Mailbag: Playoff race in Eastern Conference; Tortorella's impact

NHL.com's weekly Over the Boards mailbag is in full swing this season. Every week, senior writer Dan Rosen sifts through your questions sent to him on X and answers them.

To participate in future mailbags, send your questions to @drosennhl on X and use #OvertheBoards.

Who gets in from the Eastern Conference? -- @skiminer36

Prediction time. Let's go.

Atlantic Division top three, in order: Tampa Bay Lightning, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens.

Metropolitan Division top three, in order: Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders

Wild cards, in order: Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers

The Lightning's experience, and the fact that they have found their game again, will be enough to nudge them over the top in the Atlantic, especially if they're able to get two points when they play the Sabres in Buffalo on Monday. Montreal will hold off the Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division, especially with their next four games being against the New York Rangers, back-to-back against the New Jersey Devils and at home against the Florida Panthers. 

The Penguins have a favorable schedule with two games against the Panthers, two against the Washington Capitals, and one each against the Devils and St. Louis Blues in addition to playing the Lightning. With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin back, they'll take second in the Metropolitan Division.

The Islanders have only six games left, including two against the Hurricanes, so it'll be tough for them, but a home heavy schedule helps with five of their final six at UBS Arena.

The Flyers are the wild card team that will look like the surprise pick, but they've played their way up the standings and back into the race. They're playing fast and they're getting goaltending. They have eight games left, including two against the Detroit Red Wings, that could be determining factors in this race. They also play the Winnipeg Jets and Devils. This is the out-on-a-limb pick, but I can see them getting in ahead of Detroit, the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets based on how they've been trending.

Can John Tortorella really make a meaningful impact in 2-3 weeks in Vegas? -- @MrEd315

The short answer is yes because Tortorella, the Vegas Golden Knights new coach, is all about driving culture, accountability and playing a hard game the right way. He has already dug in with the Golden Knights, with the evidence being the difference in their play from the first period to the second period in their 4-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday.

As Tortorella pointed out, the Golden Knights were playing too much east-west hockey in the first period. They were not attacking. It seemed as if they were fearful of making a mistake rather than being aggressive. Tortorella is famous for saying "safe is death" when he was the coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning years ago. He does not want his players to be fearful of mistakes. He will accept the mistakes if they're made with effort and intent. I can't say for sure, but if I had to guess, that was the message he delivered after the first period against the Canucks.

Vegas was more aggressive in the second period, playing the type of straight-ahead hockey that Tortorella will demand of them. And he will demand it. If you don't play it that way, he won't play you. They generated more in the second period, 15 shots on goal to 10 in the first. They scored three goals to zero in the first. They were aggressive and they played faster. That's going to be the key for the Golden Knights. Slow starts have doomed them this season to the tune of getting outscored 78-59 in the first period. The way they played in the second against Vancouver is how they have to play from the start when they play the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

So, yes, Tortorella can have an impact because he doesn't have to change too much in Vegas. Much of the groundwork was laid by former coach Bruce Cassidy. Tortorella has to bring the team a spark, some energy, and an approach that will get them going from the start. If he can do that and it works, the Golden Knights will reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs and be set up to go on a long run. It's a talented team built to win.

Who takes over as general manager in Toronto? -- @dpru77

All eyes will be on Doug Armstrong, and of course they are because he's the potential candidate with the most experience who is resigning his role as general manager of the St. Louis Blues after this season, turning over the duties to Alex Steen following the 2026 NHL Draft. Armstrong is currently supposed to remain in his role as president of hockey operations in St. Louis. He spoke with NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika at the general managers' meetings two weeks ago and discussed it being his last appearance at the annual meetings. He also talked about the need to give more time to his wife, Kelly.

"(The wives) sacrifice a lot, and for me, it's time to pay a little bit back," he said. "I never say never. But my goal is to do the best I can for Alex (Steen), the best I can for the Blues and the best I can for her."

But does that change because the Toronto Maple Leafs need a general manager? Or perhaps will Armstrong be lured into changing teams to do the same job he is expected to keep in St. Louis and become the Maple Leafs president of hockey operations, a role Brendan Shanahan had until he was fired after last season. Toronto has not hired a replacement for Shanahan. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president and CEO Keith Pelley on Tuesday said that it's possible they could hire a president of hockey operations and a general manager to replace Treliving and fill Shanahan's former role. If that's the case, it might be more likely if Armstrong is a viable candidate that he would be the president of hockey operations and hire a GM to work under him, as would be the case if he stays in St. Louis with Steen. 

If the Maple Leafs go that route one of the top GM candidates is someone they already have in house; assistant general manager Brandon Pridham, who has handled that job under both Kyle Dubas and Brad Treliving. Pridham has been Toronto's salary cap expert since 2018 and it's reasonable to believe he's ready for a bigger role, especially if he has an experienced executive one step above him as president of hockey operations. Pridham will co-manage the Maple Leafs along with fellow assistant GM Ryan Hardy in the interim. Pelley said one of the hires the Maple Leafs make, if they in fact hire a president and a GM, must be data-centric. Pridham falls under that category. Of course, there will be many candidates, possibly including Florida Panthers assistant general manager Brett Peterson, Pittsburgh Penguins assistant GM and former Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza, who worked under Dubas in Toronto, and others. Pridham is the first that came to my mind.

Do you think Toronto will get a new-GM boost the way Buffalo did? More importantly, will whoever … gets the job try to make a big splash ASAP or do you expect a more measured approach? I'm assuming the pressure is too great to be rational. -- @akaJonnyT

There is not enough time for the Maple Leafs to get a new-GM boost this season, especially because they do not have a new GM yet. The search is just beginning. As for the pressure, yes, it's intense in Toronto and, yes I can understand the desire to want to make a big splash right away. It's certainly possible that happens, but a measured approach is more likely even if that leads to a big splash. There will be rational thought. A new GM in Toronto is not going to come in guns a blazing and do something irrational just because this hasn't been a good season for Toronto. Whoever it is will inherit a draft without a pick in the first- or second-round. It's hard in the NHL to make a splash without draft capital to move.

The first order of business will be deciding on the coach. Is Craig Berube staying or will he be replaced, and by who? Pelley said that decision will be left in the hands of the new management team. Once that decision is made, there will be an evaluation of the current roster and the prospect base. Is it good enough? What are the immediate needs? Who could be moved? These are all rational things that new general managers do. There still needs to be a full evaluation of the organization from top to bottom. 

The Maple Leafs will have to have some hard conversations with their star players, including forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Do they fit in the current plan to re-tool the roster? Do they want to be a part of it? Those conversations will be mandatory for the new management group before any decisions are made about the makeup of the roster for next season.

The point is there is a lot to do before the Maple Leafs get to a point where they can consider making a splash. Right now, the pressure is on Pelley and MLSE to make good decisions in the hiring process. 

Is a long offseason and a potential top-10 draft pick just what the Florida Panthers needed to keep the dynasty going? Will they be able to pick up where they left off next season? -- @bobwallsky

Well, you better hope they don't pick up where they left off next season because they'd be picking up from this season. But seriously, I agree with the premise of your question, because the Panthers have been through a lot and the games and mileage on their players have piled up along the way. It stinks for them that they won't have a chance to Threepeat, but this type of season, unfortunately, seemed inevitable when they lost Aleksander Barkov to his knee injury on the first day of training camp. That was the sign of what was coming. Credit to the Panthers for staying in it through January, but the injuries were too much to overcome.

They are still set up for success next season with Barkov returning and everybody from the core of last year's championship team still under contract except for Sergei Bobrovsky. They're going to have to figure out Bobrovsky's future, his next contract, if it's with the Panthers, but a long offseason, their first full offseason of training since 2022, with months to heal and recover for next season will do wonders for the Panthers.

It's a different NHL now, but the New Jersey Devils had a similar thing happen in the mid-1990s. They reached the Eastern Conference Final in 1994, won the Stanley Cup in 1995 and missed the playoffs in 1996, but recovered with the same core to be a perennial playoff team and to win two more Stanley Cup championships in 2000 and 2003.

The Panthers' window to be a Stanley Cup contender will still be wide open next season.