Mailbag: Kakko, Lafreniere getting chance in Rangers' top 6; Red Wings' fast start

Here is the Oct. 25 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.

All else being equal, if the Rangers get their kids in the neighborhood of 55-60 points each would that squash the "bust" claims of Alexis Lafrenière and Kaapo Kakko? -- @rangerdang3

Lafreniere turned 22 on Oct. 11, one day before the New York Rangers opened their season with a 5-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres. He scored the first goal in the game. Kakko will turn 23 on Feb. 13 and he played his 245th regular-season game Tuesday, when Lafreniere played his 222nd. They both got into the NHL at 18 years old, Kakko after being the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and Lafreniere after being selected No. 1 in the 2020 NHL Draft. Kakko had 98 points (44 goals, 54 assists) in his first four seasons, including NHL highs last season of 82 games played, 18 goals, 22 assists and 40 points. Lafreniere had 91 points (47 goals, 44 assists) in his first three seasons, including NHL highs of 81 games, 23 assists and 39 points in 2022-23. He scored 16 goals last season after scoring 19 in 2021-22. Kakko and Lafreniere have also not gotten the opportunity to play regularly in the top six forward group until this season, so before we start using the word bust to describe one or both, we need to see them get a consistent opportunity to be a top-six player.

They're getting that now. Kakko is playing regularly as the right wing on New York's top line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Lafreniere scored his third goal of the season in a 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. He's gaining chemistry, and getting adjusted to a new position, as the right wing on the second line with Filip Chytil and Artemi Panarin. Rangers coach Peter Laviolette knew when he took the job that he had to provide opportunities for Kakko and Lafreniere to succeed and reach their potential. He's doing that, but it needs to happen on a consistent basis for most of this season. If it does, I do think they can be 20-goal, 50-point players this season, or at least set new NHL highs for them across the board. They previously were mostly third-line players and bit pieces on the power play, and I do not think it was fair to judge them on that. If they fail in the opportunity they're getting, then maybe it will be fair to start throwing around that bust label, but they're still young, still with so much ice ahead of them. It's still too soon.

More impressive start, Detroit Red Wings or Boston Bruins? Not many expected the Red Wings to be good enough this year and many expected the Bruins to take a huge step back. The Bruins also have a fairly softer schedule. Is that contributing to their start? -- @BrettDAngelo

The answer is the Red Wings, and it's more important for them anyway. They needed a flying start to quickly gain chemistry and bank points. The Bruins (6-0-0) have more of a cohesiveness and winning culture even without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Expectations are high and players like Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy understand how to meet them early in the season. It helps too that their schedule has been friendly. Seven of their first eight games are against teams that did not make the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, two against the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks, who with the Columbus Blue Jackets were the bottom three teams in the NHL last season. All seven finished in the bottom nine in scoring last season. The Bruins have taken advantage and good on them. That's what they are supposed to do. The Red Wings aren't necessarily supposed to do anything. They're more of an unknown, more questions, but they've been delivering, even if it is at an unsustainable clip.

Alex DeBrincat scores almost every time he touches the puck. He has nine goals and is shooting 39.1 percent. Dylan Larkin is driving the speed of the Red Wings, and through seven games they have 14 players who've scored at least one goal and 19 with at least one point. Detroit (5-1-1) has points in six straight games (5-0-1), is an exciting team that's deep, fast and talented, and there could be some things brewing that we haven't seen in a long time. DeBrincat was already 20 percent of the way to being the Red Wings' first 40-goal scorer since Marian Hossa in 2008-09. Their 30 goals in six games were the most in the first six games of a season since the San Jose Sharks in 2013-14. They haven't made the playoffs since 2016. They could this season, but we need to slow down because they won't continue to score the way they have, and they won't continue to keep the puck out of the net the way they have either.

Their power play will slow down. Their shooting percentage will drop, likely significantly. Their 5-4 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday started a stretch of seven in a row against teams that made the playoffs last season. It's getting tougher and the bumps are coming, but the Red Wings may just be better than I thought they were going to be. They've been impressive.

At the time of this writing, Alex Ovechkin had zero goals and only nine shots on goal through five games. It's a small sample size, but has father time finally caught up with the "Great Eight?" Do you see him breaking Wayne Gretzky's goal record still? -- @Meatball\Sauce\

It's too small of a sample size to suggest that father time has caught up to Ovechkin. He's playing in a new system under coach Spencer Carbery. He doesn't have to adjust his game, but the players around him are adjusting and that, of course, impacts Ovechkin. It doesn't help that the Washington Capitals are one of the slower and older teams in the NHL. Scoring has been a problem across the board. Ovechkin needs to on a more consistent basis find himself in his favorite spots, in his shooting positions. He's not doing that enough. That doesn't mean he can't or won't, it just means he hasn't started the season firing on all cylinders.

Ovechkin is 38 years old, so clearly at some point his game and goal scoring pace will slow, but he's been through the course of his career a bulk scorer and a streaky scorer. The key for him has always been his ability to get open and use his heavy, hard shot. He hasn't been open enough and he hasn't been shooting enough yet either. His first nine shots on goal all came in two games and he did not have one against the Flames on Oct. 16 or the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 18. That's rare.

I expect Ovechkin's shot volume to increase and with it will come goals. He scored his first of the season and had 14 shots on goal in a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Maybe 30 goals this season. Maybe 35. That would be low for Ovechkin, but he dropped from 50 in 77 games two seasons ago to 42 in 73 games last season. He needs 72 goals to break Gretzky's record of 894. If he scores his age this season, or in that ballpark, he'll be on track to break it next season. He's signed through 2025-26 and won't stop until he sets that record.

Not a question, just an opinion: It won't last for 82 games, but the Flyers are closer to being good than people realize. No playoffs this year, but maybe next. -- @EStarks3rd

A history lesson is needed here.

The Flyers were 4-1-0 through their first five games last season, averaging 3.40 goals per game and 2.20 goals-against per game, were 22.2 percent on the power play and 76.5 percent on the penalty kill. They were 7-3-2 through their first 12 games. Their goals per game dropped to 2.75, but they were still strong defensively (2.42 goals-against per game) and their special teams were solid (19.5 percent power play, 82.9 percent penalty kill). They were off to a good start a fun story to start their first season under coach John Tortorella. Then the bottom dropped out and they became what we thought they'd be all along; a bottom tier team that struggled to score (2.68 goals per game), didn't keep the puck out of the net enough (3.37 goals-against per game), and was weak on special teams (15.6 percent power play, 74.7 percent penalty kill). The Flyers finished with 75 points, 26th out of 32 teams.

Fast forward, they're 3-2-1, scoring 3.00 goals per game and giving up 2.67. Their power play is 5.0 percent, but the PK (85.0 percent) is holding its own. Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson have been making an impact after missing last season. Travis Konecny (seven points; five goals, two assists) has been hot. Goalie Carter Hart (2.21 goals-against average, .923 save percentage, one shutout) has been delivering the way the Flyers always thought and knew he could.

And maybe it continues for a little while longer. Maybe in the end they will be better than they were last season, but they are young at defenseman and depth is a problem. They're trying to see what they have in forwards Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster, and defensemen Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae. They're not close to competing for a playoff berth in an Eastern Conference that is loaded with contenders, especially with the emergence of the Red Wings and Senators, and the potential reemergence of the Pittsburgh Penguins. You said maybe next season and I can't disagree with that, but the Flyers are trying to figure out who they are and that may take longer than anyone in Philadelphia outside the organization wants to admit.

If the Oilers struggles continue long term this year, what future do you see for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton? -- @IceTime9899

I see a long-term future in Edmonton for both regardless of what happens this season. Draisaitl can sign a new contract July 1, 2024; he is signed through next season. McDavid is signed through the 2025-26 season. The only way I see either or both going anywhere is if the Oilers decide to go in a completely different direction, but with these two superstars in their prime why in the world would they do that?

Jeff Jackson, McDavid's former agent, was hired as Edmonton's CEO of hockey operations Aug. 3. He wasn't hired to rebuild without McDavid or Draisaitl. He was hired to win the Stanley Cup. The Oilers will continue to build and retool around them until they get it right. That could be this season. It could be next season. They know they're relevant and a playoff contender if they have McDavid and Draisaitl. They sell. They won't change that regardless of what happens this season.