Monday Mailbag – Who’s the Best Defenseman So Far?

The weekend is over, you’re back at work, and you need a way to kill a little bit of company time until you’re allowed to part ways with the office and your pants. As always, I present you with another edition of the Monday Mailbag. The mailbag only works because of you guys, and if you have a question you can email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk. Enjoy the break from productivity, friends.  There’s an Oilers game coming up tonight, and chances are you’ll be angry in a few hours. 

Every situation is different. I found it odd Rakell and the Ducks had such a long negotiation and then Rakell signed for six years at $3.8 mill. Usually, longer term deals are much higher. Not sure what Rakell and his camp were holding out for.

This year we have seen more negotiations drag on, Trouba still on going, and while you can play hard ball, if it costs your team wins I can see why a GM wouldn’t want it to drag out.

Fair question and one I’ve wondered about more than once myself. Players and agents use the CBA to their advantage when the opportunity presents itself, which is their right, and more GMs should do the same. Too often, it’s as if GMs are worried about “offending” the player.

I feel like it could be taken as a sign of disrespect. Sure it’s business, and you don’t want to be shelling out a tonne of money for every player, but how good do you think Lindholm feels that his management would rather have him not play a few games of the season in order to pay him less?

RFAs don’t really have many rights apart from sitting out, so I’m surprised more teams don’t play that game with their guys. You don’t want to sign this contract? Cool. Have fun sitting. 

Their ability to defend and make more consistent tape-to-tape passes.

Fewer glaring mistakes defensively and, outside an example or two, goaltending they can count on.

Contribution from all four lines FTW! It’s amazing seeing guys like Mark Letestu, Zack Kassian, and Tyler Pitlick consistently put up points. It takes some pressure off our top guys when they’re having a rough go, for example, Pouliot and Nuge. 

We haven’t seen the patented Oilers third period implosion and that’s a huge bonus. How many times have we seen the Oilers carrying a lead, or be tied, going into the third period only to watch it evaporate right before their eyes? This alone is a huge improvement in my books. 

Fayne would be one to go down by the time he returns, since he’ll be out many months.

I could see Caggiula getting a stint in AHL. He has never played an NHL game and after sitting out a month, at least, I’d be stunned if he doesn’t start in AHL. 

Davidson returns and Benning goes down.

Hendricks returns and takes Lander’s spot in the lineup.

If Pakarinen is ready before Hendricks, he will be challenged to get in lineup. Lander has a role, PK/faceoffs, but Pak doesn’t take draws, while Hendricks can take draws.

Can’t say. We’ve got a way to go before that happens. A lot can change in the weeks between now and then.

I’m kind of worried about this. Obviously i’m pumped to have those guys back but we’re doing so well right now it’ll be so hard to send anybody down. Slepyshev will get sent down for sure, and maybe Lander. Now that i’m thinking about it, when have we ever ran into a problem where we have too many players we want at the NHL level?!

The Drake has to go back to the AHL to get some game action in before he plays for the Oilers. Mark Fayne hurt himself skating so who knows where that will end up. You know Hendricks will be coming back to the roster so I see a guy like Slepyshev going down for him. The interesting one will be to see what happens with Davidson and Gryba. The Darryl/Gryba pairing has been really good and I can’t see McLellan wanting to mess with that too much. Pitlick is busting his balls to stick and I’m pulling for him to do so. For me, the odd man out is Pakarinen because I can’t see where he’s a fit over a guy like Pitlick or Lander. 

Russell for me. He’s been moving the puck well. Has defended well. I think Larsson and Klefbom have been above average, but not great yet. Klefbom has only played nine games in the past ten months so it’s not surprising he’s not at the top of his game. Larsson is solid defensively, and he’s been more physical and competitive than I expected. I don’t expect Russell to be the best all season, but he had a great start and when your best D-man for the first month isn’t who you expected it to be, and you are still winning, that is a great sign.

I’ve liked Kris Russell.

My first thought is Adam Larsson. But Gregor was in the office earlier and dropped a bunch of knowledge on why he isn’t the greatest right now, but will be better as he gets more comfortable,  and I can’t remember any of it. So I’m sticking with Larsson. Maybe we’re just not used to a solid d-man with his style? But his little nifty, smart, plays to clear the zone has really stood out to me.

For me, it’s Oscar Klefbom. Yes, he’s been a little bit shaky at times but he’s playing some huge minutes and doing it relatively well for a guy that hasn’t really had much game action in nearly a year. His passing is superior, his skating is impressive considering he had a hole in his foot, and he’s slowly turning into the guy that we all hoped he could be. 

The Oilers are over two weeks into the season so no reason not to get excited. They are 7-2. You should be excited for sure. Being excited doesn’t mean you are planning a parade route, it means you are finally excited to watch games and see where the team can go.

Why not get excited? Enjoy the moment. Doesn’t take Bob McKenzie to understand that, does it?

OF COURSE WE ARE! When this all comes crashing down in our faces i’m going to say, “Well at least we had fun while it lasted!” instead of being depressed cause you didn’t enjoy it like you should have!

Montreal started out at something crazy like 13-1 last year so I’m trying my best to keep my excitement in check. That said, I’ve already got the parade route mapped out for 48 laps around the inside of the Pint Downtown and I’ve been practicing my hotwiring skills so that I’ll be ready to crash the zamboni into the Chapters on Whyte Ave as soon as the celebration begins.