We’re in the early days of this new NHL season but the Oilerd are undefeated after five games played, and I felt like now would be a good time for your ol’ pal Baggedmilk to come back with another dose of Random Thoughts to offer up some first impressions on our brand new boys.

Maybe it’s the early season Kool-Aid or I’m just feeling delusional after a 5-0 run to start the season, but I’m of the opinion that this could be the most loveable roster the Oilers have had in quite a long time. I don’t care whether we’re talking about the knack Jesse Puljujarvi has for making us laugh when he licks his own eyebrows or Zack Kassian’s sweet kisses or the boys having fun with their post game interviews, we’ve already had a few moments catch fire on social media and I hope he party never stops. Now, I’m not about to call the Oilers the team of destiny or any hyperbolic nonsense like that, but I will absolutely suggest that the bandwagon will be filling up sooner than later if the boys keep winning and looking like they’re having the best possible time together.

I think a lot of us expected that Zach Hyman would be a meaningful contributor to this hockey team, but I don’t know that we would have necessarily predicted how well he’d fit in right from the jump. With five goals and an assist already under his belt, Hyman has been everything we were promised and more, and to hear his teammates already talking about how his work ethic is infectious just brings a smile to my face. I don’t know when or if the shine will wear off for this guy, but I am absolutely enjoying the ride so far because he adds a flavour to the roster that is totally unique. Zach Hyman, we speak your name

I don’t know what else a person can really say about Connor McDavid at this point. We’re only five games into the 2021-22 season and the guy has already put up 13 points (6G, 7A) and I just can’t see how anyone is going to be able to stop him because he’s carving up the NHL like it’s some Div. 5 beer league. I mean, look at the tweet above… How is it possible that Connor McDavid is scoring at a higher clip than he did in junior? It doesn’t make sense. At this point, all I can recommend is that we all take mental notes when watching him play because he’s performing at a level that this league hasn’t seen since the Gretzky days, and it’s a ride where I want to enjoy every possible moment. I mean, how do you make sense of a player that has already produced more offence than some entire rosters? Ridiculous.

I love Oilers fans because there is nothing on Gord’s green earth that we can’t turn into an argument. Earlier this week, there was a chunk of fans arguing on Twitter about whether or not it makes sense that Mike Smith got the first three starts of the season despite playing incredibly well on nights one and two. And since he happened to get hurt in that third game, Tippett’s goaltending usage has come under fire as some fans wonder if this is an issue that will keep coming up as the season goes on. But then just as we’re feeling the panic creeping up after seeing our starter go down, Mikko Koskinen steps in and performs incredibly well in a back-to-back set, turning a lot of this chatter into pointless noise… at least, for now. Obviously, we’ll have to wait and see how long Mike Smith is on the shelf because we don’t want Mikko playing every single game, but if this week was any indication, the goaltending situation may not be nearly as dire as we may have originally thought.

They say that a picture is worth 1000 words so I’ll just go ahead and leave this one here. 🥰

I can’t be the only one that feels cynical about the news that Nikita Kucherov will be missing time again this year, can I? Obviously, I never want to see anyone get hurt — the NHL is a much better league when its stars are healthy and playing — but I also can’t help but feel like we’re all watching the same movie over again, no? I mean, you never want to see news that a guy is getting surgery but if he comes back right before the postseason starts AGAIN??? Come on. That said, I’m also fully prepared to admit that maybe I’m just jealous our GM never seems able to pull this type of shenanigans out of his hat.