Rosen's mailbag - Feb. 25, 2015

Here is the Feb. 25 edition of Rosen's weekly mailbag, which will run every Wednesday during the season. If you have a question, tweet it to @drosennhl and use #OvertheBoards.

Let's get to it:

With Nick Leddy locked in long term will Johnny Boychuk be the next domino to fall? -- @tjanthony25

Fall how? Fall out of the Islanders grasp? Fall in line with the Islanders by re-signing on a long-term contract? There are different ways this domino can go down, or, as you said, fall.

Johnny Boychuk

Defense - NYI

GOALS: 7 | ASST: 22 | PTS: 29
SOG: 140 | +/-: 15

With Leddy ($5.5 million salary-cap charge), Travis Hamonic ($3.857 million) and Calvin de Haan ($1.97 million), the Islanders have plenty of room to give Boychuk a new contract. Boychuk, the veteran of the group, likely would want more in average annual value than Leddy. He's 30 years old, so it's unlikely the Islanders will give him the same term of seven years. Boychuk is making $3.6 million this season.

Do you think the Sean Bergenheim trade will help the Minnesota Wild? -- @mustang_goalie5

I do. I at least don't think it can hurt. It never hurts when you're trying to be a contending team and you add a veteran player to the roster without sacrificing another player off of your roster. That's what the Wild did in getting Bergenheim and a seventh-round draft pick in 2016 from the Florida Panthers for a third-round draft pick in 2016. It's a no-brainer trade for GM Chuck Fletcher, who was hoping to add to the overall team depth. Remember, the Wild are playing without Jason Zucker, Ryan Carter and Matt Cooke, so getting a forward to plug into the bottom-six is important. Bergenheim can play top-six minutes if necessary, though the Wild are better with him in a bottom-six role. Either way, the Wild are rolling now, and Fletcher made them a better team on Tuesday.

With the recent struggles the St. Louis Blues have had do you see them making a move at the trade deadline? -- @jeremy1935

I saw Blues general manager Doug Armstrong on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, where he was taking in the game between the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames. His presence scouting other games days before the deadline is a sign that he is indeed looking to be active in the trade market. I wouldn't be surprised if the Blues look to shore up their defense, particularly because Kevin Shattenkirk is out of the lineup. They appear destined to play the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference First Round again, and home-ice advantage could be key. St. Louis has a three-point lead on the Blackhawks, who put Patrick Kane on long-term injured reserve on Wednesday. I wouldn't expect Armstrong to make the kind of splash he made last season, when he acquired Ryan Miller and Steve Ott from the Buffalo Sabres, but there are depth moves that can be made to make the Blues a better team.

Do you expect the Boston Bruins to spend David Krejci's LTIR money and hold him off until the playoffs? -- @themook329

I do not, and here's why:

The Bruins are in what appears to be a similar situation with Krejci as the Blackhawks are in with Kane, but there are some important differences.

David Krejci

Center - BOS

GOALS: 7 | ASST: 19 | PTS: 26
SOG: 57 | +/-: 7

Boston is in a much dire position, which means general manager Peter Chiarelli might be thrust into making a move, even one he might not necessarily like, in order to try to secure the playoff position. If the Bruins don't make the playoffs Chiarelli's job could be on the line.

However, whereas Kane might be out as long as 10 weeks, Krejci's knee injury is supposed to keep him out between 4-6 weeks. Kane might miss the rest of the regular season; Krejci is determined to return before the end of the regular season.

That matters because the only way the Bruins can successfully and without risk use the cap space freed up with Krejci on long-term injured reserve is if they are 100 percent certain that Krejci will NOT return in the regular season. If Krejci is medically cleared to return before the end of the season the Bruins will have to have enough room under the salary cap to activate him. They can't stash him on LTIR until the playoffs if he's healthy.

So while theoretically Chiarelli has some wiggle room now, the risk might outweight the reward, unless the Bruins can prove that Krejci will not be medically able to play for the remainder of the regular season.

Does acquiring Jarome Iginla or Vinny Lecavalier make sense for the Blackhawks? -- @ny1bullsfan

Jarome Iginla

Right Wing - COL

GOALS: 18 | ASST: 23 | PTS: 41
SOG: 136 | +/-: 0

Should the Jets trade Michael Frolik? -- @RomeoBravo78

I don't understand why this is a consideration or even a question. I mean, I get that he can become an unrestricted free agent after the season, but so what? The answer, at least in my opinion, is no. It's not even a question. The answer is no. The whole point of this season now in Winnipeg is for the Jets to finally make the playoffs, and Frolik can help them do that. He knows what it takes to play in big games down the stretch. He knows what it takes to win in the playoffs. He's done it before. So too have Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien, but the Jets don't have many others who have been there and done that, so Frolik is important in that sense. He's also important on the ice. He has 31 points this season. He's been an effective depth player for the Jets. They'll need him down the stretch. They are not a seller. They should not trade Frolik. I don't care if he walks at the end of the season, the point is to get to the playoffs now and Frolik can help the Jets do that.

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