from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

And so, in the Islanders, Lightning and Golden Knights, the NHL has its first trio of repeat semifinalists in 29 years, since the Penguins, Bruins and Oilers went back-to-back in 1991 and 1992.

Parity is dead. The hard flat cap obviously doesn’t work. The boys on Sixth Avenue had better get cracking in order to devise a way for ongoing ne’er do-wells like the Sabres and Maple Leafs (we kid, we kid) to make a run.

But you know what? The hard cap is a myth. The Lightning’s cap is not the same size, in real dollars, as the Islanders’ cap, and no, this section of the program does not concern Nikita Kucherov. The Golden Knights’ cap is not the same size as the Canadiens’ cap, with Montreal of course this year’s party crasher....

more on the first topic plus notes like this..

Though it goes without saying, it will be said anyway: If Mark Scheifele somehow becomes available out of Winnipeg, he is the player for whom the Rangers empty the cupboard, and the guy in Buffalo becomes Jack Who?

Minority report (as often is the case), but it also says here that Scheifele’s suspension was disproportionate to anything that had come before and for whatever reason, the league decided to make an example of the Jets center.