Good morning, everyone, and a happy Monday to all of you. I’ve got a fresh mailbag ready to go after taking your questions and sending them to the crew for their take on whatever is on your mind. This week, we’re talking Mattias Ekholm’s spot among the league’s best, secondary scoring, line combinations, and more. If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask, email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk, and I’ll get to you as soon as I can.

Draisaitl has nine more goals through 39 games this year than last. McDavid has one less. The Oilers D corps has 25 goals this year after scoring 23 last year. The entire team has scored eight fewer goals than last year after 39 games. Hyman (26) and Kane (14) had combined for 40. Kane is not playing and Hyman has 13. I didn’t expect him to score 54 again. But he is also tied for most goals in NHL since returning from injury on Dec 5th.

Oilers offence is just fine. It is basically the same overall except the PP has scored nine fewer goals this year through 39 games.

Last year forwards 1-4 (McD, Drai, Hyman and Kane) scored 76 goals and forwards 5-12 scored 37. This year forwards 1-4 (McD, Drai, Hyman and RNH) have scored 67 goals and forwards 5-12 have scored 36. The PP had 32 goals last year and has 23 this year. That is the difference not secondary scoring.

The Oilers currently have seven forwards with 5+ goals. Through 39 games last year, they also had seven. It’s pretty close and they’ve been getting good contributions from guys like Kapanen (4 goals) as well. I’m not that worried with the depth scoring. I’d like a guy like Adam Henrique to pick it up a bit, but overall I’m not worried.

It doesn’t concern me. Zach Hyman got off to a slow start but he’s picked it up. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has five goals since December 1st (13 games) and Connor Brown has found his game over the last month or so. The secondary players are making plays often; it’s just spread out.

I think the secondary scoring is just starting to get going. Take my man Nuge for example. Nugent-Hopkins had one goal in his first 19 games, but added nine goals in his next 19 games. Zach Hyman has been red hot since the Team Canada snub. I think the secondary scoring is coming and it’s starting to hit at the best possible time.

I’d say he is top-15. He is very good, but not sure he’d be top-10 due to he isn’t as fleet of foot as guys in that range.

I think he’s probably right around 20-25. I value puck movers and while Ekholm isn’t bad in that area, he’s certainly not elite and that hurts his ranking. Even if you were to say that he’s in the top 30, the fact that the Oilers have two of the top 30 defensemen in the league is pretty good.

I’d rank him between 10 and 15. He’s a great player but not an elite player.

I’m saying Top 10 because I’m incredibly Oilers biased. I apologize for nothing.

I could see a two-year deal around $1.5m to $1.7m. He doesn’t put up points and doesn’t play big minutes. His 14:55/game ranks 218^th among D and he’s 232^nd at EV. I know some are leery of an offer sheet due to Broberg, but Broberg got that due to his offensive upside. Emberson isn’t in that category. It is good to start talks now, but Emberson won’t have much negotiating power due to not many points and not a high TOI. It is a pretty straight forward negotiation from my standpoint. Oilers would love to get three years, but would have to go a bit higher to do that.

I wrote about this last week, but I would love to see it end up around three years with a cap hit of $1.6m, but I think we’ll see it closer to two years and $1.3 million.

$1.25 million for two or three years. The Oil could get him a little cheaper because he doesn’t produce much offence. It is great to see them get to this already after what happened last summer.

I want to say that they should try and go as long as possible with him for as low as possible. Could you get a six-year deal done at $2.2? Probably not. But I’d like to believe it can happen.

I want to see Noah Philp and find out if he can be a possible 4^th line C solution. Janmark is such a smart player he can play centre, expect for taking faceoffs, but I’d look at recalling Philp soon and give him some games. Ryan has had an amazing career, and he could still play regularly on some teams, but Edmonton wants more size and speed at the 4C spot.

I really like Janmark as a centre, which has been surprising. I wouldn’t have Ryan as an everyday player but he’s fine as the 13th forward.

He’s your 13th forward. Everyone wants Noah Philp up, and I get it, but who are you taking out? Knoblauch loves Mattias Janmark and he isn’t scratching Adam Henrique, so your two centre spots in the bottom six are taken. Keep Philp down and let Ryan continue to collect those NHL paychecks. He’s doing fine in his role.

He’s the hype man. Every team needs a good utility hype man.

They aren’t best friends. It happens. Not all teammates get along great. It is clear they need to choose between one of them. Pettersson played quite well when Miller was out, which showed the uncomfortableness between them is real. Miller is five years older, but management has to decide which player they feel will be better long-term. One of them will be traded, it is just a matter of who and when. I think it will be before the trade deadline.

It’s wild. The beef has apparently been going on for a while but with the team underperforming, I understand why it’s coming to a head. I think they need to make a move and I think moving Miller is the move. He’s older and would still get a really good return.

It’s awesome! I think they should get Quinn Hughes and maybe Thatcher Demko involved too so they are forced to trade everyone.

Couldn’t happen to a better fanbase.

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