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 free agency, the Oilers moving on from Darnell Nurse, Ryan Shea, 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 was a smart July 1st. No overpayments and only one contract longer than one year in Ryan Shea. He created cap flexibility, while adding a defensive-minded D-man, who can move the puck, and created competition in goal. Very solid day for him and his staff.

I think it was very successful, even if it wasn’t flashy. Every move felt very necessary. Shedding Darnell Nurse’s salary had to be done. They had to try to raise both the floor and ceiling of their goaltending and they did that. Their blueline got younger and I think it has a chance to be much better than it was last year. Bowman deserves a lot of credit for getting all of this done while maintaining some cap flexibility.

I really liked what Bowman got done. Not only did he clear the Nurse money without having to retain, but he also found a way to fill some gaps without overspending. Given how some of the big contracts that were handed out, I give him a bunch of credit for avoiding that situation entirely.

Andersen, Jarry are a better combination than Skinner/Pickard or Ingram/Jarry. So they are better in terms of skill. There are risks of course, due to the recent injury history of both, but he also added a third goalie who might help them. Levi isn’t a sure thing, but he gives them another option. There will be some healthy competition and none of the goalies will need to be overplayed, unless two of them get injured.

I’m still nervous about the goaltending until proven otherwise, but I really like the Devon Levi bet. It seems like he has a tonne of upside and that would be magical if he was can live up to his potential. Andersen is a scratch ticket, but we know he can have really nice stretches between the pipes too.

I wasn’t surprised at all. I’ve said since the day it came out they were looking to move him, the Oilers wouldn’t have to retain nor would they have to give him away. Mukhamadullin is a third pair Dman at this point, and they got a prospect. Both could develop into more down the road, but Nurse’s contract in today’s cap is not nearly the hinderance some suggested it would be. He will play top pair minutes in San Jose.

Very surprised that not only did they not have to retain or take back any sort of bad contract, but they actually got two young pieces, which their system needs. The rising cap certainly helped but good on Bowman for being patient.

Stunned. I thought there would be retention or some kind of anchor contract coming back the other way. Did not see this coming at all.

I view him as 4-5. He could play in the second pair and be fine. I think Bouchard and Murphy are locks to be the top two RD in terms of TOI, but the left side will be more competitive for icetime. Shea will push Ekholm and Walman for icetime.

I think the fact that he has experience playing higher in the lineup gives the Oilers some insurance in case Walman gets hurt or struggles on the second pairing. It also gives them some insurance in case Mattias Ekholm takes a step back. Shea has the ability to play more significant minutes but with a $4m cap hit, it’s also not a problem if he’s playing on the third pairing.

I’m in your boat. I don’t think I can answer this really beyond saying I watched some highlight packs, read some numbers, and basically any other information that you probably found. I can say I’m hopeful, but I don’t really have an opinion until I see him play more than twice per year when the Oilers played the Penguins.

He is a third pair Dman at this point, and likely will battle with Ty Emberson for the third pair RD spot considering they have Walman, Shea and Ekholm on the left side. I could see a situation where Walman moves to the right side at times as well, but Mukhamadullin will be battling for ice time in the third pair to start the season. He’s probably in the 13 min/game range.

Mukhammadullin is a solid piece and is now signed to a good contract. I love the fact that he can play both sides of the ice as well and I think that will give him the edge over Spencer Stastney in the battle to be the seventh defenceman. I don’t understand why some fans are itching to trade Ty Emberson either. I would keep him, move out Stastney and use Mukhammadullin as the 7D.

Well, they just signed him so he’s clearly going to be in the mix somehow. He’ll fight for a third pairing gig, and we’ll see how camp plays out if he gets it or not.