Better days.

It isn't an easy time to be a hockey fan living in Western New York. Heck, it isn't a good time to be a hockey fan living anywhere in New York considering the poor start by the New York Rangers.

Heading into the final year of his contract, Kris Letang might be pricing himself out of Pittsburgh.

The Penguins are working on extending Letang, but are hesitant to offer much more than $6 million a season. Pierre LeBrun doesn't think Letang will sign for any less than $7 million a season.

The Penguins have the cap space to offer Letang a contract worth $7 million a season, but thanks to massive contract extensions for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, more than $34 million is already committed to six players in 2014-15, and adding Letang's big ticket would put them in a cap squeeze.

The Penguins are also concerned about whether Letang is worth elite defenceman money. According to Rob Rossi, "Letang is not the consensus best defenseman on the Penguins, at least in the eyes of management and coaches."

And with the bevy of young defence prospects in the Penguins' system, Rossi believes Letang has become a "must-move player" for GM Ray Shero. The Penguins could decide to keep Letang next season and go for a cup, return be damned, but a trade seems likelier, with CBC's Elliotte Friedman reporting teams are preparing offers in case the two sides fail to reach an agreement.

If the Penguins do decide to trade Letang, there will be plenty of suitors, despite the high cost to acquire the Norris Trophy finalist. More concerning, however, is Letang's desire to be paid like an elite defencemen. Sure, he's scored 190 points over the last five years, tied for 11th among defencemen, but are there enough holes in his defensive game to cause teams to look elsewhere for defensive help?

Is Letang worth $7 million or more over 5-8 years, or is this a case of buyer beware?

With the upcoming end to the Stanley Cup playoffs, rumour time is ramping up, and the latest report indicates the Leafs are one of three teams in the running for the LA Kings' Jonathan Bernier.

GM Dean Lombardi told Bernier he owed the young netminder a chance to be a starter somewhere else, and has begun exploring trade options for the 2006 11th overall pick.

Much like the rumoured Miikka Kiprusoff trade at the deadline, the deal makes little sense for the Maple Leafs.

The Leafs have been shelled this season, allowing the fourth most shots per game, yet are still firmly in a playoff position, thanks in large part to their goaltending.

What began as a major question mark heading into the season has turned into the backbone of the team.

James Reimer and Ben Scrivens have led the Leafs to a .916 team save percentage, good for eighth best in the league. In recent years with the likes of Vesa Toskala and Andrew Raycroft, breaking .900 was a minor miracle. Now, the Leafs have received better goaltending than teams like Montreal, Vancouver, Nashville, and Los Angeles, teams with unquestioned No. 1 goaltenders.

But strong goaltending in Toronto hasn't stopped rumours from popping up over the last few days linking high-profile veteran goalies to the Leafs. Roberto Luongo, currently sitting on the bench in Vancouver, is once again being talked about, apparently. But the new rumour de jour—one that makes even less sense—claims the Leafs are talking to Calgary about bringing Miikka Kiprusoff to Toronto.

The most shocking Leafs news Wednesday was not a Roberto Luongo trade; it was Brian Burke's sudden firing.

Bob McKenzie first reported that Burke was being relieved of his GM duties and a press conference later in the day introduced former assistant GM Dave Nonis as his permanent replacement.

If the Leafs want Roberto Luongo, it's going to cost them, even when Luongo is retired.

As more details begin to emerge from the tentative CBA, we are getting a clearer picture of what is going to happen with long-term, back-diving contracts. The NHL initially wanted to hammer teams signing these monstrous deals, forcing the full cap hit upon the signing team during a contract's remaining years if a player retired early. It didn't matter if the Vancouver Canucks traded Luongo, the cap penalty would revert back to Vancouver. Now, the cap penalty will be shared among teams when a player is traded.

Originally, if the Maple Leafs traded for Luongo the long-term ramifications of his contract weren't much of a concern—it was Vancouver's problem. Now when Luongo retires, however, the Leafs will be stuck with a cap penalty, the severity of which depends on when Luongo decides to hang up the pads.