NHL Inbox: Yzerplan grade? Next great Canadian goalie? 531m4t

Welcome to NHL Inbox, a monthly forum in which readers can ask me anything hockey related and I try my best to deliver an insightful answer. 3w2y3

Note: the questions below were lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

                    

T.J. asks: Will the NHL ever return to the 1-8 seeding playoff format? I feel that the divisional playoff format is stale, as watching the same matchups each year gets repetitive. Teams are missing out on rivalries outside of their division.

I've received a bunch of questions similar to this one. Fans seem ready for a change after 12 years of the NHL trying to manufacture regional rivalries.

The current format (three seeds per division, two wild cards per conference) has led to too many repeat matchups over a short period and too many excellent teams being eliminated in Rounds 1 and 2. Reverting to the 1-versus-8 format, which the NHL used from 1994 through 2013, would give the 82-game regular season extra weight and lessen the likelihood of a division winner facing off against a strong opponent in the opening round. Reseeding after each round is another exciting and equitable feature of the 1-versus-8 setup.

Commissioner Gary Bettman has been consistent on this topic, saying he sees no issues with the format and doesn't like the idea of a play-in round. "Best team to win the (Stanley) Cup has got to get through the best teams," Bettman told reporters in March. "And you know what? Having great matchups in the first round, that's terrific. That's not a problem, that's a great thing."

Bettman, 73, hasn't revealed his timeline for retirement, but he won't be running the league forever. If his successor is looking for some early public relations victories, reimagining the playoff format would be a good start.

The worst part of the current setup is that Round 3 tends to feature two teams who deserve to be there and two who have technically earned their spots but also probably benefited from the rigid bracket setup. Case in point: 2021 was the last time a conference final series required all seven games.

                    

wingsfan13 asks: Do you believe in the Yzerplan/GM Steve Yzerman? Lots of solid draft picks, but most of the free-agent gs have been disastrous. Vladimir Tarasenko, Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher, Justin Holl, Erik Gustafsson, and Ville Husso are the obvious ones, and I think everyone's still confused about the Jake Walman trade. And now Yzerman's on coach No. 2. What grade would you give Yzerman's tenure?

Former general manager Ken Holland left Yzerman with a mess of a roster in April 2019. Yzerman's made progress over the past six years through the so-called "Yzerplan," yet sustained on-ice success still feels like a pipe dream.

Let's start with drafting and developing. Cornerstone pieces Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Simon Edvinsson, and Marco Kasper are all first-round success stories. But Detroit's turned only a few players selected beyond the opening round into everyday NHLers despite averaging 9.8 picks per draft.

The GM also fumbled the blue-line construction by betting on the wrong veterans - 2022 signees Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta, 2023 signee Holl, 2023 trade acquisition Jeff Petry, and 2024 signee Gustafsson. Oh, and that aforementioned Walman swap? Yzerman traded the top-four defenseman and a second-round pick to San Jose for literally nothing. Massive misread.

Yzerman hasn't found an answer between the pipes and disappointed captain Dylan Larkin by not adding talent ahead of the most recent trade deadline. The team regressed from 91 points in 2023-24 to 86 in 2024-25. The flip side to the conservatism: Detroit has mountains of cap space moving forward.

My main take is that Yzerman would be on the hot seat if he were somebody else. Ownership trusts him six years into a mediocre rebuild more than it should because he's a franchise icon. The overall grade here is C-minus.

                    

Slinger92 asks: Do you think the NHL will ever start assessing penalties or disallowing goals if a player isn't wearing his mouth guard properly? I haven't seen Matthew Tkachuk score a goal without his mouth guard hanging out.

Fun question, especially with Tkachuk scoring twice in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night, but the answer is no. The mouth guard isn't a mandatory piece of equipment, so players like Tkachuk aren't violating a rule.

I do find it comical that grown men turn the mouth guard into an adult soother or chew toy, defeating its protective qualities. To each their own, I guess!?

                    

ahawthorne56812 asks: The days of Patrick Roy and Carey Price are gone, and Jordan Binnington is NOT Olympic-starter quality. What Canadian prospects can bring back the days of those Hall of Fame-caliber goalies?

I hate to break it to you, but there isn't a single Canadian goalie in the NHL now or in the pipeline who fits that lofty description. Canada has fallen way behind Russia, the United States, and Sweden in the elite netminder category, and a course correction could take a decade or longer.

That said, we're talking about the unpredictable world of goaltending here. A B-level prospect could blossom into a star NHL starter by the 2030 Olympics.

Here are three names to watch:

Mackenzie Blackwood, Avalanche: Goalie experts love Blackwood, believing the 28-year-old still has upside. A physical freak, the muscular 6-foot-4 netminder is extremely athletic for his size. Projecting him as a future Hall of Famer would be crazy, but there's a decent chance he someday sures Binnington's tier of goalie and earns Vezina Trophy consideration.

Sebastian Cossa, AHL Grand Rapids: The 2021 first-round pick has shown flashes of brilliance for the Red Wings' top , posting a .909 save percentage in 84 games over the past three seasons. While the hype train from his draft year has slowed, Cossa remains on an NHL starter's trajectory. He's 22, large (6-foot-6, 209 pounds), technically sound, and agile between the pipes.

Joshua Ravensbergen, WHL Prince George: Ravensbergen, 18, is a late bloomer expected to go in the first round of June's draft. The 6-foot-5 right-catching goalie is best known for his elite puck tracking. He's at least a few years away from NHL duty, yet undoubtedly one of the most promising netminding prospects out of Canada since Price (drafted fifth overall in 2005).

                    

Lance A. asks: I believe in soccer, only the players on the pitch at the end of extra time are allowed to participate in the shootout. Are NHL teams allowed to switch goalies for the shootout? Are there any specific rules? Do you know if any team has done it in the past? What were the reasons for the change?

A team is indeed allowed to switch goalies before the shootout.

The NHL rule book states, "All players are eligible to participate in the shootout unless they are serving a 10-minute misconduct or have been assessed a game misconduct or match penalty." One wrinkle: A team can't replace a goalie in the middle of a shootout for performance reasons. The netminder must be injured.

According to the NHL's stats and research department, a team has called upon a cold goalie just seven times in the 20-season history of the shootout, although four were because of injury:

Former Leafs coach Ron Wilson told reporters in 2008 that he was "playing the percentages" by replacing Vesa Toskala with Curtis Joseph after 65 minutes.

"I'm not going to hesitate to do that until we get Tosk a little more practice - a different way of thinking on stopping the other team in shootouts," Wilson said of Toskala's 2-9 shootout record at the time. "I had nothing to lose."

                    

Chris M. asks: Suggestion: If a team scores while up six-on-five because of a delayed penalty, it should still get a power play. Thoughts? This could possibly increase scoring and be a momentum changer.

I don't love it. The six-on-five time created by a delayed penalty is an extension of the power play and should thus be treated as such.

Two related thoughts: The NHL should adopt the "jailbreak" rule introduced by the PWHL, where a shorthanded goal frees the player from the penalty box. I like the idea of teams being rewarded for shorties, and in theory, more aggressive penalty kills lead to defensive breakdowns and power-play goals. As far as juicing scoring-chance numbers, it's a win-win. Also, the shorthanded team shouldn't be allowed to ice the puck. This rule has never made sense to me, and it confuses new fans. Killers shouldn't get a free .

                    

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