Mailbag: Sabres among feelgood stories; toughness acquired before Deadline

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.

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Might the Buffalo Sabres' turnaround be the NHL feelgood story of the year? Or what else might be better? -- @MrEd315

You can say feelgood story if you want, but for the Sabres it was a long time coming. They're looking to end the longest Stanley Cup Playoff drought in NHL history (2010-11).

Talent was never an issue, it was about consistency. They would have strong starts and fade. They would not be able to break bad habits once they crept in. They were not consistent with the details of the game like positioning on wall battles, winning loose pucks, removing risk when it was unnecessary, having good sticks and sticks in lanes and staying above the puck. 

None of those are exciting. They don't often lead to goals or even chances, but they're essential to success in the NHL. When you put them together and do them consistently, you have the puck more and have a chance to build leads. You have a better chance to build on leads. 

The numbers since the Sabres found some traction beginning Dec. 9 back all of this up. They have scored first in 24 of their past 36 games, winning 22. They are 7-3-2 when allowing the first goal. When you’re consistent with details you don’t have a lull when you give up the first goal. You stay consistent with your game and get it back. They’re 16-0-0 when leading after the first period and 23-1-0 when leading after two. They have a plus-15 goal differential in the first period (43-28) and plus-22 in the second (51-29). Their team save percentage is .915. All of that is because their approach and consistency with the details of the game have matched their talent.

Regarding feelgood stories, Gabriel Landeskog's return after missing three years with a recurring knee injury and multiple surgeries is at the top of my list. The Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks being playoff contenders is also high. Team USA ending a 46-year gold medal drought at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 is one of the best hockey stories of the year so far. The United States men's and women's team pulling off the double gold for the first time is, in my opinion, the best hockey story of the year so far. Another terrific feelgood story is Nick Foligno and Marcus Foligno getting a chance to play together with the Minnesota Wild.

If anybody paid attention the last three postseasons they would have seen that toughness wins Cups, which is why the Panthers won the East so many times in a row. Why do they only trade for so-called skill guys? Tough guys scare wimps. Milan Lucic should have been brought back. -- @Mr _ Valentine _

I'm not sure what you're referring to, because the NHL Trade Deadline this was all about multidimensional players. I'm not sure of your definition of "tough guys," but in today's NHL you're not playing if you are there only to intimidate. The only player traded before the Deadline this year that might be labeled an old school tough guy is Nicolas Deslauriers, who went to the Carolina Hurricanes from the Philadelphia Flyers. But there were no players who moved that falls under the label of a "skill guy."

The Sabres acquired a fourth-line center in Sam Carrick and two physically imposing depth defensemen in Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn. The New York Islanders picked up Brayden Schenn, who can impact all parts of their game as a middle-six center. The Tampa Bay Lightning got Corey Perry, who is as hard to play against at 40 as he was at 20. Conor Garland, who went to the Columbus Blue Jackets, is a straight-ahead player with skill but not defined by his skill. Nazem Kadri can produce offense, but he's always been known as hard to play against, which is why the Colorado Avalanche wanted him back. Jason Dickinson will kill penalties and win face-offs in the defensive zone for the Edmonton Oilers. Scott Laughton has already given the Los Angeles Kings' bottom-six a jolt of offense, but he's not a skilled guy.

I could go on down the list, but at no point was this Deadline about skill, it was all about depth. The only true "skilled guy" who was moved before the Deadline was Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers to the Kings.

Can you explain to me the trade of Samuel Girard (formerly of the Avalanche) for Brett Kulak (formerly of the Penguins)? Girard's contract ends in 2027, but Kulak's contract will end after this season, and the Avalanche added a second-round pick into the trade. I don't get why they added a high pick? -- @Haldol25

The Avalanche wanted a different type of left-handed defenseman. Kulak has more size. He is 6-foot-1, 192 pounds. Girard is 5-10, 170 pounds. With the emergence of Sam Malinski, who is 5-11, 190 pounds, there was some redundancy with Girard. Malinski also has a new contract kicking in next season, so keeping both him and Girard was also redundant on the NHL salary cap. Kulak is in the last season of his contract and can be an unrestricted free agent. Colorado has him now but added flexibility after this season that it wouldn't have had with Girard still on the team. You're already seeing the benefits of Kulak in Colorado. He has been solid so far. He won't wow you or be spectacular, but he's going to be predictably solid every game.

It's a home run for the Penguins to get Girard, who is 27, signed through next season (average annual value of $5 million) and has more upside than Kulak. Girard can grow with the Penguins and if the fit is right, re-signing him makes sense. They have Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang on the right side, and now a skilled defenseman on the left side too with the addition of Girard.

It's harder to explain or come up with strong reasons why Colorado had to include a second-round pick in the trade when, in theory, it was trading the defenseman who is younger, signed and has more upside. But clearly the Avalanche put a high value on Kulak and, more importantly, the Penguins knew that.

Are there any rules from the Olympics that the NHL should consider implementing? I'm intrigued by the idea of expanding gameday lineups to include 20 skaters. -- @baYsYckwrYteboY

That's not a rule that I can see the NHL implementing. As you saw in the Olympics, there were teams with 20 skaters dressed that still played 12 forwards and six defensemen, meaning two players sat on the bench the entire game. Team Sweden did that with Filip Forsberg and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The players would not go for that. There's no need to crowd the bench. Injury is an inherent risk. There's no need to dress more players.

The two rules in international hockey that I think would or could work in the NHL are:

* Mandatory neck protection for all players. This is coming to the NHL in a phased-in way. Players who make their NHL debut starting next season and beyond will be required to wear cut-resistant neck protection. Neck protection will remain optional for players with NHL experience prior to next season.

* Any eligible player (meaning anyone not serving a penalty at the time) is eligible to take a penalty shot if one is awarded. I'm all for seeing the best players get a chance on a penalty shot even if they are not the player who specifically earned the penalty shot. 

This is a good question and I'm going to ask general managers around the League their thoughts on it too. It's an interesting topic.

The KHL is playing regular season games in China again. With the NHL's most recent forays into Asia getting derailed by a global pandemic, is the League planning to revisit the China market or even take the next step by playing regular season games there? -- @IronCaniac

The NHL is not currently planning to play games in China again, but it has not abandoned the market, according to Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. The League maintains a presence in China through corporate business partnerships, and it continues to fund in-school hockey programming across the country.