from Frank Seravalli of TSN,

Is Marc Bergevin still beholden to Michel Therrien if Claude Julien is available this summer? Julien would be a home run for the Habs. It seems ever more the possibility with the Bruins slinking when games matter most for the second year in a row. For now, Boston can still guarantee a playoff berth by winning out.

Are the Stars re-thinking their move to the Central Division? It is mayhem on a nightly basis. We are guaranteed to have one of Dallas, St. Louis or Chicago - three bona fide Stanley Cup contenders - eliminated in the first round. Finishing first in the division, and avoiding either one of those teams in the opening round, is crucial this week.

Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman may be watching the NHL’s scoring leaderboard more than the standings this week. That’s because forward Artemi Panarin can earn a $1.725 million bonus by finishing in the Top 10 in league scoring, according to GeneralFanager.com. Panarin, 24, momentarily jumped to ninth with his four-point effort Sunday afternoon, but fell back to 12th when the day’s games ended. The Bread Man has eight points in two games in April so far. He can max out at $2.600 million in bonuses. Since the Hawks are on track to finish with just $156,442 in space on the $71.4 million cap, they would start out with an “overage” of more than $2.4 million on next season’s cap. There goes any potential salary cap increase.

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