from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

- Give goalie Steve Mason credit for resurrecting his career in Philadelphia after it fell apart with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but I’m not sure why they had to give him $4.1 million per year for three seasons. That’s $1.2 million more than he was making with the Blue Jackets. Why didn’t they give him $3 million? Where’s he going to go?

- Nail Yakupov’s minus-31 play-minus rating is embarrassing, but maybe we should cut the rookie some slack. Lecavalier, also a former No. 1 pick, was minus-25 in his second season with Tampa Bay and minus-26 in his third season. In his first four years, he was minus-88 and now he’s closing in on 1,000 games.

- Penguins defenceman Simon Despres, once a first-round draft pick, is so deep in the doghouse at Pittsburgh that he’s available to one and all, probably for a rental winger. “He’d be a 5-6 guy on most teams,” said one NHL bird-dog.

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