Whether you’re killing time at work or sitting around in your Baggedmilk pyjamas, the Mailbag is here to help you kill off a little bit of company time on a Monday. Whether that time killed is company time, or time killed until it’s socially acceptable to drink – we don’t care – I’m just happy that we’re spending this time together. Thank you. As always, I need questions for next week’s Mailbag so if you have a question you’d like to ask you can email me or hit me up on Twitter.  Until then, I present another edition of the Mailbag.

I share your concern. Nurse had a very strong first 11 games, was close to 50 percent possession and had the look of a strong prospect making the transition. Edmonton was overrun with injuries and moved him up to the top pairing, where he played for some time. The numbers and offense faded, and he did not recover for a long time. I am encouraged by that recovery and by his AHL time at the end of the year. I hope he spends next season third-pair with Brandon Davidson.

Had a lot of highs and even more lows, which is to be expected from a 20 year old D-man in his first pro season. Nurse, like a depressing number of Oiler defensemen before him, was tasked with playing above his  weight class for most of the year, which as we’ve seen time and time again is not an ideal situation. He’ll be fine. He’s shown he has all the tools to become an impact defender on this team for years to come. He’s not going to “regress” just because he was playing 2nd pairing minutes with usually not-so-great partners when he clearly wasn’t ready. He’s not going to just forget how to play defence because the team was bad. He just turned 21. He’ll be fine.

Mishandling? I didn’t see any mishandling. He was recalled due to injuries. He gained some experience, had a few rough patches, but he never looked overwhelmed or lacking confidence. I think way too many people are overreacting over his season. Those looking at his possession numbers should realize he was 20 and a rookie. Of course he was going to struggle at times. I have no doubts Nurse will become a dominant top-four defender.

Would have preferred he spent a little more time in the AHL. but I like a lot of what I saw. He competes. He plays with an edge. Filling a spot or two ahead of him for some shelter would help. He’ll be fine.

I think he recovered reasonably well after a very tough start. One of the reasons I’m not too worried is that based on the depth chart he should be on the 3rd pairing next year. His raw skills are all there and he’s not a dummy. I’m happy to see where next season takes us.

If there’s one thing that I know about Darryl it’s that you don’t gotta worry about Darryl. This kid is fiercely competitive and you know he’s going to take the lows from the season and bust his ass working on them in the summer. Could he have been better? Sure, but he was fighting above his weight class all season. The ideal summer would have Darnell Nurse starting next year in the AHL, but we’ll see if that happens. 

I do not believe there is a dark horse, this is a silly playoff we are heading into this year (I am writing this before the first game of the playoff year). I will say Florida and St. Louis.

I don’t really know if they’re considered a dark horse per say, but of all the teams that might go on a surprise run I’d pick Dallas. They have an unbelievable team but their Achilles heel this season has been mediocre goaltending. If Niemi or Lehtonen can pull an ’06 Cam Ward and go supernova during the playoffs they have a honest-to-goodness chance to turn this whole thing upside down and make a legit run at Lord Stanley.

The Islanders… because I don’t see any dark horse in the west winning two rounds. I think the Atlantic division is the weakest, and the Islanders crossing into that division gives them the best chance for a long run. The injuries to Tampa Bay make them a much more beatable opponent.

Depends what you consider a darkhorse. I’ve got Florida reaching the Eastern Conference final before losing to Washington. That would likely qualify as a bit of an unexpected run.

San Jose can make a dark horse run. It only makes sense that it happens in the 1 year that finally nobody thinks they can do it. They have experienced players, dynamic defenders, and a goalie that can make stops. It COULD actually happen for them this year. I mean, I wouldn’t put money on it, but they could upset teams.

I would cheer for Florida to make a run because I love Jaromir Jagr but it annoys me how empty the arena in Florida was for the first playoff game. Now I just hope everybody loses.

If both return, I think there is a good chance we see both men up and down the depth chart. If Peter Chiarelli keeps all three Cs (McDavid, Leon, Nuge) both men should get a bona fide pivot. 

I think they’ll rotate between the top two lines. They’ve both shown they can be huge contributors on a line with McDavid (but as Henderson showed us last week that’s true of literally any player). I’m worried that Maroon is going to come crashing back down to earth hard next season. He’s been a revelation but his numbers are crazy unsustainable. Maybe playing with McDavid most of the year will help cushion the blow and he’ll still put up similar numbers as the ones he put up playing with Getzlaf and Perry. And I think a theoretical line of Pouliot-Draisaitl-Hall would work well, with Pouliot helping defensively as Draisaitl still learns how to play a 200 foot game.

I could see them rotating. I don’t see one staying with McDavid all year. It is rare to see lines stay together all the time, and if one is slumping McLellan might slide him beside 97 for a few games to get him going.

I prefer Maroon to Pouliot. Better price point. I’d move Pouliot if the right trade came along because he’s played relatively well and has some value. If not, I move him down the line-up.

Well I think Pouliot could be traded, but assuming he isn’t then I think he starts on a 3rd line with Draisaitl or a C that isn’t an Oiler yet. He’s a very underrated scorer. 5v5 he produces like a top line winger and has for years. They both made beautiful music with McDavid but I think the team likes having the mammoth Maroon there with Connor.

I actually don’t think that Benoit Pouliot will be here next year. Gregor broke news after the deadline that it looked like the Pou party was almost over had Pouliot not gotten injured. Chiarelli moved on from Pouliot once before, and I think he may do it again. If I’m wrong (happens often), I can see the two guys rotating back and forth depending on who is playing better at the time. The McBlender will come out, and you know that’s true.

I am absolutely unqualified to answer this question, but will say McLellan and Chiarelli seemed sure of themselves. When you see old hockey men with that kind of conviction, it is probably a good sign.

Nope. Everyone from Taylor Hall to Todd McLellan has commented on how much of a leader McDavid is already. He naturally commands the attention of whichever room he’s in, and he’s talked about his unrelenting desire to win all the time; two valuable traits in a leader.

I think the Oilers would be wise to wait until he has at least a full NHL season under his belt, and to let the team hopefully make some progress in the standings before putting the entire team on his back (as if it’s not there already). He’s already a leader on the team, there’s no need to rush putting the C on him at this point.

No, and that is because I believe we overrate the Captaincy sometimes. He doesn’t have to be a vocal guy. He will lead by example on the ice. His teammates already respect him. The key will be having a good supporting cast of leaders around him.

No issues with McDavid’s age whatsoever. McLellan made it pretty clear in his year-end interviews he has no issues either.

I wouldn’t have any concerns if McDavid was flying my commercial jet. I figure he would have a few hours to figure the landing out. What issues are there with him being the captain? He’s too young? McDavid is a special player and normal rules/challenges don’t apply to him.

Give him the ‘C.’ The kid is already the on ice leader of the team and it’s inevitable that he gets it anyway. Either that or don’t have a captain next year. There’s no use it having someone keep it warm for no reason. 

Probably good. Probably.

I would use it exclusively to impress women with my feats of strength. But in turn those feats of strength would be so extreme that it would inevitably scare any and all women away, which would sour me and lead to me turning my back on the world. I would then start a slow, dark descent into madness before finally emerging as a sociopathic supervillain named The Conductor, hellbent on destroying the world one train car at a time.

I’d like to think I would use it for good, however, I would have lots of fun picking up Brownlee’s car and moving it to a different area of the parking lot. It would be endless entertainment watching him freak out when his beloved car was not where he parked it.

I do believe I have the strength to lift an entire railroad car. It’s been mostly bad.

I’m pretty nice in real life so I’d probably use my powers for good. Can’t see myself doing anything bad, but I’m also not adverse to using super powers to make money. I’d probably work the Worlds Strongest Man tour for a while until I’m invited to wrestle on WWE and/or appear in the next 5 Expendable movies. Alternatively, walk onto an NFL tryout and become the most devastating Running Back/Middle Linebacker in history. You can do good by donating part of your Reebok sponsorship money, right?

I would never tell anyone that I had the power to lift a railroad car. The only time you’d see it is when you see me launch a javelin three miles down the road during the Summer Olympics. I’d be throwing shot puts through car windows in the Shelbyville. From there I’d sit back and watch the money roll in. 

 

When I was at Rexall Place for the last home game of the year I ran into an old work buddy that I hadn’t seen for a while, and we ended up talking about his team (team Grey Matters raise over $47,000 last year!) in the Alzheimer’s Pro-Am tournament that’s happening at the end of the month. When I asked if there was a way that we could help all he asked for was to shine a little bit of light on the tournament that raises funds to try and eliminate the disease that took his father. After looking into the tournament a little bit further, it didn’t take long until I figured that this was a cause that certainly could use some love and promotion.

Alzheimers is a horrible disease that can rob a person of the memories that they spent a lifetime putting together. Whether you’ve been personally affected by the disease or not there is a good chance that someone around you may have been. If you would like to donate to the cause you can do that on the tournament website. If you don’t have cash to donate, but would still like to help, all I ask is that you share the link to the tournament page to help us raise a little bit of awareness. If you’d like more information on the event feel free to reach out to me and I will point you in the right direction.