from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- ... No team in hockey has ever had so much tied up in so few starting next season and on too many nights of late, the sparse rosters of the Red Wings, Coyotes and Panthers this season, none of whom will play in the post-season, have outplayed, outworked and on the scoreboard beaten the Leafs....

- One minute to play. The game is tied. Who does Babcock (or D.J. Smith) put on defence? Morgan Rielly and Ron Hainsey. Jake Muzzin on the bench, playing the least amount of time he had in a game this season. Isn’t this why the Leafs traded for him?

- I’ve learned from experience not to doubt trades made by general manager Jimmy Rutherford. Almost annually, he finds less than useful players from troubled teams and turns them into useful parts of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has Nick Bjugstad now. Lots of size. Not much else. Good luck to him.

- Plus-minus is an unpopular statistic these days but it is relevant within the structure of an individual team. Try explaining Sidney Crosby at plus-20 opposite Evgeni Malkin at minus-18. That’s a 38-goal difference between the two centres. In Winnipeg, Patrik Laine is minus-14 while Mark Scheifele is plus-19 on the same Jets team.

more on the first topic and other hockey blurbs too...