from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

- An interesting nugget from Elliotte Friedman on “Headlines” that Nicklas Backstrom has started negotiating an extension with the Washington Capitals without the use of an agent.

It speaks to the level of trust between player and team. It also suggests the 32-year-old centre has no intention of testing the open market as a potential unrestricted free agent this summer.

Not many players choose to go this route, although Drew Doughty represented himself while hammering out his $88-million, eight-year extension with the Kings. Doughty said it simply came down to a matter of dollars and cents for him....

- As the Vegas Golden Knights walked off the ice with a 6-0 win over Calgary last Sunday night, one player could be heard yelling: “We’re back boys! We’re back!”

They beat Toronto on Tuesday, lending some credence to the thought.

Then they lost to San Jose in overtime on Thursday and dropped two points to Edmonton on Saturday.

Some of this is a product of a highly competitive league without much separation between teams, but there’s a sense around the Golden Knights that they’re stuck in a middle gear. They’ve struggled defensively at points this season and don’t have a win from anyone but No. 1 goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

more on each of the above plus other topics which were mentioned on Saturday Headlines...