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Some morning musings on Vegas, Brent Burns and Auston Matthews:

Knights still need a plan: They have a name, the Vegas Golden Knights. Can't wait for that first game versus the Angeles Kings. Okay, okay, I get just one joke. In all seriousness, now we need to see if they have a plan. 

Front-office types from the other 30 teams have speculated to me about how Las Vegas' respected general manager George McPhee will build his team. Does he try for instant results, drafting a more veteran team to create a quick buzz in the first season or two? Or does he go young all the way and who cares how many games they lose in the first few years, as long as a Stanley Cup contender is slowly but surely built through the amateur draft? 

What I can tell you is that the Vegas front office has not answered this question internally. They have two or three more mock expansion drafts left over the next few months to use different methodologies to that end. How they decide to proceed will greatly influence the age and type of player they go after in the expansion draft.

Burns stays a Shark: Speaking of Vegas, I think it was a decent bet the Golden Knights would have given Brent Burns a look, had he gone to free agency after the season. Why not, if you're an expansion team in the world's entertainment capital, looking to add pizzazz to your hockey entry? Burns, one of his snakes hanging around his neck and perhaps a smaller one roaming in his beard, would have been a fascinating character to unleash on Las Vegas. 

There's also the fact that he is one of the NHL's top five defencemen. But of course, it's for that reason the San Jose Sharks stepped up to ensure their superstar doesn't hit the market July 1, signing Burns on Tuesday to an eight-year, $64 million deal. Now, it didn't long for people to criticize the term, given that Burns is 31 and will be 40 when the deal expires. 

But the Sharks were justified in doing this for a bunch of reasons, first among them that you simply cannot replace a player of this unique talent. That's like asking the Los Angeles Kings to replace Drew Doughty or the Ottawa Senators to replace Erik Karlsson. It would be one thing if the Sharks thought their Stanley Cup window was closing, but with many of their core players in their prime, the only solution was to pay up to keep Burns in the fold. 

The fact that the contract does not include a no-movement clause and only a limited no-trade clause also affords the Sharks flexibility on the back end of it. But don't count against Burns playing the entirety of this deal. The dude keeps himself in insane physical condition.

Matthews just not scoring: It's hard to believe after I was at opening night in Ottawa and witnessed pure magic in Auston Matthews scoring four goals in his debut that there would be a time when we would see him go 13 games without a goal. 

But that's where it lies now, after the 19-year-old phenom was left off the score sheet in Tuesday's 2-1 loss by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Carolina Hurricanes. I also think the past few games have begun to affect his confidence -- I mean, how could it not? 

But I also see a young player who is doing all kinds of good things elsewhere on the ice. He led the team with five takeaways on Tuesday night, while also putting up seven shot attempts. Many a coach would protect a teenage centre by starting him on the wing in the first season or two, in order to limit his responsibilities. Think of the way the Montreal Canadiens brought along Alex Galchenyuk, a winger the first 3 1/2 years before finally switching to his natural centre in the second half of last season. 

Matthews is learning how to play 200 feet of ice, while playing mostly with two other rookies in William Nylander and Zach Hyman. No veteran insulation. And that's fine. Matthews is a big boy, he'll fight through this. And he'll come out of this adversity better for it.