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 Mark Messier’s Babcock comments, Shakir Mukhamadullin’s spot in the lineup, extra forwards, line combos, 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.

It is a valid concern. How much were they involved in the process is the real question? Also fair to wonder if Babcock acts like he did in the past towards depth players, will the leaders speak up, or because they supposedly wanted him, will they say nothing. It is a fair question, but also one that can’t be answered unless Babcock does something that crosses the line.

I think that if the Oilers would have hired a controversial Head Coach who has some past issues with how he treats his plays and they didn’t talk to their leaders first, then a lot of these same people would be ripping the Oilers for bringing in Babcock without talking to Connor McDavid first. Given the circumstances, I think it’s totally fine to give the leaders of this team a voice and trust that they have a good enough handle on the room for it to never become an issue.

Messier isn’t the greatest messenger for this, as the Vancouver portion of his career is remembered oh so fondly…but the concern is legitimate about the power dynamics within the Oilers organization, which is a fascinating subject. My unfounded hunch is that Katz was a huge factor in the Babcock decision. Stan Bowman’s name wasn’t as front and centre as you’d expect during the coach hire. But nevertheless, Babs becomes McDavid, Draisaitl, and Hyman’s guy, and if the impact is negligible in the dressing room, the public perception is that they’ve have ownership of the decision if it fails.

Wouldn’t it be more weird if the Oilers were going to hire Mike Babcock and didn’t asked for the boys’ thoughts? Are we wanting Connor McDavid to be happy or no? Seems like a reasonable plan to me.

I don’t think so. Last year was an outlier for McDavid as it was the most minutes he played, and mainly due to fact the Oilers never got on a roll, and rarely did they have games wrapped up in the final period where the coach would just use four lines. I expect him to average between 21:30-22:00/game this year. Outside of 2017 where they played over 50% together at 5×5, they usually play between 300-425 minutes together. If they play more than that, it means they are likely winning as this year they will start together.

I think it’s easy to say that you want to lean on other players when its training camp. It’s a totally different story when you’re in the heat of a game and you’re losing 3-1. Every coach leans heavy on Connor and Leon because the depth players never produced enough and when you’re losing a game, well, you want to give yourself the best chance at winning it. So I’m curious if Babcock will lean hard on someone like Trent Frederic when they’re down by a few goals. I’m skeptical that will happen.

In terms of roles, it isn’t that hard. Penalty killing is the easiest way. The first year under a new coach is when McDavid has played the fewest minutes per game in recent years and I expect the same. Will the more minutes for the bottom-six actually translate to success? I’m not so sure right now.

We’re still going to get plenty of nights when Connor and Leon are producing most or all of the offence. Whether or not Babcock cares enough about that to split them up is another thing entirely.

If the 13^th forward won’t play much, then Max Jones makes the most sense. If they plan to rotate players in and out then having a centre like Josh Samanski or Owen Michaels makes more sense. But the roster will change a lot from what we see on opening night to who is on it in mid to late October when injured players start returning.

Max Jones is my pick. If one of Josh Samanski or Owen Michaels aren’t going to play every night, then I would send them down to Bakersfield (neither needs waivers) and I would let them play 18-20 minutes a night at the top of the Condors lineup.

Max Jones is built to play one game a week, whereas Josh Samanski should keep his wheels turning here or in Bakersfield. But it really depends on how sold Babcock is on this Colton Dach situation. My pick would be Samanski because they may need to pivot from that plan.

I think you’d probably want a guy who can sit and not have it derail their game, you know? Max Jones is that guy way more than Josh Samanski. I want him to be playing, not sitting.

He’s only played two games. He hasn’t secured that spot yet, but he has played well enough to start there. Once the games begin to matter how he, and Emberson, play will determine who plays more. Mukhamadullin’s size and age benefit him, but I wouldn’t count out Emberson pushing him for icetime.

I don’t watch practices, so I’m simply assuming that he’s done enough there to impress the coaches. His game is still a little unpredictable from the little that we’ve seen during pre-season games, but there’s obvious upside here and I’m okay with the organization finding out what they have in him early in the season. We all know that Emberson is a totally fine 3rd pairing defenseman, but Mukhamadullin has a higher ceiling.

No. But he’s got upside. Beautiful draft status and upside. They’re both going to play a fair amount, I suspect. Let’s circle back in January.

I’ve only seen what I’ve seen during the pre-season. He’s been fine, I think. Better than Ty Emberson, though? That’s probably more of a practice kind of answer.

I felt Jarry would have a bounce-back season for a few reasons. He is healthy and the team defense will be better, allowing him to play in a more controlled and predictable environment. He and Devon Levi have both looked good which is a great sign for the Oilers.

I put very little stock into goaltending results. Got fooled by Jack Campbell a few years back and swore I’d never overreact again. I need to see it when the games matter.

It depends what you mean by results. Wins and losses? Unexpected statistical pushes? No. But for new players, either prospects or new acquisitions, it’s good to discover tendancies. In this year’s case, reading into the Oilers structure, seeing what a change in coach is doing. With that said, going 4-0 isn’t something, but it’s nothing, if you catch my drift. Mind you, Calgary and Vancouver are not a good measure for anything.

Zero. Jack Campbell fooled me most recently. I love me my pre-season Kool-Aid but I’ve also learned my lesson.