Monday Mailbag – Winners and Losers from the NHL Draft

Welcome, friends, to a Thanksgiving Monday edition of the mailbag where we answer all of your Oilers related questions and give you a few minutes of time killing distraction from whatever you have going on today. With the NHL Draft and the opening of free agency behind us, there’s plenty to talk about as the Oilers added a bunch of forward prospects and UFAs to their depth chart. This week, we’re looking back at the draft, free agency, the next NHL season, and a whole lot more. As always, I need your questions to make this work. If you’ve got one, email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk and I’ll get to you as soon as we can.

Need years, not days. to answer that one. I will say I think Carolina was thrilled to get Seth Jarvis 13th.

Ozzy Wiesblatt and his family for this amazing gesture from the San Jose Sharks.

The Rangers are the clear winners getting Lafreniere, but that’s obvious. I think Minnesota getting Marco Rossi is a huge win for them. Biggest L may go to Columbus for taking a player hardly anyone heard of in Yegor Chinakhov.

I actually liked what the Senators got done this year. They got a goalie and a handful of top picks. Hard to hate that.

First thoughts are that he’s a solid pick after Carolina took Jarvis. Not sure what his top end will be. But he’s going to be an NHL player. Good size. Skates well. Nice hands.

Looks like a very safe pick. There were players who went later (Rodion Amirov, Connor Zary) who probably have a higher ceiling, but Holloway looks like a surefire middle-six forward. I can see him slotting in alongside Connor McDavid as a fast skating power-forward in two years.

The more I read about him, the more I like him. As a scout texted me: “Two-way forward with the instincts to make an impact in all three zones. Has a great blend of skating, size, and scoring ability.”

Lots to like here with Edmonton missing out on the big names.

I’m going to wait and see how this goes because the reality is that I have no idea what kind of player her is. I’m hoping for the best because he has a bunch of tools that could make him successful provided that he can put them all together.

Fair deal in terms of money for both sides. I hope Jesse takes this fresh start with Holland and Tippett and makes the most of it. It really is — and always has been — up to him.

I thought he would be back on a one-year deal so Holland getting him on the cheap for two years is a great piece of work. Might be Edmonton’s best add of the off-season.

Hard to not be really excited about it. Puljujarvi should make an impact wherever he slots into the lineup. Most importantly, it gives Dave Tippett more flexibility.

I was surprised, to be honest. I give Holland full credit for finding a way to get this done because it seemed impossible only a year ago.

I’d have to rate Holland getting Tyson Barrie for $3.75 million up there. Really smart bet getting him for one year at that money. I’m surprised Matt Murray got a higher AAV (4x$6.25 M) from Ottawa than Jacob Markstrom did with Calgary (6x$6 M). Murray got too much AAV and Markstrom got too much term.

Definitely Taylor Hall. I can’t believe he would continue his misery tour of the NHL by going to Buffalo.

Easily Taylor Hall to Buffalo. I mean, what?

I’m actually really surprised the Oilers brought Mike Smith back. I’m also surprised that Holland was able to get Tyson Barrie locked in on such a cheap deal, regardless of what the haters in Toronto say.

It’s a short break, but I’m guessing Gary Bettman didn’t mention Jan. 1 on a whim. I can’t see the season being more than 60 games if they want it to be done by the end of April to get back on some sort of familiar timeline for playoffs. They’re going to need to play in front of fans at some point, but when that really depends on the state of the pandemic. Will need multiple bubbles to start with. How many, I don’t know.

I’m not sure the players and the league can come to an agreement on how the season will be played in such a short period of time. I’m guessing the players will be very against doing another bubble. But there isn’t much room for error for the league in terms of their timeline. They can’t be going deep into the summer again this year because of NBC’s deal to broadcast the Olympics.

I think Jan. 1 is realistic. No idea what the season will look like but I like the thought of a hybrid bubble.

Back in the bubbles! At least, that’s what I expect to start.

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