from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Asked a few GMs about player activism during the social-media era.

“You can’t prevent them from wanting to speak out if they decide to do so,” one GM said, a comment echoed by his compatriots. “The only thing I ask is, ‘Be informed.’ If you are going to take a stand, make sure you understand the issues.”

It’s good advice, because any mistakes, no matter how unintentional, will go nuclear.

- The Department of Player Safety has more patience than I do. When Brad Marchand escaped suspension last week for a “dangerous trip” on Niklas Kronwall, one of the factors was that the NHL historically does not suspend for tripping. I know that drives people crazy, but lawyers always eye precedence — especially when appeals are involved. Marchand was fined $10,000 for knocking down Kronwall, then followed up with something similar Tuesday to Anton Stralman. The league’s position was this was not comparable; the puck was there and it wasn’t intentional.

Stralman told the Tampa Bay Times’ Roger Mooney, “I'm not the puck holder. I'm out in the neutral zone and I get hit from behind. That's all I've got to say.”

Marchand’s been suspended four times, one of them for slew-footing (Derick Brassard in 2015). He’s got two prior fines. And there are two warnings on file, the most recent for slew-footing Nashville’s Anthony Bitetto. That was three weeks ago.

We all saw how good Marchand was at the World Cup. Very talented. But he is making the league look bad.

- It is so rare to hear a GM throw his players under the bus like Doug Armstrong did Wednesday. He made sure the heat was going to be right on them. He said, "We don't lose with pride," called the roster "independent contractors" as opposed to a team, and added Hitchcock was a Hall of Famer and they aren't — that's a serious mushroom cloud.

Clearly, Armstrong thought the players were too sensitive to Hitchcock's pressure. The coach himself once said a captain is very important under his leadership because he has to be the buffer and take the heat. He loved Keith Primeau in Philadelphia. I'm betting David Backes was pretty good at it, too....

much more