from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Shame on NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, his sidekick Bill Daly and Players’ Association boss Donald Fehr, all of them absent from Ted Lindsay’s funeral on Saturday.

- With salary and bonus adding up to $15.9 million for Auston Matthews next season, that means he will be paid almost $7 million more than Crosby, almost $6 million more than Ovechkin. Between them, four Stanley Cup wins, three Conn Smythes, five Hart trophies. Matthews said he doesn’t like to compare himself to anyone but if there’s a place for him to go as a young star, he might want to start by emulating Crosby.

- How is this for an MVP race? Nikita Kucherov, my choice for the Hart, is 27 points ahead of the second leading scorer on Tampa, Brayden Point, and 29 points ahead of Steven Stamkos. In Chicago, Patrick Kane is 27 points ahead of Jonathan Toews in Blackhawks scoring. No one other than Crosby, who is 20 points ahead of Phil Kessel, is anywhere close to Kucherov and Kane on their respective teams.

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