via Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

The noise over the length of Dave Nonis’ new deal was just that, noise. Every general manager in hockey today should start with a five-year deal. It takes that long to see the fruits of your first or second drafts develop. In these salaried cap times, that’s the best way to do business, so long as you believe in the general manager ... Is Nonis the best general manager in Canada? No. But in a field that includes Jay Feaster, Mike Gillis, Craig MacTavish, Kevin Chevaldayoff and Marc Bergevin, I’ll happily take Nonis.

The Cody Franson trade rumours don’t make a lot of sense to me. Unless the Leafs are starting them, hoping to reduce the price of the restricted free agent. Franson made a lot of progress in his first full year under Randy Carlyle.