The Nhl

More than a half dozen teams have emerged as possible employers for Sather, should he decide to move on: most prominently the Sharks, the Maple Leafs and the Mighty Ducks. The league would love to have Sather succeed Brian Burke, its vice president of hockey operations, who is all but certain to leave his post after this season. However, that's a thankless, noncreative job that Sather would be unlikely to accept.

Sather, who will wait until after the June 27 draft to decide on his future, says he still feels a strong sense of loyalty to Edmonton. Those close to him—including Sinden—believe that if Sather gets a reasonable commitment from the new owners, he'll stay. Otherwise, he will have no difficulty finding another job under his terms.

Points Leaders
Shooting, Scoring, Sitting
Having one of the NHL's top scorers is no guarantee of team success in this defense-first era. Four of the eight leading point-getters this season played on clubs that failed to qualify for the playoffs: the Canucks' Pavel Bure (third, with 90 points), the Rangers' Wayne Gretzky (fourth, 90), the Islanders' Zigmund Palffy (sixth, 87) and the Mighty Ducks' Teemu Selanne (eighth, 86). Meanwhile, none of the league's best three teams had a player in the top 10 in scoring. The Stars' leading point-getter finished 22nd ( Joe Nieuwendyk, 69 points), the Red Wings' best was 23rd ( Steve Yzerman, 69), and the Devils' top scorer wound up 30th ( Bobby Holik, 65).