from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

- So it’s going to be eight years for Drew Doughty after eight years for John Carlson and a presumptive eight years for Oliver Ekman-Larsson. It will be eight years for Erik Karlsson if he is traded and signs an extension before hitting free agency next summer.

But the league, and according to no one but the league during Owners’ Lockout III in 2012-13, couldn’t survive all those five-year contracts. All the NHL had to do to outlaw front-loaded deals was apply a 50-percent rule as to variance within the contract — that is, no one season’s pay could be less than 50 percent of the highest year’s salary. So if a guy earned $8 million one year, he could not make less than $4 million in any year of the deal.

But no. So now it’s eight years or bust. And the league is managing to survive very, very well.

- Martin Brodeur, Martin St. Louis and Willie O’Ree were automatic Hall of Fame selectees. Gary Bettman, though perhaps controversial in light of his activities as Canceler in Chief and his stance on CTE — check out the estimable Kevin Dupont’s Sunday piece in the Boston Globe on that topic — his election is not offensive.

The induction of Bruins’ owner, “Mr. Jacobs,” a year ago, now that was offensive.

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