Random Thoughts: Connor McDavid, Mike Smith, Jesse Puljujarvi’s next deal, and more

We’re in the early days of this new NHL season but the Oilerd are rolling, and I felt like now would be a good time for your ol’ pal Baggedmilk to come back with another dose of Random Thoughts to offer up some fresh takes about our beloved boys.

I know you guys are probably tired of hearing me say that we need to appreciate Connor McDavid more, but with the way he’s started the season, I feel like it’s time for another refresher. I mean, what else can you say about a guy that started an NHL season at a two-point per game clip? Whether he’s burning up ice with the puck and filling us all with anticipation or burying a goal with that fancy new one-timer of his, McDavid always gives us a reason to watch the Oilers and I will never stop on my crusade of reminding each and every Oilers fan how lucky we all are to watch him on a nightly basis. In my 36 years on this planet, I have never seen a player as fast or as skilled as Connor McDavid and I needed to start of this week’s Random Thoughts with another declaration of my love for him. Connor, I love you.

One of the obvious problems with having a 40-year-old goaltender on the roster is that the old boy’s body can break down at any minute, and we’ve already got a taste of that with this early season injury he’s working through. Out for the past week with a lower-body injury, Smith has started his year in the exact way that so many of us were nervous about and while I hope this bump in the road will only happen once, I can’t help but feel like we’re all going to be worried about the guy until the season wraps up. Honestly, I don’t even know how he can still play this sport at a high level given his age because I’m 36 and have hurt my back getting out of the shower. I don’t know whether we’re allowed to wrap him in bubble wrap or if the Katz crew would consider buying Schmiddy a hyperbaric chamber to rest his old bones in, but I’m starting to think we may need a plan B and C just in case our man keeps going down. Knock on wood, of course.

I know it’s way too early to start thinking about contract extensions, but I can’t help but wonder how much JP is going to get on his next contract with the Oilers. I don’t think I’m talking out of school when I say that he’s likely going to get a massive bump from the $1.175 million he’s making right now, and I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what that next deal might look like. With two goals and seven assists through seven games so far, the pace Puljujarvi is on makes me think it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that he’ll be looking at three or four times his current salary if he can keep this up, and that could be an issue when it comes to keeping everyone on the roster together. Put another way, if you can get the guy for say… eight years at a $5.5 million AAV would you do it? I would.

I admittedly don’t know all of the context behind this clip, but I do wonder what the hell Jordan Binnington was doing when he swung his stick at Nazem Kadri’s face during Thursday night’s game. I know he didn’t hit Kadri and was probably just trying to scare him or something, but I’m thinking he probably should have gotten more than just a 10-minute misconduct for what can only be described as a stupid and dangerous play. I mean, what would have happened had he hit Kadri in the face with his stick? Would we be talking about a Donald Brashear-type suspension? Obviously, we don’t know what would have happened since he didn’t actually hit anyone but I don’t think it’s too harsh to say that this was dumb.

I know it’s been said a million times already but I just wanted to say how courageous Kyle Beach was for putting himself in front of the cameras to tell his story this past week. Not only did I find Beach to be incredibly brave for speaking his truth but to do it on national TV was something that took so much strength to do. If you haven’t watched the interview he did with Rick Westhead over at TSN then I encourage you to do so because as much as it was tough to watch, I think it’s incredibly important to keep this conversation going so that some positives can come out of this horrible chapter in his life.

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