Over the last five seasons, the team that has had the puck more than any other — 54.8 percent of the time, in fact — is the Los Angeles Kings. In fourth place — at 52.7 percent — is the Boston Bruins.

Neither made the playoffs this year....

For Los Angeles, this is obvious. They became the first team since the introduction of the asinine three-point game became available to simultaneously lead the league in possession and miss the playoffs. Already, rumors swirl about unrest in the room, and there's likely to be some roster attrition this summer simply because it's looking like the salary cap might go down if players don't use the escalator....

Unlike the Kings, there would be not a single eyebrow raised if Peter Chiarelli, Claude Julien, or both were fired, or if there was a massive roster overhaul. The argument is that Chiarelli built a team for a style that doesn't work in the NHL any more, and Julien deploys the players he's given in a rather unsatisfactory way, and that a number of high-priced players underperformed. All of these are true to one extent or another.