Here is the Nov. 27 edition of the weekly NHL.com mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on X and Bluesky. Send your questions to @drosennhl and @NHLdotcom on X, or @drosennhl.bsky.social on Bluesky, and tag them with #OvertheBoards.
Predators general manager Barry Trotz has his hands full with an underperforming team. With just 17 points and only one point ahead of the last place Blackhawks, how much longer does this team have until Trotz starts selling off assets? If they go the route of selling, who is most likely to be dealt? -- @theashcity
It's an understatement to say it's been a tough start for the Predators. It would also be grossly incompetent to say that since they were able to pull it together last season to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs that they can do it again this season. However, at least the Predators have that to fall back on. They were 5-10-0 through 15 games last season, and then won 13 of 16 games. They were struggling in mid-February, a 9-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Feb. 15 being the worst of it, but got it together and went 16-0-2 in their next 18 games. They technically are more talented this season with Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault in the lineup. But it hasn't worked so they're searching for answers and, yes, willing to make trades.
This is not a sell-off team, though. The Predators (7-12-3) have too many good players signed to big contracts to punt on the season. They also have some space under the NHL salary cap and three first-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft at their disposal. They have their own first-round pick, one from the Vegas Golden Knights and one from the Tampa Bay Lightning. If they're going to make trades, they should be less as a seller and more as a team looking for a shakeup. Adding a center is the priority. If nothing changes for a few months, that's when the selling can happen, with forward Gustav Nyquist likely out the door since he's a pending unrestricted free agent.
In the meantime, Trotz is doing what he said he would do, giving young players coming up from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League a chance. Fedor Svechkov has played two games since being recalled Saturday. The 21-year-old forward has no points yet with the Predators; he had five goals in seven games with Milwaukee this season. He was the No. 19 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. Joakim Kemell might get the call to Nashville soon, too. He has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 15 games with Milwaukee. Kemell, 20, was the No. 17 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Which teams still have coaches on the hot seats right now? -- @MrEd315
There has been speculation about Derek Lalonde's job security with the Detroit Red Wings and Mike Sullivan's with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On Sullivan, there is an honesty in Pittsburgh, particularly from president and general manager Kyle Dubas, about where the Penguins are right now and what are fair expectations. They're not high. Sullivan wants to win, burns to win, coaches to win, which is exactly what he should be doing. But the reality is Penguins are trying this rebuild or retool or reset, whatever you want to call it, on the fly, so consistency today will be hard to come by and that reduces the expectations for what they think Sullivan might be able to do with the team. That allows for further patience, especially when the coach you have is still working hard to make the Penguins better today and is on board with what they're trying to do for tomorrow.
That's why you see them acquiring 23-year-old forward Philip Tomasino from the Predators for a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, and trading veteran center Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals for a third-round pick in 2027 and fifth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. They acquired two picks for a player who is not going to be part of their future and gave one up for a player who could.
On Lalonde, the Red Wings situation is different in that they haven't made the playoffs since 2016, a stretch of nine straight seasons, and they have a more veteran-laden roster with expectations to push through this season. That's not happening with the Red Wings being 9-10-2 through 21 games and 25th in the League in scoring with 2.52 goals per game. So, there could be a target on Lalonde as the next coach to be fired this season. Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman has made one in-season coaching change in a managerial career that dates to the 2009-10 season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. It happened in 2013, when he fired Guy Boucher and hired Jon Cooper.
It's fair to wonder about Andrew Brunette's job security with the Predators if they can't turn their season around. But the Predators turned it around last season under Brunette and made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That happened in February, so it's hard to say his seat is hot in November.
What type of return should the Rangers be looking for in a Chris Kreider trade? -- @fridayjones
If you're a team that believes it can be a Stanley Cup contender and you're looking to trade an impact player, you better get an impact player in return or what's the point?
The forward’s name surfaced along with defenseman Jacob Trouba’s in a report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on Monday. Friedman said the Rangers have made it known around the League that they want to shake things up and that Kreider and Trouba are available. That only matters if the Rangers can get impact players in return. Kreider has two years left on his contract afer this season with a $6.5 million average annual value. Trouba has one year left on his contract after this season with an $8 million AAV. They each have some no-trade protection.
It's hard to trade players like this in the middle of the season, especially if you're a contender and especially if they have some control over where they could go. Yes, the Rangers have been struggling with three losses in a row, but that doesn't take away from the fact that they believe themselves to be a Stanley Cup contender. It makes sense that they are looking to shake things up. It makes sense that Kreider, who has not been nearly as effective at 5-on-5 as he has been on special teams, is available. It makes sense that Trouba is available. The Rangers are likely going to move him or buy him out after the season anyway. But to move either would require getting a player of equal value in return, even if it's a different type of player. If the Rangers can make that happen in a one-for-one trade more power to them. More likely it would have to happen in a blockbuster, which is possible but difficult to pull off. But there are teams out there that likely would be willing to trade with the Rangers for similar reasons, namely the Predators, Red Wings and Ottawa Senators.
Please, though, stop daydreaming about the Rangers getting Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa. At least for me, that's a hard stop, no chance, no way, no how. The Senators should not trade Tkachuk. They would lose that trade. Period.
The PWHL is introducing some new rules to increase offense. What rules, from the PWHL or not, could you see the NHL implementing? -- @bsctsntndys
You must be referring to the PWHL's new "No Escape Rule," which requires players on a team that takes a penalty to stay on the ice until after the ensuing face-off. That means no line change for the team that commits the infraction, similar to icing. This means a team could start its penalty kill with tired players on the ice, and/or three forwards and one defenseman. It could lead to more power-play goals, or at least more scoring chances on the power play. It's an interesting idea, but the PWHL is trying to fuel more offense in its second season, which begins Nov. 30. Four of its six teams had power plays below 16.0 percent last season, including Minnesota at 8.2 percent and Boston at 7.5 percent. The NHL doesn't have that same issue when it comes to special teams. Power plays this season are operating at 20.6 percent. They were better than 21.0 percent the past two seasons. The League is trending to have more than 6.0 goals per game for the fourth straight season and sixth time in seven seasons.
The NHL is always looking at ways to increase offense. It's possible the "No Escape Rule" becomes a talking point around the League, but that is dependent on how it works, if it works, and what the unintended consequences of it are. We won't know for a while.
With the Blue Jackets soon to make it 30 out of 32 teams, who will be the last to get an outdoor game: the Panthers or the Utahns? -- @IronCaniac
How about a Florida Panthers vs. Utah Hockey Club outdoor game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus? That solves that, right?
The Columbus Blue Jackets will host the Detroit Red Wings at the famous Ohio Stadium, the "Horseshoe," home of the Ohio State Buckeyes, in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on March 1. The Blue Jackets, as you correctly put it, will be the 30th team to play in an NHL outdoor game, although technically the Vancouver Canucks never played outside since the 2014 Stadium Series game at BC Place was inside the dome with the roof closed because of weather. But that is counted in the League's outdoor games standings, so it's counted here, obviously.
The Panthers and Utah, formerly the Arizona Coyotes, will be the last two to get outdoor games. Expect it to happen at some point, especially with Florida's growing popularity as a Stanley Cup champion and Utah's growing popularity as the NHL's newest franchise. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the Panthers will likely play in an outdoor game soon during his media availability before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final last season.
How about a Sunshine State Rivalry outdoor game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Panthers? What about Utah vs. Colorado, a Central Division border war game. Or Utah vs. Vegas, a cross-divisional border war game? Or Vegas, Utah and Colorado all get together to play three games in three days, two games per team. We could go all day with this. I’m just having some fun. The point is the NHL will likely be making sure Utah and Florida get their time outdoors soon enough.
