Mailbag: Canadiens' playoff chances, Kings' struggling power play

Here is the Oct. 17 edition of Dan Rosen's weekly mailbag, which runs every Wednesday. If you have a question, tweet it to @drosennhl and use #OvertheBoards.

Do you think the Montreal Canadiens can fight for a wild card spot and surprise a lot of people this season? -- @TJRinger1
I think they can make a push, and if they do, it would be surprising, but I'm not ready to say they will. I'm not ready to change my opinion on the Canadiens after five games (3-1-1). I don't think the Canadiens have enough down the middle to stay on a course to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. Center depth is essential to success in the NHL. Montreal doesn't have it. We already see that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins are for real in the Atlantic Division. We expected that. The Tampa Bay Lightning have had an odd start to the season with a quirky schedule, but they'll find a rhythm and they'll find their groove. I expect the same of the Florida Panthers. I just don't see the Canadiens having enough to finish ahead of any of those four teams. But what I do like from the Canadiens is the work ethic and the control they play with. We've seen it in at least four of their five games so far (maybe not enough in the 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings). They're keeping their shots against down (26.6 per game) and getting pucks to the net (36.0 shots on goal per game), and their struggling special teams (13.6 percent power play, 76.9 percent penalty kill) should improve when defenseman Shea Weber returns to the lineup, likely in December.

Is the Ottawa Senators' decent start a result of hot players or a hint at a successful future for the organization? -- @NDeOreos
Both, which is why I don't think it will last and why I want to keep watching.
Let's look at forward Chris Tierney as an example. He has eight points (two goals, six assists) on a six-game point streak to start the season. The only other time Tierney had a point in at least five straight NHL games was in his rookie season, when he had six points (two goals, four assists) in a five-game streak from April 1-9, 2015. His start this season could be a sign he's building on what he did last season, when he had an NHL career-high 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 82 games for the San Jose Sharks. Does that mean Tierney is now a top scorer, or is he just a player who is on a hot streak to start the season? He's probably somewhere in between.
The Senators can't expect defensemen Thomas Chabot (two goals, six assists) and Max Lajoie (four goals, three assists), a rookie, to stay as productive as they've been in the first six games. But that's not the point. They're hot now and they're showing signs that they might have a chance to start a competitive defensemen group in the post-Erik Karlsson era.
Brady Tkachuk, the No. 4 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, has six points (three goals, three assists) in four games, but will miss a month with a torn ligament in his leg. The forward was showing hockey IQ (stopping in front of the net, turning and waiting for the puck, head up, finding soft spots in the defense) of someone who is much older than 19. Despite the injury, he's shown the Senators they weren't wrong to pick him where they did.
Keith Kinkaid is playing outstanding for the New Jersey Devils. Is it time for the Devils to consider trading Cory Schneider when he's healthy? -- @rudshar98
No. Trading Schneider coming off hip surgery would be difficult. The market for goalies is already thin, let alone considering one coming off major surgery. I wouldn't consider it anyway. Kinkaid is solid, but he's never done it as a No. 1 for a full season and he needed to be replaced in the playoffs last season after allowing nine goals in two games (was pulled in one). Kinkaid is 29, so it's not like he's a young, up-and-coming goalie who is ready to be a No. 1 for the next 5-10 years. I like him. I'd want him on my team. He's a perfect fill-in, perfect stop-gap. I won't rule out the possibility he could be more than that, but the Devils have a No. 1 goalie. It's Schneider, who hasn't yet had the luxury of being a healthy No. 1 for an extended period with the Devils also putting a good team on the ice in front of him. The hope is for Schneider, 32, to be fully mobile and healthy again when he returns because he had the surgery on his hip in May. Kinkaid is making it an ideal situation for the Devils by doing his job, which allows Schneider to come back at the right speed. Coach John Hynes can work Schneider back in slowly, but when he's fully up and running, he should be the No. 1, or at least work in tandem with Kinkaid.

What is wrong with the Los Angeles Kings' power play? -- @Pwruzzo
The Kings are 0-for-21 on the power play. I went back and rewatched their 11 power plays from the past three games to see if anything stood out to me. A few things did:
1) They're not finding forward Ilya Kovalchuk. He's waiting in the left circle, but the Kings are struggling to swing the puck to his side to set him up for the one-timer, which can be dangerous. Only once on the 11 power plays I watched did they connect for that one-timer.
2) The top unit isn't shooting enough. The Kings have 27 shots on goal on their 21 power plays. They need more. Between defenseman Drew Doughty and forward Anze Kopitar, I saw a lot of passing, but not nearly enough eyes up and looking to shoot.
3) I like the play when Kopitar finds forward Jeff Carter popping up in the slot for a one-timer, but they haven't seemed to find that play enough, or they're not running it enough. Carter has a quick release and a good one-timer. That play also forces the opponent to respect the low slot, which could open more room for a high seam pass to Kovalchuk.
4) Their zone entries can be cleaner.
What are your thoughts about the New York Rangers and David Quinn so far? How does Quinn's style on and off the ice, including practice, compare with Alain Vigneault? -- @BAbassAle
It's too early to say too much about coach Quinn and the Rangers. This is going to be a work in progress all season. What I like about Quinn is he's holding players accountable by taking away ice time. He's already scratched defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, forwards Pavel Buchnevich and Vladislav Namestnikov, and benched forward Kevin Hayes for long stretches in a 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 6. He's respectful of what he calls a player's "bank account," meaning how much they've already done in the NHL, but he's not settling or waiting for players to find their game. That's a little different from Vigneault, who would give more leeway to veteran players and seemed to be harder on young players. Vigneault won a lot of games that way. Quinn hasn't won with any of these players in the NHL, so he's holding everyone accountable in the same way, trying to figure things out along the way.
The big difference that I see from Quinn is in practice. You can't help but notice him and hear him. He's loud. He's quick to stop practice if he doesn't like how a drill is being run. He harps on getting pucks and bodies to the net. He'll bring the players over to the whiteboard three or four times in practice. There's a lot of teaching and a lot of energy. That's part of the rebuild, though. Quinn was brought in because he's a communicator, because he excels working directly with the players, both in group and 1-on-1 settings. Vigneault operated differently.
Which early season injury will have the biggest impact on the team affected? Paul Stastny? Corey Perry? Corey Crawford? Elias Pettersson? Justin Schultz? Certainly missing a few more. -- @chris_szimanski
You must look at No. 1 goalies, top-two centers and No. 1 defensemen whenever ranking the impact of injuries. From the list you used, that includes Stastny, Crawford and Pettersson. The good news for the Chicago Blackhawks is they're hoping Crawford (concussion symptoms) can start this week, possibly Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, FS-A, NHL.TV). The bad news is the Vegas Golden Knights think Stastny, their No. 2 center, could be out for two months with a lower-body injury. It's also unclear how long Pettersson, who has quickly become the Vancouver Canucks' No. 1 center, will be out with his concussion symptoms.
You're missing a few more notable injuries, including Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo (right knee), Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (lower body), Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf (groin), Carolina Hurricanes goalie Scott Darling (lower body), Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones (knee), and Coyotes center Alex Galchenyuk (lower body). From that list, I worry most about the Kings and Quick. Jack Campbell has had a tough time in his past two starts, allowing eight goals on 36 shots against Ottawa and Toronto. With the Kings struggling to score, that puts more pressure on Campbell.