Good morning, everyone, and a happy Monday to all of you. I’ve got a brand new Christmas edition of the mailbag ready to go after taking your questions and sending them to the crew for their take on whatever is on your mind. This week, we’re gifts from Santa, what needs to improve after the break, Leon Draisaitl in the faceoff dot, and much 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.

Health. It is the biggest factor in playoff success.

Health! If their big guns stay healthy and have players like Viktor Arvidsson stay healthy, then they can absolutely catch the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot in the division. They just need everyone to stay in the lineup.

I am requesting that Santa bring Jeff Skinner the ability to play more consistently. Fingers crossed!

I’m asking Santa for a PDO heater for the team down the back half of the season and into the playoffs. The Oilers are already a very good hockey team, but they’d be unstoppable if they had the benefit of a PDO heater pushing them forward in addition to the skill they already have.

Opposing goalies would say Draisaitl, Hyman and McDavid are on the naughty list. It is Christmas no need for me to outline negative players when team is playing well.

Darnell Nurse is on the nice list, along with Janmark, Emberson, Kulak for their play recently.

I think Jeff Skinner headlines the naughty list. Signing him before locking up Dylan Holloway is looking like a massive blunder, but it’s a conversation we wouldn’t be having if Skinner was one pace for 30 goals. For the nice list, how about Ty Emberson. He just keeps getting better and better.

Nice List: Leon Draisaitl being the best player in the league and also Zach Hyman for proving Hockey Canada wrong

Naughty List: Evan Bouchard’s shots that hit the first man’s shinpads.

Nice List: Leon Draisaitl for his dominance, Connor McDavid for being worth the time every single night, Zach Hyman for the heater he’s on right now, and Mattias Ekholm for being our Big Viking Daddy.

Naughty List: Jeff Skinner. I don’t know why he’s in Knoblauch’s doghouse, but he can’t seem to get out.

Team defence has been very consistent. They could improve their depth goal scoring at 5×5.

More consistency with their special teams and goaltending would be nice. That would be a good New Years resolution for the team. What’s working is Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Although I do generally like their supporting cast, there are still a lot of nights where those two are driving 100% of the scoring.

I’d love to see the power play become more consistent. It’s clearly gotten better since the start of the year but, even when you look back to the San Jose game on Saturday, it has to become more reliable in key moments. As for what has worked, the superstars have shown up at five-on-five which has been fantastic to see, especially from Leon Draisaitl.

I think the power play can still improve, even though it’s definitely gotten better over the past month or so. I think if we can get that killer instinct back on the PP, this Oilers team is going to be even more dangerous than they already are. Consistent goaltending too, please.

It is moving his stick and trying to anticipate when the linesmen is dropping the puck. The funny thing is, he is still top 12 in faceoffs taken. He hasn’t been thrown at as often lately as he was early in the year. But now when he does, everyone notices it.

I honestly don’t know enough about the rule to understand it. It honestly feels like just totally random sometimes.

To be honest, I have no idea. There was that video last season of him explaining to the linesman how he was going to do the draw, and still got kicked out. I would assume it’s something to do with his style.

I have no idea why he keeps getting kicked out of the faceoff circle, but I’m starting to imagine that it’s because the linesmen are too intimidated by his handsomeness. Prove me wrong, you can’t.

Offer to take your father-in-law somewhere. He will appreciate it and zero suspicion.

Make plans with a friend who’s “in from out of town.” They can’t get upset at you for visiting a friend you maybe only see once or twice a year. That or just say you have some last minute shopping and go get a drink somewhere.

You’re going to have to eat and drink so much that you’re forced to go to the store daily. At first you might have a couple of family members come with you but, after a few days of going consistently, they’ll get bored and allow you to go alone. That’s when you can take an extra 10 or 20 minutes and go the long way around. Whatever you decided to do, good luck.

Make sure there’s nothing in your fridge, so that you’ll have to run out to pick up almost anything you need. Sure, they may think these trips are poorly planned and executed, but we’ll know the real reason. Good luck.

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