Monday Mailbag – Thoughts on the Flames being awarded the conditional 3rd round pick?

Welcome, friends, to a playoff edition of the Mailbag which means we’ve got an opportunity for you to not only learn something but to also avoid your families for a few minutes. In this week’s Mailbag, we take a look at the fanless game experience, Calgary being awarded the conditional pick in the James Neal trade, a Game 1 recap, and a lot more. As always, I need questions for next week so if you have something you’d like to ask you can email me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter. Have a great week, everyone!

It was weird being in the building. Usually, it is a madhouse between warmup and the start of the game, but it was dead quiet. It was eerie. I watched the game on TV Sunday morning and I thought they did a decent job without fans. No question the atmosphere is different, but it looked good on TV and sounded okay.

The building certainly lacks the atmosphere that adds to the experience, but I think the NHL has done about as good a job as anyone can expect of dressing up the building with tarping of seats and use of monitors etc. I look forward to when the fans return.

I think the NHL did a great job with this! They put in the extra effort (and money) and it really paid off. I think the massive screens are a great touch and way better than just tarping up the seats or putting cardboard cutouts in the stands.

Considering how strange the situation is, I think the NHL did about as well as one could have hoped. Obviously, it would be way better if we were all allowed to be in the building, but that’s simply impossible right now so the league had to get creative. Personally, I think the rink looks super cool with all of the screens everywhere.

Everything except the powerplay. From the opening faceoff, the Oilers weren’t ready. They gave up two odd-man rushes in the first minute of the game. And even after McDavid, on the powerplay, to make it 1-0, the Oilers remained lethargic and soft in their coverage. They didn’t work hard enough. Lost too many battles. McDavid’s line got crushed 5×5, and they only played against Toews line for 2:13. Gave up two goals in that span, but the Oilers top line played the most against the Hawks 4^th line and lost the possession battle. That can’t happen if you want to win in playoffs. People say Tippett got outcoached? He got his best line about against the Hawks 4^th line for over six minutes at 5×5…and they got outshot.

The entire team needs to be more emotionally engaged and play smarter.

The Oilers will need better goaltending than they got from Mike Smith and the PK needs to return to form, plus they didn’t generate any emotional energy in that first game. They didn’t compete. I expect them to be better all around in Game 2, but losing the first game in a best-of-five puts you in trouble right away.

They need to generate more offense at even strength and stay out of the box. If they do that, they’ll have no problems in game two!

Consistent effort. This is the Oilers that we can’t have. They won the Calgary game with a five-minute effort and I think everyone could have told them that wasn’t going to be nearly good enough against the Hawks. I think they will sit back and realize this. I hope!

They need to be much better in net, at 5-on-5, and on the PK. Those three things killed them.

It is a bit odd to me, but from speaking with Ken Holland it seems it was pro-rated. It is an odd year with COVID, so we see things we’ve never seen before. The NHL did give Edmonton the option to defer to the 2021 draft. They don’t have to decide until right before the start of the third round in the 2020 draft if they will give up the pick. I could see them keeping this year’s pick, because next season junior players might only have had a half-season of games played and it might be more of a crapshoot.

I didn’t think they’d do it. That said, it’s still a good trade for the Oilers.

It’s tough. I understand why the NHL did it because let’s be real, Neal was going to score his 20th goal. It’s just a shame that the league isn’t more consistent when it comes to this decision making.

It reminds me of when the Oilers got screwed out of a second round pick after they hired Peter Chiarelli when he had already been fired in Boston. The league loves to screw Edmonton, don’t they?

Montreal because of his French background. Also, Arizona as they need a young, elite player to groom. But a good team who would benefit the most would be Nashville. They have never had a real elite offensive player, and getting Lafreniere would be huge for them. But I don’t see them losing.

Probably the Oilers. Not so much because they would benefit most but because it would make every other fan base lose its mind at the unfairness of it all.

Probably a team that’s one elite piece away from being Stanley Cup Contenders. I’m looking at the Penguins and Oilers honestly. Imagine those two teams with one more dynamic offensive piece on an entry-level contract? They would be instant Cup Contenders.

The only answer is Edmonton. Imagine what Lafreniere would look like on McDavid’s wing and how angry every other fanbase would be? *whistles* Now, that said, I want the Oilers to beat Chicago and make this a moot point, but it would still be hilarious.

Brad Marchand. He is quite witty and wouldn’t be afraid to have a sign that straddles the line of political correctness.

Kassian. Best chirpers would make the best signs.

Zack Kassian would probably be a pretty good troll. Brad Marchand can be funny on social media, so he might have some good chirps to bring out as well.

I agree with the other guys that it has to be Kassian. His mouth is running basically non-stop anyway, so having him put those chirps on a sign would be hilarious.

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