Mailbag: Patrick Kane's effectiveness; Canucks have look of contender

Here is the Nov. 8 edition of the weekly NHL.com mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on X. Send your questions to @drosennhl and @NHLdotcom and tag it with #OvertheBoards.

How effective do you think Patrick Kane can be given he had major surgery? What type of contract do you see him signing? -- @mbbrennan

The feedback I've received regarding Kane and his recovery from the hip-resurfacing surgery he had June 1 has been positive. Skating well. Moving well. Progressing within the timeline of 4-6 months he was given at the time of surgery. Looking more likely that he could play sometime between U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I would imagine he'll sign a one-year contract within the next month. Sportsnet reported over the weekend that he's narrowing his teams.

But all Kane has done is in recovery. That's just skating and rehab. That's not being in an NHL game. That's not getting hit, banged around, bumped. That's not having to make quick turns on a surgically repaired hip. That's not having to deal with postgame recovery and preparing to do it all again two nights later. It's impossible to know how effective Kane will be when he returns to the NHL. We'll know more in the coming weeks, but there's obvious trepidation around his return to being the Kane we knew before his hip started to give him chronic issues because the history of recovery from this particular surgery is not great, especially for a player in his mid-30s. Kane turns 35 on Nov. 19.

Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom had the same surgery on his left hip June 17, 2022. Like Kane, he was 34 when he had the procedure. Backstrom returned Jan. 8 of last season, about 6 1/2 months removed from surgery. He played 39 games and had 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists). He said he was 100 percent in training camp after having a full offseason of training. He wasn't. He isn't. Backstrom's hip still is bothering him, not responding the way he had hoped, and it is the reason why he is unlikely to play again this season, Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said Monday. Backstrom announced last week that he was taking time away from the team because of "my ongoing injury situation."

Former NHL defenseman Ed Jovanovski was the only previous player to return to playing in the NHL after having hip-resurfacing surgery. He had the operation when he was 37 years old during the 2012-13 season. He returned to play 37 games in 2013-14 and was inactive the following season before retiring from the NHL on Dec. 28, 2015.

Kane could buck the trend and be an elite player, or at least an impact player again. I'll have to see it to believe it.

Vancouver has come out of the starting gates with haste. A 9-2-1 start has the fans excited. Is this the Canadian team to finally break the 30-year drought? Have they convinced you they'll bring the Cup back to Canada or will it be another team? -- @theashcity

Slow down. Full stop. The Canucks are off to a strong start. They're fun. There is a lot to like. But Stanley Cup champions? That's taking it too far as I write this in early November. They're not the Vegas Golden Knights. They're not the Boston Bruins. They're not the Colorado Avalanche. Heck, they're not the New York Rangers. The Canucks haven't qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a full 82-game season since 2014-15. Playoff experience matters when it gets down to later in the season, and you're not always going to be playing a struggling team like the Edmonton Oilers. However, there is a lot to like in Vancouver, which is why I picked them to make the playoffs before the season began. My opinion has been bolstered by their hot start.

Quinn Hughes is the early favorite for the Norris Trophy given to the best defenseman in the NHL. He had another four points (one goal, three assists) in a 6-2 win against the Oilers on Monday. That was, by the way, the Canucks' third win against the reeling Oilers already this season, by a combined score of 18-6. Hughes has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in the three games. Overall, though, he's strong defensively and more dynamic offensively. He's become the elite two-way defender that not long ago we were questioning if he could become. That started last season. It has continued this season.

Elias Pettersson has seven points (one goal, six assists) against the Oilers and is second in the NHL with 21 points (six goals, 15 assists). Could Pettersson win the Hart Trophy as most valuable player and Hughes the Norris Trophy in the same season? Yes. How about adding Thatcher Demko as the Vezina Trophy winner given to the best goalie? Again, yes. He is 7-2-0 with a 1.61 goals-against average, .948 save percentage and two shutouts. Rick Tocchet for Jack Adams Award as coach of the year? He'd get my vote right now. Imagine a full sweep by the Canucks in those awards come June. The start of the season suggests it is possible.

The Canucks are relying on their offense (Brock Boeser has 10 goals and J.T. Miller 18 points). They're averaging 4.50 goals per game and 29.2 shots per game. The goals per game will regress. They're shooting 15.4 percent. That's 1980s Oilers good. No team has shot better than 14.0 percent for a full season since 1990-91, when the Pittsburgh Penguins shot 14.2 percent and the Los Angeles Kings shot 14.1 percent. The 2021-22 St. Louis Blues have the best shooting percentage in the NHL salary cap era (since 2005-06) at 12.4 percent. So, yes, the Canucks' shooting percentage is expected to drop, but they're also playing a strong defensive game backed by elite goaltending. That's how they're allowing 2.00 goals per game. Even if that creeps up, which it likely will, their offense is good enough to keep them going. And the way they're defending, the commitment we have seen so far with Demko's torrid start to the season has me believing they won't be prone to a prolonged slump.

The Canucks are good. They've bought in. This started last season after Tocchet took over and certainly once Demko returned from his injury. At that point they had nothing to play for. The schedule was soft, but the results have carried over. They look different than we've seen in a long time. They look like a contender.

Can the Devils survive the injuries to Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier? -- @ChristopherP99

They can survive. I mean, the New Jersey Devils are not going to go into the tank without Hughes (upper body, week to week) and Hischier (upper body, day to day), their top two centers, but they can't expect to be as explosive offensively on a consistent basis without their best offensive player (Hughes) and arguably their top two-way player (Hischier). The adjustment to win consistently, particularly while they await Hughes' return, is to play tighter defensively to protect their goalies, rely less on explosive offense and more on prevention. It's not as exciting, but it is essential when you're missing a player who drives the offense the way Hughes does. The Devils can't expect to go up and down the ice and win track-meet games, but they can use the time without him as an opportunity to play more of a structured game that will benefit them when games get tighter later in the season and in the playoffs.

The Devils can and still should push the pace offensively. They have players who can put teams on their heels like Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, Tyler Toffoli and Timo Meier, but limiting some of the risk in their game and relying on more of a 5-on-5 structure will be their ticket to success without Hughes and Hischier. If they do it right, they'll be a better team when both are back in the lineup.

Is Jay Woodcroft going to make it to Christmas with the way things are going for Edmonton? -- @MatthewWil5345

No. But that should be obvious. The Oilers are 2-8-1. They've been the most disappointing team in the NHL this season. However, we're talking about the job security of Woodcroft, Edmonton's coach, because the team is underperforming and goaltending has been such a big problem that the Oilers went as far as sending Jack Campbell to Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, one day after placing him on waivers. He's in the second season of a five-year, $25 million contract ($5 million average annual value).

The Oilers are 78-40-13 since Woodcroft replaced Dave Tippett on Feb. 10, 2022. They have won three playoff rounds under him. They went 18-2-1 in their final 21 games last season. He didn't become a bad coach in one offseason, but struggling goaltending and a lack of attention to detail defensively leading to poor results is more than enough to put a coach's job in jeopardy.

The Oilers have a chance to get well Thursday. They play the struggling San Jose Sharks and need a feel-good game in the worst way. It won't solve their problems, though. They already had a feel-good game this season, defeating the Calgary Flames 5-2 in the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic on Oct. 29. They've since lost three in a row while being outscored 15-7. They need to find a way to string together several good games in a row. It starts with paying attention to defense, playing tighter, avoiding the obvious desire to fly the zone and push for offense early in games because they feel the pressure. They need a refresh. If they can't do it, or it doesn't work, Woodcroft probably will take the hit.

Could the NHL eliminate the regrouping in the neutral zone for attacking teams in overtime by giving a penalty to that team if they leave the offensive zone with puck possession? This would create forced offense and less skating around. -- @NathonMerasty

The NHL could try for that, but I haven't heard the regroup in overtime being discussed as an issue that needs to be explored. It would have to be explored first by the general managers. If they decide it should be a rule change than it would need approval from the Competition Committee before going to the Board of Governors for final approval. I don't think it would get out of the discussion phase with the GMs. The regroup, pulling the puck back out of the attacking zone to reset to gain speed for a fresh attack, is part of the way 3-on-3 is played. It's not a problem; it's a tactic. Possession is what matters. If a player doesn't see an opening in the attacking zone, he should have the ability to regroup and start again rather than risk losing possession. They can do that in any other game situation. Why change it for 3-on-3 overtime? If players don't have the regroup as an option, I think you'd see too much perimeter play in the attacking zone, which means less speed and fewer scoring chances. Allowing the regroup gives teams a chance to attack with speed when it's not a rush play.