from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

-- A five-game assessment of the Leafs by an NHL coach: “That’s a soft team. Really talented, but soft. You don’t go anywhere being that soft.” And right after that, it was no accident the Leafs added Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford to the lineup Saturday night.

- The Florida Panthers had 122 points last season with Aaron Ekblad as their best defenceman and MacKenzie Weegar their No. 2. Now Ekblad is injured and Weegar is in Calgary. And poor Paul Maurice is coaching the same kind of defence that got him in trouble in Winnipeg.

- In the 2017 NHL draft, the Dallas Stars took defenceman Miro Heiskanen and goalie Jake Oettinger in the first round and high-scoring forward Jason Robertson in the second round. That’s three all-stars in two rounds, almost a career changer for the affable 64-year-old general manager, Jim Nill.

- The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche began the season with Nazem Kadri gone to Calgary and now captain Gabriel Landeskog is out for three months. That’s 18 playoff goals and 37 playoff points missing from the champs’ roster.

a few more notes, mostly Toronto related...