Mailbag: Devils' options with No. 2 pick in Draft, best coaching vacancy

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

Do you think the New Jersey Devils draft at No. 2 or trade it? -- @Henreeek
The Devils will not trade the No. 2 pick unless they can get a dynamic star player in return. I'm thinking along the lines of forward David Pastrnak from the Boston Bruins, forward William Nylander from the Toronto Maple Leafs or defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks. Pastrnak, who is 26 years old, can become an unrestricted free agent after next season, so a trade for him would have to come with a contract extension. But that's the type of player the Devils would have to get to trade the pick. Nylander is 26 and signed for two more seasons. Hughes is 22 and signed for five more seasons. The Devils already have his two brothers, Jack, a center, and Luke, a defenseman. Two other intriguing possibilities are Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala and Chicago Blackhawks forward Alex DeBrincat. Fiala is a 25-year-old restricted free agent; DeBrincat is 24 and has one year remaining on his contract before he can become a restricted free agent. Fiala is coming off an 85-point season (33 goals, 52 assists). He had 40 points (20 goals, 20 assists) in 50 games last season. DeBrincat had 78 points (41 goals, 37 assists) in 82 games this season. He had 56 points (32 goals, 24 assists) in 56 games last season. I think each are a notch below the level of Pastrnak, Nylander and Hughes, which would mean the Devils would have to get something else in addition to Fiala or DeBrincat to move the No. 2 pick to Minnesota or Chicago. Maybe the Wild give the Devils the No. 24 pick and Fiala for the No. 2 pick. That's a trade I'd consider. The Blackhawks don't have a 2022 first-round pick to offer New Jersey. If the Devils can get a high-end, mid-20s player like Pastrnak, Nylander, Hughes, Fiala or DeBrincat, they'd be getting an instant impact player who they could have for the next decade. That's more of a sure thing at this point than drafting either Shane Wright or Juraj Slafkovsky.
Of the (fill-in-the-blank) coaching vacancies remaining, which head coaching position has the most upside? -- @crichsports
There are currently six official vacancies with the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets all in the market for a coach. The Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers could be too. Derek King is technically the interim Blackhawks coach just as Andrew Brunette is with Florida. Of those six openings, Vegas is the most intriguing, but if the Panthers choose not to retain Brunette, that job becomes the best available.
Why Vegas? Any coach going there can win the Stanley Cup next season. Sure, there will be some changes. There has to be because of the NHL salary cap. But with a healthy lineup, Vegas is one of the best teams in the NHL. Injuries were the Golden Knights' biggest problem this season. It's why they didn't make the playoffs when they were the preseason favorite to finish first in the Pacific Division. Forwards Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty combined to miss 136 games (48 for Eichel, 45 for Stone and 43 for Pacioretty). Defenseman Alec Martinez was out for 56 games. The Golden Knights, though, are built to win now and everyone in the coaching community knows it. That's a coveted job even if they've already cycled through two coaches in the first five seasons.
Why Florida? It's for many of the same reasons as the Golden Knights. The Panthers are built to win now. They are loaded with talent. Who doesn't want to coach forwards Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, and defenseman Aaron Ekblad? They're gamechangers who have already gone through the growing pains. The Panthers won the Presidents' Trophy as the best team in the regular season this year. They finally won their first playoff series since 1996. But they appeared intimidated by the Tampa Bay Lightning through the first three games of the second round and were beaten by Andrei Vasilevskiy and his 49 saves in Game 4, the reason why they were swept. It's another learning experience for a team that has big plans for next season. If that job becomes open, coaches will be lining up for it.

Do the New York Rangers or Tampa Bay Lightning have a shot at beating the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final? -- @KREIDERMAN20
Yes, because either team will have the better goalie. Vasilevskiy and New York's Igor Shesterkin are the two best goalies in the NHL right now. There's little debate about that. The Avalanche are in the Stanley Cup Final because they clearly had the best team in the Western Conference and arguably the NHL. They're good enough in all areas to not need spectacular goaltending every night to win. Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz, whoever plays, are quality goalies who give the Avalanche a chance to win. Vasilevskiy and Shesterkin are capable of stealing a series. That's how good they are. And if it's the Lightning who get to the Final, you're also talking about a team with a Stanley Cup championship pedigree. They obviously know how to win at this time of the season considering they've done it the past two years. The Avalanche are new to this just as the Rangers would be if they got to the Cup Final. But the goalie makes a difference so, yes, the Lightning or Rangers would have a shot against Colorado even though the Avalanche have looked like an unstoppable force through three rounds, going 12-2 with sweeps against the Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers.

If you are the Avalanche, who are you rooting to face in the Stanley Cup Final? -- @phruitloops420
The easy answer is the Rangers because they're new to the Cup Final whereas the Lightning are the two-time defending champions. But I'll take the opposite viewpoint and say if I'm a player or coach with the Avalanche, to be the best you've got to beat the best, so bring on Tampa Bay. Of course, it doesn't matter who you beat in the Stanley Cup Final, you're the champions no matter what. But I think it would add a little sweetness to the victory to defeat the Lightning and end their bid for a third straight championship.
I don't think the matchups matter. The Avalanche will be facing an elite goalie regardless of the opponent. They will be facing a team with high-end speed and skill, with a dangerous power play, strong back end and a veteran coaching staff that has taken teams to the Cup Final before. Neither team has a shutdown line. Each can roll four lines. The Lightning could get center Brayden Point back too, which makes them even more dangerous in all areas. Point, the leading goal-scorer in the playoffs the past two years with 14 in each postseason, has missed eight straight games with a lower-body injury but he's practicing. The Lightning obviously have more experience, but the Rangers will have gotten through three rounds to get to the Stanley Cup Final, which gives them plenty of knowledge too. They've faced and overcome various scenarios, including down 3-1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, down 2-0 and 3-2 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. They're battle tested.
If Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin leave Pittsburgh, where do they go? -- @punmasterrifkin
Letang to the Montreal Canadiens.
Malkin to the New Jersey Devils.
Letang to the Canadiens is not a reach. The defenseman's former agent is Montreal general manager Kent Hughes. Letang is from Montreal. The Canadiens need skill on their back end. They need a power play quarterback. They need a leader. It's an easy fit for all parties if the Penguins can't get something done with Letang.
Malkin to the Devils is a reach. I think the center will re-sign with the Penguins. Plus, the Devils are in the same division and they're not considered at this point a strong Stanley Cup contender in the next two or three seasons. Of course, Malkin could help change that perception. Going back to the question about the Devils and the No. 2 pick, if New Jersey moves it for an elite scoring winger like Pastrnak, Nylander, Fiala or DeBrincat, that could entice Malkin to look at the Devils as a legitimate option if things fall through with the Penguins. There's also the chance to play with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. On top of it all, Tom Fitzgerald, the Devils general manager, used to be the Penguins assistant GM, so he knows Malkin well.