If you’re reading this intro, it must be Monday again. That means I’ve got a fresh Mailbag where I take your questions and send them off to the crew for their take on whatever is on your mind. This week, we’re talking about offer sheets, Ken Holland taking some blame for them, and a lot more. If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask, email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk, and I’ll get to you as quickly as possible.

I have no issue with them. They are rare, which makes the talking points about them more interesting. Seeing STL submit multiple offer sheets at the same time, with the hope it increases their chances to get one was a new twist. I’m all for it.

Yes. This is a good thing for the league as it’s gotten people talking about the NHL in the middle of August. GM’s around the league have been operating with some sort of gentleman’s code and I’m happy that Doug Armstrong had the stones to go and make a move like this that could potentially better his team. It’s still a risk for the Blues and I’m not happy that it’s going to hurt the Oilers but the situation is entertaining and very interesting to talk about.

Of course. The NHL needs more chaos, and as we’ve seen over the last week, these offer sheets have done just that.

I think the NHL could absolutely use more offer sheets. It gets people talking about the sport at a time when literally nothing is going on. I think that’s a good think for the league, despite my own hatred of these two offer sheets.

It was a really bad look for the organization and those who tweeted it and wrote about it.

I’m a little bit torn on this. There is a part of me that thinks if Jackson really wanted these two guys signed, then he could have made it happen. It’s easy to blame Holland but at the same time, it’s a massive blunder to have not gotten one of these two players locked up before doing the rest of your offseason work. It would have killed the ability for a team to attack the Oilers in the predatory fashion that the Blues did.

At the end of the day, neither of these players were in positions last January to sign a fresh deal with the team. Holloway was just in the process of coming back from his broken kneecap and shoulder ailment, and Broberg had been exiled to Bakersfield not long after his trade request. I think Jeff Jackson is ruthless in general, and is very clearly driven by getting this team to lifting the Stanley Cup as possible.

Jackson was in control after Holland’s contract wrapped and these offer sheets weren’t issued until August. If he really wanted those deals signed then maybe he should have prioritized them. Simple enough, no?

I don’t think they are the same. Henrique has already made over $63m. Draisaitl is over $65m and McDavid is over $100 when his contract ends. Also Draisaitl hasn’t signed yet, so until he does I don’t think anyone can accurately say he left money on the table. NHL is a business, but it is also easier for someone who has made $60m to take a discount compared to two players who have yet to earn even $1.5m, considering they both spent ample time in the AHL on their entry level deals.

I’d have no ill-will towards a teammate who opted to sign that deal, and if any Oilers leader does, then I’d question them to be honest, since they never took a big discount early in their career.

I think the players in the room would understand where Holloway and Broberg are at in their careers. Henrique and the other players have all made lots of money in their careers, so losing out on $700-900k per year isnt as signifcant as a young player who’s never really gotten paid turning down an extra few million.

At the end of the day, hockey is a business. I think the players would recognize that, and as you mentioned, you can’t hold it against these guys for accepting these deals because of the financial aspect of it. The Oilers have a mature room, so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about with it.

I personally would find it annoying if I was a player in the room and we had limited options going forward based on two players signing offer sheets for more than they’re probably worth at this stage of their careers. That said, I’m petty and hold grudges. From Broberg and Holloway’s perspectives, I don’t blame them for getting more money than they would have otherwise. Get the bag boys.

Each signing is separate. No GM will have the luxury of signing all players to good contract. The good Henrique, Skinner and Arvidsson deals are still good. Edmonton could never offer Broberg, nor should they have, anything close to the Blues offer sheet, and Broberg’s agent has been able to talk with STL since June 30^th, so they didn’t sign with EDM likely because they knew this was a possibility. The suggestion EDM should have signed Broberg in January is a nice theory, but why would Broberg be in a rush to sign then. He had asked for a trade, so why would he sign a deal in January. It makes no rational sense, which is why the tweets suggesting Holland is to blame are laughable to me. You can offer a player a deal every day, doesn’t mean they will sign it.

There is a part of me that’s wondering if maybe they didn’t need both Skinner and Arvidsson and if they would have been better off just getting Holloway done. The signing that really makes me mad though is Corey Perry. If the rumours about Holloway only wanting $1.2 million earlier this summer to stay in Edmonton are true then why did the team prioritize signing a 39-year-old who couldn’t stay in the lineup during the playoffs?

The signings were necessary and the Oilers needed to continue to add impact players. They did that by signing Skinner and Arvidsson, who will be great in the top-nine this season. Skinner was one that they weren’t expecting to become available, but they had been keeping an eye on Arvidsson for some time, and he’s the Warren Foegele replacement. If anything, making a more decisive decision on the blue line earlier could’ve put them into a bit of a better position right now. They signed three right-shot defencemen in Troy Stecher, Josh Brown and Connor Carrick, clearly insulating for potentially having to move on from Cody Ceci.

I don’t mind Skinner or Arvidsson’s deal but do wonder why they needed to sign Corey Perry for a dollar more than league minimum.

Not much more to it. Broberg wasn’t going to sign at that point. If EDM offered $1.2m in Jan, they would have still offered it in April or May and by then Broberg would have more games played, and maybe some time in NHL, which ended up happening for him. I think people overlook the fact the player doesn’t just sprint to sign a contract. There are many layers and each player is different.

Holloway is in a  different category as his deal is $2.2m. If rumblings are true he would have signed for $1.8m then sure you can argue over $400K, but for years I’ve argued teams rarely have more power in a negotiation, and the only time they do is when player has no arb rights. So I’d have no issue if a team tries to use that. This is a rare case where Holloway got an offer sheet, but I sense the only reason he got one, is to try and make it harder for EDM to match Broberg.

I think it’s a bit of damage control. As I said in the first answer, if Jackson wanted it done, he probably could have gotten it done.

I don’t put much weight behind the purported leaks as it’s a part of the industry.

Noise. It’s all noise to shift blame elsewhere.

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