from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

The options for Tavares will be many. San Jose and St. Louis are thought to be at the top of the list of suitors should he make himself available. Teams with cap space and potential need for a No. 1 centre such as Vancouver, Vegas, New Jersey, are almost certain to be all over the first line superstar.

Montreal has forever been in need of a first-line centre and even though the Rangers require a star forward, they say they won’t jump into the Tavares fire. And it’s hard to imagine Detroit and Carolina not taking a run at Tavares.

And while it probably makes little sense position-wise or salary-cap-wise, the Maple Leafs will juggle numbers to see if this is in any way doable. Tavares is only 27. In nine NHL seasons, he’s only played in 24 playoff games, only once in the second round.

more on Tavares plus notes like these...

- So what will be announced at the end of the season? Joel Quenneville has been fired as coach of the Blackhawks or Quenneville has chosen to resign?

- Department of dumb team rules: Not letting assistant coaches in the NHL talk to the media. Especially goalie coaches. Most head coaches know next to nothing about goaltending