from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

- Cam Ward, Mike Smith, Kari Lehtonen, and Antti Niemi are examples of well-paid goalies who are not doing enough to earn their salaries. At his current pace, Jimmy Howard may join that group. The ex-Maine Black Bear, under contract with the Red Wings through 2019 at nearly $5.3 million annually, is not up to his previous standard of play following a groin injury. Howard missed most of January and part of February. He’s been struggling to catch up. On Thursday, Howard was pulled after letting in three goals on 10 shots to San Jose. Petr Mrazek, who relieved Howard, could be the starter in the playoffs at this rate. Detroit is a good team. But below-average goaltending will sink anybody in the playoffs.

- Dougie Hamilton has missed four games because of an undisclosed injury suffered March 21 against Florida. The Bruins remain optimistic that Hamilton will return before the end of the regular season. They could use his three-zone presence. This has been a strong third NHL season for Hamilton (10-32—42, 21:20 of ice time per game). Hamilton’s growth only increases the odds that a desperate team such as Edmonton will sign him to an offer sheet. The Bruins will match at any price, but an offer sheet of $6 million annually would throw off the Bruins’ budget. They’d prefer to sign him to a second contract more in line with what Minnesota gave Jonas Brodin ($4,166,667 per season over six years). This may be wishful thinking.

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