from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Mitch Marner is the second highest-paid winger in the National Hockey League and with that comes an inherent set of responsibilities.

He doesn’t have to be the nicest man on earth or the friendliest or even the most quotable: None of that really matters big picture.

What he has to be is productive — that’s why the Leafs paid so much for him on the eve of training camp in 2019. More money than Patrick Kane. More money than Alex Ovechkin. More money than Nikita Kucherov....

= Russia will have Andrei Vasilevskiy, Igor Shesterkin, and possibly Sergei Bobrovsky in goal for the Winter Olympics. The U.S. will have Connor Hellebuyck or John Gibson. And if Carey Price is unable to play, Team Canada will likely have a shell-shocked Marc-Andre Fleury or Jordan Binnington in net. Gulp.

- The difference between Mike Sullivan and Jon Cooper: Sullivan won two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh without an Vasilevskiy in goal and without a Victor Hedman on defence. Sullivan and Cooper are the two best coaches in hockey today … Not far behind: Barry Trotz, Bruce Cassidy, and Joel Quenneville.

= How long before Jeremy Colliton is let go as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks? He’s my best bet to be the first coach fired in the NHL this season.

- It isn’t Michael Hutchinson’s fault that he isn’t good enough to play in the NHL.

He is, as they say, what he is.

A minor league goaltender of some quality — and there is no crime in that. He’s simply not talented enough to be an NHL difference maker...

more on the first and last topic plus other hockey notes...