from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Is there an Eastern Conference team deeper down the middle than the Leafs are with Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and Dominic Moore? The Penguins are extraordinary with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but after that, with Nick Bonino gone, not much. Tampa Bay is deep as well as well with Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson and Brayden Point as its top three.

- So Paul Maurice did get a contract extension in Winnipeg and we still wonder, why?

- I’m old enough to remember The National, the great American attempt at being a superstar all-sports newspaper. A lot of friends worked for The National.

I started to think about it the other day after a career-long friend, Eric Duhatschek, the exceptional hockey writer, went to work for The Athletic, the rather new pay-for online sports service.

In a very short time, The Athletic has hired some of the largest names in sports media in both the U.S. and Canada. Ken Rosenthal, the baseball reporter, signed on. Pierre LeBrun, the TSN hockey insider, signed on. Jeff Pearlman, the famed author, signed on. The list of signings is long and impressive.

And expensive.

Those of us in this struggling industry today want nothing more than to see new ventures succeed. The more jobs available, the better it is for the industry. But I worry about The Athletic because I know about The National.

more on The Athletic plus a few more hockey notes...