Monday Mailbag – March 31st

Every Monday we’ll be taking your questions and tossing them out to our writers to give their point of view.  Whether you’re looking for a stats angle or player perspective from guys that have played in the show, we’ve got you covered. To ask a question, email me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com and I’ll add it to the list.

If the players value the game jacket idea, then it’s a good thing. A jacket (especially one from the military) could have great meaning.

Jason Gregor: 

I don’t think it matters what the hat, jacket, cap is as long as the players enjoy the experience of singling out an individual who had a big impact on the game. I wish they still had the leather jacket from a few years ago. It was greasy. I do agree that comparing combat to sports can be a very slippery slope, and maybe it is a bit serious, but the players I’ve spoke to seem to like it.

Jason Strudwick: 

It is a cool idea. it is a badge of honour.

It’s a gimmick. Teams have used such things for years. Don’t see it as a good or bad idea. It’s meant to be fun — not big on the military connection, though. Don’t need to tie a gag item like this to something as real-world serious as the military.

At this stage in the Oilers season they should award anyone that has done anything good on the ice the “Player of the game Maybach.” There is no reward too large to try and pry a decent performance out of any of the 23 stout hearted men suiting up in Oilers silks in my mind.

I think it’s a cool idea. Some teams have funny get ups , some teams just give away the game puck, others use something maybe a little more inspirational like the Oilers and some teams have nothing at all. As a player it’s cool to be recognized by your peers that you contributed to a big win, no matter what it is. The jacket is all good with me.

If the guys are into it, then it’s a good idea. Honouring the troops is always a good thing.

Yes, I think so. Perron was the first major move by new GM MacT, I suspect he’ll be here at least the length of his current contract, and likely longer. He’s an excellent player. I thought he’d be good, he’s been better.

I’d hope so. He is exactly the type of player they need, and even if he does get traded your jersey will always stand out and people will say, “Perron, good choice, I liked how he played.” You likely won’t get razzed as much as the guy who bought a Barker or Belanger jersey.

I would buy a Messier jersey

This is a real question? How long makes buying his jersey worthwhile? One more season? Three?

If I were you I would buy a classic Oilers jersey – Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr. With a team in this state of freefall anyone could go anywhere at any time. Or we could continue to assess matters until 2099.

I don’t think anything in hockey is a guarantee. Any player can be moved but I think he has been a great addition to this team. Very skilled and plays with a little jam. Not big, but plays bigger than many of the other skill guys. This team needs that fire. As long as things are good in the room, I don’t see him going anywhere.

The team needs more DP. 

I think they’ll trade Jordan Eberle in a package to Philadelphia for C Sean Couturier and D Braydon Coburn. It’ll be the showcase deal in a busy summer.

Draft is the most likely. Very few teams want to trade a big, skilled centre. There aren’t many of them out there. If Ekblad is gone, I’d look long and hard at Leon Draisaitl. He has excellent skill and size. You can always improve a player’s footspeed, but you can’t make him taller.

I think they should focus on the D group. That area needs more support.

Leon Draisaitl.

I’d bet a trade but I have left trade deadline day in tears 3 years in a row. So it’s hard to say.

If it’s by draft you are talking about another 2-3 years so I have to think by trade or free agency. I don’t think they want to continue with Gagner in the role, but his contract doesn’t make it very easy to part ways either. A big trade is needed.

I think the days of Samwise are drawing to an end. Other teams in the Pacific division are making it very obvious that you need some size to be mixed into the lineup. The only way Gagner will stay around is if they trade one of the other smaller guys.

I think Fleury deserves the honour, along with Lanny McDonald, Mike Vernon, Al MacInnis, Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk and Jarome Iginla. Plus Phil Russell and Paul Reinhart.

I would put Fleury’s jersey in the rafters, and I believe the Flames will do so in the next few years. Currently, the Oilers have a rule that a player needs to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame to have his jersey hoisted to the rafters. Smyth won’t be going to the HHOF, but he should be remembered somehow. I’d like to see a Wall of honour in the new rink, and if they have one, #94 would be an obvious inclusion.

Yes. I think his jersey should be retired. I think 94 will be in the rafters.

Unless the Oilers change organizational convention, Smyth’s jersey won’t hang in Rexall until he’s in the HHOF. That’s not going to happen. Maybe the team will have a separate area in the new building where they honor players who aren’t in the HHOF. Theo Fleury has a chance to be in the HHOF. Not sure how the Flames approach that as far as retiring numbers.

Ryan Smyth is the greatest modern day Oiler in my mind. He should absolutely have his jersey retired at the conclusion of his career for being the awesome soldier that he is. Fleury too for that matter although if I were in charge the Flames would be disbanded as an NHL franchise – not worrying about retiring numbers.

I like Ryan Smyth and know he has done great things for this team and community. He’s been a model citizen and hockey player for the Oilers and Canada. If there is a player in the last decade in Edmonton that deserves it, it’s Ryan Smyth, but I feel that the jerseys hanging in the rafters have set the bar too high. It’s Hall of Famers and Stanley Cups in Edmonton and I just don’t quite see him in the same company. I don’t think you base everything on championships, but I don’t think his numbers are quite there either.

Ryan Smyth is a saint and I will personally track down and spank anyone that suggests otherwise. Mullet wigs for urrbody!

How he looks doesn’t reflect level of interest imo. It appears to be his style. He looks ‘easy breezy’ and that’s okay. He needs to be better, but it has nothing to do with his body language.

I think he is very interested in the game. I think his overall game has improved. He wants to be better, and I suspect he will be. My only issue is that he rarely enters a fray. I don’t expect him to mix it up, but I’d like to see less hesitation when those situations arise. Just go in and grab a guy. Show them you aren’t afraid

If he keeps shooting from the point on the PP he can slouch all he wants!

Getting an accurate read on “body language” with any player, even if you see him day-in and day-out for years, is tricky at the best of times. Reading something into Schultz based on one game is a reach of epic proportion.

Justin Schultz looks softer than salt water taffy left in the Texas sun for a week in July. I agree with you – he doesn’t look like he is firing on all cylinders.

I think this is a just very nonchalant player and personality. You see his interviews and he seems like a quiet guy that plays a quiet/soft offensive game on the back end. Tremendously skilled and talented and in time could be that D-man everyone is expecting him to be. Expecting him to appear physically or emotionally engaged would be a surprise for me. He doesn’t seem to be that type of player and that’s OK. Sergei Gonchar and Mike Green were guys I played with that appear similar and are great NHLer’s. There is plenty of room for his game to improve but this gets back to team make up. It’s fine to have guys like this, it’s a problem to have a team full of them.

The reason Justin Schultz’s shoulders are sagging is because of the weight of expectations that he’s been carrying. The guy hasn’t even played two full seasons yet and he’s expected to win the Norris or something. That’s the Oilers fault, not his.