Mailbag: Sabres' up-and-down play, Capitals' chances of making playoffs

Here is the Dec. 14 edition of the mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on Twitter using #OvertheBoards. Tweet your questions to @drosennhl.

What the heck is going on in Buffalo? Some days they look like a legitimate threat and other days they're making bonehead mistakes. What's it going to take for them to be "for real?" And do you think they'd be better if they were in the Western Conference? -- @mikeybox
The Sabres are in the Eastern Conference so there's no real reason to discuss if they'd be better in the Western Conference. I wouldn't even know where to begin to answer that since it's not something I've ever considered. To the main point of your question, I think what you're seeing in Buffalo is a young team trying to grow up and realizing there will be some pain as the players learn how to play a 200-foot game. To build a Stanley Cup contender you need to be ready for an arduous grind. The Sabres are getting closer, but the highs and lows you are seeing are part of that grind, part of young players going through the hard process of figuring it out in games that matter, figuring out that sometimes taking care of your own end is more important than pushing for offense. The Sabres are first in goals scored per game (3.93) and yet 25th in goals against (3.55). They've scored at least four goals in each of their 13 wins and have scored fewer than four in 12 of their 16 losses (0-11-1). It's hard to be consistent when you need four to win every game.
But it's not surprising. The Sabres core is deep with forwards Jeff Skinner, Victor Olofsson, Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn, Casey Mittelstadt, Peyton Krebs and JJ Peterka, and defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. Skinner is 30, Olofsson 27 and Tuch 26. The remaining eight are 25 or younger, with an average age of under 22. Power and Peterka are 20. They're all signed through at least next season except for Cozens, who is at the end of his entry-level contract. The pieces are there, but the Sabres have to grow it the right way and that takes some time. If they let it blossom, it could be similar to what we've seen from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche.

The Capitals are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games and are starting to get healthy, with Tom Wilson maybe coming back in a few weeks and Nicklas Backstrom at some point this season. Do you see them getting into a wild card spot? -- @JRempe55
The Washington Capitals will be in the race for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs all season, but we expected that. I did not pick them to make the playoffs at the start of the season and I'll stick by it. They're playing better since just before U.S. Thanksgiving, but age and depth already were going to be concerns and they remain. They have an average age of 29.71 according to NHL Stats. That is 30th in the NHL. Ironically, the two teams that have an older average age than the Capitals are the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins, and I think each of them will make the playoffs. But I like the depth of each team better than what I see from the Capitals.
Part of the reason for Washington's strong run of late is goalie Charlie Lindgren, who is getting starts because of Darcy Kuemper's upper-body injury. Lindgren has been terrific and was named the NHL First Star of the Week for last week, but sustainability remains a question even when Kuemper gets back. The Capitals will get Wilson back at some point, but I'd wait until next season to expect to see the forward at his best. He's coming off ACL surgery and it takes time. Backstrom could return too, but his hip still could be an issue that limits the type of play we have come to expect from him. There also will be NHL salary cap issues for the Capitals to get Backstrom back in the lineup. He's on long-term injured reserve. I also wonder how much the Capitals, and Alex Ovechkin, were getting a surge from his chase for 800 goals, which he scored with a hat trick Tuesday. Will there be a lull once he passes Gordie Howe (801) for second all-time behind Wayne Gretzky (894)?
The other factor with the Capitals making the postseason is the crowded field ahead of them. I'm believe the New Jersey Devils are for real. The Penguins have overcome their seven-game losing streak to put themselves in a good position with the halfway mark nearing. I've counted out the Penguins in the past and they continue to prove me wrong. I'm done doing that. Add in the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and Lightning, and it really leaves two spots that will come down to the Capitals, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings.
If the Panthers can start getting some saves from goalies Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight, they can go on a run to give themselves some breathing room from the rest of the field. The talent is there. It's the same with the Rangers, who have won four in a row and have arguably the best goalie in the group in Igor Shesterkin. They also will be major players prior to the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline (Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane?). If it's not the Rangers or Panthers it'll be the Islanders, who are steady as she goes and getting more offense this season than they have in previous seasons. The Capitals are on a good run, but they can just as easily lose seven of their next 10 and making up for it will be harder for them. Toss in the numbers game with the amount of teams in the mix and I think they miss this season.

Rumors of potential bidders in the Ottawa Senators sale have been circulating. Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Oh and Michael Andlauer are potential buyers, per the news. Where does this sale stand? How long could this take? Does the sale have to be approved by the NHL? -- @theashcity
The NHL Board of Governors was updated on this process Tuesday
during their meetings at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida
. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said there are more than a dozen groups that have signed non-disclosure agreements to view the Senators' books. He said the expectation is the New York-based Galatioto Sports Partners, the financial firm hired by the Melnyk family to facilitate the sale, will begin a formal process of vetting and accepting bids in January. There is no timeline for how long the process could take. The sale has to be approved by the Board of Governors, but the NHL is giving the space necessary for the sale process to be completed and NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said there is no set date for when the League wants it completed. Bettman didn't mention who the potential bidders could be, though the Ottawa Sun reported Andlauer is among them. Andlauer owns the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League and has a minority stake in the Montreal Canadiens. Bettman talked about meeting Reynolds, the Canadian actor, and how he and Daly came away impressed. Bettman said having Reynolds as part of an ownership group would be good for the Senators and the NHL. It's not clear if he will be. I didn't hear Oh's name come up, but I have seen reports saying the actress from Ottawa could be interested in a stake as well.
Do you believe there is a chance the NHL decides to go to a longer overtime and eliminate the shootout eventually? -- @punmasterrifkin
I'd say there is a zero percent chance of this happening. I understand the question and I get why fans prefer longer overtime in the regular season, especially if it's 3-on-3. But understand that more overtime means more ice time for the players, and since it's typically the best players on each team that get ice time in overtime you're talking about a greater chance for injury or at least wear and tear on the top players in the game. It's better to leave it at five minutes and go to the shootout. Besides, since 2015-16, when the NHL went to the 3-on-3 OT format, 65.6 percent of games that have gone past regulation have ended in overtime, including 72.5 percent (74 of 102) this season. It was 43.2 percent from 2005-15, when overtime was 4-on-4. I also haven't heard anyone in the NHL who has an appetite to bring back ties into the standings, so the shootout is here to stay. But not only are there fewer of them now, the NHL has reduced the impact of them by lowering the importance of shootout wins in the standings tiebreaker procedure. The first tiebreaker, after total games played/points percentage, is the number of regulation wins. The second is the combined number of regulation and overtime wins. Shootout wins factor in after that, so there is incentive to go for the win in regulation or at least overtime if the game gets there.