Monday Mailbag – How did the Oilers do at the NHL trade deadline?

Happy Monday, Internet friends, and welcome to a brand new edition of the Mailbag to help get your week started and break down all things Edmonton Oilers. This week we’re looking at the trade deadline, Mattias Ekholm vs. Erik Karlsson, and a whole lot more. If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask, email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk and I’ll get to you as soon as we can.

He addressed their biggest need in Ekholm. A solid, defender and he will be here for at many years. It wasn’t just a rental. If there was a veteran, cheap RD upgrade they could have added that, but I didn’t see one. Radko Gudas wasn’t being moved, so don’t mention him.

Holland did as much as he could with the cap space he had and Ekholm fills a specific need. Is it enough? We’ll find out.

I would have liked one more move for a depth defenseman, but I still love the deadline period as a whole. Mattias Ekholm will be an impact piece for a number of years and Bjugstad provides solid depth, and he’s a right shot. They’re a better team than they were a week ago and that means Holland did his job. The cap thing sucked, but it didn’t prevent him from getting the two players he was targeting.

I think both. The players he brought in will help improve this team. Mattias Ekholm was the best player acquired by a Western Conference team and Nick Bjugstad adds depth to the bottom six and the right side. However, I would’ve liked to have seen another defenceman join the group. The Oilers’ right side on the blue line is young and a player with a few more NHL games under his belt could’ve helped. With that said, I am not upset with what Holland accomplished.

I would have liked another RW to help with the depth a little bit more and maybe an experience RHD, but overall, I’m thrilled with Mattias Ekholm. That dude is exactly what this team needs and I’m already a huge fan even though he’s only played three games with the Oilers so far.

LA adding Korpisalo is close as they needed a goalie.

I think so. LA got rid of Quick and brought in Vladislav Gavrikov and Joonas Korpisalo and San Jose moved Timo Meier as they rebuild, but I think Holland did the best job to strengthen his team here and now.

Yes. They had the best deadline period in the Western Conference. Which team in their conference brought in a player as good or as impactful as Ekholm? No one did. A bunch of teams in the East went 100% all-in and that just didn’t happen in the West.

We spoke about this on Oilersnation Radio on Friday, yes the Oilers did the best business in the Pacific Division. The LA Kings got better too between the pipes and Vlad Gavrikov may be slightly overrated but he’s still good. Vegas did well too but other than that nobody came close.

I was actually surprised how the Western Conference clubs didn’t really do all that much as compared to the east, but I do think the Oilers had one of the best deadlines in our conference and division. Ekholm rules and I don’t think it will long before this city falls in love with him.

Newsy Lalonde in 1919 also led in goals and was tied in assists. I don’t think McDavid needs to lead in both goals and assists to be considered top-five. He’s going to be there regardless. I’d argue the fact he leads the scoring race by 26 points, and is on pace to lead it by 35 shows his dominance over his peers. Only Gretzky has led the scoring race by 35 or more points. He did it six times by an amazing 79, 75, 74, 73, 72 and 65. Lemieux is next highest at 31. McDavid leading his peers by this many points is incredible. Him being in the top-five conversation will be due to all of his stats, not just one, because it is looking like he will have many statistical categories to use as reasons why he deserves to be among the top-five.

Scoring rates now aren’t close to what they were in the 1980s and 1990s. That aside, it doesn’t matter whether McDavid ends the season solely in first place for goals and assists. He’s dominating his peers in overall production season after season. He’s already one of the top 5 players all-time.

He already is a top-five player in NHL history. You can’t watch this guy play and say he isn’t already an all-time great.

I think it’s fair to say yes, however, everyone is going to make the argument that he doesn’t have a Stanley Cup. If he ends the season with Lord Stanley over his head then there’s not even a conversation.

Connor McDavid is already one of the best players to ever participate in the National Hockey League. When he gets his Cups, there will be no doubt.

Karlsson is elite, but Edmonton already has the two top scorers in the NHL. Ekholm fills a bigger need.

Ekholm is the right choice. And you can’t even talk about Karlsson unless you can make the money work. That wasn’t happening. Nobody found a way.

We can argue about fit and all of that, but Ekholm was the more realistic option. Getting Karlsson mid-season was just straight-up not going to happen. I would also make the argument that he is a better fit too. His contract is better, he cost less to acquire, and he will help them in their own end and on the PK, where they need more help.

It is easy to say Mattias Ekholm now because we have seen him play and the impact he can have. I think Ekholm will just bring a really good influence on the youngsters on the blueline which will benefit the team for years. In the postseason, his physicality will be big and also his calmness.

Karlsson wasn’t going to happen in season, and I honestly don’t know how you could watch the first three games Ekholm has played here and think he’s not a great fit.

He played 27:59/game that season. He was a major part of their success, and in the playoffs, he led Edmonton in scoring with 21 points and averaged 30:57/game. His importance was not overrated. He led an average team to game seven of the Stanley Cup Final. He should have won the Conn Smythe, despite the Oilers losing.

The Oilers don’t get near the playoffs, let alone into the Stanley Cup final, without Pronger. I’m not sure what fans thought of him, I just know what I saw. Voting for awards is the last measure that should ever be used. He was the engine that made the Oilers go.

It’s probably a bit of both. He was so good in the playoffs that people probably don’t remember much of the regular season. He’s one of the best defenseman of all time though, so hard to say he was overrated at any point.

I wish I could answer your question, David, but during the Chris Pronger era, I didn’t even know what hockey was. I was likely in bed in Ainsworth, England, any time the puck was dropped during the ’06 run.

Pronger was incredible that season. Who cares if he didn’t get award votes? Connor McDavid ran away with the scoring title last year and got shut out at the NHL Awards.

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