Monday Mailbag – How would the Oilers fare in an all-Canadian division?

Welcome, dear citizens, to a brand new edition of the Monday Mailbag where we answer all of your Oilers related questions and give you a few minutes of time killing distraction from whatever you’ve got going on today. This week, we look at the Oilers’ goaltending situation, fanless hockey, Connor McDavid’s extended offseason, and a whole lot more. If you’ve got one, 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.

Almost impossible to answer. Predicting goalies is not my forte, but with Konovalov, Skinner or Rodrigue in the mix, one should become an NHL and if he becomes a bonafide #1 they will be in a great spot. They don’t have to rush any of them as Koskinen is a serviceable goalie for the next two seasons.

Well, Koskinen is just keeping the crease warm for somebody, but I’m not sure a 22-year-old playing in the KHL is the next guy. He might be, but will he be ready as soon as Koskinen’s deal is done after 2021-22? Don’t know enough about him to have a strong feeling about him. I don’t see anybody within the organization now who has clear No. 1 written all over him.

As disappointing as signing Mike Smith was, it’s only a one-year deal, so Holland will have the ability to make a big splash next off-season. Freddy Andersen and Tuukka Rask are set to become free agents and there’ll be some other goalies who become available through trade.

I would imagine that they view Konovalov as a potential long-term solution, and I’m sure the organization isn’t ready to close the books on Stuart Skinner either. I said leading up to the draft that they don’t have an ‘A’ level goaltending prospect in their system but I wouldn’t be totally stunned if Konovalov eventually gets there. It’s far from a lock though.

I would have the most hope that Konovalov can make something happen in the future, but I honestly have no idea. Goalies are voodoo at the best of time and I’d bet that this is a question we won’t have an answer to any time soon.

On TV? I’d move cameras closer to the ice surface with on fans in the building. Closer cameras will be able to showcase the speed of the game more.

I expect they’ll tweak technical stuff like camera angles, number of cameras and audio capability to upgrade. I thought they did a pretty good job, all things considered, with the play-ins and playoffs. Just a matter of refinement.

Get the cameras closer to the ice, ideally. One thing the NBA did that was really cool was have camera angles that made it feel like you were courtside. I don’t want to be looking at the empty seats while I’m watching hockey games. It’s depressing.

I actually didn’t mind the viewing experience during the playoffs. I thought the pumped in crowd noise worked well and the big screens in the arena made it seem like there was a bit of an atmosphere in the rink. Honestly, I would take that over a mainly empty arena with like 2000 fans in it.  I don’t have any ways that they could improve it because I didn’t have any problems with the way it was done in the summer.

I actually liked the way the NHL looked during the playoffs so I don’t have too many suggestions here other than to hope that they can find a way to mix in some fans in addition to the screens etc, provided that they’re safely able to do so.

I’m all for anything that increases the emotion and animosity of the regular season. I believe if they played three games in a row against any team it would increase the dislike. I’d love to see it. I’ve said for years if the NHL was interested in more intensity, less travel, more sleep and being more green, they would have a four-game road trip, but play two teams twice.

I like the baseball model. A lot of what the season will look like will depend on when the season starts, number of games they decide to play and, of course, the state of COVID-19.

It’s great. It’ll add tension to the games and further build rivalries. Having all of those Oilers and Flames games within a few weeks earlier this year (it feels like so much longer ago than that) was really fun.

I love that idea. I think it’s a good way to make scheduling easy and I think it will result in some really interesting series’. Imagine being six points back of a team in the standings and then sweeping them in a three-game set! The drama would be great.

I love it! LOVE IT! Just think of how much fun it would be to have a weekend set against the Flames? Now, think of how intense it would be to have a three-game series against the Flames in the midst of a playoff chase? Magic.

It allows him more time to train and have a real off-season, which he didn’t have last year when rehabbing. I think he will benefit from it as it allowed him more time to work on things he wanted to. I expect him to return even more dangerous.

I don’t think it’ll make a significant difference either way. He’s had more than enough time to rest and heal. As for any rust, I don’t think so. He’ll be ready to go whenever things get started. If anything, his mental make-up suggests he’ll come out flying.

I have no idea honestly. I thought the younger Oilers would have a huge advantage over Chicago because of the time off but that clearly wasn’t the case. Who knows. Everyone is different. Athletes, like most people, are creatures of habit and having this whole year go sideways has probably been very jarring.

I think it will help him. He should be 100% and this time off will give him a chance to work on his game.  I don’t see how you could view this as a bad thing.

I imagine that this extra time has allowed him to grow several additional PCLs and that he will be 23% faster somehow. I bet all of this extra training time will be what’s needed to trigger mega-McDavid.

They will be a playoff team unless they suffer significant injuries. They took big strides in the regular season last year, mainly in the second half, and after a disappointing performance in the qualifying round against Chicago, I know the players are upset about it. They will finish top-two in the Canadian division.

Points percentage from last season:

EDM .585

TOR .579

VAN .565

CGY .564

WPG .563

MTL . 500

OTT .437

Factor in changes to each of the teams and playing only each other compared to what opposition they got their points from last season and it’s a flat out shot-in-the-dark guess. So, top three.

I would guess second, with Toronto being the top team. Edmonton and Calgary are pretty close. Vancouver got worse this off-season while Montreal and Winnipeg got a bit better. It’ll be really tight. Anything can happen. Ottawa is the only bad team and they aren’t that bad anymore.

I could honestly see them winning the division but it’s going to be very tight. I could realistically see three teams winning the all-Canadian division if I’m being honest and all seven teams will be competitive (yes, I think Ottawa will be a lot better than most people believe). The Oilers could win it or they could come fifth, both are very possible.

I could actually see them winning an all-Canadian division if they can get themselves rolling early, but to be safe, I’ll say that they’re a top-three team for sure.

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