Dan Rosen of NHL.com opens up the mailbag...

How do you see the Boston Bruins' season going? How deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

You're assuming I think the Bruins are going to make the playoffs. They're a bubble team. I'm not sold on their defense, which just lost veteran Dennis Seidenberg for eight weeks with a lumbar spine disc herniation that will require surgery. Zdeno Chara is getting older and it's going to be difficult to ask him to play upwards of 25 hard minutes a game again. That's why trading Dougie Hamilton didn't make sense. Hamilton was the guy who could take some of Chara's minutes, some of his workload, and eventually assume it all. Now he's in Calgary and the Bruins don't have anybody that can withstand the heavy load that Chara gets. Chara has to do it again. It's asking a lot, despite the fact that he's in tremendous shape.

The Bruins will be in the mix for either third in the Atlantic Division or one of the two wild cards out of the Eastern Conference. They're not better than the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Montreal Canadiens. It's questionable if they're any better than the Detroit Red Wings or Ottawa Senators....

Is San Jose a sleeper pick in the Pacific Division with its newfound depth?

If by sleeper you mean a team nobody will pick to win the division, yes, you can say the San Jose Sharks are a sleeper team. The Ducks are by far and away the favorites to win the division. The Kings should be better than they were last season. Look for more consistency from them. Anze Kopitar told me that as much as it wasn't fun to miss the playoffs, the summer for him was great because the rest was welcome. The Kings should be better off because of it. The analytics suggests the Calgary Flames will take a step back, but I'm not buying it. They're still a solid team and will compete for third place in the division because of the addition of Hamilton, the return of a healthy Mark Giordano, and a group of young forwards that is only improving. Michael Frolik might be the best underrated addition any team made in the offseason. The Sharks are behind them. I'm not sleeping on them. They're better than they were last season, but I'm still not sure by how much, and I'm not sold yet on Martin Jones.

Oh, and don't sleep on the Edmonton Oilers either.

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