You watched a pair of afternoon games, you’ve got thoughts, and here were are with another round of the mailbag to break down what’s going on with the Edmonton Oilers. You sent in the questions, we spit out the knowledge — you know how this works. And as always, the mailbag depends on your questions and I need stuff for next week so fire up your brain machine and get in touch. You can email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk. Enjoy the distraction, my friends, you’ve earned it.

McDavid is 8th among Oilers forwards on the PK with a total of 7:00 in ten games. I don’t have an issue with that. RNH is 2nd among forwards at 16:37 and Leon Draisaitl is 6th at 9:02. Zack Kassian has played 7:53, but in only seven games. Many top players play on the PK, but I am happy to see McDavid is playing mainly at EV and on the PP.

Actually, that’s not the case. McDavid averaged 1:05 shorthanded last season. Going into Chicago, he was at 41 seconds. Draisaitl was 1:01 last season and is 52 seconds. McLellan is leaning most heavily on RNH (1:41), Strome (1:37) and Rieder (1:34) up front. On the back end it’s Kris Russell (2:24) and Adam Larsson (2:16).

I love skilled guys on the PK. Good players know where the puck is going and they have the skills to take it away from the opposition. As long as McDavid isn’t there to block shots with his face I’m all for it.

Sure. Get him out there as much as you can. It’s nice to use skill players on the PK because they can add an element of risk to the other team when they try to be fancy. Look back to RNH’s goal against the Capitals last week. I think the key is just ensuring he isn’t blocking shots.

I get a little nervous when McDavid is out killing a penalty because obviously the last thing this teams needs is for him to get hurt blocking a shot. Given how much they play McDavid at even strength and on the powerplay, I think McLellan can leave him on the bench during penalty kills. In general though, I don’t mind skilled players killing penalties if they’re good at it. I like that McLellan trusts players like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto enough to put them on the PK.

I love seeing Connor on the penalty kill. Playing him more will always be better than us. My one concern with this is that I really don’t want to see Connor blocking shots out there. I mean, him getting injured from blocking a shot is the last thing we need, right?

I like the idea of Connor out on the penalty kill but I also hate the idea of him blocking shots. I get why you’d want him out there, that’s obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain, but I get nervous when I think about him sacrificing his body to prevent power play clappers from the point.

I think he will go to Bakersfield. There is a lot of pressure on many people in the organization. They want him to succeed. If he doesn’t the scouts, GM and coaches won’t look good. The hard decision is sending him to the AHL, but I believe it is the right one. He needs to rediscover his confidence and it will be easier doing that in the AHL. The AHL is not an easy league, so don’t be stunned if he isn’t instantly lighting it up there, but I’d send him there to work on his game, but where he can be on the first PP unit and regain his offensive confidence.

If the team continues playing well with him sitting out, he needs to go to Bakersfield. He needs to play.

I guess he gets sent to the AHL or traded. I don’t see this coach extending him any chances in the top 6 for a long time and he needs to develop into a top 6 guy. Might as well be playing those minutes somewhere.

I’m sure he’ll end up Bakersfield sooner rather than later. That said, I have a hard time thinking he’ll figure it out here. I bet he’s dealt for another reclamation project.

There’s a difference between what I want to happen and what I think will happen. I believe they need to play Jesse with skill and allow him to become comfortable with Leon Draisaitl. I wouldn’t even complain if he was on the third line with Ryan Strome every game, I think he can provide value from that spot. The reality is that the Head Coach doesn’t trust him and his leash is much shorter than any other players. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is his final season in Edmonton.

Two ways, in my opinion, either he’s sent down for a few games and returns to use for the remainder of the season, or he stays with us and plays 10 minutes a night until he starts to produce. If they’re going to continue to play him 10 minutes a night, I would suggest sending him down.

To me, it should play out with him spending some time in Bakersfield to get his confidence back. Let him play 20 minutes per night down in the AHL and work on the things that are keeping him out of the lineup. Not playing him anywhere does absolutely nothing.

He does a lot of thing well but he has to do them consistently, which is the case with most young players. Patience and poise come through experience. Mistakes will happen. Don’t get rattled. Learn from them. He’s better with the puck than playing defensively right now, but he’s still better at both than I thought he’d be this early.

He sees the ice very well. He handles the puck like a veteran and can get his shot off very quickly. I think he has a lot of upside. He will want to add some speed, which 99% of young players need, and he will. He just needs time to gain experience. I think he will become a really good defender for the Oilers in the coming seasons, but he will be going back to junior before his 10th game.

He just needs to get a little faster, a little stronger, and gain experience. I love his passing ability and his shot, and he plays like he has ice water in his veins. He’s definitely not scrambly at all out there, which is very cool for a 19 year true rookie.

He’s pretty much come exactly as advertised. He has a hell of a first pass and he handles the puck nicely in the offensive zone. I think the most impressive thing about him, though, is his calmness on the ice. He doesn’t look like he’s 19 out there.

I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from Evan Bouchard. He never seems to panic in his own end, he’s very competent on the powerplay, and he’s one of their most efficient puck movers. If there’s one area he needs to improve on it’s just his decision making and defensive zone coverage. I think each of those will come with more experience.

Moving the puck is his best asset for sure. Next, his shot. He finds ways to get shots through to the net and they’re hard too. What he needs to work on in my opinion is his defensive zone awareness. Knowing who to cover and how in his zone will help his game.

This kid is silky with the puck, man. WOOOWEEE. That said, he’s only 19 years old and has had trouble in the defensive zone, which is completely reasonable for a rookie defender. I think he needs to work on his d-zone awareness and footspeed moving forward. If he can improve those two items then he’ll be absolutely dynamite.

Pretty broad question. Generally, they haven’t shown enough patience or willingness to put top-end prospects in the minors for seasoning. That’s been, in part, because of lack of depth on top in recent seasons. That appears to be slowly changing now. Teams are better served filling depth spots with proven and cheap vets like Brodziak and Rieder than they are forcing kids into roles they aren’t ready for.

It has not been good. Scouts made some questionable picks, and the organization still leans towards having young players in the NHL too early. I hope they learn from Puljujarvi, who should have stayed in Finland at 18, and started in the AHL at 19. Rushing does not work. Players will tell you when they are ready through their performance on the ice. Some are ready earlier than others, and the organization has to have the courage to make the right decision and not worry about how “it looks.” Send JP to the AHL, but Bouchard in junior and when Ty Rattie is healthy I’d even look at sending Yamamoto to the AHL. If they aren’t difference makers in the NHL then let them develop in the minors or junior.

Ask Yak, Puljujarvi, Paajarvi, Schultz, and Gagner how they do developing prospects. They suck. Earlier this past week Ryan Rishaug said the team STOPPED looking for D options at the NHL level after they drafted Bouchard. That says everything you need to know about this club’s developmental philosophy.

I mean they’re clearly bad at drafting and developing given the fact virtually none of their non-first-round picks have made it on to the roster. We’re only a few years into the Keith Gretzky era so maybe it’ll get better. I think one issue has been coaching at the AHL level. If the players they do draft even make it there, they seem to just stashed behind a bunch of random veterans and get lost in the shuffle. There seems to be an odd lack of priority in having prospects actually playing down there.

Well not very good under previous regimes, but I think Chiarelli/Gretzky have actually done a decent job identifying talent outside of the first round. That’s been a huge problem in this organization for a while but now with guys like Caleb Jones, Ethan Bear, Tyler Benson, and Stuart Skinner all taking steps forward in the AHL, it looks like that might be changing. You could also look at the Jesse Puljujarvi situation as a black spot on the current regime.

Well they don’t really have a good track record that’s for sure. The situation we’ve been in has forced us to force prospects into the NHL at an early age, which in the long term will ruin their development. The NHL is not a development league, but we never have enough solid assets to keep our prospects in the AHL or junior.

Just look at the record. How many of their own draft picks from outside of the first round do the Oilers have playing for them right now? Thankfully, Keith Gretzky certainly looks like he’s changing that these days.

Surprised by how bad St. Louis and the Kings have been. The Red Wings are even worse than I thought they’d be.

The Kings are worse than I expected and Montreal is much better thus far. The Oilers 6-3-1 start is a bit surprising based on travel and opponents. They have looked very competitive against top teams. I’m surprised Patrick Kane is looking like Alex Ovechkin of the league. He has 58 shots in 12 games, almost five per game.

I think it goes without saying that the Oilers having their record at the end of October with the schedule they had is shocking. I would have been THRILLED with a .500 record and instead they stand right near the top of the Pacific with game in hand.

I’m shocked Colorado is as good as they are.

I’ve been really impressed with the Montreal Canadiens and Max Domi, who is adjusting very well to life as a centre. I kind of figured Carey Price would be able to keep them out of the basement, but I didn’t think they would look this good. The Carolina Hurricanes look much more skilled than I thought they would be and have been really fun team to watch. Sebastien Aho is going to be a star for a long time.

Vancouver is shocking me for sure, same with the Canadiens. Those are two teams I expected to not be at the top of the standings. I knew Auston Matthews was going to be good this year but I wasn’t expecting him to be THIS good.

I’m surprised that St. Louis is having the start they are and to a lesser extent the Los Angeles Kings. The Blues have a good lineup and it doesn’t make much sense to me that they’re not winning more games, though they pummel the Blackhawks on Saturday night.

Just like last year, it was important for us to try and make this trip as cheap as possible and to announce it as early as we could to give you as much time as possible to get your life in order. Based on last year’s trip, this is a roadie that you really won’t want to miss — it’s an absolute blast and a good chance to get ridiculous behind enemy lines. And since I already know that you want to come, let’s get to the when, where, and how much, shall we?