from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- If I’m Pierre Dorion and it’s my job to trade Erik Karlsson, there’s not a chance in hell I’d send him to Tampa Bay or Dallas without getting one of young defenceman Mikhail Sergachev or Miro Heiskanen in return … Dorion, by the way, is too good a person — I knew his dad well — to find himself in the current muck he’s strangling in with the Ottawa Senators.

- Jimmy Rutherford signed Jack Johnson, which is what Rutherford does. Since going to Pittsburgh, he’s added Justin Schultz, Ron Hainsey, Trevor Daley, Jamie Oleksiak to the Penguins defence, among others, and has had success doing so. Johnson will be his latest reclamation project.

- Are the Maple Leafs strong enough in goal and on defence to win a Stanley Cup?

Logic would indicate no.

But based on the last two Cup champions — and three of the past four winners — that answer would be a surprising yes.

Time was, you could not consider yourself a real Stanley Cup contender without being near the top of the NHL in fewest goals against. Mike Babcock understands this better than anyone. He won his only Cup with the best defensive team in the league. He made it to the final in Anaheim in 2003 with a very tight defensive squad....

more on the last topic plus a handful of hockey notes...