Mailbag: Canucks' issues; Avalanche scoring depth without Landeskog

Here is the Oct. 26 edition of the mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on Twitter using #OvertheBoards. Tweet your questions to @drosennhl.

What is the biggest problem in Vancouver right now? -- @punmasterrifkin
The Vancouver Canucks aren't defending hard enough and the consequence appears on the scoreboard at the end of each game. They have lost seven straight games to start the season (0-5-2) and dare I say the most recent one, 3-2 against the Carolina Hurricanes at home on Monday, was the most glaring. No, the Canucks didn't give away a lead in the game, as they did in their first five games, including two-goal leads in their first four. They were in the game until the end thanks to a lucky bounce off Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi's face that directly led to J.T. Miller scoring at 10:40 of the third period to cut Carolina's lead to 3-2. But the score Monday was kind to the Canucks. They were outshot 39-16, including 15-7 in the first period and 15-3 in the third. They did not consistently look connected through the neutral zone, offensively or defensively. The Canucks did not look like a team that could make something happen. Instead, they looked like a team waiting for something bad to happen. It did early in the third, when Hurricanes forwards Sebastian Aho and Jesper Fast scored 37 seconds apart in the first 87 seconds of the period to give Carolina a 3-1 lead, allowing it to clamp down even more on the Canucks. Fast's goal went off his skate. Bad luck, bad bounce, the kind that happen to teams that are going the way the Canucks are. But Aho scored because Canucks center Elias Pettersson didn't complete a backcheck, the kind of play we're seeing from the Canucks too often. And when it happens, it seems as if there's nothing to stop the cycle from continuing, which makes it near impossible to create a winning environment. Winning teams don't let the cycle fester.
Losing skids take on a life of their own sometimes and that's what it feels like for the Canucks. They don't have the look or feel of a team that knows how to win a hockey game. Of course, these players know how to win hockey games. The Canucks have good players, but they're human and when things go wrong time and time again eventually players start to wonder if they'll ever go right again. A goal-scorer in a slump will tell you his nightmare is never being able to score another goal. The Canucks are in a slump and their nightmare is that they'll never be able to win another game. They will, eventually, but they're going to have to work for it.

Are you worried about the Avalanche's depth so far this season? Seems outside the top guns, which have been good, they can't find any secondary scoring. -- @jlwillert15
Not really. The Colorado Avalanche have 24 goals following their 3-2 shootout win at the New York Rangers on Tuesday; 13 from forwards Valeri Nichushkin (seven), Nathan MacKinnon (three) and Mikko Rantanen (three), and 11 from eight other players. Cale Makar has zero. The defenseman scored 28 goals last season.
Gabriel Landeskog
hasn't played. The forward had knee surgery and is out 12 weeks. I'm not concerned about the Avalanche and their ability to score, but we all knew replacing center Nazem Kadri and the 87 points he had last season would be a challenge. And it has been so far. The Avalanche need to find a productive No. 2 center after Kadri signed with the Calgary Flames as a free agent. They don't need one who is a point-per-game player, but they could use someone who can provide some offense. They'll find that player before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on March 3. Until then, especially with Landeskog out, the Avalanche will not be a finished product.
Do you think the New Jersey Devils are finally turning a corner and exiting their "never ending" rebuild? -- @matt12r
It's still about the goaltending in New Jersey. The Devils are averaging 18.2 more shots on goal per game than they're allowing (39.7-21.4). Their power play is struggling (15.0 percent, 24th in the NHL), but their penalty kill is excellent (90.5 percent, sixth in NHL). But it won't matter if they can't keep the puck out of the net at even strength. Of the 22 goals they have allowed this season, 16 have come at 5-on-5. I didn't think the Devils solved their goaltending issue by acquiring Vitek Vanecek from the Washington Capitals and making him and Mackenzie Blackwood their tandem. It was far from a sure thing and it's proving to be a problem already.
But though the Devils' talent, young legs and skill are all apparent and impressive, I wonder who is leading this team? Who is going to step up in the dressing room and have every other player in the room hanging on his words? Who is going to call the players' only meeting when it's necessary? I'm not talking about the coach. Lindy Ruff knows what his job is. He has to coach the team and individuals, play the style that fits the personnel, limit mistakes while getting maximum effort and pray the goaltending holds up. He's a veteran coach and he knows what he's doing. He's doing well if you look at the numbers outside the goaltending. But from the outside, the Devils do not have appear to have a veteran vocal leader. Forward Jack Hughes is 21 years old and doesn't have enough currency as an NHL player to be that guy yet. Nico Hischier, the Devils captain, is 23 and doesn't seem like he's a rah-rah guy. Ondrej Palat, 31, is the most decorated player in the room, a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has appeared in the Stanley Cup Final four times. The former Tampa Bay Lightning forward was a great free agent signing this offseason, but he's a quiet, lead-by-example player. Dougie Hamilton, 29, is a strong veteran player, but the defenseman has never been known to have a strong voice.
If you look at the top teams in the NHL, they all have unquestioned and obvious leadership groups, core players with strong and respected voices. The Devils don't seem to have that. It doesn't mean they can't turn the corner out of a rebuild, but I don't think they'll become a Stanley Cup contender until they find the group that is going to be the obvious heartbeat of the team.

What new stadium/arena innovations are coming? Retractable roofs? Front row glass suites? More than 18,000 seats? Better visual effects? What can be done to get more fans in the arenas? -- @theashcity
Attendance eclipsed 20.7 million across the NHL last season and that includes modified capacity in Canadian arenas because it was the third season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm curious as to what attendance will be this season, when buildings will ideally be allowed to operate at full capacity for all 1,312 games.
But your questions always get me thinking. Retractable roofs would be fun, if only for the option to play a night game under the stars if the weather permits. It won't happen any time soon and it'll take an innovative owner or arena management company to go that route, but I love the thought. Front row glass suites will never happen. Those seats are too valuable and limiting capacity to put up a suite at the glass wouldn't be fiscally responsible. Some arenas have suites underneath the lower bowl stands, but those aren't in view of the rink. The fans come out from those suites and get premium seats at or near the glass. Increasing the seating capacity in an arena will increase supply, but teams will always want demand to be higher than supply so I can't see that one happening. Visual effects are more for television, i.e. the ads on the boards and graphics that offer different stats other than the traditional score and shots on goal. The in-arena experience varies from team to team, arena to arena, but call me old school because I'm always in favor of the best visual effect at a game to be the actual game itself.
Here are some other ideas I have to enhance the in-arena experience for fans:
-- Fans select the Three Stars of the Game through a mobile vote.
*-- In-arena mid-period interview on the bench with a player and/or coach.
-- Live concert series during intermissions. Not every intermission and not every game, but music and hockey mesh well together, so let's add to the spectacle by including another show to watch.
-- An interactive fan experience outside of the arena, basically a smaller version of what the NHL does at all of its major events, including outdoor games and the All-Star Game.
-- Connor McDavid plays one game for every team in the NHL. Well, OK, this one is obviously a joke, but I'm sure every fan has envisioned McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers center, skating for their team at some point.