from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- San Jose needed 10 games to score 16 goals at the start of the season, then scored 16 in its drive through New Jersey, New York and Long Island. GM Mike Grier let it be known he’s willing to consider many options with his defence. I was surprised to hear that included Mario Ferraro, a good young player under contract for two more years at $3.25 million. Apparently his underlying numbers aren’t great, but I’d be more than willing to take my chances.

- Jeff Marek with a good note on Monday’s podcast, that the NHL asked Devon Levi to stop commercial-break meditation either in or in front of his crease. The league wants that area cleaned. Levi, a Star Wars fan, clearly was playing 4-D Dejarik (thank you, producer Dom Sramaty for this knowledge). During one of his AHL appearances last week, Levi was kneeling in a face-off dot.

- One of the things I try to do at Board of Governors is take the temperature of the various owners. How do they feel about the overall state of the league? This time, there were fewer complaints than normal — except about the rain. Sure, there’s always grumbling about something, but most of the stress came from their team’s on-ice issues rather than the business.

One of the current challenges is cord-cutting and the collapse of once-lucrative regional sports television networks, but that seems to be, in their eyes, more of a speed bump than a massive tornado. (Some of the technologically-savvy organizations are excited about the possibilities.)

I’m always concerned about growth — is the sport getting to where it needs to go? — but the valuations for minority partnerships are a massive win. Forbes’ Mike Ozanian reported Wednesday that Islanders co-owner Scott Malkin is selling 10 per cent of his stake at a $1.75-billion valuation. The purchase price for Malkin and Jon Ledecky was $485 million. No wonder the feeling is zen.

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