from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Duncan Keith is disillusioned in Chicago, someone who knows him well has indicated. At 34, would he not be a perfect pickup for the Maple Leafs on defence? “He’s got lots left,” the source said. Would you try to get him if you were the Leafs, I asked. “In a second,” was the answer. Keith was probably the most important Blackhawks player on their three Stanley Cup championship teams.

- How odd must this year be for Steve Yzerman, having built the best team in hockey and he’s home in Detroit, doing occasional scouting for the Tampa Bay Lightning? … Some thought Yzerman would end up with the Red Wings should Ken Holland leave as general manager, possibly for Seattle. But as the Wings have performed better than expected, word around is that Holland wants to stay on the job in Detroit.

- If you don’t like watching the line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, you don’t like hockey.

- There are 53 players in the National Hockey League averaging one-point-per-game or more this season. And that is both extraordinary and unusual.

In the previous five NHL seasons, there have also been 53 players averaging a point a game — that’s the total number over five years.

In not one of the 10 seasons before this one did more than 22 players end up averaging a point-per-game or more and as recently as 2015-16, only six players in the NHL got to the impressive number....

more on the last topic plus other notes...