There comes a point when something has to be better than nothing, especially with a bagel on the board. Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson and Palat were a push over, and they generated a single scoring chance through the entire game.

It is also easy to toss out the injury “if onlys,” but there is no way the Blackhawks lineup was 100% healthy, either.

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The fantasy content is a little thin, at this time of the season, and for that I apologize. For some reason, there is an extremely narrow focus throughout the hockey community.

Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts are always worth a tour through. The latest edition had plenty of notes, notably surrounding a number of teams, new coaches, Phil Kessel, Ryan O’Reilly and more.

Two topics and three defensemen were of particular interest. This is aside from the intro concerning the intrigue of Noah Hanifin, Ivan Provorov and Zach Werenski.

New Sharks bench boss Peter DeBoer has confirmed he’ll utilize Brent Burns as a defenseman. While in theory it is always a plus to have a forward who holds defense eligibility, Burns was actually a better fantasy player as a defenseman last year than as a forward during the 2013-14 season.

Dustin Byfuglien seems to produce better as a rearguard than forward, too. Be it the extra minutes or comfort along the blue line, both Burns and Byfuglien are better fantasy assets playing defense and both in the conversation for top-five status among their peers for 2015-16 fake drafts.

The other two are Los Angeles Kings farmhands Colin Miller and Derek Forbort. Including the playoffs, Miller posted 62 points — 21 gaols — through 89 games, and as mentioned by Friedman, is believed to be NHL ready.

Forbort, meanwhile, didn’t factor into the scoring as frequently, but his frame, mobility and puck skills should allow him to push for being a second-pairing, defense-first defender in his prime.

Miller is the player to watch in fantasy circles, as he could fill the void left by Slava Voynov, depending on where and how that situation unfolds. Reading the prospect report, his wheels and shot will be difference makers.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs might look to the Chicago model, and select the best defenseman available at No. 4, or trade down and select a defenseman they feel will fall to them or one they’re comfortable targeting with a later pick.

Currently, they have Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Stuart Percy, Matt Finn, Viktor Loov, Rinat Valiev, and maybe Tim Erixon will even find a game worth a roster spot. It is a deep pool, kind of, but it certainly isn’t top heavy.

I say this because, defensemen typically, if not always, take longer to develop, and if Toronto is building their team for the future and the right way. It should begin on the blue line.

And who knows, when the blue is ready to be among the best in the league, maybe Phil Kessel will still be setting up shop and scoring 35 at 35. Or is it only in golf when shooting your age is a thing?

Seriously, though, and back to Chicago, in the 2002-2005 drafts, the Blackhawks selected Duncan Keith 54th, Brent Seabrook 14th, Cam Baker 3rd and Niklas Hjalmarsson 108th. With them in the stable, they selected Jack Skille 7th in 2005 and then Toews and Kane the following two seasons.

While adding that coveted No. 1 center is intriguing, and Dylan Strome could be that player, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Leafs took a defenseman in the first round. And there is a good chance Strome isn’t there, even if the Leafs wanted him.

As a fan, it almost feels like the right play. Adding one of the top three defenseman (Hanifin, Provorov or Werenski), while potentially adding another asset in the process is fine. Even selecting one of them at four is fine. Although, the greedy side of me wants to see Strome fall and Toronto select him.

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Make sure you check out Austin’s prospect ramblings on both sets of Cup Finals.

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It’ll be an exciting couple of weeks full of this and that rumors and nonsense. We’ll manage, though, right?

Congratulations, Hawks fans.