Here is the Feb. 26 edition of the weekly NHL.com mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on X and Bluesky. Send your questions to @drosennhl on X and @drosennhl.bsky.social on Bluesky, and tag it with #OvertheBoards.
Which team out west is playing its best hockey right now: Vegas, Dallas or Colorado? -- @mugnoma
It's the Dallas Stars. They are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games. Go back to Dec. 23, their last game before the holiday break, and in that two-month stretch they lead the NHL in wins (18) and points (38) and are second in points percentage (.731) behind the Winnipeg Jets (.783). The Stars are deep, skilled, disciplined, defensive, well-coached and they have excellent goaltending. Of the three teams you brought up, it's clear they are the team playing its best hockey right now.
The Vegas Golden Knights have had some hits and misses in the past seven or so weeks, but they built a cushion with a strong start, and it has allowed them to take the hits as they've come. Those hits, like a stretch of three wins in 14 games (3-8-3) from Jan. 9-Feb. 4, seem like nothing more than a team going through a midseason slump. They need to start putting together better 60-minute games but for now it doesn't seem like alarm bells need to be going off in Vegas.
Alarm bells should be and likely are going off in Denver. The Colorado Avalanche are struggling to score. They're a very top-heavy team again. Depth scoring is an issue. They're 5-5-0 and scoring 2.60 goals per game since trading Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24. They have two goals in losses to teams below the Stanley Cup Playoff line (Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues), since coming back from the 4 Nations Face-Off break. They've solved their goaltending woes, but now there are problems finding the net, generating more beyond what they get from Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
What do you see the Rangers doing at the Deadline? They're not that good but are only two points out of a playoff spot. -- @KREIDERMAN20
The Rangers need to keep going on the path they've been on since Dec. 6, when they traded Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks. Like how that all went down or not, it was a move that opened options because they were able to shed Trouba's $8 million NHL salary cap charge for the remainder of this season and next while also adding a serviceable bottom-pair defenseman in Urho Vaakanainen. Selling the players who don't fit beyond this season and retooling the roster, particularly the core, for next season and beyond must continue to be their focus even though they're still very much in the playoff race.
The Rangers could be, and maybe will be, a playoff team this season, but it's hard to sit here today and say they're a Stanley Cup contender. They're sort of where the Washington Capitals were last season: good enough to get into the playoffs at the bottom of a race in the Eastern Conference that has a lot of teams just like them, but not good enough to win in the Cup. The flip from last season could be real, in fact. The Rangers could end up facing the Capitals in the Eastern Conference First Round in a role reversal from last season, when New York was the Presidents' Trophy winner and Washington the team that snuck in at the end.
Ryan Lindgren, Reilly Smith and Jimmy Vesey are all pending unrestricted free agents. The Rangers will likely be moving on from all three at the end of this season, so it makes sense to try to move on from them now, before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline on March 7, to get some value in return. Those are the gimmes.
Now, for the other moves that could pay dividends down the road.
Now is a good time to give some of the younger players more of a leash. If you trade, Smith, it gives Brennan Othmann or Brett Berard a chance to play in the top-nine forward group. If you trade Lindgren, maybe you also bring back a defenseman who is signed beyond this season to pair with Adam Fox, which could be part of the core going forward. It's a problem that could potentially also be solved in the offseason, but if you can do it now, then do it now rather than diving into the uncertainty of free agency.
The Rangers have a chance now to give Mika Zibanejad more time at right wing to see how that works out. Maybe that's a fit for him next season. If it is, they could look to add a third-line center like Trent Frederic and see how that pans out. Frederic is a pending UFA, and it will cost the Rangers to get him. If it's a fit, that could solve two positional issues (top-six right wing, third-line center) before the offseason.
The point here is the Rangers should not be operating under the pressure of having to win the Stanley Cup this season. They should be using the rest of it to see what could fit for next season. It's essentially a head start on their offseason while in a playoff race. It's the best time to test your players and see what you have anyway. It could be a blessing for the Rangers. And they could still be a playoff team.
Have you heard anything about what the Sharks are planning to do this deadline? Is there any chance they'd move Mario Ferraro? -- @koko_costanza
The Sharks are, as general manager Mike Grier has said, open to anything. So, yes, Ferraro is a player they could definitely move before or on March 7. The 26-year-old defenseman is signed through next season, making him a valuable player on the trade market with many teams looking to contend this season and next.
The Sharks are not one of those teams. They're in the throes of a rebuild, a team looking to stockpile more and more draft capital and prospects. Ferraro can be a trade chip this season, the offseason or even closer to the deadline next season, but from a value standpoint it makes more sense to move him now, when a team can potentially get two runs with him before his current contract expires. Ferraro can be a 20-minute-per-game defenseman who blocks shots, moves the puck well and helps drag his team into the fight. On a better team it stands to reason his defensive metrics would improve.
Ferraro, in fact, is the type of defenseman the Rangers should be looking at to help them for the rest of this season and next season. He's a slightly younger, cheaper, more durable, and as competitive defenseman as Lindgren. And, unlike Lindgren, Ferraro still has next season remaining on his contract.
What do you do if you're the Penguins? Do you completely blow it up and trade Sidney Crosby? -- @RobOstrom
The Penguins should and likely will continue to make moves that brings their overall age down and adds into the pipeline more young players, even picks that can be turned into young players either through the NHL Draft or trades. The goal should be to have Crosby around to lead the group into the future.
There is no sense in Pittsburgh or with the Crosby camp that a trade is in the offing or what anybody wants. Crosby is one of the smartest players in the game on and off the ice. His representation, Pat Brisson, is one of the brightest and forward-thinking agents in the game. Those two would not have agreed to stay with Pittsburgh by signing a two-year contract worth $8.7 million annually Sept. 16 if they envisioned wanting to leave before the contract begins next season. They knew what was coming this season. Maybe it's gone worse than they thought, but nobody can say they're shocked at what has transpired.
Crosby has neither wavered publicly on his desire to remain with the Penguins nor his belief in what general manager Kyle Dubas is attempting to do. Dubas is also smart and knows alienating Crosby is against his best interests, so do not expect him to unceremoniously trade Evgeni Malkin or Kris Letang unless or until those players express a desire to leave Pittsburgh.
There is no better player than No. 87 to guide a team into the future. Crosby is still playing at a high level too. There is zero reason to believe at this time that he can't be a player in the Penguins' future beyond his current contract. He's 37. He can play into his 40s if he wants to. In a way, this is sort of full circle for Crosby. He came into the NHL at a time when the Penguins needed his help turning around the franchise to become a winner again. They need it again.
Who do the Devils need? -- @buckstang02
If there's a single need, the target should be a No. 3 center.
Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are the obvious top centers, but the depth thins out. Erik Haula can fill in at No. 3 center, but he's versatile enough to be used on the wing or in a fourth-line role. Curtis Lazar is more of a fourth-line center. A true No. 3 center who plays with an edge, is physical, in your face and without question aggressive on the forecheck, could be the perfect add for the Devils, a team that should be thinking about the Stanley Cup this season but first will have to most likely get through the Carolina Hurricanes, who are one of the best puck possession/defensive teams in the League. The Devils need to be able to have the puck when Hischier and Hughes aren't on the ice, so those two are not always fighting for possession on every shift.
Some of the top centers who could be available in trades are Brayden Schenn (Blues), Brock Nelson (New York Islanders), Trent Frederic (Boston Bruins), Scott Laughton (Philadelphia Flyers), Jake Evans (Montreal Canadiens), Yanni Gourde (Seattle Kraken) and Nick Bjugstad (Utah Hockey Club). Any one of them would move the needle forward. It really should just come down to acquisition cost, because the Devils need to be all-in this season.
