Monday Mailbag – Is Cam Talbot the long-term solution?

Hello hello, Nation people. It’s your old friend Baggedmilk back with another edition of the Monday Mailbag to fill your brain bank with all kinds of free knowledge. This time around, we’re looking at Cam Talbot’s season, depth on the right wing, Matt Hendricks, and more. If you have a question for the Mailbag, you can always hit me up through email or on Twitter. Until then, enjoy the reprieve from work and/or life. Enjoy.

The Oilers don’t have a goalie in the system pounding on the door. I could see both sides waiting until midway through next season before signing an extension. Since the start of the 2015/2016 season, Talbot and Braden Holtby have started the most games in the NHL, 163. He has a .915sv% in that time. Of the 22 goalies who have started at least 115 games since then, Talbot is tied for 15^th in sv%.

He has been steady, but he isn’t in the category of Holtby, Bobrovsky, Quick, Dubnyk or Crawford, who are all .920% and higher. He currently has the 22^nd highest Cap hit among goalies. He will get a raise, no doubt, but how high and for how long? He will be 32 when his next contract kicks in. I think he signs with the Oilers, and I could see it being a four-year deal taking him through to 35 years of age. Unless the Oilers trade for an up and coming goalie I don’t see a better option available in free agency. Talbot has been good since arriving in Edmonton. His numbers are down this season, but overall he has been one of the Oilers best players since arriving. The bonus for the Oilers is this down year could lower his ask a bit.

You talk contract closer to the end of his deal, which lasts through 2018-19. Why would either side want to rush into something, given the inconsistency he has shown this season? Makes sense for both parties to wait.

I think Talbot will bounce back and show for the foreseeable future that he will be a good starting goalie. If this year means that it might cost less to re-sign Talbot then I count that as one of the few positives.

It actually might not be the worst idea to buy low on an extension during the off-season considering how poor Talbot has been in 2017-18. A lot of his struggles this season likely come down to a combination of being gassed from playing every game last season and the team (well, the penalty kill) being bad. Talbot’s numbers don’t appear as horrific if you just look at what he’s done at even strength.

Interesting question. I would definitely re-sign him as he has proved what he’s capable of. The fact that he’s not having the best season this year might be a blessing for us in contract negotiations. If you either extend his contract during the summer or next season you could probably get him for much cheaper than if he was playing just as stellar this year as he did last.

I don’t know why some people are so worried about Cam Talbot. Aside from his first few games as an Oiler, he’s been generally solid so I don’t know why all the doubt all of a sudden. I would extend him when the Oilers are able to do so.

Leading by example isn’t about McDavid making highly skilled plays and having his teammates mirror those moves. It is about practice habits. How hard he works in games and in practice. If the best player on the team is working that hard, often the rest take notice and have no excuse not to work as hard. Lucic is vocal and I believe Darnell Nurse will emerge as the vocal leader among the young players. He is capable of holding players accountable.

Experience can be a valuable commodity, but leading by rah-rah only works in a significant way if you can deliver the goods yourself. The most important person to hold people accountable is the guy you see when you look in the mirror.

I’m not in the room so I could only speculate. My guess is no, not the way you are thinking. That said, McDavid is a man now and after this season I bet he’ll be more prepared to speak up.

That seems like Milan Lucic’s role, given that he’s the veteran who won a Stanley Cup in Boston. Matt Hendricks was also that guy in the past. Maybe the Oilers need another Hendricks type guy on the team.

I don’t completely agree with you on the leading by example note. I don’t believe that it’s about players playing with similar skill to him. I think it’s more about the effort and passion he shows when he gets fired up about losing. Connor will come out and skate circles around everyone else on the ice (because he can), thus firing up the other members on the team, whether they have the skill to do it or not. As far as guys who hold other players accountable, I would hope Milan Lucic plays that role. I REALLY hope Milan Lucic plays that role but honestly I have no idea if that’s the case in the room or not.

Isn’t Lucic supposed to be that guy? I mean, he talked about bringing swagger back but we haven’t seen much of that this year.

They hoped a lot of young players would take a step. Some have, but with young players comes inconsistency and that has hurt them, not just on RW, but at various spots in the lineup. Puljujarvi has improved all season and is getting better. No question, Chiarelli hoped for better results from Slepyshev, Caggiula and others. The bets were risky in the sense he hoped at least a few young players would have great years. It hasn’t happened.

I don’t think Chiarelli made bets that were unreasonable. He made bets that haven’t paid off. There’s a difference. Either way, he has to be accountable for them.

He banked on Strome, Caggiula, and Puljujarvi to all have career seasons. Puljujarvi wasn’t ready, Caggiula is maybe a fourth liner, and Strome is a third liner. Safe to say, Chiarelli blew it.

He put a lot of faith in young players and none of them came through. It looks really bad in hindsight, but given how guys like Drake Caggiula and Anton Slepyshev looked in the playoffs, it wasn’t completely unfair. The indefensible moves, though, are still the Eberle trade and Pouliot buyout. Banking on young players whom you expect to be part of your future is fine, but throwing away solid assets isn’t.

He absolutely over-estimated what he had in that position. He took a huge risk based on how everyone played in a short period of time last year. Granted, I was fairly comfortable with his risk at the beginning of the season as well, so I was wrong too.

This is exactly why keeping Nuge is so important. We can’t act like injuries never happen and the fact that Draisaitl has to move back to the centre position leaves that right side wiiiiiiiiiiiiide open. Keep the centre depth. Do what it takes. Bring in more centres if you have to.

I don’t see it being as much as some think. I think they miss his upbeat attitude, but I don’t think he is the reason Talbot struggled more than expected, the team has had too many defensive zone breakdowns, why the PK has sucked (It was 78% in final 68 games with Hendricks last year) or why the PP has floundered. Hendricks might have helped in better starts, but his absence isn’t the reason the Oilers have struggled in many key areas. Hendricks was also on the team when they missed playoffs in 2014, 2015 and 2016. He isn’t the reason why they are underachieving this year.

Hendricks, like Ryan Smyth, provided younger players a walking, breathing lesson about what it takes to be a pro in every way — putting in the work, being prepared etc. That matters to varying degrees in terms of results based on the talent and mix on the roster. Glue guys can’t turn a bad roster into a good one. They simply help get the most out of the group you’ve got.

Once again, I’m not in that room. Word is Hendricks was a big part of that dressing room and I’m sure he’s missed there. On ice, he was a part-timer. Off ice, he seemed like the perfect vet.

I dunno. Hunter the Mascot?

My god do I ever miss Matt Hendricks. Rumour has it that Connor loved him as well, which also confused me. Why would you not re-sign someone for cheap if the best player in the world enjoys his company in the room? It was obvious that he was the glue guy and it’s showing now more than ever. I kind of like to imagine Patrick Maroon being a glue guy in the room though. He’s light-hearted, funny, and enjoys every moment.

There was an earlier question about a ‘rah-rah’ kind of guy and I think that this guy was probably a part of that. I had one of the local guys tell me that the boys used to want Hendricks to take warmup with them in the playoffs even though they knew he wasn’t going to play. Why would they do that? Because personalities matter. I’m not saying Hendricks alone is the missing link, that’s not the case at all, but it sure seemed like he helped.

It should be Kevin Lowe. Their current “rule” states a player has to be in the Hall of Fame to have his jersey retired, which I don’t agree with, but if they maintain that rule then at this point the next one to go up would be #97. I assume he will be in the HHOF when he retires. But, if they have a change of heart on their ruling, then Lowe’s #4 should go up next.

Unless the Oilers change the conventions they have in place for retiring numbers, it’ll be Connor McDavid.

If the requirement is the Hockey Hall of Fame then the next number will be 97. If the team is moving to “honour” numbers then it’s 94.

It’s gotta be Chris Pronger’s No. 44 right?

I would guess maybe Kevin Lowe? He seems like the most likely and I’m sort of surprised it hasn’t happened already.

Easy. Ryan Smyth. Who else would you pick? Maybe Kevin Lowe when his time in management is over but who the hell knows when that will be. Smytty or Lowe are my guesses.

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