from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Why are the struggling Nashville Predators so keen on trading defenceman Mattias Ekholm? The guy can play. If the Preds are going to rebuild, why not rebuild with an upper-echelon defenceman?

- I can’t remember seeing a team that mailed it in more often than the Buffalo Sabres have this season. That’s a franchise seemingly devoid of emotion, soul, or both.

- If McDavid doesn’t score another point the rest of the season, he will still finish with more than a point a game. That is nuts.

- Goaltenders in Canada better than Andersen: Carey Price, Thatcher Demko, Connor Hellebuyck, and Jacob Markstrom, to name four. The way he’s playing, Demko could wind up with Hellebuyck on the U.S. Olympic team next year.

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