The Leafs are continuing to play/lose to everyone that isn't the Oilers, but most of our attention has turned elsewhere. There's very little to see here, aside from Morgan Rielly making us hopeful for the future and, well, I don't know. It's depressing, whatever it is.

Outside of Toronto, Kane was finally set free by Winnipeg, and is getting ready to move to beautiful Buffalo. But Buffalo wasn't done yet-- they traded Jonas Enroth to Dallas in exchange for Anders Lindback. Nabokov retired as a San Jose Shark. Jamie Benn made an inappropriate twincest joke.

Talk about the Leafs, the not-Leafs, or whatever comes to mind.

Leafs Links

Maple Leafs finally coming down from false hope-- Bruce Arthur

Horachek says that Kessel's/the team's "Give-a-S--- meter" needs to be higher. It's pretty low for a lot of us these days too.

@thejustinfisher contemplates healthy scratching over at The Leafs Nation

The Media, Printed Clickbait, and Entitlement--The Faceoff Circle

@Jeffler addressed The Hockey News' headline that Phil Kessel might be a "coach killer"

Around the League

Nabby says goodbye as a Shark--Fear the Fin

A tearful goodbye to Evgeni Nabokov

Die by the Blade has analysis of the Kane trade as well as the Enroth/Lindback trade

Analyzing the Jets massive trade with the Sabres--Arctic Ice Hockey

"Kane electing for shoulder surgery probably made him a more attractive target for the Buffalo Sabres because he cannot mess with their tank this year."

Jamie Benn apologizes to Sedins for twincest joke--Deadspin

I want to quote at length (but I recommend reading the whole thing!) from a great piece by @dightkwing over at Jewels from the Crown:

Some people have shown frustration with the outcry in reaction to these comments because, "they're just not that bad!" and so on. While people saying that about these comments are not entirely wrong, they're also missing the point. Saying, "I wasn't offended," or, "this didn't bother me," is derailing. The people saying those things are, for the most part, straight. Basically, this reaction isn't about you, and these comments don't threaten your comfort. Your apathy toward them is offensive to affected people.

You don't have to be offended personally (I'm not personally offended, for instance) to understand how these words hurt other people. By saying that you are not offended, you are shifting the conversation away from people who are hurt to yourself, when you do not matter in this case. You are privileged in that if you don't care, your enjoyment of the game is not affected at all. If you have the tiniest bit of empathy, use it to understand why this matters to the people it matters to. If you sincerely aren't offended, then I suggest staying mum. If you don't care, why comment?

NHLPA should push for moves from hockey hinterlands--The Vancouver Province

Tony Gallagher makes a case for why the NHL should abandon Florida, Pheonix, and Carolina

From The Branches