from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

Sidney Crosby turned 32 the other day, is about to enter his 15th season, and he has loudly positioned himself as one of the greatest to ever play in the NHL.

The question as time goes on is: How great?

Four players stand alone above everyone else who has ever played before. You can pick the order, but the top four has to include Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe.

And then it gets interesting.

In my mind, Jean Beliveau has always slotted nicely into the No. 5 spot all-time. But that’s the door Crosby is banging on now. And Crosby’s game, so different from that of the elegant Beliveau, matches up historically if not statistically with the legendary Montreal Canadiens captain.

continued plus notes like this...

After being traded by the Leafs and bought out by Carolina, Patrick Marleau figured he would go home and return to the San Jose Sharks. Well, that’s not happening. Sharks don’t want him. Apparently, Arizona does, but Marleau may not want to play there. This off-season isn’t turning out the way he hoped it would … Tampa Bay has signed Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy for a total cap hit of $35.3 million when all the contracts kick in by 2020-21. The Maple Leafs already have Matthews, Tavares and William Nylander at for $29.5-million without signing Mitch Marner. They’ll be at at least $40 million for the four when the Marner deal is done.