Topics in this edition of the mailbag include predictions for the three remaining head coaching vacancies around the NHL, Connor Hellebuyck’s playoff struggles, and more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in one of our next two mailbag columns.

yeasties: Just for funsies, predict who gets hired for the remaining head coach openings?

Let’s jump right in with a tough one, shall we?  There are three remaining openings after Jeff Blashill got the nod in Chicago: Boston, Seattle, and Pittsburgh.  Here are my picks for those three spots.

Bruins: I’ll go with Marco Sturm for them.  While internal options Joe Sacco and Jay Leach are believed to be in the mix still, can they really justify promoting from within after suggesting their intention is to get back to the playoffs next season?  Sturm has plenty of familiarity with the market after spending a lot of time there as a player which might appeal to management and ownership and he has been in the mix for a few top jobs now with experience as an NHL assistant and an AHL head coach.  He’s bound to get one soon and I think it might be here.

Kraken: The sense was that they were waiting for a candidate or two which tells me that Mitch Love may have been on their radar.  After Spencer Carbery did well as a first-time coach in Washington, it stands to reason that one of his assistants would get poached relatively quickly.  While I doubt management will come out and say this, this feels like a spot where they need to do a bit of a reset.  Getting a bit younger and taking a step back feels like a good opening for a first-time NHL head coach to allow him some time to get his feet wet without a lot of pressure.

Penguins: It wasn’t that long ago that Jay Woodcroft was viewed as one of the up-and-coming coaches before he got a short stint in Edmonton where a poor start last season cost him his job.  He has lots of experience working with younger players and at some point, Pittsburgh has to start getting younger.  On the flip side, he also has experience working in a win-now environment which, for better or for worse, appears to the fine line that they’re trying to walk, remaining competitive while getting younger.  A coach with some experience in both worlds like Woodcroft makes some sense here so I’ll go with him.

Schwa: Curious on your cup pick from the Final 4.

It’s hard not to go with Florida here.  The way they came back against Toronto and the way they’ve started against Carolina has been quite impressive.  The way that series is going, they could be in line for a bit of an extended break if it ends quickly which would be critical for a veteran-laden team who went all the way last season.  That would put them in a great spot to start.

My pick to come out of the West is Dallas but that’s not going to be a short series.  After needing 13 games to get this far and likely six or seven in this one, I’m a bit concerned that they might be a bit too worn down by the end of it.  And if Edmonton makes it a repeat of last year’s Final, their goaltending is even more erratic than it was a year ago with more inconsistent special teams.  It’s not that neither team couldn’t win but for me, the Panthers are the current favorite.

PyramidHeadcrab: So, what’s the deal with Connor Hellebuyck? If we look at advanced stats of the team around him, is it truly a case of an elite goalie consistently collapsing in the playoffs? Or is it the defense around him?

It’s absolutely stunning to see the Jets go from winning the Presidents’ Trophy to seeing Hellebuyck post the worst numbers of any goaltender in the playoffs – an unacceptable 0.866 save% (and it was worse than that at various points).

And I guess the follow-up question is… Where does the team go from here? Is this something that can be corrected?

I think there are two parts to it.  One is that the recent road struggles are in his head.  And it’s really only the road games that are the issue.  His home save percentage in the playoffs was .913 and while a pair of shutouts boosted that, those were his last two home games against a tough Dallas team.  I don’t want to take the easy way out and say it’s the yips but that’s a roadblock he’s going to have to get over and generally, the only way to do that is to keep throwing him out there in those situations.  And really, as their sure-fire starter, they’re going to keep doing that.  With the contract he has and not a particularly deep goalie pool of prospects, he will continue to be Winnipeg’s starter for the long haul.  This playoff run doesn’t change that.

The other factor at play that hurts here is game planning.  The book on Hellebuyck is that he’s more prone to be beat when he has to go side to side, suggesting more cross-ice play is the way to go.  If you’re a team playing Winnipeg in game 46 of the regular season, you’re aware of the scouting report but if you don’t play that way, you’re not going to overhaul your strategy for a random game in January.  But if you’re playing them in a best-of-seven series, you’re going to make some changes to try to maximize that particular weakness.  And that has happened for the last couple of years now.  The fix there is goalie coach Wade Flaherty coming up with some adjustments to help Hellebuyck improve in those situations or at least mitigate that weakness.  Considering how long he has been in the league for, I think the latter is more realistic than the former of those two options.

I have a hard time pinning a lot of this on the defense aside from perhaps not making adjustments of their own to take away some of the cross-ice options.  But they only allowed 23 shots per game in the playoffs which, while it’s a bit simplistic, is a number any team would be happy with.  I think Hellebuyck can get past this but there will definitely be question marks for his next playoff run.

The Duke: Lightning Round!

Is Merilainen Ottawa’s backup next season – and eventual #1?
More goals: Gauthier or Carlsson.
Is Snuggerud Top-6 and #1 PP unit?
Is Levshunov or Korchinski Chicago’s PPQB?
Levi’s short- and long-term future?

1) With Ottawa locking in with Linus Ullmark on a long-term pricey deal, it makes sense that the Sens would look to go with a low-cost backup.  That should give Leevi Merilainen the edge but with all of 14 NHL games under his belt, I think they’re going to want an insurance policy.  I could see them going after a lower-tier backup that could push for the backup spot or be on standby in the minors if Merilainen struggles.  Something sort of along the lines of what Buffalo tried to do this year with James Reimer although that didn’t work quite as planned.

2) Short-term, probably Cutter Gauthier.  But if Leo Carlsson’s training wheels eventually comes off and gets into that top-line role, he could be a 35-40-goal player if all went well.  I don’t see Gauthier reaching that level on an annual basis.

3) If all goes well, that should be the outcome for Jimmy Snuggerud.  He got a bit of time in those spots in the playoffs but I wouldn’t expect him to be a fixture in those spots next season as he’ll likely be moved up and down the lineup at times.

4) Out of the two, I’d say Artyom Levshunov since Kevin Korchinski didn’t exactly have a great season and I could see him back in Rockford, to be honest.  With how well Sam Rinzel played down the stretch, he probably will get a shot in that role as well.

5) I think it’s hard for Buffalo to call Devon Levi their starter of the future but I could still see him being viewed internally as a goalie of the future for him.  Whether that’s as a backup or platoon piece remains to be seen.  If it were up to me, he’d play in Rochester next season with Buffalo getting a more proven backup.  But if they need cap space to fill other holes, Levi could start next season as the backup once again.

FeeltheThunder: I’m quite curious about Tampa’s offseason plans. GM Julien BriseBois stated about a week ago that the organization is still debriefing on their offseason plans. However, the belief is they need to boost their bottom-six with more secondary scoring and some additional grit. Furthermore, there is speculation they also need to possibly upgrade their 3rd defensive unit. I’m wondering (and have some ideas) who they should look into or go after in FA whether it’s UFAs or even RFAs in retooling these areas to certain degrees as I would like to hear your thoughts?

Also, with Jeff Blashill leaving as an assistant, does this potentially open the door for Derek Lalonde to return who many Tampa fans want back on the staff?

One last thing, Tampa needs to move Conor Sheary which would give them an additional $2MM in cap space as that $2MM that could be used elsewhere, wouldn’t you agree?

Let’s answer these out of order as the last two are pretty quick.  I agree that they could better use Sheary’s $2MM but he also has negative trade value at this point.  They will have to attach an asset to clear his contract outright and is that better than waiving and burying him in the minors again, clearing $1.15MM off the books?  It depends on what they have in mind for adding to their roster.  As for Lalonde, it’s certainly a possibility if he wants to go back to that role.  But if he wants to be a head coach again, he could opt to stay on the sidelines and be available for any in-season openings, something that wouldn’t be an option if he were an assistant coach somewhere.

Tampa Bay has less than $6MM in cap space to work with, per PuckPedia.  With that, they have a forward or two to add or re-sign and probably at least one defenseman.  That doesn’t leave a lot of flexibility to work with although Gage Goncalves shouldn’t cost too much to re-sign.  Basically, they want to find someone who can fill Sheary’s spot better than Sheary and I agree, helping the third pairing would be ideal.  They’re going to have to aim low to do those things though with their lack of space.

I don’t see them targeting any restricted free agents as they lack the draft capital to go after some of the better options via an offer sheet while diluting their cupboards to fill a depth role doesn’t make a lot of sense when they can probably get a similar UFA to fill the spot where the only cost is money.

Some of the trade deadline candidates I suggested for them before make some sense here.  Luke Kunin won’t score a lot but gives them some positional versatility.  Joel Armia plays a good possession game that would fit on the third line and might only cost a bit more than Sheary.  I think Justin Danforth would be someone they’d like, a player who can play all three forward spots and can cover different roles in the lineup when needed.  When cap space is limited, flexibility becomes a lot more appealing.

For defensemen, assuming that Nick Perbix prices himself out of town, I think they’ll look at a short-term veteran on a one-year deal where they can get creative with bonuses to lower the 2025-26 charge.  Ryan Suter signed a contract like that this summer and might be willing to again.  If they want a right-shot option, Jeff Petry in a limited role could fit.  Jan Rutta, a familiar name for Tampa fans, could be open to a return to the role he had a few years ago.

In a perfect world, they bank some in-season cap space so out of that $5.8MM or so that they have, they might only spend $4.5MM this summer.  With a few players needing to be paid from that, they’re going to be bargain hunting for each role they’re trying to fill.

frozenaquatic: What do you think about this idea that the Panthers are franchise killers? They run roughshod over teams who have no answer for their combination of grit, compete, execution, and opportunism. I’m not a fan, but I’m in awe of how they dismantle teams and expose their flaws — with the Canes it looks like they’re being patient, goading them into taking penalties, and using their size advantage. If they win again this year, would you consider them a dynasty, or do they need one more championship?

Do you think they’ll try and retain Bennett? It seems like Ekblad is out the door, and I think he’s definitely a huge part of their imposing backend. Lastly, what do you think about the talk of them being “dirty,” “headhunting,” and Paul Maurice basically being a bounty coach (obviously not explicitly)?

Back-to-back championships would be impressive but that’s not enough to qualify as a dynasty.  They’d need at least a third in a short period of time to get into that discussion.  I also wouldn’t call them franchise killers.  They’re a well-balanced team with few weaknesses and a deeper roster than it might seem at first glance.  That, coupled with above-average physicality, makes them a tough team to beat but they’re far from unbeatable.  Toronto gave them a good run in five of their seven matchups, at least and had they not fallen apart in one of those, we could easily be seeing a Maple Leafs-Hurricanes matchup here.

I do expect them to try to keep Sam Bennett and I do think he’ll re-sign close to the start of free agency.  He won’t get top dollar from them but their no state tax situation should allow Florida to get close enough where it makes sense for him to stay.  I agree that Aaron Ekblad is likely gone; I think the move they made to get Seth Jones was his preemptive replacement while getting the benefit of having both for this playoff run.

I don’t think they’re necessarily a head-hunting team but they know where the line is and step over it from time to time.  I wouldn’t put Maurice in that category though.  He encourages his teams to be physical but that alone isn’t enough to put that particular qualifier on him.  But his roster has some players who, again, will go over that line at times but I feel that’s of their own volition, not from a sense of expectation from the coach that it needs to happen.

Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.