from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- It will be interesting to see if any GM comes up with a serious plan for changing the playoff format at the March meeting. The NHL could wait to see if Seattle happens before making any alterations, but there is no question the Atlantic Division’s three locked-in teams are causing consternation. But remember: The players have a say, and nothing is easy between the NHL and NHLPA at this time.

- As you have undoubtedly heard, there was a goaltender interference meeting last weekend, involving most of the coaches who were there, some GMs, Colin Campbell, Commissioner Gary Bettman, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and a couple of referees. They looked at a number of recent examples — including Auston Matthews vs. Jonathan Bernier, Viktor Arvidsson vs. Louis Domingue, Artem Anisimov vs. Frederik Andersen and Connor McDavid vs. David Rittich — and, while there was no absolute consensus, I understand the majority felt all of those should be goals.

When video review initially arrived, the idea was to prevent “egregious” violations from occurring, and that’s a reset the league wants now. A few people indicated it was a pretty honest conversation, which they liked. I don’t think anyone disagrees with the intention, but since this is a judgement call, there is concern it is wishful thinking.

- There will be a push to have the Situation Room in Toronto make the final call, like it does with offside challenges. That could help with consistency, but would be a battle, as referees were promised this setup in agreeing to video review in the first place....

more on the last topic plus other thoughts...