from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Shanahan likes to say he wants to be one of the “eight or so” teams that make the playoffs with a shot at winning the Cup. This season, they will make the playoffs … A former accomplished GM on the Leafs: “I don’t see how you can win long-term in the playoffs with that defence and that goaltending. Too much guessing, I think.”

- Fascinating pickup by Carolina at the deadline: When Washington won the Stanley Cup in 2018, Evgeny Kuznetsov should have won the Conn Smythe Trophy. He outscored Alex Ovechkin 18-12 in the final two rounds. If Kuznetsov is mentally and physically all right at age 31, what a pickup this could be for the Hurricanes. He had 78 points as recently as 2022.

- What you need most seasons to win the Stanley Cup: 1) Goaltending; 2) Quality coaching; 3) A Norris type defenceman; 4) Depth at centre. It’s a short list of teams that meet all four criteria: The Rangers, Dallas, Vancouver, Vegas, Winnipeg and Tampa. Teams that don’t meet the full criteria, in spite of their overall depth are Carolina, Edmonton, Colorado, and Florida.

- A question asked the other day: Why doesn’t Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky get much Vezina Trophy love? He has been among the best goalies in hockey this season. Yes, the trophy may be Connor Hellebuyck’s or Thatcher Demko’s to win, but Bob should get more attention.

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