Rosen's mailbag - March 25, 2015

Here is the March 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:

What is the biggest reason my Blues can make a run through the playoffs? Biggest reason they can't? -- @DSBerk

The biggest reason the St. Louis Blues can make a run deep in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, perhaps even to the Stanley Cup Final, is because of their depth. They have three legitimate scoring lines and as a result they play differently, or at least can play differently, than some of the more defensive-minded teams we've seen from coach Ken Hitchcock.

St. Louis' top line of David Backes, T.J. Oshie and Alexander Steen has some of the best chemistry I've seen from a forward line in the NHL this season. I call them the Blues' top line because they not only can score, but they are tasked with checking the opposition's top line. Far be it from me to give Hitchcock coaching advice, but he knows tinkering with this line typically results in him eventually going back to them because they're so good.

I love the line of Jori Lehtera between Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz. That line provides a scoring dynamic the Blues haven't had in the past under Hitchcock. Paul Stastny is better than a third-line center, but it says something about this team that he is playing on the third line.

They might have the best top six defense in the Western Conference and the pairs all make sense with lefty-righty combinations. Jay Bouwmeester works well with Alex Pietrangelo. Ditto for Kevin Shattenkirk and Carl Gunnarsson. Zbynek Michalek and Barret Jackman is a third pair that no one will want to play against. Robert Bortuzzo adds to the depth.

The biggest reason the Blues can't make a run is goaltending. Though I'm a believer in Brian Elliott, he still has to prove he can do it in the playoffs. Jake Allen obviously would have to as well, but if the Blues turn to Allen it means they're in some trouble.

What do you think the Senators chances are if they make the playoffs? -- @SnipeCityHockey

Not great. The Ottawa Senators are the perfect example of an average team that got hot at the right time. The Senators have played better under Dave Cameron than they did under Paul MacLean, and obviously Andrew Hammond is a great story and has helped carry this team into the playoff picture, but overall the Senators don't match up well with some of the other contenders in the Eastern Conference, particularly the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. They'd see one of those three teams in the first round if they get in.

All that said, it doesn't ruin the story of what the Senators have done. It's remarkable.

How can these Mike Babcock "could" leave the Red Wings rumors continue? As rumors go, this feels incredibly daft? -- @Hoskinsauce

They can continue and will continue until Babcock signs a new contract to stay with the Detroit Red Wings or announces he is leaving Detroit to become a coaching free agent, which in my opinion would make him the most sought after free agent in the NHL this summer. Babcock hasn't discussed his future in Detroit beyond this season for quite some time. There might be quiet, behind-the-scenes negotiating going on between him and general manager Ken Holland, but it's more likely that they're focused on trying to win this season and will address the issue of his future at the end of the season. The longer it goes, the more the rumor will persist. Babcock will have plenty of options and a lot of money thrown at him if he decides to leave Detroit. The Toronto Maple Leafs certainly will court him, but would Babcock want to go into a rebuilding situation?

With under 10 games remaining, do you see the Wild catching the Blackhawks for the third place spot in the Central Division? -- @where_is_walbo

The Minnesota Wild actually have only eight games left, but in fairness you sent me this question before they played Tuesday, when they had nine games left. Regardless, I don't see it happening because the Chicago Blackhawks have a three-point lead, are playing very well too, and have two games in hand. The games in hand are key.

The good news for the Wild is they have five straight games at home starting Thursday. The bad news is their remaining eight opponents are all currently in a playoff position, including two of the four teams that have 99 points (Rangers and Blues). They finish the season with road games against the Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and Blues.

Four of Chicago's final 10 games are against teams that are outside of a playoff position, including one against the Buffalo Sabres. Though they do have to play the Blues twice.

Is it wise to go back and forth between Frederik Andersen and John Gibson when Andersen brought the Ducks all the way this year? -- @MistahWintah

No, it's not wise. At this point in the season I think Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau has to choose who the No. 1 goalie is and will be for the start of the playoffs. Identify that now so that the goalie and the team has no questions. Players will tell you that it doesn't matter who starts when you have two good goalies, and that may make some sense, but it's helpful to them to know who the No. 1 will be. The problem is in the past two games neither Andersen nor Gibson have played like No. 1s. But I don't think this can go on for longer than this week. Whether he announces it publicly or chooses to keep it in house, I think by identifying the No. 1 goalie now it will be beneficial to the Ducks down the road.

Do you think the Rangers will continue their hot streak when Henrik Lundqvist comes back? -- @bussasnitch

It's hard to call it a hot streak now, what with the way they played Tuesday in a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. They got smoked by L.A. in every way. And don't let the shots on goal fool you, the Kings had a 35-22 edge when they took a 4-1 lead at 5:28 of the third period. The Rangers had the final 14 shots of the game, but they were chasing the game at that time and had to push while the Kings protected a lead.

But to your question, the Rangers will be perfectly fine when Lundqvist returns. He's their best goalie, their best player. He is their No. 1 guy in every sense. Cam Talbot deserves heaps of praise and credit for what he's been able to accomplish, but Lundqvist is the guy and the Rangers have a better chance of winning the Stanley Cup with him than Talbot. I can't believe I even have to say that, but it apparently has to be said. Again, with all due respect to Talbot, he's done this for a quarter of a season; Lundqvist has done it his entire career. He was the biggest reason why the Rangers got to the Stanley Cup Final last season. If they win in the playoffs this season, he will again be the biggest reason why.

If the NHL changes the shootout rules, do you think they should change the points for OT? Not rewarding points if you lose in OT or at the end of OT, if no one scores both teams get one point and leave it as a tie? -- @DougAnderson9

That's a loaded question and you're suggesting to just go back to the old way, but people want a winner and a loser; they don't want to leave the arena with a tie, without a real result. At least that's my opinion.

But the NHL is not interested in changing the shootout rules. The NHL general managers are interested in changing the overtime rules in order to try to have more games that go to overtime end there rather than the shootout. It's approximately a 60-40 split in favor of OT games going into the shootout right now; the GMs would like to see those numbers reversed. That's why they're talking about changing the OT format to incorporate a 3-on-3 portion for either part the extra session or the entire thing. The shootout will remain as is under the GMs scenario; the hope is that there will be less of them.

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