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 Mike Babcock the Oilers next coach, his on-ice tactics, free agencyh, 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.

He enters in a great spot. The core group will want to make the hire look good, and based on how good they started under Woodcroft and Knoblauch, I’d expect a good start under Babcock. I think Babcock needs a PK system that is much better than the past few seasons. His biggest challenge will be getting the skaters to commit defensively which should help the goalie numbers. Defense play has to be coaching priority #1, #2 and #3.

I would love to hear that he’s learnt and grown over the last number of years, but I doubt that we’ll get that. So if he’s going to be the same old Mike Babcock when it comes to how he treats people, I would hope that he’s atleast evolved a bit when it comes to how he coaches. It’s been a long time since he’s had success behind the bench and what worked 18 years ago when he won the Stanley Cup won’t work in today’s NHL. I need him to say that he’s capable of learning and adapting.

The same expectations as any other coach. He needs to win the Pacific Division and make it to at least the Western Conference Final. The noise will never go away, though.

I think he needs to put systems in place that help the PK and the defensive system. The Oilers were so porous in both areas last year that they need to figure that out. That’s gonna be a big one from me. Having players in the bottom-six believing they have a role is also huge.

Dickinson would have been the biggest hole to fill, but they signed him. I think Howard is the guy they look to replace Roslovic. Kapanen will be the hardest to replace. Granted he only played 41 regular season games, but I like his combination of size, speed and shot. I wonder if Kapanen does a Brett Kulak…he takes offers, but ultimately returns to Edmonton. He might not, but I’m curious if we see that.

I think that the centre market is very thin, so re-signing Dickinson makes a lot of sense and honestly, the number is better than I thought it would be. When it comes to the likes of Kapanen and Roslovic, I think they need to be more cautious as to not overpay. There are plenty of middle-six wingers available and I’d rather not see the team make the same mistakes that they made with Skinner, Arvidsson and Mangiapane. They need to bey very careful on July 1st.

Jason Dickinson would’ve been hard to replace, so thank goodness he signed. There are many middle six wingers available on the market so I don’t worry about losing those other guys. Ilya Mikheyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand are players I would look at.

I was happy to see that Jason Dickinson was re-signed even with the minor concerns about the term. I love the player and think he is the perfect fit for that third line. The other guy I’m thinking about is Connor Murphy. If the Nurse trade rumours come through, getting him back becomes way more important for the size and toughness.

The Oilers excelled under Knoblauch in his first season. They had the most wins and were top five in both goals for and goals against. When the player commit to being consistent defensively, they have had success. I think tactically the biggest impact Babcock can make is improving the PK.

I’m hoping that they’re a more engaged team right from puck drop this season and we don’t get our usual 2-3 months of sub standard hockey. Attention to detail and defensive structure are things he harps on and I hope that rubs off on the team.

We’ll see.

Defensive structure and the PK. The Oilers had no problems scoring goals. They had major issues preventing them.

It is a concern, but it isn’t any of the top players, so that lowers how it might impact the team. The bigger issue is whether Babcock will return to being the Babcock of old. Not only in how he deals with players, but also how he tried to be GM at times. He was adamant Toronto draft Zack Werenski instead of Mitch Marner. He and Mark Hunter had quite the disagreement over it. Will Babcock try to make GM moves. There are many layers to this hiring, and how it could go off the rails. They will need strong leadership, both in management and in the room, to ensure Babcock doesn’t disrupt things.

I’m in the middle. I think some players will shy away from playing for Babcock, and that is totally fair given his track record, but I think that there are some players who don’t mind being coached hard and know that if they play the right way that Babcock will be good to them. We have seen a few agents come out over the last few days and say that their clients aren’t bothered by this.

It’s a slight concern but nothing I am overly worried about. There’s players who won’t play for coaches all over the NHL. We are just hearing about it so much now due to the situation.

I’m worried about it. Less so after Dickinson re-signed, but it’s probably a thing. We just don’t know how much of a thing.

I love it. I played a lot of soccer (football) growing up and I’m loving watching the tournament. I can’t wait for Canada v. Switzerland on Wednesday. Digging into stats, I’ve been surprised by how ineffective Cristiano Ronaldo has been historically at the World Cup. I knew he didn’t score at his usual rate, but looking at Messi and other greats of the greats, it is wild how much lower Ronaldo’s production is compared to them over their careers.

I’m in the middle. I’m fully dialed into the Canada games but the other ones don’t do a lot for me. I am blown away with how many fans of other countries travelled over here to watch these games, though. It’s been awesome to see the cultural exchanges that have come along with that.

I AM ALL IN!! IT’S COMING HOME!

I’ve been watching the World Cup since 2006, and this is the best one. Every team is competitive, despite the increase in teams. The storylines have been fantastic, the fans are amazing and the host nations are doing a great job.

It’s the best. I was just in Vancouver last week and got to watch the England game at the Fan Park and it was a blast. In terms of what I’m learning, a lot of rules I didn’t know. Automatic red cards. How offsides work. I think soccer is a cool game, but I’d be lying if I said I knew much about it beyond what I remember from playing as a kid.