from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

- It is unknown whether Joe Thornton — who underwent postseason surgery to repair the torn left MCL and ACL, through which he played the final four games of the playoffs — would have any interest in coming to New York to hook up with his buddy, and one-time Team Canada linemate, Rick Nash on a one-year commitment if he leaves San Jose after 12 seasons.

- At the end of the day, the Islanders effectively traded Travis Hamonic, Ryan Strome, Mikhail Grabovski, Jake Bischer, J-F Berube, a first-rounder this year and a fourth-rounder down the line in exchange for Jordan Eberle, a first next year, a second in two years and a net gain of $5.357 million in cap space.

Which leaves GM Garth Snow still with oodles of assets to wheel for immediate aid and comfort for John Tavares, who is proving to be one of the most loyal and patient players in pro sports.

- Safe apparently will continue to mean death in Columbus. For after acquiring world-class skill forward Artemi Panarin from Chicago in exchange for Brandon Saad, who somehow spent a fair amount of time on coach John Tortorella’s fourth line, the Jackets are expected to be all in on Kovalchuk, too.

- We’re told Bettman was needed to intervene in the discussions between owner Andrew Barroway and outgoing coach Dave Tippett, who apparently agreed to leave up to $10 million on the table to secure his exit.

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