Mailbag: Blackhawks front office options, Boudreau effect

Here is the Dec. 8 edition of the mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on Twitter using #OvertheBoards. Tweet your questions to @drosennhl.

Are the Chicago Blackhawks thinking of solidifying a new general manager or coach with the other clubs making moves or are they thinking offseason? Seems like their current coaching staff is doing well. -- @jahnbahmb
I was having a conversation with someone associated with the Blackhawks last Saturday, when they were at Madison Square Garden to play the New York Rangers. The feeling I got was they aren't sure yet about their next step and are not in a mode to rush anything.
I think the Blackhawks should look to follow the model of having two people running hockey operations, an executive in charge ahead of the general manager. We see that with the Columbus Blue Jackets (John Davidson and Jarmo Kekalainen), Boston Bruins (Cam Neely and Don Sweeney), Pittsburgh Penguins (Brian Burke and Ron Hextall), Vegas Golden Knights (George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon) and now the Montreal Canadiens (Jeff Gorton and a GM to be hired).
The Blackhawks could have someone like Eddie Olczyk as vice president in charge of hockey operations and Kyle Davidson, who replaced Stan Bowman as general manager, as full-time GM. Olczyk, a lead analyst for national games on Turner Sports and locally for NBC Sports Chicago, has impeccable contacts throughout the NHL and a full understanding of how things are run. He knows Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz and CEO Danny Wirtz well. He knows the market as well as anyone. He knows the NHL as well as anyone. He could be the face of the executive team and Davidson could run the day to day. It would ease Davidson's burden, allow him to follow trends and analytics, and give the Blackhawks a more diverse decision-making team.
I agree that coach Derek King, with assistants Marc Crawford and Rob Cookson, have done a solid job trying to get the Blackhawks an established identity. They've been harder on their opponents and stingier defensively. Chicago is 8-5-0 and is allowing 2.62 goals against per game in 13 games since King took over for Jeremy Colliton on Nov. 6. The Blackhawks were 1-9-2 and gave up 3.92 goals per game in their first 12 games. I like King and the attitude he brings. He has a calming influence. He seems like a coach who is good at breaking tension. That is what the Blackhawks needed.
Can Bruce Boudreau turn the Vancouver Canucks around? -- @chrisrahn
Yes. He has done this before with teams that had obvious talent but weren't able to put it together. Call it the Boudreau Bump.
* The 2007-08 Washington Capitals were 6-14-1 with a .310 points percentage, averaged 2.24 goals per game and allowed 3.05 per game when Boudreau replaced Glen Hanlon on Nov. 22, 2007. They went 37-17-7 the rest of the season (.664), scoring 3.13 goals per game and giving up 2.67 per game.
* The 2011-12 Anaheim Ducks were 7-13-4 (.375 points percentage), scored 2.21 goals per game and allowed 3.08 goals-against per game before Boudreau took over for Randy Carlyle on Nov. 30, 2011, two days after Boudreau was fired by the Capitals. The Ducks then were 27-23-8 (.534 points percentage), averaging 2.55 goals per game and 2.59 goals-against per game.
* The Minnesota Wild won 38 games and had 87 points (.530 points percentage) while averaging 2.60 goals per game and 2.49 goals-against per game in 2015-16, their final season under Mike Yeo. A fresh start under Boudreau in 2016-17 helped them win 49 games and earn 106 points (.646 points percentage). The Wild averaged 3.21 goals per game and 2.51 goals-against per game.
The Canucks were 8-15-2 (.360 points percentage), scored 2.36 goals per game and gave up 3.16 per game before a 4-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings in Boudreau's debut Monday. Their penalty kill was 64.6 percent; it was 2-for-2 against the Kings.
Boudreau's history shows he helps his team get better defensively by being more aggressive when attacking offensively. If the Canucks can decrease their goals against, starting with an improved penalty kill, you will see their offense surge, like it did Monday, and they will turn things around.

When will the suffering for Philadelphia Flyers fans end? -- @bentompkins68
Let's keep things in perspective. The Flyers have been close to a perennial Stanley Cup Playoff team for more than a quarter century, having made the postseason in 20 of the past 26 seasons, including the Stanley Cup Final in 1997 and 2010. They didn't win, I get that, but it's not as if they've been a long-suffering franchise.
However, I understand what you mean regarding the Flyers this season and going back to last season. It's been disappointing and, to be honest, I'm not sure they even know their best course of action. They're struggling, having lost nine straight games since Nov. 18 (0-7-2), including five straight by a combined score of 29-12 heading into their game at the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday. They're a team caught in the middle, up against the NHL salary cap with veteran players who are consistently inconsistent.
The Flyers look like a team going nowhere fast, which is why they fired coach Alain Vigneault and assistant Michel Therrien on Monday and elevated Yeo from assistant to coach. The immediate return wasn't much different that night, a 7-5 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, when their biggest problem was on display: They struggle in the defensive zone. They leave holes in the middle that are easily exploited. It's the first area that must be cleaned up.
Should Philadelphia salvage anything from this season or start moving pieces to begin an encompassing rebuild? It's a tough question to answer because the Flyers already have strong veteran players in place and the mentality going into this season was to contend. That's why they added defensemen Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen in the offseason. It hasn't worked, so maybe it's time for a shift in mentality.
I can't answer when your suffering will end because I don't know what the Flyers are going to do next. If they blow it up, which could start with trading forward Claude Giroux, their captain and a pending unrestricted free agent, the suffering won't end for a while. If they stay the course and try to build from the base they already have, I'm not sure it ends because the core of this team has not shown enough to create belief among the fan base. The Flyers are in the middle. It's not a good spot to be.
We're seeing crazy point-per-game averages by defensemen across the NHL this season. What is the main reason for this trend? -- @JimmyBurnsy
The defensemen coming into the NHL are arriving with the instincts of knowing when and when not to jump into the play. They have speed, vision and can stickhandle.
All teams are more reliant on activating their defensemen. It's a necessary ingredient to winning. Find a team with a slower group of defensemen more prone to waiting back and you'll find a team that struggles to score (i.e. the New York Islanders). You see more defensemen taking the puck end to end the way Cale Makar did for the Avalanche against the Flyers on Monday. Makar, Adam Fox of the Rangers and Quinn Hughes of the Canucks do it because they can, and they're given the freedom to do it. Coaches aren't restricting their defensemen. They're being encouraged to jump in and join the play. There's more risk, but a lot of defensemen who are jumping in are smart enough and fast enough to recover if necessary.
That's partly why I think we are seeing inflated point-per-game numbers from defensemen. There are 13 this season who have played at least 10 games who were at 0.80 points per game, including four who were better than a point-per-game average, led by Makar (1.16). Last season, six defensemen averaged at least 0.80 points per game with Makar the only one at a point per game (1.00). There were six in 2019-20, when John Carlson of the Capitals (1.09) was the only point-per-game defenseman. There were seven at 0.80 or better in 2018-19, with Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks (1.01) the only point-per-game player. We'll see where we end up at the end of this season, but I would bet there will be at least eight or nine better than 0.80 and it wouldn't shock me if there were three, four or more at a point per game, including Makar and Fox.