Monday Mailbag – What to do with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins?

What have we here, my friends? A brand new mailbag for a brand new week! I hope each of you had an excellent weekend and that you used the time to live your best lives. With everyone back at work for another week, I wanted to put together something to read and help you kill off a few minutes of company time and ease yourselves into a new week. As always, I’ve sent your questions out to our stable of writers and waited for all of their worldly wisdom to come back to me. As always, I need questions for next week, so if there is something Oilers related (or not) that you want to ask, feel free to hit me up by email or on Twitter. Enjoy

Shane Starrett is the only option I see for a goalie recall. He had an excellent second half last year, but that was only a few months. It is important to remember Binnington’s season was a major outlier. Even the Blues didn’t know he’d play that well after being recalled. If the Oilers get great goaltending it will likely come from one of Smith or Koskinen.

Is there a chance? Sure. The turnaround in St. Louis was a team reversal of form. When GM Doug Armstrong refused to break up the team to shake things up, the players knew it was up to them. No help was coming. Binnington played a big part in that by taking over from Jake Allen with a great 15-game stretch. Might somebody like Shane Starrett, who is older, come in and do the same if Smith and Koskinen flounder? I suppose it could happen, but you’re not going to see a worst-to-Stanley Cup scenario here. The Oilers aren’t as good as the Blues.

On the surface, Shane Starrett fits the mold of a 25-year-old goaltender currently buried in the organization’s depth chart but there’s a difference between him and Binnington. Binnington was a highly touted prospect at one point and posted five consecutive seasons with both a GAA under 3.00 and a save percentage over 0.900 in the AHL. Starret has posted a GAA below 3.00 in both of his two AL seasons, but he doesn’t have the professional experience that Binnington does. I think Starrett has some NHL potential, but I wouldn’t be expecting to see him in the NHL this season unless there’s an injury.

Honestly, I have no idea. I know Starrett had a solid run last season when the Condors went on their heater but I don’t know if he’d get the chance or not. Would he be the best bet? Maybe? What the hell do I know? Goalies are voodoo, man.

A lot can change in two seasons. Very difficult to say what offer would be and if RNH will remain in Edmonton. A lot of it has to do with how he plays during the 2020/2021 season. If he has a really good year entering free agency he will get a bigger deal. If he doesn’t, then the offers will be lower. I honestly don’t know if he will remain in Edmonton or what the offers would be, because so much can change in two years in the NHL.

It’s the summer of 2019, so you’re asking about what might happen two years from now. Way too many variables to make a reasonable guess. Will he even be here then? What will be his role and how will he perform over the next two seasons? What does the rest of the team look like by then? What’s the cap?

There’s no doubt that other teams would be interested but I think the Oilers will be able to keep him around. It will cost a lot of money, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the Nuge is worth it. I would like to see a seven or eight-year deal worth somewhere around $7-8 million based on how these next two seasons go. I would have no problem giving a reliable, durable, and consistent player like Nugent-Hopkins that kind of term and money.

#KeepNugeForever. Thank you. But yeah, of course other teams would be interested in him. The dude is a polished two-way player that seems to be getting better. If the Oilers can make it work, they need to keep him and keep those three centres together for as long as possible.

Concerned? Why? Their best players, excluding Darnell Nurse, are all under contract for next season. Of the 14 UFAs, Zack Kassian and Mike Smith would be considered the most important (today), and Nurse is the only RFA, who will demand a hefty raise. If Matt Benning of Joel Persson has an outstanding season, they might get a financial bump, but I don’t see any cause for concern.

No, it’s nothing to be concerned about on August 19, 2019. Outside the obvious keepers, Holland needs time to see who he wants to keep and who can go. He has yet to see the Oilers play even one game as GM. He needs to see where, or if, people fit.

Concern? Oilers fans should be incredibly excited about that. The Oilers will have both roster and cap flexibility which will allow their veteran GM to go out and shape this roster the way he likes. They’ll likely bring back some players but this will present them with a great opportunity to re-shape the pieces that surround their core. It’s also great news for the upcoming season. With all of these players heading into contract years, the Oilers will have plenty of motivated players.

I actually see this as a blessing. Get rid of a bunch of Chiarelli’s guys and bring in your own. Win win.

@Brian Boyle intrigues me as a bottom-six centre. @Derick Brassard is another one, and he has more offensive upside, but he doesn’t kill penalties. If I could I’d bring them in on a PTO at this point. No need to sign them to a deal until I see how they look in preseason.

No. That could change by way of PTO’s and lower offers a month from now when we’re closer to camp, but now is not the time to throw money at somebody who is still out there waiting for a contract.

If he can make the money work, I would love to see one of Brian Boyle or Derick Brassard in an Oilers jersey. Good, experienced third-line centres who can help on both the powerplay and penalty kill. He doesn’t have the money right now, but as the summer continues, he could make something happen. Would I love @Jake Gardiner? You bet but that’s not realistic.

Since everyone has already said Brian Boyle and Derick Brassard, I’m going to go with @Tobias Rieder. Thank you.

Interesting question. The range on Neal’s production will vary a lot I suspect. I think last year was an outlier for him. For ten years he consistently scored 21+ goals. He will get a lot of top-six TOI this season and he will play with a left shooting centre whether that is RNH or Connor McDavid. I’ll say he scores 21, but I won’t be surprised if he gets closer to 25.

He scores 22.

23. It’s going to be a good year for The Real Deal James Neal.

I’m going with a conservative 20 goals so that I can lose my mind if he gets anything more than that.

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