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 Darnell Nurse’s trade request, Mike Babcock as an Oilers coaching option, the Hart Trophy, 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 doesn’t make much sense to me. I feel they’ve convinced themselves a “harder”coach will help them. I can tell you Hitchcock was demanding and the players didn’t like his style. They lost in Game 7 of Cup Final under Kris Knoblauch. And again in Game 6. Did they lose because he wasn’t a yeller and screamer? I don’t buy it.

This question is exactly why a lot of people didn’t think that Knoblauch deserved to be fired to begin with. How many times does this team need to use the ‘new voice’ crutch as a reason for why they can’t get the job done? I feel like this team wants a different vibe than what Knoblauch brought but after two seasons of getting yelled at, we’ll hear that they want more of a players coach who isn’t so hard on them for all 82 games.

The Oilers are panicking about their coaching situation. That’s the only reason a name like this comes out. Frankly, it’s embarrassing.

I’ve been pretty clear in my view of the entire situation. It has been a soap opera and the team looks like they have panicked and don’t have a clear plan.

I get what you’re saying, it’s not a good look at all for the Oilers, and they’ve botched this whole process from the jump but there are also only 32 Head Coaching jobs in the league so if there was another candidate that the Oilers were to circle back to, I’m sure they would jump at the opportunity. This is a massive gamble though and if it doesn’t work, not only will Jackson and Bowman likely lose their jobs, but it could end the McDavid era, which is pretty scary.

Entering The Babcock Zone was probably Plan C. They wanted Cassidy, believed they could get him, and are unlikely to get him. They talked to Laviolette and Berube and weren’t floored with either of them (speculating). They were “wowed” by Babcock. If it’s not Babcock, they’ll probably circle back to Berube, before looking at Gerard Gallant or Darryl Sutter.

At some point, someone within the Oilers said Mike Babcock’s name, and then the room got quiet. Who said it? Did Babcock sniff out the situation and hit up Daryl Katz by text. “Hey DK, it’s Babs. Mike Babcock is looking at ways he’d improve your hockey club…”

Was this the plan? Hard to believe it was. Were their plans?

I’ve written about it and spoke about it on podcasts, but none of this makes sense to me. We’d be better off with another year of Knoblauch than welcoming this circus into town.

I don’t see any other core pieces moving out. They aren’t trading 97, 29, 2, 18, 14 or 93.

No, I think this is it. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins wouldn’t have a lot of trade value and his contract is fine for what he brings. Zach Hyman is incredibly valuable. The rest of the core includes McDavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard… they’re all untouchable.

I doubt it. I’m still have reservations that Stan Bowman will be able to pull the Nurse trade off without getting fleeced or destroyed.

Yes. If they lose Murphy and Nurse their D core would lack physicality in their top five spots. Emberson is physical, but he’s a #6. Murphy is an important piece, especially with very few UFA options available.

Yes. Murphy is a minute eater who is strong on the penatly kill and if the Oilers are losing Nurse, they need to make sure there is someone on the blueline who can help eat some of those tough minutes. Letting this thing leak into free agency comes with some serious risk and based on their track record on July 1st, that is not a risk they should want to take.

Yes 1000%. Nurse was was one of the only guys who would routinely defend his teammates and play physical. They need Murphy back now more than ever.

Not really. MacKinnon, McDavid or Kucherov could have won. All three had great seasons. I actually had MacKinnon first on my ballot. He had the greatest EV scoring season since 1991 with 97 points. Only Gretzky, Lemieux, Lafleur, Kurri, Yzerman and Esposito had seasons with more EV points than MacKinnon. And his GF-GA of 100-42 was significantly better than Kucherov (86-48) and McDavid (75-68).

It did bother me. Kucherov had the Jack Adams winner behind the bench and the Vezina Trophy winner between the pipes. His team made the playoffs by 11 points and he didn’t outproduce McDavid. When the Oilers lost Leon Draisaitl, their spot in the playoffs was far from locked up and McDavid went off for 27 points in 15 games to ensure his team got it. He was undoubtedly the MVP in my eyes.

Connor won the Ted Lindsay. I think that award is way more important anyway.