from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

- The ownership mandate is to win now. The Penguins do not have a first-, third- or fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft. Their pool of prospects is dry. Ron Hextall, who succeeded Rutherford as GM, was all about building from the bottom up in Philadelphia.

As sands rush through the hourglass, would Pittsburgh consider further depleting its future prospects by offering next year’s first-rounder in order to bolster this group’s chances? Jake Guentzel has been a more than worthy left-side partner for Crosby, but could the Penguins take a shot at the Sabres’ Taylor Hall?

Would the opportunity to play for a contender for the first time in his career rouse Hall from perhaps the worst season proximate to a Hart Trophy Award in NHL history? Or is Hall not Sullivan’s kind of player?...

- Is Carter Hart more Tom Barrasso, who was sent to the AHL for a spell by the Sabres in his second year after winning the Calder, the Vezina and being named to the first All-Star team as a rookie, or is the Flyers’ young netminder more in the Jim Carey category?

- In the era of parity, a reminder that the Panthers have not won a playoff round since 1996, the Maple Leafs since 2004, the Sabres since 2007, the Canucks since 2011, the Devils and Coyotes since 2012.

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