from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

... Who gets to the top of the mountain first?

McDavid is there already as an individual player. His flag is in the ground all by itself. It isn’t the flag he cherishes. That’s the Cup. Leafs president Brendan Shanahan won his first Cup in Detroit in his 10th season, which speaks sometimes for his overall patience, and he won that alongside Steve Yzerman, playing in his 14th year.

McDavid is one season away from a decade in the league. Matthews follows right behind him. The race isn’t first among equals, because McDavid and Matthews aren’t equals: But how much fun would a Stanley Cup final between the two be? Money isn’t what either is playing for anymore.

- Matthews did not score a goal against the Florida Panthers in Round 2 of the playoffs. He did not score a goal in Games 5, 6 and 7 against the Montreal Canadiens in 2021 and did not score a goal in the clinching Game 5 against Columbus in 2020. Goal-scoring is what he does best. He has led the NHL in goals since he entered the league in 2016. But he is just 25th in playoff goals scored in that time, just behind T.J. Oshie and ahead of David Perron.

- You can assume — or at least I am — that the Leafs, Lightning, Hurricanes, Rangers and Devils will all be in the Eastern Conference playoffs this season. But what about the Bruins without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci? What about the Penguins with Erik Karlsson? What about the young, rising Senators and Sabres? What about the tight defensive, goaltending-rich Islanders? What about the Cup finalist Panthers? That’s 11 teams for eight spots without counting Washington. The meaningless regular season won’t be so meaningless this year.

more on the first topic plus additional hockey notes, most of them Toronto related but not all...