Happy playoff Monday, Nation, and welcome to a brand new Mailbag to help you get your week started and make sense of all things Edmonton Oilers. This week, we’re looking at playoff storylines, the Oilers’ matchup against the Kings, surprise performances, and a whole lot more. If you’ve got got a question you’d like to ask, email it to me at [email protected] or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk and I’ll get to you as soon as we can.

I wouldn’t change any lines right now. The Foegele-RNH-Ryan line has played well. But once the playoffs start, I think players who are playing well will play. Woodcroft has shown he is loyal and gives players a chance, and regardless of which line you start the game on, if you are playing well you will play.

No need to limit Puljujarvi to one line. He can play 1-2-3 based on who is going and who isn’t. The numbers tell us that. Nothing wrong with the third line you mention either.

I really like the idea of Jesse Puljujarvi and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins together on the third line. They’re both good defensively and Puljujarvi has shown that he can drive play on his own so putting him with a centreman like Nugent-Hopkins could give the Oilers three dangerous scoring lines. Yamamoto has been good in the top six too so I think this could work.

I actually think Puljujarvi might fit in well on the second line with Hyman and Draisaitl and bumping up Yamamoto to the 1st. This has more to do with Yamamoto producing better alongside McDavid, than any sort of a knock on Draisaitl. At the end of the day, I think Puljujarvi could fit in well on the third with Nugent-Hopkins, too.

I love that idea. I think having Puljujarvi with Nuge would give us a nice shutdown line with the potential to score, and that would be a really nice add through the playoffs.

Complaining about referees is pointless and overblown. They make way more right calls than wrong ones. I try to look for different stories, stats or angles, but to know what they will be before the playoffs starts is difficult. I’ll see what occurs on the ice and discuss that.

All the above are cliches for a reason — because they’re true. What becomes a hot topic is a reflection of what people are talking about. Your third example, how important goaltending is, will be front and centre again with how hot Smith has been lately. I would hope we aren’t talking about referees putting away the whistles but I suspect we will be. There’ll plenty of Woodcroft as well, with good reason.

The big topic if they win a round: how the veteran leadership that Duncan Keith brought has taught players like McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nurse valuable lessons. It will become the key that a lot of people point to regardless of whether or not it’s true. The one that won’t be talked about if they go deep: how Jay Woodcroft was able to make in series adjustments that previous coaches couldn’t.

In the first round, I expect there to be a lot of noise around the Jay Woodcroft – Todd McLellan story, much to the chagrin of the former.

I hate to say it but it’s going to be refs again whether we like it or not. Another obvious one from the first round will be about how Jay Woodcroft matchups up against his mentor Todd McLellan.

I think Connor McDavid is poised for a huge playoff performance. He did have four points in four games last year v. the Jets, but three came in one game. He had no points in the two home games. It isn’t just about points, it is his overall game. I think he takes his game to a new level. In 2017 he had nine in 13 games. For most players, 13 points in 17 games is very good, but McDavid has higher standards. I expect him to dominate in all three zones this postseason.

Zach Hyman. Goes to the tough areas. Good hands. Smart player.

Warren Foegele has that potential. So does Kailer Yamamoto. Those are my two.

I’m going with Warren Foegele. He’s played lots of playoff hockey in Carolina already and elevated his game to another level. He’s a real dark horse.

Give me a Zach Hyman or Warren Foegele heater! But maybe, just maybe we get another edition of playoff Kass? Dare to dream?

Edmonton has more skill and with Nurse returning a better and more experienced blue line. The only challenge I see is can the Oilers play a patient game. The Kings are conservative, and they wait for you to make mistakes. That is the only way the Kings win is if Edmonton makes too many unforced errors. I think they’ve learned from that last season and will dominate LA.

I think the Oilers have more offensive weapons than the Kings and I like that they won the season series 3-1 despite going 0-for-10 on the PP. It’s also a big plus that Drew Doughty is out for the series. He plays a lot of minutes. Challenge? Todd McLellan knows the Oilers and Jay Woodcroft well.

It’s a very good matchup for Edmonton. The Kings’ goaltenders have been shaky over the last few months and without Drew Doughty, their blueline is far from a strength. I also think Edmonton has a more dangerous and deeper forward group. It’s a strong matchup.

I like the matchup quite a bit. The Oilers are going up against a young defence I think they can exploit. This year, Kopitar did a good job shutting down the Draisaitl line, so I think that will be a matchup to watch.

It will be interesting to see how Kopitar and Danault handle McDavid and Draisaitl. Those two guys are very good defensive centremen and I think they’ll be all over our dynamic duo like flies on a fresh turd. How will Woodcroft adjust?

I have one and am not allowed to divulge it. I will state I didn’t have Shesterkin in my final five because he only played in 66% of the Rangers games. He wasn’t able to impact enough games. You can’t make an impact when you never step on the ice in 34% of the games. But if I had a Vezina vote he’d be my top goalie. He has been unreal, but when Hasek won the Hart he played 72 and 67 games. For me, a goalie needs to play that much to be considered for the Hart.

McDavid
Matthews
Gaudreau
Huberdeau
Josi

Mine would go McDavid, Matthews, Shesterkin, Josi, Gaudreau.

McDavid, Matthews, Josi, Shesterkin, Gaudreau.

McDavid, Draisaitl, Nuge, Hyman, Yamamoto. Oh, was that not the question?

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