Here is the April 4 edition of Dan Rosen's weekly mailbag, which will run every Wednesday throughout the 2017-18 NHL season. If you have a question, tweet it to @drosennhl and use #OvertheBoards.

If you were the Toronto Maple Leafs, which team between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning would you rather have to play in the Eastern Conference First Round and why? -- @xtremegamerI

Tampa Bay, even though the season stats suggest it should be Boston.

The Maple Leafs are 3-1-0 against the Bruins and 1-2-1 against the Lightning this season, but you always need context to make regular-season records matter in previewing a Stanley Cup Playoff series. Bruins forwards David Krejci and David Backes missed games against Toronto on Nov. 10 and 11 and Boston lost those 3-2 and 4-1. The Bruins haven't played the Maple Leafs since Feb. 24, before Boston they acquired forward Rick Nash and signed forward Ryan Donato. Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask didn't play against the Maple Leafs on Nov. 10. There is a flip side to this. Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews didn't play in the games against the Bruins on Nov. 10, Nov. 11 and Feb. 24. Toronto won all three.

Video: BUF@TOR: Matthews buries his second PPG of the game

Overall, I would like the matchup against the Lightning better if I were a Maple Leafs' fan. The Lightning and Maple Leafs play similar styles. They get up and down the ice. They play fast. They score a lot. The Maple Leafs shouldn't want to play the best scoring team in the NHL, but they also should, in theory, have an easier time playing their game against the Lightning. All they'd have to do is play it better to move on. The Bruins, on the other hand, are a more physical team than the Lightning, a heavier team, and a much stingier team defensively. If they take control of a game, it's hard to take it back. They're excellent at forcing turnovers.

In addition, the Maple Leafs could have a special teams advantage against the Lightning. Each has a top-three power play in the NHL, but the Bruins are much stronger on the penalty kill. They are the only team in the NHL in the top five in power play and penalty kill, which will give them an advantage against any team.

What do the New Jersey Devils do with the goaltending situation moving forward? It'll be hard to move Cory Schneider because of his contract, and I can't see them paying him that much to ride the pine next season or waiving him. Trade Keith Kinkaid? Go back to Schneider starting and Kinkaid backing up? -- @vlong419

Let me start by saying these things tend to have a way of working themselves out either through injury or hot streaks or whatnot. I'll also add that it's not a bad thing if the Devils decide to keep Kinkaid and Schneider and use them in a rotation going into next season. The Devils don't have any NHL salary cap issues next season, so they can keep Schneider and Kinkaid and simply play the hot hand. It gives them assurances of having a quality goaltender should one of them get hurt or if one of them loses his game and needs time to get it back.

Video: WPG@NJD: Schneider slides across to stone Stastny

Schneider is a No. 1 goalie who happened to get injured at a bad time and has had trouble getting his game back. He appears to have lost his starting job to Kinkaid for now, but that doesn't mean he can't recover and be a No. 1 goalie again, in New Jersey or elsewhere. I also need to see a lot more of Kinkaid to fully buy into him being a No. 1. He's had a terrific run and is a big reason the Devils have been good down the stretch, but it's a small sample size.

The Arizona Coyotes have been on a tear for the past two months. Is this a false reflection of the team or do Arizona fans finally have something to look forward to next season? Is it wrong to compare this to Colorado last year? -- @AKuefler91

Allow me to toot my own horn here for a few sentences, OK?

I was asked for the Oct. 18 edition of the mailbag if there was any hope for the Coyotes to improve. My answer was yes, there is hope they will improve because they have a lot of strong pieces in place but it would take time and patience because they basically were a new team learning a new system under a new coaching staff. My feeling at the time was that as the season went on, as the Coyotes gained experience under coach Rick Tocchet's aggressive system that features speed and calculated risks, they would become a better team, one nobody would want to play come March.

It's nice to be right occasionally.

But enough about what I thought, let's talk about what we see from the Coyotes. We see a team that is getting quality goaltending. Antti Raanta was 13-2-1 with three shutouts, a 1.65 goals-against average and .951 save percentage in 17 games since Feb. 8. We see a team with young players stepping up. Clayton Keller, age 19, was the Coyotes' leading scorer since Feb. 8 with 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) in 27 games. Max Domi, 23, was third with 22 points (six goals, 18 assists). We see a massively improved defense, led by Oliver Ekman-Larsson. We see a team that likes playing fast and aggressive and making calculated risks. We see a coaching staff that has evolved with the team.

Video: STL@ARI: Raanta robs Jaskin with strong glove save

There is a lot to be excited about in Arizona. I wouldn't compare this to the Avalanche from last season because Colorado never had a good run last season. But I wouldn't at all be surprised if the Coyotes were pushing for a playoff spot going into the last week of next season, the way the Avalanche are doing this season.

Will the Vancouver Canucks try to bring Thomas Vanek back now that the twins are retiring? -- @RBev3

It makes sense for the Canucks to pursue Vanek in the offseason on a one-year contract because he can help them. It also makes sense for the Canucks to try to make a splash in free agency as they try to find a superstar-level player -- or players -- to replace Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin, who will retire after the season. Why not go after center John Tavares, center Paul Stastny or defenseman John Carlson? Why not see what it would take to get defenseman Erik Karlsson in a trade from the Ottawa Senators and then sign him to an extension? Vanek would be a nice secondary piece to add in free agency.

The Vancouver Province published a story Sunday on Vanek potentially returning to the Canucks. It mentioned a no-trade clause. A full no-trade clause would be the deal breaker for me. If Vanek wants one, I'd pass. If he is OK without one, or at least compromising with a limited no-trade clause (a list of 10 or so teams he wouldn't go to in a trade), then I think it's worth considering. He was good in Vancouver with 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) in 61 games before being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 26, where he has been very good with 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 17 games. He's 34 years old, but his 55 points in 78 games this season is his best total since he had 68 points in 78 games in 2013-14 and clearly proves he's still an effective top-six forward.

Video: VAN@DAL: Vanek wires home quick slapper from slot

Vanek could help the Canucks contend while they bring along the rookies and continue building their new, young core around forwards Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen and ideally next season Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen and Adam Gaudette, defenseman Olli Juolevi and others, including goalie Thatcher Demko. But why not augment the core with a solid veteran who could be the Canucks' next captain too? Just food for thought in Vancouver.

What on God's green earth do the Oilers do this offseason to try and salvage their roster? -- @jdjensen

If I knew, I'd be a general manager, or at least an adviser to a GM. What I know for sure is it's not an easy fix, but it helps when you can build it around center Connor McDavid. He is as good, if not even better, then advertised. But he can't do it on his own. That much we've seen this season. The Oilers need to get some speed back in their lineup. Two seasons ago, the Oilers decided heavier was better in the Pacific Division because of the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings. They were incorrect. Heavier is not better in the NHL today. Speed matters more. They need it back.

I would look for more from forward Jesse Puljujarvi and hope to get significant contributions from forward Kailer Yamamoto and whoever they get in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft. It's no guarantee they will get someone who can contribute right away, but if they do, they need it. And they need that player to bring some speed. If they can't trade forward Milan Lucic, they must find the right role for him. It's not as easy to say just buy out the remaining five seasons of the seven-year contract he signed July 1, 2016. The Oilers probably would have to retain salary and sweeten the deal with a player they don't want to part with to trade Lucic. That's bad too. The better solution is to find a way to make it work with him. They also need to hope that Cam Talbot, with his 3.05 goals-against average and .907 save percentage in 65 games, is having an off season and can get back the form he had last season, when he had a 2.39 GAA and .919 save percentage in 73 games.

Video: EDM@MIN: Talbot makes great pad save on Granlund

Do you have Claude Giroux as a Hart Trophy candidate? Having an incredible season. -- @mac_attack54

Yes.

This is what my top five for the Hart Trophy looks like today:

1. Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings

2. Taylor Hall, New Jersey Devils

3. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

4. Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers

5. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

Video: BOS@PHI: Giroux wins it with backhand beauty in OT

Since we all picked the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Pacific Division this year anyway, who does Gary Bettman hand the Stanley Cup to when they win in the Stanley Cup Final? -- @briantodd34

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

And I love the sarcasm.