

May 7, 2017; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Zack Kassian (44) celebrates a first period goal against the Anaheim Ducks in game six of the second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports3) @WColfo asks – If you were to guess, who will be this year’s unsung hero? My past winners include Letestu, Klefbom, Maroon, and going way back Gagner and Petry.

Kris Russell. Apparently, he’s terrible, but I think he will manage to put his skates on the right feet and find a way to compete every night and be pretty good.

Larsson. He will have another solid campaign.

I’m going to guess Jussi Jokinen, who will be making very little and could play a prominent role. I’m not sure of your criteria for unsung, but he’s my bet.

I’m picking Jussi Jokinen. He’s been a better offensive performer in the recent past and he’s a Jack of All Trades. He can probably Band-Aid on every line at some point.

I have an odd feeling that Strome is going to surprise everyone in Edmonton and kill it. I truly hope he’s the underdog that comes in and exceeds his expectation to replace Eberle.

I think Nuge is going to have a much better year and I don’t know why. I think he sees the writing on the wall and will come out like a house on fire to try and prove his worth. Then again, maybe that’s just my inner fanboy coming out.

What is it that you expect from social media? I don’t know if the Oilers suck or not because I’m not a big consumer of what’s put out 140 characters at a time. In terms of providing useful information, at least to media outlets, I’ve always found San Jose’s staff at or near the top of the NHL.

You can’t force it. Kings and Stars have some witty/funny people running their social media. I sense Edmonton is much more conservative though. Likely a Canadian thing — we seem to be more conservative and reserved by nature.

I like the Oilers web updates (draft, prospects) and they seem to be good at sending out video. I’m not exactly sure what else there is, but I’m fine with current levels.

They aren’t interested in “fans.” They broke fans down into different tiers and are going after only the pocket books of the wealthiest among them. We know that based on the words that came from the highest levels of their organization. Why spend more resources on plebs when they aren’t going to be getting any more money out of them?

This is sort of a fun topic for us because we try to do the exact opposite as the Oilers on our social media. I honestly couldn’t tell you though, but they appear to be severely lacking compared to the rest of the league.

I know a little bit about how the Oilers social media works and there are hoops they have to jump through just to get a tweet out. It’s hilarious how they have to get every little thing approved just before putting out something as mundane as an intermission score summary, and the idea of having some fun doesn’t really fit into that model. Their in game experience has gotten better but it’s still completely lame compared to a place like Nashville.

I honestly can’t think of any band or performer I’m embarrassed about enjoying, but then I’ve never sought validation for my musical preferences.

Hard not to respect Sheeran. The guy can sing.

I like Bieber. He’s in a tough spot, but kid is very talented and his music is catchy.

I like Neil Diamond. I sing Sweet Caroline so loud my neighbour throws stuff at me. Don’t care.

ABBA. There. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW???

I’d like to begin by saying I’ve never hidden my extreme love for Eddy. With that said, my guilty pleasure artist is without a doubt, Hunter Hayes. Don’t @ me, he’s amazing.

I’m super into Ed Sheeran and think his song Castle on the Hill is a hell of a jam. Back to the question, I’m not ashamed of anything I like because music, TV, comedy, etc is subjective. I realize that I like some stuff that not everyone does and I don’t really care if I get made fun of because of it.

To answer the question, I like Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Selena Gomes, shitty pop music from the 90s, and the list goes on. If you like something, just own it. Who cares in the end?

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