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 Matt Savoie extension tactics, Devon Levi, the off-season dead zone, 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.

I don’t see a need to rush unless they think he will jump out to a 60+ point season. If he is around 45-50 points then the market has been set, and not much will change by waiting.

I really think it’d be smart to lock him up. I think he is a very smart young player and  him continuing to develop into a strong top-six winger seems like a pretty sure bet. They should try and offer him a six-year deal worth somewhere in the neighbourhood of $5.5-6m so it has a chance to turn into a value deal.

One of the benefits of the Darnell Nurse trade is that the Oilers cap situation is much healthier. By and large, the Oilers balance sheet makes sense and follows the hierarchy of each individual’s performance. With that said, trying to cost-control Savoie before he needs a new contract next summer is worth considering, particularly if he’s going to play more consistently with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. I would be interested in a Mavrik Bourque type of contract, which was six years long at $5.5 million. Bourque scored two more goals and four more points last season. That’s the type of deal, especially with Nuge and Hyman in the $5-6 million range, that should be doable.

I would love if they tried to get him extended early. Don’t even give anyone the chance to make noise about what his future looks like.

He has no trade value at this point. You’d essentially be giving him away. They likely want to see how he looks with a healthy shoulder for the first time in two seasons. He still skates well, is very reliable, rarely makes a wrong decision with or without the puck, but they will want to see if he the reason he couldn’t score was due to his nagging shoulder issue or if he simply has lost his hands. If it is the latter, then I see him being a depth guy, in and out of the lineup, and very possible that he is placed on waivers at some point in the season.

Yes, it would be the perfect time. Would anyone take him? No. He also has trade protection. It’s way more likely that he goes on waivers in September.

Janmark is one of just seven players left from the 2024 Stanley Cup Final team. That may help his cause to stick around, ya know, keeping familiar faces around. But with that said, I think the Oilers will try to do right by him, either give him a chance to make the team, or move him if he’s on the outside looking in. Bowman didn’t sign him. Babcock hasn’t coached him. He’s a big question mark after his surgery. I tend to believe he won’t be on the Oilers opening day roster, but it’s a 50/50 in my eyes.

Doesn’t Mattias Janmark have a no-trade of some kind? *checks notes* Indeed he does. Indeed he does.

He has to play some games before there is any opportunity he gets a significant raise. Daniil Tarasov just got $2m. Eric Comrie, who has been around for years, but has yes to establish himself signed for $1.15m. Levi would need to play 30 games and post good numbers and likely play a few games in the playoffs to get any sort of substantial raise. Otherwise he likely comes in around $1-$1.4m.

It really doesn’t mean anything unless he plays well next season. There’s no reason for the Oilers to be even thinking about extending him right now. Goalies are also never that expensive coming out of their ELC’s, so I’m not worried him having a big year and breaking the bank. It would be a good problem to have.

Goalie contracts are always tricky. Although the cap is rising, I’m not sure how that impacts up-and-comers. If he proves that he’s NHL calibre, he would probably be in the $2-3 million range. Then, I think of how Connor Ingram isn’t signed and wonder…

I will default to stealing Gregor’s answer and offer a guess of $1.50-2 million dollars. Thank you.

He will listen to offers, but I don’t see a glaring hole right now. I do believe they will want to add a veteran, proven top-six scoring winger before the NHL trade deadline.

I would love to see him go out and get a top-six winger, but I’m not sure how many great fits there are out there. The Penguins have a lot of forwards on their NHL roster and if they were willing to part with either Rakell or Rust, I think the Oilers should be all over it. I think the cost would probably be pretty high though.

I think Bowman would like to get an impact top-six winger but I dunno if he wants to pay the price. I think they can enter camp without making a move, or wait longer yet to see if some of the unsigned wingers capitulate and take a cheap one-year deal.

Give me a scoring winger. Not a maybe one. A real one. I want it. I want it so bad.

We have seen multiple downpours similar to Griffin Reinhart trades. It caused more damage (flooded roads and basements) than good.

It feels like the decade of darkness right now. Anytime it feels like were in a good groove and getting some sun (landing some high draft picks) we end up just getting slaughtered with rain for a few days (come in last again and are right back where we started).

The rain would make me think of the some not so fun memories of Oilers blown leads, like the Winnipeg Jets series, where all the sudden, the Oilers are taking on water and a lot of it. Although McDavid and Draisaitl do have a thunder and lightning element to their games…

The rain has to be the Ryan Smyth trade for me. I remember staying home from work and watching Eklund say that the Oilers had signed him to an extension, only to have him get moved to New York a few minutes later. The sunshine is Nuge. I love him. For real, though. How can you not say Connor and Leon?