After signing Phil Kessel to a franchise record 8-year, $64 million contract to start the season, the next most important item for Dave Nonis is deciding what to do with Dion Phaneuf. If he decides to sign the soon-to-be free agent, it won't be cheap.

The Sabres keep making headlines, and for all the wrong reasons. They can't win a game, they are going to trade anyone decent for peanuts, and they now have more suspensions than wins. Woof!

Most defencemen aren't able to play in a shutdown role for years. It took Seth Jones two games.

For Nashville's first two games of the season, Shea Weber took on the heavy lifting and was matched up almost exclusively against the opposition's top lines. Barry Trotz spread out Jones' minutes evenly amongst everyone else.

But when Roman Josi, Weber's usual partner, went down with a head injury in the second game of the season, it opened up the door for Jones to take on more responsibility. A lot of responsibility.

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.

Morgan Rielly is making life very difficult for Dave Nonis and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 19-year-old defenceman made the Leafs out of training camp and has looked good so far with the big club. Rielly has four games remaining before the Leafs must decide whether or not to keep the talented blueliner or send him back to Moose Jaw to play in the WHL. Once Rielly plays his 10th game as a Maple Leaf the first year of his entry-level contract will kick in and he's here for good.

It's a very complex decision and not one management will take lightly. There are pros and cons to keeping Rielly and Nonis has a lot to weigh before making the decision.

To help him out I've summarized the debate in a segment called "Point/Counterpoint".

Elliotte Friedman publishes 30 Thoughts every Monday and it's something I look forward to reading every week. Friedman sprinkles in great quotes from GMs and executives, covers trade talk in a credible way, and gives a must-read rundown on the pressing issues in hockey.

It's a great format. And I'm going to rip it off completely. In the past I tried my own style of 30 Thoughts, which I called 41 shots. But 41 is a lot of ideas to get in, and I abandoned the format. Well, I've been re-inspired, not only because Friedman's 30 Thoughts are back after a summer hiatus, but also because Maple Leafs Hot Stove's Anthony Petrielli writes what he calls "Too Long for Twitter" on his personal blog, and it's pretty great as well.

But I'm going to be realistic and stick with 10 thoughts. I think I can manage that many. I hope to post what I'm dubbing "10 Minute Misconduct" every Friday and I will (hopefully) stick to that schedule. Although today's post is exclusively about the Leafs, in the future I'll give my thoughts on topics around the league, lest all my posts become "Dave Bolland: pretty great!"

I must admit I've never been a big fan of Dominik Hasek. His unconventional, flop-everywhere-and-somehow-have-the-puck-hit-me style always bothered me. Plus, he helped stick the dagger in an overachieving Leafs squad during the 1999 Eastern Conference Final. Worst of all, he had one of the stupidest goalie helmets of all time. I can't forgive the helmet.

But I appreciate the brilliance of Hasek.

Hours before the start of the regular season, Phil Kessel re-signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for $64 million over 8 years.

With a number that big there are sure to be people losing their minds. To help you understand I put together a handy guide to answer any concerns you might have about the richest deal in Maple Leafs history.