Mailbag: Ranking Ovechkin's historic goal; thoughts on Kreider, Hutson

Here is the April 9 edition of the weekly NHL.com mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on X and Bluesky. Send your questions to @drosennhl on X and @drosennhl.bsky.social on Bluesky, and tag it with #OvertheBoards.

You've seen a lot of moments live. Where does goal 895 rank? -- @Lars_Mah

Alex Ovechkin scoring his 895th goal at UBS Arena on Sunday is the single greatest individual achievement I've been in the building to witness.

I was at Bell Centre when Martin Brodeur tied Patrick Roy's wins record at 551, making 22 saves in a 3-1 win at the Montreal Canadiens on March 14, 2009. I was also at Prudential Center three nights later to watch and cover Brodeur breaking the record with 30 saves in a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks. But it was almost a foregone conclusion that Brodeur was going to break Roy's record long before he did. He was 36 years old and still regularly playing 70-plus games per season; he was limited to 31 that season because of injuries and would have broken it much earlier if he stayed healthy.

I was also there for the Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby dueling hat tricks playoff game in Washington on May 4, 2009. I was there for Crosby's four-point game against the New York Islanders on Nov. 21, 2011, when he came back from more than 10 1/2 months away from the game because of a concussion. I was there for Crosby's shootout winner in the first Winter Classic in Buffalo on Jan. 1, 2008. Those were incredible experiences nobody knew were going to happen. But watching Ovechkin chase down Wayne Gretzky's record and then being in the building for No. 894 on Friday and No. 895 on Sunday was to be present for perhaps the greatest individual achievement in the history of the NHL, considering he's 39 years old and this was supposed to be an unbreakable record.

It was certainly not a foregone conclusion Ovechkin would catch Gretzky at any time, let alone this season. Think back to last season, when Ovechkin scored eight goals in Washington's first 43 games. At that time, it did not seem plausible he would reach 30 goals last season (he had 23 goals in his final 36 games to finish with 31), let alone being a 42-goal scorer this season. It's amazing what he has done, and being there to witness it is a career highlight.

Why do all-time records not include playoffs? Thus it's not actually "all-time" if one is excluding certain times and one might say the most important time (playoffs). -- @DudMcManus

The best explanation I can offer is excluding the postseason from the all-time record book is the fairest and simplest way to level the playing field. Most sports do not combine regular season and postseason records into one all-time record. However, if you look at the NHL Records page (records.nhl.com) for skaters, goalies and head coaches you will see the League includes numerous records that combine regular season and postseason. They are not, however, viewed as the ultimate record because separating them into all-time categories for regular season and postseason is the best way to determine individual success.

In the NHL, everyone in the League is eligible to play 82 games in a season when they arrive at training camp unless they were suspended in the offseason for a specific reason. Not everyone is guaranteed to be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Some might argue postseason records are more telling of a player's career, but I counter by saying consistency and longevity, continued excellence year after year after year, health and finding your way through the grind are the true marks of individual greatness. These often go hand in hand; the record-setting players in the regular season are typically the record-setting players in the playoffs, too.

Can you explain Chris Kreider's season? When you've watched him play this season, has he seemed different since the infamous memo? Is it really a bad back? Did he check out, which would seem out of character? Very sad to see it go down like this. -- @msilvers1979

It's easy to see why you would jump to Kreider not being the same since Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported in late November that general manager Chris Drury mentioned him as being available in a trade in a text sent to the League's other 31 general managers. Kreider had nine goals in the New York Rangers' first 19 games through Nov. 23, including three on the power play and two short-handed. It was nearly a 40-goal pace. He had 39 last season, 36 the season before and a career-high 52 in 2021-22. But he has 11 goals in 44 games since, including three on the power play and two short-handed. He has 20 goals in 63 games, a steep drop from what was becoming the norm for Kreider. However, it's likely less to do with the mental repercussions of having his name involved in trade rumors and more the physical aspect of his game that has been lacking. There are reasons.

Kreider missed three games from Nov. 25-29 with back spasms, four more from Jan. 5-11 with an upper-body injury and then another six from Feb. 23-March 5 while on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. It's believed he has has been dealing with a back issue all season, which might be compromising his ability to be the physical power forward he has been for years.

The Rangers have not been as effective on the power play as they were in the previous three seasons. They averaged 25.3 percent on the power play from 2021-24, including 26.4 percent last season. This season, they're at 17.4 percent. The power play is Kreider's bread and butter. He has been one of the best in the League at getting netfront deflection and redirection power-play goals. So, why isn't he scoring more on the power play this season?

There doesn't appear to be an issue of volume of pucks going to the net. Entering Tuesday, the Rangers were 11th in the NHL in power play shots on goal (314) and fifth in total shot attempts (657), but they were first in total missed shots on the power play (189). There's a line that can be drawn from the missed shot attempts to Kreider not generating more power-play goals. If he were regularly getting to the net, some of those misses would likely turn into deflections and potentially more goals. But it's possible there are physical issues limiting Kreider's ability to consistently get on the inside.

Lane Hutson for Calder? -- @kavanyoung

Yes. At this point the choice for the Calder Trophy, voted as the NHL rookie of the year, should be clear. It's Hutson, the defenseman who has been one of the major reasons why the Montreal Canadiens are closing in on clinching an unexpected playoff berth.

First, there are his numbers. Hutson is fourth among all NHL defensemen with 64 points, including 58 assists, which was second behind only Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche (61). He has a six-point lead for the rookie scoring race (forward Matvei Michkov, Philadelphia Flyers, 58) and has 32 more assists than any other rookie (center Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks, 36). He is averaging 22:39 of ice time per game, by far the most among rookies who have received regular playing time.

Secondly, Hutson's fingerprints are all over the Canadiens success. He's elusive. His edgework, his skating, it's all elite. He's playing top minutes, getting some of the toughest matchups, and he's excelling in all three zones. In 22 games since the 4 Nations Face-Off, Hutson has 23 points and was a plus-19 while averaging 23:01 per game. Montreal is 14-4-4.

A month ago, there were legitimate arguments to be made for Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, Celebrini and Michkov to be favorites for the Calder Trophy. Hutson has rendered most of them moot with how he has played at the most important time of the season.

Any inside info on Isaac Howard and the Lightning? How does their cap need to change to get him signed and playing games? -- @notmikeydavis

There appears to be a salary cap issue that is currently preventing the Lightning from being able to sign Howard, the forward they selected with the No. 31 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He recently completed a successful junior season at Michigan State, with 52 points (26 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to the top player in the NCAA, to be presented Friday.

Tampa Bay knows if Howard goes back to school for his senior season, that would potentially allow him to become an unsigned college free agent in the summer of 2026. If the Lightning like him, and they do, it stands to reason they would want to avoid that. It also stands to reason Howard would want to sign now because if he does and he plays in the NHL this season, it would start the clock on his three-year entry-level contract, effectively burning the first year of it. But Tampa Bay needs the salary cap space to make it happen. Salary cap space is accrued daily.

A potential compromise could be the Lightning signing Howard to an amateur tryout contract (ATO) and placing him in Syracuse of the American Hockey League until they have accrued enough salary cap space to bring him to the NHL. Another option would be to sign him after the regular season ends, making him eligible to play with them in the playoffs. In each scenario, if Howard plays for the Tampa Bay, it would burn the first year of his ELC.

The Lightning can avoid that by waiting to sign him until after their season ends. But in that situation there would be no guarantee he would sign with them, because the potential to become an unrestricted free agent after next season could be too enticing.