Good morning, everyone, and a happy Monday to you all. As per tradition, I’ve got a brand new mailbag set to go after taking your questions and sending them to the crew for their takes. This week, we’re discussing the Oilers’ goalie triangle, the grit chart, regular season success, 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.

Yes, because they will be healthy when the season begins. They will be rested, refreshed and motivated to impress a new coach and their internal motivation to not waste another regular season will fuel them.

I think they are slightly better. I think the goaltending trio has both a higher floor and ceiling than the one that we saw for the bulk of last season. I think the blueline has a chance to be better if Ryan Shea repeats the season that he had last season and Jake Walman stays healthy. A full season of Connor Murphy should help too. A full season of Jason Dickinson should help the forward group over the course of 82 games as well.

I don’t think they’re any worse, but I wouldn’t say they’re miles better, either. In my eyes, that was an Oilers team that underperformed and was better than their result. Injuries had a big part in how poor things went.

Probably, but the factors are the Babcock Effect, the Left-Side D, and whether the Three-Headed Monster in net finds one goalie who can help them through the inevitable downs of the season. Their roster looks a touch stronger, but it’ll be our first look in a long time without Nurse in the lineup.

I think so, but I’ve also been wrong hundreds of times when asked this question. I think the goaltending floor is higher than it was a year ago, and I also think the upside is better. The other question is the left side of the defence. Can Jake Walman stay healthy? How will Ryan Shea fit in? Can Mattias Ekholm stay Mattias Ekholm?

The Western Conference doesn’t have many, if any, big physical teams. They have enough size and grit to start the season, and if it is noticeably an issue, Bowman can address it closer to the trade deadline.

Yes. Connor Murphy, Vasily Podkolzin, and Colton Dach will all fight if they need to. They have a bunch of players who are just tough to play against as well like Mattias Ekholm. They’ll be fine.

The Oilers surely lost some jam trading out Darnell Nurse, but added some in the bottom of the forward group in Mathieu Joseph. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to add a player in-season who had some size and grit as tools in the toolbox.

In the Snarly FU Power Rankings, the Oilers wouldn’t finish highly. They have firefighters who can stand up to a challenge and respond to a challenge, but they don’t really have the firestarter who pulls people into the fight on a tepid Tuesday night in Columbus. That was one of my biggest issues of last season. They took some beatings sitting down. Perhaps Dach is that type of snake.

I think the regular season is usually fine, but they’ll probably want to add some size before the playoffs starts. They need more rats in the lineup.

I’m not sure it will matter that much. Andersen just won the Cup and he only played 34 games in the regular season. Less is clearly more for him, in terms of wear and tear and games played. I do think it will matter to the goalies. It isn’t ideal, and frankly, I have no idea what to expect from Devon Levi. He wasn’t in the NHL last year. He has limited NHL experience. If the Oilers play consistent, solid team defense then the goalies will all benefit.

Yes. I think they will really prioritize keeping Freddie Andersen rested and healthy and that will leave enough games for the other two to split.

Give or take, a 40-40-20 percent split between Andersen, Jarry, and Levi, in that order. That gives Andersen and Jarry around 33 games, and Levi 16. “Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face,” Mike Tyson once said, so surely that split could change.

There’s the grand plan and then there’s the day-to-day results business. I think the grand plan, the hope anyways, is that Jarry rebounds and can over time take the lion’s share of games, Anderson stays limber, and Levi is there to take the rest. Some 35-30-19 game type of split. But I suspect at least once this season it’ll becoming frustrating, either for one of the goalies or the fans. It’s not what you hope for, but this scenario works best if there are injuries, so there’s less lonely-goalie-at-practice going on.

I’m excited and terrified at the same time. I think the Oilers have three very interesting options for three very different reasons. Jarry can play better than he did in his first run in Edmonton. Andersen just won the Cup and had a hell of a playoff run until he didn’t. Devon Levi is a scratch ticket with all kinds of upside. How will this shake out? No idea. Put your seatbelts on, people.

It doesn’t guarantee playoff success, but it makes the journey a bit easier. Why not give yourself a better chance, even if it is only a 1 or 2% difference. I expect Edmonton to win their division this season. Vegas (5x), Calgary (2x), Vancouver and Anaheim and Toronto (Canadian Division) have all won the Oilers division the past decade. The only reason they shouldn’t win it this year is if they run into some significant injury trouble.

I think it’s important for them to be very confident heading into the playoffs. Home ice advantage is always nice too. It’s not the end of the world, they’ve gone to the Cup Final before without winning the division, but I would like to see them have a stress free regular season and dominate the division.

To me, it’s one of the most important things ahead of the playoffs. It would be a “put your money where your mouth is,” and considering how poor the Pacific Division is looking to be, the Oilers need to prioritize beating up on intra-division clubs.

I don’t take the players at their word when it comes to this type of thing. Until I see otherwise, the McDavid-Draisaitl era requires the Oilers to taste their own blood before they get into gear. I know it, you know it, Mike Babcock knows it. They must overcome their own inflicted adversity. I’m excited to see how this relationship works out.

I think they need to get it. The Oilers haven’t won a division title since 1987, and that’s a wild thing to say this far into the Connor and Leon era. I want to see home-ice advantage for the playoffs. Go get it. Take the regular season as seriously as a the playoffs as often as you can. Do it. Do it.

DJ Smith would be top of the list. He has a great gift of the gab. Also, Leon Draisaitl could be a good heel and Colton Dach could easily do a good Jim Duggan-like promo video.

Colton Dach really has that vibe for me. I think he’d be pretty good with the chirps.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Draisaitl isn’t scared of a little “verbal theatre.”

I’m gonna say Connor Clattenburg because the kid runs around like he doesn’t care if his mouth gets punched off. He’s a wildcard, and would make a great heel.