from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

-As for late-in-coaching-life chances, kudos to ex-Northeastern coach Greg Cronin, of the Arlington Cronins, for finally landing his first top job, behind the Ducks bench. Cronin, who just turned 60, did a solid job in his six seasons (2005-11) with the Huskies, before going back into the NHL as an assistant with the Maple Leafs. He spent the last five seasons with AHL Colorado and was a candidate in Boston a year ago before the Bruins hired Jim Montgomery as Briuce Cassidy’s replacement.

- .The Flames, Blue Jackets, and Rangers have yet to make public their picks for a new coach, though it’s a fait accompli that Mike Babcock, still collecting his final dollars from his Leafs megacontract, will be the Blue Jackets’ pick.

- If the Coyotes move, sense around the league is that Salt Lake may be as much of a contender as Houston as the next home for the nomadic desert dogs.

- Daniel Briere pulled off his first major trade as Flyers GM, shipping top backliner Ivan Provorov to Columbus in a three-way trade with Los Angeles. Prime assets to Philadelphia were goalie Cal Petersen and defenseman Sean Walker. From here, that feels all kinds of sideways, which has become a Broad Street tradition of late. Provorov, by the way, was the No. 7 pick in the 2015 draft, the same year Columbus took Zach Werenski, their franchise blue liner, at No. 8.

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