NHL.com’s weekly Over the Boards mailbag is in full swing this season. Every week, senior writer Dan Rosen sifts through your questions sent to him on X and chooses five to answer.

To participate in future mailbags, send your questions to @drosennhl on X and use #OvertheBoards.

The Panthers and Maple Leafs were widely predicted to be the top two teams in the Atlantic Division, but so far they are both bottom four in the East. Which do you feel is more likely to rebound and make the playoffs, or neither? And why? — @AlexAllsopp3

It’s been a disappointing first quarter of the season for both teams, but that was predictable for the Panthers because of injuries and the amount of hockey they have played the past three seasons. They will recover and qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I’m not sold on the Maple Leafs, who have different and bigger issues.

They’re struggling to possess the puck to sustain in-zone pressure. They were outshot in 12 of 19 games entering Tuesday, but they were 1-5-1 in the seven games they outshot the opponent. They were 24th in shot attempts percentage (47.9). Making it worse is their .881 save percentage at 5-on-5, which was 30th in the League.

So not only are the Maple Leafs defending too much, their goaltenders, Anthony Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby, are not bailing them out.

Toronto was supposed to have a tandem of Stolarz and Joseph Woll, but the latter missed the first 18 games because of personal reasons. That forced Stolarz to take on the bulk of the workload. His 3.51 goals-against average is 33rd of 34 goalies who have played 10 or more games this season. At least Woll is back, so perhaps Toronto can get its goaltending stabilized.

The Maple Leafs have also been unable to fill the gaping hole left by the departure of Mitch Marner, the 102-point forward who joined the Vegas Golden Knights after last season. They won’t fill it entirely, but they have to be more of a sum of their parts. That hasn’t been the case thus far.

How for real do you think the Blackhawks are? Tons of young talent, a new head coach with what seems to be good systems. Can they make the playoffs? — @CHI_guy08

The Blackhawks could be on a similar path as the Anaheim Ducks, albeit one season behind them.

The Ducks had 23 wins and 58 points in 2022-23. They made marginal improvement in 2023-24, finishing with 27 wins and 59 points. Last season, they won 35 games and finished with 80 points.

Anaheim learned how to walk without falling down last season. It is starting to run this season.

Chicago had 23 wins and 52 points in 2023-24 and improved, marginally, to 25 wins and 61 points last season. It entered Tuesday on a 41-win, 100-point pace. It seems unsustainable for a team that together has never played meaningful hockey after Jan. 1, especially when you consider its road-heavy schedule coming out of the Olympic break.

The Blackhawks play 15 of 21 games on the road from Feb. 26-April 6, including games against traditional Western Conference powers the Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers. They also have a four-game trip to play the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, Rangers and Devils in a six-day span from March 24-29.

They still play the Avalanche, Golden Knights, Stars and Jets three times each, and the Oilers and Los Angeles Kings twice more. They’re 4-4-2 against teams that made the playoffs last season, including a 3-1 loss to the Kings on Oct. 26, a 6-3 loss at the Jets on Oct. 30 and a 3-2 overtime loss in Edmonton on Nov. 1.

Chicago may take an even bigger step than Anaheim took last season if goalie Spencer Knight continues on his path to be a candidate for the Vezina Trophy as the League’s best goalie. But to say it’ll be enough to make the playoffs seems like a stretch in mid-November.

This feels like the Blackhawks learn how to walk without falling down season.

The Rangers are playing like a .500 club. They win a few and then lose a few. Who do you think they should trade for? Or who do you think they need to trade off the team? — @ComicbookMy

My belief when the season began was the Rangers were short a No. 3 center and two more top-nine forwards, including at least one to play in the top-six. They could also use a left-handed top-four defenseman.

Rookie Noah Laba has emerged to fill the No. 3 center position, but that still leaves New York needing more firepower up front.

Gabe Perreault got a chance in that top-six spot and lasted three games before the Rangers sent the 20-year-old rookie back to Hartford of the American Hockey League. He may eventually be the answer to fill out the top-six depth later in the season, but there is no certainty there and New York shouldn’t wait to find out.

If the Rangers can fill that hole, it would stretch their depth and allow them to utilize Will Cuylle on the third line with Laba and a to-be-determined right wing. Right now, it’s Conor Sheary and Jonny Brodzinski on the third line with Laba, with Juuso Parssinen an option. The Rangers can be fine without filling the top-nine forward spot, especially with Matt Rempe potentially returning later this season, but if they can and want to be greedy, upgrading their depth would be the way to go.

The defense group looks OK at the moment. It would look better if Carson Soucy was on the third pair with Braden Schneider. That means the Rangers would need to get a top-four left-shot defenseman to play with Will Borgen on the second pair. Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov form the top pair.

It’s too early to determine who could be available because so many teams are in the hunt, but the field will thin and sellers will emerge soon enough. New York should not be a seller; it should look to add and bolster a team that is good enough to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

Who do the Devils target now that Jack Hughes is out long term? — @buckstang02

They’re not going to replace Hughes’ production or impact, so the more likely scenario for the Devils is that they will trudge on without the center or a replacement for him and simply just try to stay above water until he returns, ideally in January.

Hughes is expected to miss up to two months following surgery on his finger because of an off-ice accident. He will be reevaluated at the six-week mark. He entered Tuesday leading New Jersey in goals (10) and points (20) in 17 games. He could miss around 30 games. It’s a massive loss.

The good news for New Jersey is that forwards Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov, and defenseman Dougie Hamilton are back, having returned in a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

The Devils have enough talent, especially with the emergence of Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec on the back end, but surviving that long without their best offensive player will be a challenge. They’ll rely on their structure, discipline and goaltending because they won’t score as consistently without Hughes.

Provided they stay above water, with the hope of Hughes returning in mid-January, in time to play for the United States in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the Devils will have a much better idea of their needs in advance of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline on March 6.

That’s the positive approach to some brutal and unexpected injury news.

Are young players like Dallas’ Jason Robertson (USA), Wyatt Johnston (Canada) and Liam Bichsel (Switzerland) being considered for the Olympics? Why not get these younger player international experience? We know they can play at the elite NHL level. — @roscoe2525

Robertson would be a lock for the U.S. team if he keeps scoring goals the way he has been, with six in his past three games entering Tuesday. He had 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists), which was tied for second among all U.S. forwards. The issue for the 26-year-old Robertson is he is a streaky scorer, evidenced by his six goals in the past three games after three in the first 16. Being streaky is fine over an 82-game season because when you get hot like he is now you help your team win a lot of games and you likely finish with between 30-40 goals. But there’s a risk in taking a streaky scorer to the Olympics because what happens if he doesn’t score? That has to be part of the debate about Robertson among U.S. general manager Bill Guerin and his staff.

Johnston’s chances are still strong despite Canada’s depth at the forward position. Canada has five forwards on the team in Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart, Brayden Point and Nathan MacKinnon, leaving nine spots available. Johnston, 22, was not on Canada’s roster at the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, but neither were Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, Bo Horvat, John Tavares, Mark Scheifele and Tom Wilson. All are making strong cases along with Johnston for the Olympics.

Bichsel, 21, is one of four Swiss defenseman in the NHL this season, along with Roman Josi, J.J. Moser and Jonas Siegenthaler. That doesn’t mean the 6-foot-7 Bichsel will be on the Olympic team. Switzerland has a few defensemen under consideration playing in its own National League, including former NHLers Dean Kukan and Tim Berni, but Bichsel has become a regular in Dallas, playing nearly 15 minutes per game on one of the NHL’s stingiest defensive teams. That should hold weight in Switzerland’s roster selection.