from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

- So the Devils appear flush with cap space for 2020-21 even after assuming P.K. Subban’s full $9 million hit, which is a good thing because they are going to need it in order to keep Taylor Hall in New Jersey beyond this season....

You begin at $13M per and watch the bidding escalate for this dynamic, difference-making winger — who will turn 28 on Nov. 14, 15 days after Panarin blows out the same number of candles on his birthday cake. That’s where you begin right now if you are Devils general manager Ray Shero, who would be taking a John Tavares-sized risk (or is that Garth Snow-sized?) in allowing No. 9 to play out the season without an extension....

- There appears to no logical explanation for the breakdown in talks between the Islanders and Robin Lehner, nor sufficient reasoning to clarify why GM Lou Lamoriello preferred giving four years at $5M per to an erratic, 31-year-old Semyon Varlamov than two years at, well, seemingly anything to the nearly 28-year-old Lehner.

There is belief throughout the industry, though without verifiable underlying evidence because of Lamoriello’s unique ability to keep things in house, that something personal must have happened between the boss and the goaltender in the course of the talks. That theory has life to it because the hockey part of the decision does not make the slightest bit of sense....

- We’re told the moves by Minnesota in signing Mats Zuccarello to a five year deal and by Dallas in adding Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry were influenced by consistent pressure on management by ownership in both precincts. In Minnesota, after only one year on the job, GM Paul Fenton is under extreme scrutiny.

more on the first two topics and other notes too...