deom Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun

- If you’re voting for the Hart Trophy today as the halfway point of the NHL season approaches, is it Nikita Kucherov or Steven Stamkos as the first pick on your ballot? And because there are two Tampa Bay players for one award, could they, in the end, wind up splitting the vote and opening up an opportunity for John Tavares to win his first Hart.

- A question for the impressive Boston Bruins: How did they have the 13th, 14th and 15th pick of the 2015 NHL Draft and wind up passing three times on Matthew Barzal … The real shock from that draft now is that Vancouver scoring sensation Brock Boeser would probably go No. 2 behind Connor McDavid if do-overs were allowed, not at 23 where the Canucks stole what seems to be this generation’s Brett Hull.

- After this year, Jonathan Toews has five years left at $10.5 million a year with the Blackhawks. While scoring has never been the best way to measure Toews’ value, he is 137th in the NHL in points, scoring at just a 49-point pace. The Blackhawks are paying for three Stanley Cups now but it has to be deal they have already come to regret.

more, inlcuding a look at Johnny Bower...