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The first time Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis spent meaningful time with Alex Ovechkin was after the 2004-05 NHL lockout. Ovechkin, who had been drafted No. 1 overall by the Caps in 2004, arrived at Leonsis’ house to spend a day with the family.

Leonsis’ wife, Lynn, made lunch. Leonsis was impressed that the Russian superstar, then just 20, helped pick up dishes afterward and brought them to the kitchen.

Afterwards, they played basketball with Leonsis’ kids and a few friends. “He was an unbelievable basketball player,” said Leonsis. (Ovechkin’s mom, Tatyana, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in basketball). They then went swimming. “He was like a torpedo in the pool,” Leonsis recalled. “I’m not kidding, that’s what it felt like.”

Then the two men sat in the pool and talked. “Alex was making eye contact with me, and really listening,” Leonsis said. “I explained how hard this was going to be for him. The reason we were able to draft him No. 1 is that we were a really bad team. It was going to take a really long time to be a good team. Our goal was to win the Stanley Cup, but also for him to live a full self-actualized life and grow up with us.”

Ovechkin remained a captive audience. Leonsis then got philosophical.

“My belief was that communities fall in love with a young player,” Leonsis told Ovechkin. “And then they often get their heart broken when the young players want to leave.”

Leonsis ended his spiel with a pitch: “Alex, trust me. Let us trust you. Let’s do this together.”

Ovechkin said, “OK.” He was in.

Last week, the Capitals announced a new contract for Ovechkin: five years, with an average annual value of $9.5 million. The deal will take Ovechkin through age 40; should he average 33 goals per season, it will also include him breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goal-scoring record of 894.

Ovechkin negotiated the deal himself, emblematic of the trust he and the organization have forged over nearly two decades together.

“The idea of him playing in Russia, or playing for another organization, just didn’t make sense,” GM Brian MacLellan said. “It was important we brought that tone into the negotiations that we were going to try to make it work. We wanted him to finish his career here, be happy about the contract, be happy about the term, and go out the right way.”

Here is the story of how it all came together.


Ovechkin has been a superstar ever since he stepped on NHL ice. He scored 52 goals as a rookie. Two years later, he was named league MVP. He was MVP the next season, too.

Leonsis was right: it would take a long time to reach their goals. Despite making the playoffs in 10 of his first 13 seasons, it took until 2018 for Ovechkin to help lead the Capitals to the organization’s first ever Stanley Cup. Ovechkin’s impact off the ice was felt well before that.

“When I bought the team [in] 1999, I paid $85 million, and we struggled to put fans in the stands,” Leonsis said. “We had 2,900 season ticket holders in a 20,000 arena. The year before I bought the team they had gone to the Finals and couldn’t sell out playoff games. The following year, they didn’t make the playoffs and renewals were terrible.”

After Ovechkin’s first MVP season in 2007-08, the first under coach Bruce Boudreau, the Capitals sold out the playoffs. “The next season we sold out every game. And we’ve sold out every game since,” Leonsis said. “Now we’re a top-10 revenue team, and a top-six or eight ticket-selling team. We’ve become a destination. Now I would say the Caps are worth a billion dollars.”

The Caps realized the power of Ovechkin by the time his three-year, entry-level deal was expiring in 2008.

“When it was time for his second deal, there was a standard deal template,” Leonsis said. “[Sidney] Crosby had signed a five-year second deal, and we could have done something like that too.”

Team president Dick Patrick had other ideas. In a meeting with Leonsis, Patrick said: “I’m very conservative, and I’m very skeptical. And when you give players long-term deals for a lot of money, sometimes they change, sometimes their love of the game changes. I think there’s something special here, though. So why don’t we do something radical? Why don’t we tell Alex we want to negotiate your bridge contract, your B contract, and your free-agent deal all at the same time?”

At the time, Tatyana Ovechkin was serving as her son’s agent. Leonsis brought the idea to them of a long-term contract, and explained the Capitals were the ones assuming the risk. If Ovechkin got hurt, he’d still get paid.

The benefit of a long-term deal: if Ovechkin lived up to what the Capitals hoped he would be, it would work out for both sides.

The negative: there could be someone else in the industry that gets paid more in that span, as the salary cap grows.

“What I admired about Alex is, he never once compared himself and his deal to anybody else,” Leonsis said. “He never asked to be traded. He never said fire a coach. It’s just a remarkable personal journey for him.”

And so in 2008, Ovechkin signed a 13-year, $124 million deal. It was the NHL’s first $100 million contract.


Sometime in the middle of Ovechkin’s 13-year contract, Leonsis met Wayne Gretzky at an event. The two men sat down and talked.

“Alex is the only player I’ve ever thought could break my record,” Gretzky told Leonsis. “He loves the game. He has such a great relationship and comfort in D.C.; don’t ever break that.”

Leonsis promised Gretzky: “I won’t.”

Soon after, Leonsis saw the 30-for-30 documentary about Gretzky’s trade from Edmonton to Los Angeles. “And I laugh,” Leonsis said. “Because the Oilers won four Stanley Cups but the only thing the owner is known for is trading Wayne Gretzky.”

As Ovechkin’s 13-year deal was nearing expiration this season, Leonsis often joked during talks with other team officials: “They’re not going to make a 30-for-30 about us.”

During the pandemic, ESPN released “The Last Dance.” Leonsis was riveted.

“It was 10 hours about Michael Jordan’s greatness,” Leonsis said. “But also about how they did not feel loved or connected to the team.”

Leonsis didn’t want to be that guy. He already felt like he was on a good track, though.

Because Ovechkin had signed a long-term deal in 2008, teammate Nicklas Backstrom followed by committing to 10 years in 2010.

“Alex not only made the commitment to us, but made it to Nick, then they embraced John Carlson,” Leonsis explained. “Keeping Alex, keeping Nick, keeping John Carlson, building a 20 to 25-year journey with these guys, with Alex as the bedrock, was the right thing for us to do. It’s a wonderful story.”

Backstrom’s deal expired in 2020. He chose to negotiate his next deal himself.

“Nick is very analytical,” Leonsis said. “He sat down with us, and said ‘This is how many years I’d like to play, I’d like to play my whole career here. I want to play with Alex my whole career. I want to play in front of this crowd my entire career. This is what we need to do to win the Stanley Cup, and this is how Alex is going to break Wayne Gretzky’s record.’

“He literally went season by season, of what we needed to do and how he’d have to play, with five-on-five goals and power play. He landed on five years [for his contract]. It was remarkable how the two of them — unlike Lennon and McCartney, instead of breaking up, they were totally in sync.”


Contract negotiations for Ovechkin’s new deal began informally. Ovechkin talked to MacLellan throughout the season. The captain and GM met a few times, often at hotels on the road.

“He’d go back and talk to his family, and a few advisors,” MacLellan said. “Then he’d come back to me and we’d talk again. It went on for quite a while.”

The first discussions were philosophical. Ovechkin wanted to hear the direction of the Capitals. He wanted to know what MacLellan envisioned and what types of moves he planned on doing.

“Then term became important,” MacLellan said. “He zeroed in on five years, and that became very important. He liked the term of five years; he has some personal goals in mind.”

Once five years was determined as the term, the two needed to hash out the average annual value.

“His main goal wasn’t to make as much money as possible,” MacLellan said. “He probably would get a shorter term at a higher AAV if he wanted to go outside [of the Capitals]. Probably could have made more money going back home to Russia, I would assume, there are probably some tax advantages there. We had discussions: ‘Here are your career earnings. Is a higher contract going to affect your standard of life going forward, or is it about finishing your career out the right way?'”

At $9.5 million — just a shade lower than the $9.54 million AAV on his last deal — the Caps and Ovechkin felt like they could keep the team competitive. (That Ovechkin’s contract has nearly the same cap hit it had 13 years ago is an interesting indictment of the NHL; Leonsis says it is a direct byproduct of the NHL still being driven more by local revenues than national revenues).

Just as the Capitals finished Ovechkin’s deal, they also traded defenseman Brenden Dillon to the Winnipeg Jets.

“We had to get a $4 million player out,” MacLellan said. “You go higher than that, we probably have to move another player out. You get thin quick when that cap isn’t going up. So that was an important factor keeping it at $9.5 [million].”

Conversations between the Capitals and Ovechkin continued as the captain returned home to Russia for the summer. They hashed out final details on the phone, and via text, before finally landing on the deal.

“It was a bummer we weren’t able to do it in person,” MacLellan said. “But we all felt really happy about it. He was excited. He’s an emotional person. I think he was excited about knowing what he would be doing for the next five years.”

On Thursday, the Capitals held a press conference announcing the deal. And shortly after that, Leonsis was pulled into talks regarding the NBA’s Washington Wizards, a team that he also owns.

“We had a superstar player with the Wizards, he had an opportunity and wanted to be traded to the Lakers,” Leonsis said. “And I was dealing with that as we were announcing Alex. I couldn’t help but self-reflect on what a difference it is. Here’s a great player in Russell Westbrook, played in OKC, wanted to be traded, went to Houston, wanted to be traded, came to D.C., wanted to be traded and is now in L.A. He’s an unbelievably great person and an unbelievably great player. But that’s the difference between the NBA and the NHL, I suppose.”

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Panthers win Game 5, move on to Cup Final: Grades, takeaways for both teams

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Panthers win Game 5, move on to Cup Final: Grades, takeaways for both teams

Just when it looked as if the Carolina Hurricanes were going to force a Game 6 after scoring a pair of first-period goals, the Florida Panthers scored the three in the second. And when it looked as if the Hurricanes were going to at least force overtime with a third-period goal from Seth Jarvis? That’s when the defending Stanley Cup champions put an end to the discussion, with captain Aleksander Barkov using his strength to fend off Dmitry Orlov to set up Carter Verhaeghe for the series-clinching goal in their 5-3 win Wednesday in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Returning to the Stanley Cup Final to defend their crown is only the start for the Panthers. This is now the 11th time in the past 12 years in which a Sun Belt team has played in the Stanley Cup Final, a distinction that began in 2014 with the Los Angeles Kings and was interrupted in 2019 when the Boston Bruins faced the St. Louis Blues.

Also, a team from Florida (the Tampa Bay Lightning is the other) has won the East in six straight seasons, which is also the same length of the current streak of Sun Belt teams to reach the Cup Final. Furthermore, the Panthers are also the third South Florida professional team to reach the title game or title series in their respective sport for three straight years, joining the Miami Dolphins from 1971 to 1973 and the Miami Heat from 2010 to 2014.

Although they avoided being swept, the Hurricanes were eliminated in the conference finals for the second time in the past three seasons. They’ll now enter an offseason in which they’ll face questions about their roster, and what must be done to get beyond the penultimate round of the playoffs.

Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton look back at what happened in Game 5, along with what lies ahead for each franchise.

Florida was well-positioned for a victory Wednesday. The Panthers had their injured skaters back — Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola and A.J. Greer had all been impact players in some form — and they should have added a spark. But it didn’t look as if the Panthers were benefiting from their return early, as the team looked slow out of the gate. Gustav Forsling‘s turnover sent Sebastian Aho on a breakaway that he turned into a 1-0 lead for Carolina.

Florida also couldn’t capitalize on its power plays, which was not great — especially considering Aho’s second goal of the period gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.

But then the Panthers did what they do best: pounce. Matthew Tkachuk‘s power-play goal cut the deficit in half and Evan Rodrigues had the score tied 30 seconds later. Then it was Anton Lundell giving Florida the lead. That’s just how the Panthers roll — deep. Rodrigues was the Panthers’ 19th different goal scorer in the postseason.

Even though Sergei Bobrovsky looked shakier than usual in the first period, he responded with a strong finish through the final 40 minutes. And Florida’s penalty kill stepped up to stifle the Hurricanes’ power play (which was 0-for-4). The Panthers tightened up and stayed that way through the third period to deny Carolina a chance to force a Game 6.

Florida was not flawless — giving up a goal to Jarvis midway through the third was a bad look — but Verhaeghe scored the winner (off a brilliant assist from Barkov) to make Florida’s just-enough effort sufficient to snuff out the Hurricanes’ flame. And Sam Bennett‘s empty-netter ensured it was three straight Eastern Conference titles for the Panthers. — Shilton

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Verhaeghe puts Panthers back in front

Carter Verhaeghe fires home a big-time goal to give the Panthers a lead late in the third period.

Everything the Canes did in the first period of Game 5 was an extension of how they operated in Game 4. They had a plan, and it was a course of action that saw them take advantage of mistakes such as the ones that led to Aho scoring the goals that staked Carolina to its 2-0 lead. There was something else too, specifically in the way the Hurricanes defended themselves in the midst of a scrum with about five minutes left that showed a fight that wasn’t always seen in the series.

A two-goal lead after one period for a team that was 6-0 this postseason when they scored first was a good sign. The Hurricanes’ defensive identity carried over from their season-saving Game 4 performance. It was enough to suggest for at least an intermission that a Game 6 could be in play. Then came the quick back-to-back goals from Tkachuk and Rodrigues in the second period before Lundell scored a little more than four minutes later to put Carolina behind.

Those goals — coupled with the fact the Panthers limited the Hurricanes to only two shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the final period — initially made it seem as if the series was over. That’s until Jarvis scored a tying goal and reignited some pushback from the Canes. Or rather, it did until Barkov showed what makes him one of the game’s premier players by holding off Orlov and creating the space to set up Verhaeghe for the winning goal. — Clark


Big questions

Can the Panthers use rest as a refresher?

Florida hasn’t had consecutive days off at this point since early in their second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And the Panthers are ailing to some degree. All those injured skaters clearly aren’t fully healthy; Eetu Luostarinen left Wednesday’s game after a cross-check from William Carrier, and you know plenty of guys who have been in the lineup every night are craving some downtime.

The Panthers have an opportunity to breathe and reboot after a long string of games, and that could be invaluable in how they show up to the Cup Final. They could know their next opponent as soon as Thursday, but it might also be a few more days before the Western Conference finals is settled.

Florida will have a slight edge either way in the rest department, and capitalizing on it could be a game-changer. The Panthers remember the toll it takes on the body to travel long distances (like from Fort Lauderdale to Edmonton?) in a Final. It’s critical to take advantage of, well, every advantage. Even if it means being Dallas Stars fans for a spell — and hoping the two potential foes can tire each other out for another few games. — Shilton

How aggressive are the Canes going to get this summer, knowing next year might be their strongest chance to strike?

Possessing more than $28 million in cap space, per PuckPedia, presents the idea that the Hurricanes could be a major player in free agency. It’s a level of flexibility that championship contenders covet because it’s so hard to attain once they have several members of their core under long-term contracts.

That’s a problem the Hurricanes don’t have — at least not yet.

They have seven players signed to deals longer than three seasons. It’s a group that includes core members such as Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jaccob Slavin, Andrei Svechnikov, Aho and Jarvis. But there are considerations to make given that Jackson Blake, Scott Morrow, Alexander Nikishin and Logan Stankoven are all going to be pending restricted free agents after the 2025-26 season, who will then be in need of new deals.

Though there’s a need for the Hurricanes to try to win now, this is also a franchise that has made a point of building large portions of its roster through the draft. Now, the Canes must balance an approach that has allowed them to be a championship contender with one that sees them take the next step, and that will dictate how their front office handles this offseason. — Clark

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The 5 most astounding stats behind the 100-game stretch when the Tigers have ruled MLB

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The 5 most astounding stats behind the 100-game stretch when the Tigers have ruled MLB

The Detroit Tigers were going nowhere on Aug. 10, 2024, headed for another losing season, which would have been their eighth in a row, and their 10th consecutive non-playoff season. They were 55-63, 10 games out of the third wild-card spot and behind five other teams in the wild-card standings. They had dealt starting pitcher Jack Flaherty at the July trade deadline, and their lineup in a 3-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants that day featured Akil Baddoo batting leadoff (hitting .125), Gio Urshela at cleanup (.605 OPS) and Bligh Madris playing first base and batting fifth (career OPS in the majors of .560). The bottom four hitters all finished the game hitting under .200.

FanGraphs pegged Detroit’s playoff odds at 0.2%, which seemed generous.

The Tigers won the next day, beating the Giants 5-4. Maybe the biggest win of their season came on Aug. 15, though, when Javier Baez hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning off tough Seattle Mariners closer Andres Munoz to lift the Tigers to a 2-1 victory. The Tigers would go on to an improbable 31-13 run to finish the season at 86-76 and capture a wild card — one win more than Seattle — before eventually being eliminated in the American League Division Series.

The winning has carried over into 2025 as the Tigers are 36-20, the best record in the American League. Tuesday was their 100th game since the transformation began Aug. 11, and they have the best record in the majors since that date:

Detroit Tigers: 67-33, .670
Los Angeles Dodgers: 64-36, .640
New York Mets: 62-38, .620
Philadelphia Phillies: 61-38, .616

What has led to this dominance? Let’s break down some of the numbers behind Detroit’s astounding turnaround over the past 100 games.


1. Tarik Skubal is 10-2 with a 2.22 ERA, 149 strikeouts and just 14 walks

The 2024 AL Cy Young winner dominated down the stretch in 2024 and has apparently raised his game to an even higher level. This season, Skubal boasts a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 92-to-7, or 13.14 K’s for every walk — which would be the best ever for a qualified pitcher:

  • Skubal, 2025: 13.14

  • Phil Hughes, 2014: 11.63

  • Bret Saberhagen, 1994: 11.00

  • Cliff Lee, 2010: 10.28

  • Curt Schilling, 2002: 9.58

Skubal shut out the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday, allowing just two hits and striking out 13, registering a game score of 96, the highest game score since Domingo German also scored a 96 in his perfect game in 2023. Skubal’s final pitch: a blazing 102.6 mph fastball to strike out Gabriel Arias, the fastest strikeout pitch by a starting pitcher of the pitch-tracking era.

That pitch capped a historic performance for Skubal. Not only was it his first career complete game, but he did it throwing just 94 pitches. A shutout with fewer than 100 pitches is known as a Maddux, in honor of Hall of Famer and king of efficiency Greg Maddux (who had 13 Madduxes in his career). But Maddux never had a game quite like this one: Since pitch counts began in 1988, Skubal is the first pitcher to throw a shutout with fewer than 100 pitches and at least 13 strikeouts.

As he walked out to the mound for the ninth inning, he received a standing ovation from the home crowd chanting his name.

“Little teary-eyed out there, honestly, before the inning started,” Skubal said after the game. “It was pretty cool. I just thought to myself 12-year-old me wouldn’t believe that was an opportunity to have the fan base support you the way it does and be in that moment.”

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt called him the best pitcher in baseball. It’s hard to argue with that description.


2. A major-league-leading 2.78 bullpen ERA

Let’s break down the Tigers’ relief pitching over the past two seasons:

Start of 2024 season through Aug. 10: 4.16 ERA (20th in majors)

Aug. 11 to end of season: 2.35 ERA (second in majors)

2025: 3.31 ERA (seventh in majors)

The bullpen hasn’t been quite as dominant as it was those final seven weeks of 2024, but it has been effective enough. Manager A.J. Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter deserve a lot of credit for mixing and matching here. Changeup specialist Tommy Kahnle, signed as a free agent, has split closer duties with Will Vest, with Kahnle recording six saves and the hard-throwing Vest locking up four wins and seven saves.

This has been the result of necessity more than some master plan. Jason Foley led the team with 28 saves in 2024 but was sent down to Triple-A to begin this season after struggling in spring training. In mid-April, Foley talked to the Detroit News about his shock and frustration in getting sent down, but after allowing one hit over 6⅔ scoreless innings in five games for Toledo, Foley was placed on the injured list before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery earlier this month.

This could be an area in which the Tigers eventually look to add some depth. Kahnle has succeeded in throwing changeups 84% of the time but also hasn’t pitched 50 innings in a season since 2019. Beau Brieske had a 3.18 ERA a season ago as a reliever but is at 5.29 in 2025 with just 12 strikeouts in 17 innings. Overall, the pen ranks just 22nd in the majors in strikeout rate, so it is more of a pitch-to-contact pen.


3. A .726 OPS that ranks top 10 in the majors

Let’s break this down into the same three splits:

Start of 2024 season through Aug. 10: .674 OPS (27th in majors, 4.12 runs per game)

Aug. 11 to end of season: .714 OPS (13th in majors, 4.45 runs per game)

2025: .736 OPS (eighth in majors, 5.07 runs per game)

For the first four-plus months of 2024, the Detroit offense was bad — much like it had been for each season since 2017. In those years, the Tigers ranked 10th or worse in the AL in runs, consistently ranking near the bottom in both on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The offense perked up down the hot stretch to finish 2024 but has been even better this season — Detroit last averaged at least 5.0 runs per game for an entire season in 2008.

The Tigers have also improved their OBP from .300 last season to .325 so far in 2025. Two keys here: Free agent Gleyber Torres and 2020 No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson. Torres, signed to a one-year, $15 million contract, has a .380 OBP, well above his career mark of .334 entering the season. There’s reason to believe he might keep this going as he ranks in the 99th percentile in chase rate, continuing a two-year improvement from a 25.9% chase rate in 2023 to 21.4% in 2024 to 16.0% in 2025. That has helped him to more walks than strikeouts and a solid .277 average.

Torkelson, meanwhile, is hitting .238/.351/.513 with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs — a big improvement from last year’s .219/.295/.374 line that led to a two-month demotion to Triple-A. He hit 31 home runs in 2023, so he has produced power numbers before, but this time he’s doing it with fewer strikeouts and more walks. His timing has been better, especially as he has pulled more balls in the air (and fewer on the ground). His defensive metrics are also much improved. So far, this is a much better player than we saw even in 2023, let alone 2024.


4. Javier Baez is hitting .280/.315/.459 in 2025

Hinch has done a terrific job of mixing up his lineups, especially since Matt Vierling, who was second to Riley Greene in WAR among position players in 2024, just returned for his first action of 2025. The Tigers have also been without outfielders Parker Meadows and Wenceel Perez all season. With Vierling and Meadows both injured, they were left without a center fielder. The initial plan featured light-hitting infielder Ryan Kreidler plus a little Greene, but Kreidler didn’t hit and Greene is best suited for a corner position.

So the Tigers got creative — with Baez, of all players. Despite that key home run against the Mariners, Baez was one of the worst players in the majors in 2024, hitting .184/.221/.294 with minus-1.1 WAR. They made their late run last year mostly without Baez, who played his last game on Aug. 22. With three years and $73 million left on his contract and the Tigers looking to give the shortstop job to rookie Trey Sweeney, they appeared stuck with one utility infielder on an expensive contract.

After working out in center field in spring training, Baez got his first start there April 22.

“One of the things that Javy has always been invested in is winning,” Hinch said at the time. “And he asked what he needed to do to help this team win. You can go to adjustments at the plate, play clean defense, the baserunning that he brings. But the reality is, the biggest message was: We’re going to need you at multiple positions. And he was all-in, and I think he’s taken it in stride because he saw that our team was winning.”

Baez’s offense had gone downhill in his three seasons with the Tigers, so he’s finally producing at the plate for the first time since 2021. His defense in center has been more than acceptable. Can he keep it going? Probably not. He’s the same ultra-aggressive hitter, with a chase rate that’s still over 40%. His hard-hit rates remain well below where they were during his best seasons with the Chicago Cubs. Meadows has just started a rehab assignment and will likely take over in center when he returns, but Baez has at least shown he can help out as a utility player.

Throw in Vierling — another player who can play all over the field — and suddenly Detroit’s lineup is not only versatile, but deep from one to nine with a good bench.


5. Casey Mize and Jackson Jobe are a combined 10-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 2025

The continued success of Mize and Jobe might be the key to whether the Tigers run away in the AL Central and keep this win pace going over 162 games. Mize is 6-1 with a 2.45 ERA but has a 3.90 FIP, as he has allowed a .215 average and .255 OBP despite averaging a below-average 7.7 K’s per nine innings. Jobe is 4-1 with a 4.03 ERA but a 5.02 FIP as he has a poor 35-to-24 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Despite the difference between their ERA and FIP, there is reason to believe in both pitchers. In Mize’s case, he throws strikes (with just 10 walks in nine starts), and his expected stats show a .208 average and .369 slugging percentage, almost a perfect match for his actual results — so he has done a good job of limiting hard contact and inducing an above-average groundball rate.

For Jobe, it’s all about projection improvement. We’ve seen that in his past three starts, as the highly rated rookie starter induced a few more swing-and-misses — 14, 11 and 11, respectively, after not reaching double figures in his first six starts. His changeup has been effective, giving him a nice weapon against left-handed batters. The issue is that his four-seam fastball, while averaging 96.6 mph, doesn’t miss a lot of bats. Since he doesn’t get much extension in his delivery, his “effective” velocity is just 93.0 mph, so it plays down a bit despite a fairly high spin rate (81st percentile). Bottom line: He’s nine starts into his career and has shown the potential that made him a top prospect.

And the bottom line for the Tigers overall? They’re clearly for real, with improved offensive depth, a dominant No. 1 starter and a top manager who knows how to use his roster. Detroit also has a strong farm system — No. 3 on ESPN’s preseason ranking — that will allow it to be one of the teams most likely to add significant help at the trade deadline.

The Tigers haven’t won 100 games since 1984, which happens to be the last time they won the World Series. This team has the roster to make you believe both of those things could happen again in 2025.

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Panthers to Cup Final: ‘This year, it’s all business’

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Panthers to Cup Final: 'This year, it's all business'

RALEIGH, N.C. — For the Carolina Hurricanes, it was a Game 5 loss in the Eastern Conference final that ended their season. For the Florida Panthers, it was Wednesday.

The Panthers advanced to their third straight Stanley Cup Final with a 5-3 victory that saw them rally from a 2-0 first-period deficit, have Carter Verhaeghe score the game-winning goal with 7:39 left in regulation, and kill off a Hurricanes power play with three minutes left and Carolina’s goalie pulled.

It was a thrilling and intense playoff game, one that coach Paul Maurice said had “all the elements that make our sport great.” But the celebration was business as usual for the defending Stanley Cup champions.

They congratulated goalie Sergei Bobrovsky but bypassed any raucous on-ice jubilation. The most celebratory thing the Panthers did was wear their conference champion hats — although Verhaeghe joked that if they were to win a fourth straight conference title next season, they might just keep their helmets on.

“I remember a few years ago it felt like such an accomplishment,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “This year, it’s all business.”

The Panthers also refused to touch the Prince of Wales Trophy for the second straight season after lifting it in 2023. They lost in the Stanley Cup Final that year to the Vegas Golden Knights, before defeating the Edmonton Oilers for their first Cup in 2024.

“I mean, last year it worked. So this year, same thing,” captain Aleksander Barkov said. “This is the place you want to be as a hockey player. You want to play for the Stanley Cup, and once again, we’re here third year in a row. That’s a great achievement, but we all know we’re here to win the bigger things.”

The Panthers’ business-like mindset helped them overcome a disastrous start to the game that saw Carolina take a 2-0 lead on a pair of Sebastian Aho goals. Carolina was 6-0 in the postseason when scoring first, having done so in Game 4 to push the series back to Raleigh.

“They’re all over us and we’re serving up pizzas. We don’t look like we should have made the playoffs. And then the next thing you know, we look pretty good,” Maurice said.

Carolina couldn’t capitalize on an early second-period power play to extend the lead and then watched center Jesperi Kotkaniemi take an ill-advised offensive zone holding penalty behind the play. Tkachuk tipped home an Aaron Ekblad shot just 16 seconds into the ensuing power play to cut the lead in half. It was the Panthers’ first power-play goal in 11 opportunities over the past three games.

As usual with the Panthers, one goal led to multiple goals. Evan Rodrigues scored his first of the playoffs 30 seconds after Tkachuk’s tally. Tkachuk fed the puck to Sam Bennett while taking a hit along the boards near the benches. Rodrigues got inside Carolina rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin to poke the puck through Frederik Andersen to tie the game.

“The message in between periods was just that if we got one, we felt pretty good that we had a good chance of coming back,” said Rodrigues, who was moved back to a line with Tkachuk and Bennett during the game. “There was no stress. The room wasn’t quiet. It was, ‘Get one and see where this takes us.'”

It took Florida to its first lead of the game. Just 4:06 after Rodrigues’ goal, center Anton Lundell got inside position on Aho to give Brad Marchand a target with his pass from the wing. Lundell tipped it home, and the Panthers were up 3-2.

“We’re comfortable in these situations. When you’ve been through it before and you’ve gone all the way, you see the different way that momentum swings can happen throughout a game and how you can take advantage of that,” Marchand said. “Even when they got that goal in the third, it didn’t phase us at all. We just kept pushing.”

The Hurricanes got the break they needed at 8:30 of the third period. Both Gustav Forsling and Sam Reinhart failed to clear the puck, and a great forecheck by Andrei Svechnikov sent a bouncing disc to an on-rushing Seth Jarvis, who flipped the puck past Bobrovsky to tie the game 3-3 and reignite the crowd.

But the Florida captain made his best offensive play of the series. Barkov held the puck in the attacking zone with Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov all over him. He deked around forward Eric Robinson and slid the puck to Verhaeghe, who did what he does best in the playoffs: Score the game-winning goal.

It was Verhaeghe’s 12th career game-winning goal in the playoffs, twice as many as the next-closest player in Panthers history (Tkachuk with six). It was the third series-clinching goal of his career.

“He’s got that clutch gene. Big goals at big times. It’s who he is,” Rodrigues said.

“Great goal, huge goal. Eastern Conference winning goal, so pretty big deal there,” said Tkachuk.

But the Panthers still needed a little bit more heroism, this time from their penalty kill. Bennett took a slashing penalty with three minutes left and Florida leading 4-3. The Panthers PK, led by Bobrovsky, managed to keep the puck out of the net with Carolina having pulled Andersen, until Bennett emerged from the penalty box to score the clinching goal.

The Hurricanes’ power play went 0-for-6 in the game.

“That was the killer. When you look back on this game, that’ll be a couple of lost moments for sure,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said.

Bobrovsky, who made 20 saves, said it’s a “privilege” to be back in the Stanley Cup Final for a third straight season.

“We appreciate that and we value that. But again, the most important step is ahead of us. It’s going to be a challenge,” he said.

The Panthers will await the winner of the Western Conference, where the Edmonton Oilers have a 3-1 series lead on the Dallas Stars. Whoever they face, the series will begin on the road — which might be exactly where Florida wants to be.

The Panthers have won five straight games on the road, outscoring opponents 27-7 and scoring at least five goals in each game.

In series-clinching opportunities in this postseason, the Panthers are now 0-2 at home and 3-0 on the road. The Panthers join the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins as the only teams to go winless in multiple home clinching opportunities en route to a Stanley Cup Final appearance. Since the Stanley Cup playoffs expanded to four full rounds in 1980, there have been four teams to win the Stanley Cup without clinching any series on their home ice.

Wherever and whenever they start the next round, it’ll be business as usual for the Panthers.

“It was really different two years ago. It was so new to us,” Tkachuk said. “Whoever we play, we’ll be very prepared for them. It’s not our first rodeo with this.”

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