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The NHL free-agency frenzy of 2021 started 27 days later than the usual opening day of July 1, but it was as wild as any in recent memory, with more than $500 million spent on deals on the first day alone.

A number of valuable players remain who have yet to make their decisions — and potential franchise-altering trades for Jack Eichel and Vladimir Tarasenko are still possible as well. But after the first big wave, here is where things stand for all 32 teams.

Note: Thanks as always to our friends at CapFriendly for salary and contract data. Advanced stats are from Hockey Reference, Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey. Teams are arrayed alphabetically within each grade level.

Jump to:
ANA | ARI | BOS | BUF
CGY | CAR | CHI | COL
CBJ | DAL | DET | EDM
FLA | LA | MIN | MTL
NSH | NJ | NYI | NYR
OTT | PHI | PIT | SJ
SEA | STL | TB | TOR
VAN | VGS | WSH | WPG

A grades

Key additions: D Conor Timmins, D Shayne Gostisbehere, LW Andrew Ladd, LW Antoine Roussel, LW Loui Eriksson, C Jay Beagle, C Travis Boyd, G Carter Hutton, D Ben Hutton, LW Dmitrij Jaskin, LW Ryan Dzingel, D Anton Stralman

Key losses: G Darcy Kuemper, D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, RW Conor Garland, D Niklas Hjalmarsson, D Alex Goligoski, G Antti Raanta, LW Michael Bunting, C Frederik Gauthier, C Michael Chaput, LW Dryden Hunt, C John Hayden, D Jordan Oesterle, D Tyler Pitlick (expansion draft)

Remaining hole: The Coyotes may not be done trading veteran players yet. Could Christian Dvorak or Phil Kessel be the next to go?

Grade: A+. Now this is how you tank. GM Bill Armstrong was hired in 2020 thanks in part to his prowess as a draft guru in St. Louis. But when he arrived in Arizona, he found a roster that was nudging the cap ceiling as well as an empty cupboard of draft picks — including ones the NHL took away thanks to the previous regime’s draft combine rule violations.

Fast forward a year, and Armstrong managed to move Ekman-Larsson and his onerous contract (although it did cost promising Conor Garland), trade Kuemper for a solid prospect in Timmins and a first-rounder, and build a treasure trove of picks that includes five (!) in next year’s second round.

Meanwhile, the Coyotes have more than $8 million in cap space and just seven players under contract for 2022-23. Arizona has had a top-three pick twice in its existence; a goaltending battery of Hutton and Josef Korenar goes a long way toward rectifying that.


Key additions: G Marc-Andre Fleury, D Seth Jones, C Tyler Johnson, D Caleb Jones, D Jake McCabe, LW Jujhar Khaira

Key losses: D Duncan Keith, D Adam Boqvist, D Brent Seabrook, C Pius Suter, C David Kampf, C Vinnie Hinostroza

Remaining hole: After being one of the busiest teams throughout free agency, through trades and signing, the Blackhawks may just be done for now — unless they find someone who wants to trade for goalies Malcolm Subban or Collin Delia, who lost valuable playing time now that Marc-Andre Fleury is on board.

Grade: A. The Blackhawks acquired the reigning Vezina Trophy winner for nothing. The price was significantly higher for Jones — a swap of 2021 first-rounders, another conditional first-rounder and young defenseman Adam Boqvist — but the Blackhawks landed a true No. 1 defenseman not too far removed from Norris Trophy hype. His $5.4 million cap hit is a bargain this season; the jury’s out on that $9.5 million AAV, eight-year, full no-movement commitment they made beyond that.

McCabe was one of the offseason’s best low-key signings. Johnson still has something to offer, and they snagged a second-rounder from Tampa Bay while saving some real dollars by offloading Brent Seabrook’s contract. The work done this offseason, plus the return of Jonathan Toews, plus the relative weakness of much of the Western Conference, equals a team that could challenge for a playoff spot this season.


Key additions: C Pius Suter, C Mitchell Stephens, D Nick Leddy, G Alex Nedeljkovic

Key losses: G Jonathan Bernier, C Luke Glendening, C Darren Helm, D Dennis Cholowski (expansion draft)

Remaining hole: The Red Wings have the cap space (over $25 million) to pluck some of the contracts that teams might need to shed later in the summer. They also have to do deals with restricted free agent forward Jakub Vrana and defenseman Filip Hronek.

Grade: A. The Red Wings took advantage of a couple of odd decisions by other teams on restricted free agents. The Hurricanes weren’t convinced that Nedeljkovic, a Calder Trophy finalist, had the stuff of a true starting goalie, and they traded him to Detroit. The Blackhawks said there “wasn’t really a match” in contract talks with Suter, walked away and saw the Red Wings snatch him up. Leddy was a salary dump from the Islanders who’ll help their young defensemen.

They also got better by virtue of who left their lineup. It’s still a knee-deep rebuild for Detroit, but it’s very much on the right track. This grade is erring on the side of GM Steve Yzerman (still) being the smartest guy in the room.


Key additions: C Phillip Danault, D Alexander Edler, RW Viktor Arvidsson, G Garret Sparks

Key losses: RW Matt Luff, D Mark Alt

Remaining hole: The rebuild is nearing an end in Los Angeles. Now it’s all about when young hotshot prospects like Quinton Byfield will be able to become lineup regulars.

Grade: A. Just a tremendous offseason for GM Rob Blake, as he starts to really put the veteran pieces in place to supplement the prospect pool he’s amassed. There’s a lot to love about the Danault signing, as the Kings sign a center who can play up on the lineup until Byfield or Alex Turcotte are ready, and then settle in as the key to an effective checking line.

Arvidsson and Edler will help the team’s young Swedes, and if Arvidsson can regain the form he had before a couple of injurious years, he’ll be an asset. He already makes a good penalty kill better. If the youngsters are ripened, the Kings could make noise in the Pacific. If they’re not, this offseason sets the table for their eventuality as a contender.


Key additions: D Dougie Hamilton, D Ryan Graves, G Jonathan Bernier, F Tomas Tatar

Key losses: D Will Butcher, D Connor Carrick, D Ryan Murray

Remaining holes: The Devils still need to re-sign RFA forward Janne Kuokkanen, but could use more forwards for next season. Tatar helps, but they’d do well to give Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier some other veteran scorers to skate with next season.

Grade: A. The Devils landed the best defensive free agent on the open market. Sure, the money talks, but they also had to convince Hamilton to come to New Jersey and to join a team that’s a few years away from real contention. He’s going to immediately make them better in all facets, including their moribund power play (28th last season, 14.2% conversion rate). What this signing looks like three years from now is contingent on how the Devils build around him.

Meanwhile, Graves is a low-cost defenseman who shoots the puck a ton and is better than what they had on the blue line in 2021. Tatar, inexplicably scratched during the Canadiens’ run to the Stanley Cup Final, is a perfect signing in annual cap hit ($4.5 million) and term (two years) as long as he’s still a play driver at 5-on-5. Bernier was good on a bad team last season and is a nice partner for Mackenzie Blackwood. He’s not worth $4.125 million AAV, but it’s not like the Devils are a cap team right now.


Key additions: LW Jakub Voracek, C Sean Kuraly, D Jake Bean, D Adam Boqvist

Key losses: D Seth Jones, LW/RW Cam Atkinson

Remaining holes: The Blue Jackets dangled center Max Domi in the expansion draft and didn’t find a taker. With a $5.3 million cap hit, one year left before unrestricted free agency and coming off his worst offensive season (1.8 points per 60 minutes) in his first season in Columbus, he could still be on the move.

Grade: A-. Jones was the next in a seemingly unending parade of high-profile players who wanted to leave Columbus — Zach Werenski and his new $9,583,333 annual cap hit excepted — which is to say that GM Jarmo Kekalainen has gotten pretty good at maximizing these returns. He pulled two first-round picks and Boqvist from Chicago for Jones, which is a phenomenal return give the limited scope of the teams with whom he’d sign an extension. They traded Atkinson for Voracek, who has one fewer year left on his contract, could be a great setup man for Patrik Laine and most importantly likes Columbus. Kuraly was a nice depth addition at center, too.

It goes without saying that their offseason plans were impacted by the shocking death of goalie Matiss Kivlenieks in a fireworks accident last month, specifically when it came to trading either Elvis Merzlikins or Joonas Korpisalo. But that’s trivial compared to the magnitude of this tragedy.


Key additions: F Sam Reinhart

Key losses: C Alex Wennberg, D Anton Stralman, D Keith Yandle, G Chris Driedger (expansion draft)

Remaining hole: While the Panthers have some young players who could fill out the lineup, they could use a couple more veteran hands in their bottom six. They also have to settle on a new contract with Reinhart.

Grade: A-. On the surface, it looks like the Panthers let too much go in the offseason. But as they say, context is king. Driedger and goalie Devon Levi were from a goalie surplus behind Sergei Bobrovsky (who isn’t going anywhere, contractually) and Spencer Knight (who is the future). They weren’t giving Wennberg $4.5 million per year, term and trade protection like Seattle did. Yandle was on the outs and they bought him out. Reinhart is a legit scoring option for them at center or on the wing, and the first they gave up for him was top-10 protected for next season.

If Sam Bennett repeats his performance from last season, his four-year extension is worth it; ditto the three years they gave Carter Verhaeghe and Brandon Montour. Florida has really built something interesting here — for how long that “something interesting” lasts will depend on a contract extension for Aleksander Barkov, who goes UFA next summer.


Key additions: D Ryan Ellis, D Rasmus Ristolainen, D Keith Yandle, LW/RW Cam Atkinson, G Martin Jones

Key losses: C Nolan Patrick, LW Jakub Voracek, D Robert Hagg, D Philippe Myers, D Shayne Gostisbehere, G Brian Elliott

Remaining hole: The main piece of business left for the Flyers is a new contract for goalie Carter Hart, who is coming off his worst season as a pro. While a contract of around six seasons is possible, Hart’s just as likely to sign something in the three- to four-year range.

Grade: A-. GM Chuck Fletcher was a busy man this offseason, and most of the work was good. Ellis more than fills the hole that Matt Niskanen left with his surprising retirement before last season. The price for Ristolainen was high (2021 first-rounder, 2023 second-rounder), but a change in scenery and defensive partner could make this a coup, which is the word we’d use for signing Yandle for $900,000 on a post-buyout contract. The swap of Voracek for Atkinson gives the Flyers a player with one more contract year (through 2024-25) but more goal-scoring upside.

The only misstep was Jones as safety net for Hart; even at one year and $2 million post-buyout, he’s a goalie who has given up 6.7 goals below average over the past three seasons. Otherwise, the Flyers are trying to be this season’s Canadiens: a team remade and revitalized by veteran additions to key areas in the offseason.

B grades

Key additions: F Nick Foligno, F Erik Haula, F Tomas Nosek, D Derek Forbort, G Linus Ullmark

Key losses: C David Krejci, C Sean Kuraly, LW Nick Ritchie, RW Ondrej Kase, D Jeremy Lauzon (expansion draft), G Jaroslav Halak

Remaining hole: They don’t have much cap space ($1.089 million), but would the Bruins seek to bolster the middle of their lineup with Krejci leaving, or will they seek solutions from within?

Grade: B+. Much of this grade is based on their re-signing of winger Taylor Hall, as well as defensemen Brandon Carlo and Mike Reilly to sensible and smart contracts. Tuukka Rask is out for the first part of next season due to hip surgery and could still return to Boston as a free agent when he’s healed up. But if this is the end for the Bruins and Rask, getting Ullmark at four years ($5 million AAV) was solid — he’s improved every year he’s been an NHL starter.

The toughest call here is Foligno. Three years ago, he would have been a quintessential Bruin. But while he’s physical and can play solid defense, his offensive game has disappeared. As a depth add, he’s fine. As a potential solution at No. 2 center, not so much. (Although that’s most assuredly Charlie Coyle‘s job to lose.) Overall, a solid offseason for a team that’s trying to keep that championship window propped open — something that, admittedly, will be harder with “Playoff Krejci” back in the Czech Republic.


Key additions: LW Zach Hyman, F Warren Foegele, C Derek Ryan, D Duncan Keith, D Cody Ceci

Key losses: D Adam Larsson (expansion draft), D Ethan Bear, D Caleb Jones, F Dominik Kahun, C Jujhar Khaira

Remaining hole: The Oilers are capped out, but if there’s some way to add a little depth on the left side of the defense, that could be the target.

Grade: B+. The Oilers’ offseason had some moves that are going to make this team potentially better in the short term and other moves that were, for lack of a better description, very Oilers.

Hyman is an effective power forward with experience playing with high-end talent in Toronto. An early Christmas present for Connor McDavid. Foegele, who slots onto their third line, plays the same way. Ryan improves their center depth.

Obviously, the defense corps is where the most radical change occurred. Keith needs to prove that his terrible previous season, where he was a liability defensively, wasn’t a harbinger of doom. The Kraken ruined the Oilers’ plan to have him skate with Larsson, but the addition of Ceci is a decent fix. Bringing back Barrie at $4.5 million AAV was a strong move.

They were flirting with an A-minus here if they didn’t run back Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen as their average-at-best goaltending duo, and hand Darnell Nurse a $9.25 million AAV on an eight-year term with significant trade protection, which was a very “won’t be my problem” contract from GM Ken Holland.

Speaking of that: Trading Caleb Jones for what’s left of Keith so the Blackhawks can then acquire Seth Jones, hand him a contract that resets the market and jacks up Nurse’s price tag? Very Oilers.


Key additions: G James Reimer, C Nick Bonino, C Andrew Cogliano, F Nicholas Merkley, G Adin Hill

Key losses: G Martin Jones, D Greg Pateryn, RW Kurtis Gabriel, C Patrick Marleau, RW Marcus Sorensen, C Ryan Donato, D Christian Jaros

Remaining hole: There’s a lot of uncertainty around Evander Kane, who is currently being investigated by the NHL for claims made by his estranged wife that he bet on games. The Athletic reported that some teammates don’t want Kane back in San Jose regardless. It’s a tricky situation for GM Doug Wilson to navigate.

Grade: B+. Simply removing Jones from the narrative earns this team a good grade, even if we’re not exactly sold on that Reimer/Hill battery either. The Sharks did some good things beyond the goalie swap, including solid veteran depth additions in Bonino and Cogliano.

We’re still not exactly sure what the long-term plan here is. The Sharks are anchored to immovable contracts, but they also aren’t trading players like Tomas Hertl who are one year away from free agency and could yield a solid return. In the end, you could argue they’re a better team now than they were a year ago.


Key additions: LW Brandon Saad, LW Pavel Buchnevich

Key losses: LW Jaden Schwartz, LW Alex Steen, D Carl Gunnarsson, C Tyler Bozak, LW Mike Hoffman, LW Sammy Blais, D Vince Dunn (expansion draft)

Remaining hole: Robert Thomas (RFA) needs a new deal, but other than that, GM Doug Armstrong’s focus should be on moving Vladimir Tarasenko. It’s not an easy trade request to navigate (and leverage isn’t on the Blues’ side), but there appear to be several teams still interested in the winger.

Grade: B+. The Rangers’ loss is the Blues’ gain in Buchnevich, a talented winger that they quickly inked to a four-year deal. Saad more than makes up for the loss of Schwartz up front. They were never enamored by either Hoffman or Dunn, the latter of whom was claimed by the Kraken. They’ll miss him on the blue line, but the biggest key for that group is Colton Parayko returning to form.

Obviously a lot is yet to be settled in the lineup depending on what Tarasenko ultimately brings back, but with just two significant moves the Blues did well for themselves.


Key additions: F Nick Ritchie, F Ondrej Kase, F Michael Bunting, C David Kampf, G Petr Mrazek

Key losses: LW Zach Hyman, C Jared McCann (expansion draft), G Frederik Andersen

Remaining hole: The Maple Leafs are looking a little thing at center in their bottom six, but have a little cap space available to address it.

Grade: B+. The Leafs’ offseason losses got the most attention, as top-line forward Hyman left for Edmonton, the Kraken selected newly acquired McCann (as the Leafs chose to protect defenseman Justin Holl) and the Andersen era ended with his signing in Carolina. But GM Kyle Dubas did some really interesting work to fill those holes, get a little younger and play some wild cards.

Ritchie and Bunting could vie for time in the top six; the pesky Bunting is especially interesting, as he had 11 goals in 26 games in two seasons with Arizona. Kase has seen his career basically put on hold due to concussion symptoms; if he can go, and that remains a huge “if,” he was a top-line talent in Anaheim a few years ago. Mrazek, meanwhile, is a statement of faith in Jack Campbell more than anything else. He’s a great tandem goalie, and has been better than Andersen in the last few seasons.

On paper, it all looks good, aka the unofficial slogan of the Toronto Maple Leafs.


Key additions: C Riley Nash, D Brenden Dillon, D Nate Schmidt

Key losses: G Laurent Brossoit, D Derek Forbort, D Jordie Benn, D Tucker Poolman, C Mathieu Perreault, C Nate Thompson, C Trevor Lewis

Remaining hole: The Jets did a lot of work this offseason and improved their defense (a high-priority item), but still need to figure out new contracts for Andrew Copp and Neal Pionk. Winnipeg has about $6 million in cap space.

Grade: B+. Huzzah! The Jets addressed their defensive shortcomings after two seasons of the blue line being a detriment. Dillon is worth the pair of second-rounders they sent to Washington, especially since the defensive defenseman has three more years left at a reasonable annual cap hit ($3.9 million).

Schmidt’s decision to waive his no-trade clause for the Jets gives them a good puck-moving option. Adding them to what was already there, and with a couple of solid prospects on the way, and things are looking good on the back end.

They’ll miss Perreault at forward and Brossoit as Connor Hellebuyck‘s reliable backup, but the Jets did well here overall — including some addition by subtraction.


Key additions: F Vinnie Hinostroza, D Will Butcher, D Mark Pysyk, D Robert Hagg, G Craig Anderson, G Devon Levi

Key losses: D Rasmus Ristolainen, F Sam Reinhart, D Matt Irwin, D Jake McCabe, D William Borgen (expansion draft) G Linus Ullmark, G Carter Hutton

Remaining holes: Obviously, the future of the Sabres is directly tied to what they do with Jack Eichel, their 24-year-old star center whose agents have anticipated a trade following a disagreement over treatment of his neck injury. But beyond that franchise-altering decision, they need to give new contracts to restricted free-agent center Casey Mittelstadt, defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and defenseman Henri Jokiharju.

Grade: B. The Sabres made two significant trades and did well in both of them. Ristolainen, one year away from free agency, earned them the 14th overall pick in this summer’s draft and a 2023 second-rounder from Philly. Reinhart netted them a top 10-protected first-rounder in 2022 and Levi, a promising young goalie, from the Florida Panthers.

Watching Ullmark leave for nothing as a free agent is rough asset management, but they’ll be able to be worse without him, which has to be the plan at this point. Why else coax Anderson out of near-retirement to be your goalie unless you’re planning to, um, “not contend”?


Key additions: F Richard Panik

Key losses: F Jordan Eberle (expansion draft), F Andrew Ladd, D Nick Leddy

Remaining hole: The Islanders need to add a veteran defenseman on the left side, where they currently have Adam Pelech, Andy Greene (who turns 39 in October) and Sebastian Aho (the other one); getting Pelech locked in for eight seasons is a solid investment, given that he’s 26 years old. Replacing the offense that left with Eberle being plucked by the Kraken would also seem paramount … although that help is on the way, allegedly.

Grade: B. As of this writing, the Islanders’ cone of silence has mostly yet to be lifted on their offseason signings and re-signings. It’s been reported that trade deadline additions Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac have been re-signed; that Casey Cizikas is back to center the Islanders’ checking line, which they defiantly protected in the expansion draft; and that Zach Parise will finally reunite with Lamoriello after taking a buyout from the Wild. One assumes they see Parise as a thrifty replacement for Eberle.

If all of that happens … well, they still need another defenseman. But clearing Ladd’s remaining two years to Arizona without sacrificing a first-rounder was admirable. The Islanders track to have another roster much like their new UBS Arena: high floor, low ceiling.


Key additions (beyond the expansion draft): G Philipp Grubauer, F Alex Wennberg, D Connor Carrick, F Marcus Johansson

Key losses: G Vitek Vanecek, D Kurtis MacDermid, RW Tyler Pitlick

Remaining hole: The Kraken remain thin at center and have more than $9 million in cap space available should they choose to address it.

Grade: B. The success of the Kraken in their first offseason depends on how one feels about Grubauer being signed to a six-year deal with a $5.9 million cap hit. If he’s their Marc-Andre Fleury, then this grade will look perilously low. If it turns out his success in Denver had more to do with the Avalanche than his own abilities, perhaps it’s properly graded. He’s a very good goalie, in either case, but this still felt like a deviation from Seattle’s plan just because he unexpectedly hit the market.

As for the rest of the non-expansion draft additions, Wennberg and Johansson have been better in theory than on the ice. The Kraken did pick up three draft picks after failing to leverage any out of the expansion draft protected lists.


Key additions: G Vitek Vanecek

Key losses: D Zdeno Chara, D Brenden Dillon, G Vitek Vanecek, G Craig Anderson, G Henrik Lundqvist

Remaining hole: Finding a hockey trade for center Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Capitals would very much like to move on from their troubling star, who has four more seasons at $7.8 million against the cap per year. Problem No. 1: His stock is low. Problem No. 2: The Capitals don’t want to trade him just to trade him. “I think [GM Brian] MacLellan is hesitant to trade him for nothing, and then he puts up massive numbers somewhere else, and then he looks like an idiot,” said one NHL source.

Grade: B. The Capitals had one mission this offseason, and that was re-signing Alex Ovechkin. His new contract pays him $9.5 million against the cap for the next five seasons, making up for his stagnant salary for the past 13 seasons. As an over-35 deal, it’s a potentially risky one as the Russian Machine grows older. That said: It’s a no-brainer. Ovechkin was going to get what he wanted as a player who remains a premier goal-scorer and franchise icon.

It came at the price of trading Dillon, one of their better defensemen, to Winnipeg for two second-rounders. Vanecek is listed twice here because the Capitals lost him in the Seattle expansion draft and then reacquired him for one of the second-rounders they got for Dillon. So, essentially, the Capitals lose Dillon for salary space (like they hoped they would in the expansion draft) and pull a 2022 second-round pick out of it, while keeping their young goalie they had to expose to Seattle. Not a bad bit of business. They’re still cap-strapped and have an old roster in a young league. But hey, Ovi’s back to provide a nice distraction if the decline suddenly hits.


Key additions: D Nick Holden, D Michael Del Zotto

Key losses: G Joey Daccord (expansion draft), C Derek Stepan, LW Ryan Dzingel, LW/RW Evgenii Dadonov

Remaining holes: Restricted free agent Brady Tkachuk needs his next contract. Beyond that, the Senators have more than $28 million in cap space in case there are any late-summer veteran pickups worth adding to their still-rebuilding team — specifically a top-six center.

Grade: B-. Not a heck of a lot happening with the Senators this offseason outside of correcting an error. Dadonov was supposed to be a free-agent coup last offseason, but he never clicked. They offloaded the full freight of his last two contract years to Vegas, getting a third-rounder in 2022 and Holden in the process. Everyone else was an acceptable loss, although perhaps they would have preferred to lose a veteran forward like Chris Tierney in the expansion draft instead of Daccord.


Key additions: G Jaroslav Halak, D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, RW Conor Garland, F Jason Dickinson, D Tucker Poolman, C Justin Dowling, D Luke Schenn, D Brad Hunt

Key losses: D Alexander Edler, D Nate Schmidt, G Braden Holtby, RW Jake Virtanen, LW Jimmy Vesey, C Travis Boyd, C Brandon Sutter, LW Antoine Roussel, LW Loui Eriksson, C Jay Beagle

Remaining hole: New contracts for two franchise cornerstones — Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson — are a priority for GM Jim Benning. It may not be easy, as this has been a slow process so far.

Grade: B-. One thing you can say about Benning: The man knows how to erase his own mistakes.

He flipped Schmidt to the Jets (after that signing didn’t work) for a 2022 third-round pick, which is what he sent to Vegas to get him last offseason. He bought out the last year of Holtby’s deal after the Kraken passed on him. He traded free-agent mistakes Roussel, Eriksson and Beagle to the Coyotes for Ekman-Larsson and his massive contract — which itself was a mistake, although one that Benning might not be around to witness at its worst. He also acquired Garland in that trade, shipping out the ninth overall pick in the process.

Halak and Dickinson are solid additions. Poolman is the defensive version of the deals he handed out to Roussel and Beagle at forward. But beyond all of this was the fact that the Canucks scared up enough cap space for Pettersson and Hughes. Another thing you can say about Benning: His offseasons are never boring.

C grades

Key additions: C Blake Coleman, D Nikita Zadorov, D Andy Welinski, C Trevor Lewis, G Dan Vladar, RW Tyler Pitlick

Key losses: D Mark Giordano (expansion draft), G Louis Domingue, C Derek Ryan, LW Josh Leivo, D Michael Stone, LW Joakim Nordstrom, C Dominik Simon, RW Buddy Robinson, C Zac Rinaldo

Remaining hole: The Flames have more than $12 million available in cap space. They still need to get contracts for RFAs like Dillon Dube and Nikita Zadorov, but GM Brad Treliving may still have flexibility to engineer a big trade — perhaps for a certain disgruntled center from Buffalo.

Grade: C+. The Coleman signing was a pleasant surprise. While he played a defensive role with Tampa Bay, he’s a former 20-goal scorer who can slide into their top six and immediately helps a middling penalty kill (15th last season). His wheels will hold up for most of that six-year deal.

Of greater concern is that the Flames haven’t replaced the point production and nearly 23 minutes per game of quality ice time that the Kraken got in Mark Giordano. One assumes that’s where some of that cap space will be earmarked. And not for nothing, but they still haven’t traded Johnny Gaudreau, one year away from unrestricted free agency?


Key additions: G Frederik Andersen, G Antti Raanta, D Ethan Bear, D Tony DeAngelo, D Brendan Smith, D Ian Cole, F Stefan Noesen, C Derek Stepan

Key losses: D Dougie Hamilton, F Warren Foegele, F Morgan Geekie (expansion draft), F Cedric Paquette, F Brock McGinn, G Alex Nedeljkovic, G Petr Mrazek, G James Reimer

Remaining hole: The only bit of business left for the Hurricanes is signing restricted free agent winger Andrei Svechnikov, and they have considerable salary cap space to do so (over $12 million, per CapFriendly).

Grade: C+. The Hurricanes were never going to hand Hamilton the $9 million annually that he received from the Devils. They hoped he wouldn’t find the grass was greener elsewhere, but he ended up finding that meadow from “The Sound of Music,” and Carolina lost its elite offensive defenseman. But if they’re going to lose anyone, let it be from the deepest part of their team that got even deeper in the offseason — although that spree included the repellent, bargain-basement addition of DeAngelo, aka how to squander the goodwill of fans with one signing.

But the entire offseason comes down to the Hurricanes’ decision to nuke their entire goaltending group. They’re betting that Andersen can regain his form, that Raanta can have some semblance of good health, and that we aren’t talking about this Nedeljkovic trade to Detroit like the time Ottawa regretted sending Ben Bishop to the Lightning. Huh, now who was that general manager in Tampa Bay again …


Key additions: D Ryan Suter, G Braden Holtby, LW Michael Raffl, D Jani Hakanpaa, D Andreas Borgman, C Luke Glendening, D Alex Petrovic

Key losses: C Justin Dowling, C Andrew Cogliano, D Mark Pysyk, D Sami Vatanen, D Taylor Fedun, D Stephen Johns, D Julius Honka, D Jamie Oleksiak (expansion draft), F Jason Dickinson

Remaining hole: The Stars are crowded in net, though there’s still a big question mark about Ben Bishop‘s health and when he might be ready. Even still, GM Jim Nill may look to trade Anton Khudobin, who is looking like the odd man out.

Grade: C+. Bringing in Ryan Suter makes a ton of sense, as he slides right into Jamie Oleksiak’s old spot on the left side of Miro Heiskanen. Getting him at a post-buyout $3.65 million cap hit is also solid. But having to go four years on a plus-35 contract with a full no-movement clause to get there really isn’t optimal.

They’re going to miss Dickinson, while the signing of Glendening doesn’t really move the needle. Holtby’s one-year deal seems born out of concern of Bishop’s future and, perhaps, some concern about Jake Oettinger filling the role again. An average offseason for a team looking to make one last Stanley Cup push with this group.


Key additions: D Greg Pateryn, D Brogan Rafferty, LW Danny O’Regan, RW Buddy Robinson

Key losses: C David Backes, RW Carter Rowney, D Andy Welinski, D Haydn Fleury (expansion draft), LW Danton Heinen

Remaining hole: The Ducks still need to sign restricted free agents Sam Steel, Max Comtois, Max Jones and Isac Lundestrom. They could also use another NHL-level forward or two.

Grade: C. Nothing gained, nothing significant lost. The Ducks continue to resist a full-on rebuild, despite three straight non-playoff seasons and an aging core that would undoubtedly draw interest on the trade market. It’s rumored they’re in the Jack Eichel derby — as long as it doesn’t cost them Trevor Zegras or Jamie Drysdale — which would certainly give their franchise a much-needed focal point.

But sparing that, Anaheim is a veteran team with a few brilliant young prospects, hoping it all miraculously gels together in a top-heavy division. Still, getting Ryan Getzlaf back at $3 million is a solid (and age-appropriate) signing.


Key additions: D Dmitry Kulikov, D Alex Goligoski, D Jon Merrill, C Frederick Gaudreau

Key losses: LW Zach Parise, D Ryan Suter, C Nick Bonino, D Ian Cole, D Brad Hunt, C Marcus Johansson, D Matt Bartkowski, D Carson Soucy (expansion draft)

Remaining hole: The Wild have been lurking as a contender in the Jack Eichel sweepstakes for months. GM Bill Guerin has held his ground so far, but he could gain leverage as training camp nears.

Grade: C. One goal for the Wild this offseason was to scare up salary-cap space for this season, with Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala needing new contracts. To accomplish that, they bought out Parise, which was expected, and Suter, which very much was not. The loss of the latter, combined with the Kraken opting for Soucy over goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, meant that Minnesota had to go UFA shopping after sporting one of the deepest defense corps in the NHL for years.

Up front, the Wild could have top prospects Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi sliding in to fill some gaps. Everything the Wild are doing feels like it’s in preparation for bolder moves, but how bold can they be when they’re going to have over $14 million in dead cap space from the buyouts in 2023-24 and 2024-25?


Key additions: F Corey Perry, F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, G Brian Elliott, D Zach Bogosian, D Brent Seabrook‘s contract

Key losses: C Yanni Gourde (expansion draft), F Blake Coleman, F Barclay Goodrow, C Tyler Johnson, D David Savard

Remaining hole: Figuring out how to replace one of the NHL’s top checking lines, which could be something that falls to Perry and returning center Ross Colton.

Grade: C. It’s great that the Lightning won their second straight Stanley Cup, as the afterglow helped numb the pain of this inevitable offseason. Protecting four forwards and four defensemen in the expansion draft, they were destined to lose a key forward, and that turned out to be Gourde. Coupled with Goodrow leaving for the Rangers and Coleman to the Flames, and the entire checking line from their championship runs has evaporated.

The Lightning made some good veteran depth additions to a team that very much as the potential to three-peat — did Perry really need two years, though? — and they finally found a way to offload Tyler Johnson’s contract, to the Blackhawks. But there was no loophole the Lightning could exploit to avoid this defection of talent in the offseason. The cap finally caught up to them.


Key additions: RW Evgenii Dadonov, G Laurent Brossoit, C Nolan Patrick, C Brett Howden

Key losses: G Marc-Andre Fleury, RW Ryan Reaves, D Nick Holden, C Tomas Nosek, C Cody Glass

Remaining hole: You’d think the Golden Knights made all of the moves they wanted to make.. But this is a team clearly in “go for it” mode. Even with no cap space, don’t be surprised if GM Kelly McCrimmon is still asking around about potential trades and upgrades to the roster.

Grade: C. What a truly bizarre offseason for the Knights. They gave away Fleury for nothing in order to clear the totality of his $7 million cap hit — bear in mind, this goalie just won the Vezina Trophy. They then used $5 million of that cap space to acquire Dadonov, whose underlying numbers have declined for three straight seasons. Even if you’re high on Dadonov, the fact remains that the Knights’ biggest lineup hole is at center.

Barring a move for Eichel — which you can’t count out — or another top center, it appears McCrimmon chose to address the hole by hoping his former Brandon Wheat Kings star Patrick can blossom in the desert.

They kept Mattias Janmark around, Howden’s not a bad bottom-six addition, and Brossoit is solid as Robin Lehner‘s backup. Keeping Alec Martinez in the fold on a new contract was also a win.


Key additions: D Ryan Murray, G Darcy Kuemper, D Jordan Gross, C Dylan Sikura, C Darren Helm, C Stefan Matteau, D Kurtis MacDermid

Key losses: G Philipp Grubauer, LW Brandon Saad, C Carl Soderberg, LW Matt Calvert, RW Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, G Devan Dubnyk, D Patrik Nemeth, D Conor Timmins, D Ryan Graves, F Joonas Donskoi (expansion draft)

Remaining hole: The Avs sit with just $2 million in cap space, so if GM Joe Sakic wants to improve his roster (such as replacing Saad at left wing) he’ll likely need to trade a roster player.

Grade: C-. The Avalanche did some good things: Retaining Gabriel Landeskog at a $7 million AAV and Cale Makar at a $9 million AAV, which already looks like a bargain; plus Murray at one year and $2 million is a fine replacement for Graves, whom they traded before the Kraken had a chance to pluck him. Seattle instead took Donskoi and then signed away Grubauer when the Avalanche couldn’t reach an agreement with him.

The goalie carousel spun too fast and Colorado was left sending Timmins and a first-rounder it would have rather had on hand at the next trade deadline for Kuemper — on the last year of his deal and far less the known commodity that Vezina Trophy finalist Grubauer was for the Avalanche.

Their forward depth took a hit too, although an expanded role for Alex Newhook next season will help. Still, it feels like a team that took a step back from the precipice of a Stanley Cup championship upon which it had been perched.


Key additions: C Mathieu Perreault, C Cedric Paquette, LW Mike Hoffman, D David Savard, D Chris Wideman, D Cale Fleury (expansion draft)

Key losses: C Phillip Danault, F Corey Perry, F Tomas Tatar, D Jon Merrill, D Shea Weber (injury)

Remaining hole: Restricted free-agent center Jesperi Kotkaniemi still needs a new contract, but otherwise it appears the cap-strapped Canadiens have the team they’ll roll with next season.

Grade: C-. Admittedly, we’re grading on a curve here. The loss of No. 1 defenseman Weber for next season — and probably for the rest of his contract — left the Canadiens with a gaping hole in their defense corps that the addition of Savard will only fill on an incomplete basis. The losses of Danault and Tatar mean the losses of two top-line players. Hoffman’s all-offense game can help supplant Tatar’s game and add something to a Weber-less power play, but Danault walking to L.A. really hurts their center depth.

Fleury being selected over Carey Price in the expansion draft either contributes to a downer of an offseason or helps redeem it, depending how one feels about the franchise goalie’s contract.

D grades

Key additions: G David Rittich, D Philippe Myers, C Cody Glass, RW Matt Luff,

Key losses: G Pekka Rinne, D Ryan Ellis, RW Viktor Arvidsson, D Erik Gudbranson, RW Erik Haula, C Brad Richardson, F Calle Jarnkrok (expansion draft)

Remaining hole: The Predators said goodbye to a few longtime veteran stalwarts: Arvidsson, Ellis and — of course — Rinne. Going forward, Nashville wants Mattias Ekholm and Filip Forsberg to still be part of its core. GM David Poile should try to get both inked to extensions before training camp.

Grade: D. The bounty from the Ellis trade ended up being defenseman Philippe Myers, who brings size, and center Cody Glass, whom the Golden Knights clearly felt wasn’t going to blossom into a No. 1 center. They shipped out Arvidsson before they had to leave him exposed in the expansion draft.

Rinne’s retirement means that it’s Juuse Saros‘ crease, with Rittich as his cost-effective backup. The four-year deal with a $5 million AAV handed to Mikael Granlund was an overpayment.

Worst of all, they couldn’t entice Seattle to remove either Ryan Johansen or Matt Duchene from their cap. The offseason was symptomatic of a team moving in the wrong direction.


Key additions: F Barclay Goodrow, F Sammy Blais, F Ryan Reaves, D Jarred Tinordi, D Patrik Nemeth

Key losses: F Pavel Buchnevich, F Brett Howden, C Colin Blackwell (expansion draft), D Brendan Smith

Remaining hole: So, when does that Jack Eichel trade happen? The Rangers have the cap space, the players (young and experienced) and the draft picks to make a deal with the Sabres for their star center. Perhaps it’s his neck injury that gives them pause. Whatever the case, center Mika Zibanejad is one year away from free agency, and that situation greatly impacts this situation.

Grade: D+. This is what happens when you let Tom Wilson build your roster for you. Every player the Rangers added this offseason was intended to address a perceived lack of toughness that was “exposed” in the Wilson/Artemi Panarin incident last season, as well as back-to-back losses to the Islanders that preceded it.

We’ll see how it plays out on the ice, but on paper some of it is specious for new GM Chris Drury. Did he need to immediately extend a 34-year-old Reaves for another season? Didn’t the Canucks provide ample warning that you don’t give long-term deals or trade protection to bottom-six role players, like the Rangers gave six years and a modified no-trade to Goodrow? And they really didn’t want Buchnevich? All of this felt like a deviation from what’s been an otherwise solid plan.


Key additions: F Danton Heinen, F Brock McGinn, F Dominik Simon

Key losses: F Jared McCann, F Brandon Tanev (expansion draft), D Cody Ceci

Remaining holes: Barring another trade, this is likely the team the Penguins are rolling with next season — including the return of Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith in goal.

Grade: D. It’s wild to think that the Penguins were a first-place team in the East Division last season (.688 points percentage) before being ousted by the Islanders in the first round. They weren’t great to begin with, and now they’ve gotten worse. Tanev and McCann were effective forwards that’ll be missed. Ceci defied expectations last season, and now he’s in Edmonton. The Penguins wanted to get more physical. They didn’t. They wanted to get more quality depth. They didn’t. Their goaltending is still suspect since they decided not to dabble in nostalgia with a run at Marc-Andre Fleury.

On top of everything, Evgeni Malkin is rehabbing after knee surgery and might miss the start of the season. GM Ron Hextall took over a team last year that had little in the way of cap flexibility or assets to move, and it shows.

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The All-Stars who are halfway to history in 2025

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The All-Stars who are halfway to history in 2025

This year, the MLB All-Star Game isn’t just a collection of the game’s biggest stars, but a glimpse at baseball history in the making.

The 2025 Midsummer Classic marks the unofficial midway point of some of the greatest seasons the sport has ever seen.

Will Home Run Derby champion Cal Raleigh — aka the Big Dumper — set a new standard for slugging catchers? Will Shohei Ohtani score more runs in a season than any living person has ever seen? Will Aaron Judge … top Aaron Judge?

As Major League Baseball’s best convene in Atlanta, Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield break down 11 players who are halfway to history. For each player, ESPN MLB reporters Jorge Castillo and Jesse Rogers asked one of their fellow All-Stars to weigh in on their accomplishments, as they get set to take the field together at Truist Park.


Cal Raleigh: Greatest season for a catcher — ever

The most impressive thing he could accomplish: Well, we can add Home Run Derby champion to the list after Raleigh’s impressive showing Monday night. With 38 home runs through 96 team games, Raleigh is on pace for 64, which would break Judge’s American League record of 62 set in 2022. That’s the big one. There are a whole bunch of other records in play: most home runs by a switch hitter (Mickey Mantle, 54); most home runs by a primary catcher (Salvador Perez, 48); most multihomer games in a season (Raleigh has eight, the record is 11); and even highest catcher WAR in a season (Mike Piazza with 8.7 bWAR, Raleigh is on pace for 8.4; Buster Posey with 9.8 fWAR, Raleigh is on pace for 10.4). In other words, he could have the greatest season ever for a catcher.

How he’s doing it: Raleigh has always been better against right-handed pitching, but he has been absolutely crushing lefties in 2025, hitting .337/.385/.861 with 16 home runs in only 101 at-bats. Overall, he also has been much better against velocity. From 2022 to 2024, he slugged .418 against pitches 93 mph or faster; this year, he’s slugging .664. — Schoenfield

An All-Star’s take: “It’s wild. I mean, he’s having a crazy year and it’s awesome that he’s doing it from behind the plate. And what he’s doing is unbelievable. It’s hard to describe. It’s amazing to see.” — Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman


Aaron Judge: Most total bases since the Great Depression

The most impressive thing he could accomplish: Judge closed out the first half with a quiet day against the Chicago Cubs but is still on pace to record 435 total bases this season. You could pick any one of a dozen categories in which Judge is on a historic pace, but this simple old-school measure will do just fine. The record is held by Babe Ruth (457 in 1921), so Judge would have to somehow pick up the pace to surpass that. But 435 would still be epic. The last player to reach that number was Jimmie Foxx in 1932.

How he’s doing it: Judge has become more aggressive at the plate without sacrificing contact or power. But it’s not only ball-in-play volume: He’s hitting an incredible .425 when getting the bat on the ball, which fuels his MLB-leading .355 batting average. That BABIP would be the third-highest ever if Judge maintained it, which obviously affects the total bases column. So too does Judge’s intentional walks pace (41). He’d be only the fourth player to top 40. — Doolittle

An All-Star’s take: “He started off hot this year, which normally in years past, he doesn’t start off hot like he did this year. And now you see it. He always finishes strong. I mean, I don’t know what he ends up with. Hopefully he hits like 70 homers. That’d be sick.” — New York Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodon


Shohei Ohtani: One run scored for every game

The most impressive thing he could accomplish: Although his pace has slowed a bit the past couple of weeks, Ohtani has scored 89 runs in 94 games, giving him a chance at a run scored per game. Ohtani had been on pace for 160 runs, which only Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig have done since 1900. He’s still on pace for 150 runs, which only Ted Williams and Jeff Bagwell have done since World War II. The last player with more runs scored than games played, with at least 100 games played: Rickey Henderson in 1985 (146 runs in 143 games). If that’s not enough to impress you, there is the chance for a second straight 50-homer season and a fourth career MVP award. If the latter happens, he’ll join Barry Bonds as the only player with more than three MVP awards.

How he’s doing it: It helps to be a leadoff man with power, as Ohtani leads the National League in both plate appearances and home runs. The first three months, Ohtani also had a great trio hitting behind him in Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, but his runs scored pace has dropped off in July as he has hit just .175, and Betts and Freeman have also slumped. — Schoenfield

An All-Star’s take: “As his teammate and fellow competitor, to see what he does on both sides of the field, it’s incredible. How much power he has as a hitter. He’s got 30-plus homers already at the break. He’s hitting .300 or whatever. And, yeah, he’s going out there on the mound and throwing 102, striking out the side. And these are his rehab games. He’s not even all the way back yet, full-go yet. It’s incredible to watch. Fortunately, I get to see all the work he puts in every day, which is really cool. It’s really special what he’s doing.” — Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith


Paul Skenes: Two sub-2.00 ERA seasons before turning 25

The most impressive thing he could accomplish: Skenes’ ERA at the break is an NL-best 2.01. His career mark is 1.98 over 43 starts. There is all kinds of history around this level of stifling run prevention. As it stands, Skenes joins Ed Walsh, Addie Joss and Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown with at least 40 starts and a sub-2.00 career ERA in the AL or NL. If Skenes drops his 2025 number below 2.00, he’d be the 31st pitcher to have two or more sub-2.00 ERA seasons of at least 20 starts. Only two of those pitchers did it by age 23: Walter Johnson and Ed Reulbach, both more than 100 years ago.

How he’s doing it: Skenes’ strikeout rate (9.7 per nine innings) is down 1.8 from last year. Yet his FIP (an NL-best 2.41) is actually better because of his league-best homer rate (0.4 per nine innings). Simply put, Skenes is learning how to manage the pure dominance of his arsenal, revving it up when needed. Skenes is not exactly pitching to contact — his stuff is just too good to not miss a lot of bats — but his pitch efficiency is better, and that’s getting him deeper into games. His style has evolved, but one big thing has remained steady: Nobody can score off him. — Doolittle

An All-Star’s take: “Obviously, the first thing that stands out is his stuff, right? And the second thing you look at is the composure. He’s kind of new to the league and just from watching some of his preparation, his composure on the mound, I feel like that’s what makes him successful. He started to add a couple of new pitches to his arsenal and it’s going to make him tougher. He’s got the military background, so I think that’s where he gets a lot of his discipline and everything from. He’s challenging, but it is fun to compete against him.” — St. Louis Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan


Tarik Skubal: Top five strikeout-to-walk season of all time

The most impressive thing he could accomplish: Skubal has struck out 9.56 batters for every one he has walked. Only four qualifying pitchers have ever done better: Phil Hughes (11.63, 2014), Bret Saberhagen (11.00, 1994), Cliff Lee (10.28, 2010) and Curt Schilling (9.58, 2002). The leaderboard is dominated by wild-card era pitchers, with its heightened whiff rates. But according to FanGraphs’ plus-statistics, which compare numbers to league averages, Skubal’s index of 368 ranks 18th all time. His mastery works in any era.

How he’s doing it: Skubal has already had two games this season in which he has struck out 13 batters on fewer than 100 pitches. Simply put, his command keeps him in the zone more than any qualifying pitcher (49.7%, per FanGraphs). But it also allows him to pitch outside of it on his terms. To wit: Skubal also leads the majors in inducing swings on pitches out of the zone (37.2%). It’s a lethal combination. — Doolittle

An All-Star’s take: “Even on game days, he’s working before the game like he’s not pitching that day. Even on the off days, he’s at the field doing something. He does a whole routine. I faced him in spring training and was looking for one pitch — when that pitch came, I didn’t hit it. He knows what hitters are looking for.” — Detroit Tigers outfielder Javier Baez


The most impressive thing he could accomplish: Before the 2023 season, there had been only four 40-homer/40-steal seasons in big league history, and the 40/50 club was memberless. Now Crow-Armstrong is on a 42-homer, 46-steal pace at the break. He could join Ronald Acuna Jr. (41 homers, 73 steals in 2023) and Shohei Ohtani (54 homers, 59 steals last season) in one or both clubs, giving us a three-year run of expanding membership. This one would be the most stunning of all. PCA entered the season with 10 homers, 29 steals and an 83 OPS+ in his career. His rise has been flat-out stunning.

How he’s doing it: The steals part of Crow-Armstrong’s game was already there, though he’s picked up the pace in 2025, already matching his 27 steals from last season. Any time he reaches safely, he’s a threat to take an extra base. That is unless he’s trotting around the bags after mashing yet another homer. Crow-Armstrong is hitting the ball harder more often, getting more balls in the air and pulling it more frequently. All of this could explain an isolated power uptick, but nothing really can explain the degree to which PCA has lifted off. — Doolittle

An All-Star’s take: “He’s a much better defender than me. He has a much better arm. He’s a really complete player. I don’t think I would have guessed he would have the power numbers he’s showing this year, but I guess people would have said that about me too. His ability to pull the ball in the air has been the difference for him, I think. He hits the ball so hard, all over the stadium.” — Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll


Junior Caminero: 40 home runs in age-21 season

The most impressive thing he could accomplish: In his first full season in the majors, Caminero enters the All-Star break with 23 home runs in the 97 games the Tampa Bay Rays have played, giving him a season pace of 38. Though he turned 22 earlier this month, Caminero is in his age-21 season, so he can join Eddie Mathews (47 in 1953) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (41 in 2019) as the only players to reach 40 home runs at that age.

How he’s doing it: Caminero has the second-quickest bat in the majors via Statcast’s bat tracking measurements and he uses that bat speed to punish fastballs. He’s slugging .692 against four-seam fastballs — and .793 against four-seam fastballs 95-plus mph. He has received some help from the Rays’ temporary home stadium, George Steinbrenner Field, hitting .316 with 14 home runs at home. That’s worth noting as the Rays will have a road-heavy schedule through the end of August. — Schoenfield

An All-Star’s take: “He’s a special talent. I mean, his bat speed’s insane. I saw him in spring training [with the Rays], basically, but, yeah, he’s a special talent. Hard-working kid. I’m excited to watch him. They’re mature at-bats. He came up, I was hurt during the playoffs in ’23, and I thought he had some of the most mature, calm at-bats I’d seen for a young kid. Especially to come up in the playoffs, he didn’t let the situation get too big. I think he’s going to be here for a long time, a lot of years.” — San Diego Padres (and former Tampa Bay Rays) reliever Jason Adam


Corbin Carroll: 40 home runs, 20 triples, 20 stolen bases

The most impressive thing he could accomplish: The third-year speedster is back in the All-Star Game after failing to be selected last year, and showing again why he’s one of the most exciting players in the majors. He has an outside shot at becoming the first player with 40 home runs, 20 triples and 20 stolen bases in the same season. Yes, that’s a bit of statistical free-for-all, but it displays Carroll’s power, speed and hustle. Those odds were hurt when he sat out a couple of weeks because of a chip fracture in his left wrist, but in his first 79 games, he had 21 home runs, 10 triples and 11 stolen bases. Even if those numbers are out of reach, he could be the third member of the 35/15/20 club, joining Chuck Klein and Willie Mays.

How he’s doing it: We mentioned hustle, because the triples are the key category here, and Carroll is the best triples hitter in the majors in a long time, hitting 10 as a rookie in 2023 and 14 in 2024, leading the NL both seasons. He also has tweaked his swing and is hitting the ball harder this season and hitting it more often in the air, so he should soar past his previous career high of 25 home runs. — Schoenfield

An All-Star’s take: “There is no hole, really. It’s hard to find new ways to get him out. He’s one of the best in baseball. He’s so quick and twitchy. I don’t get many fastballs by him.” — San Francisco Giants right-hander Logan Webb


The most impressive thing he could accomplish: Witt’s doubles pace has ebbed a little, perhaps in part because some of the balls that were swelling his two-bagger column earlier have been leaving the yard of late. Still, Witt is on pace for 53 doubles, which would be the most by an American Leaguer in six years. That number would also challenge Hal McRae’s franchise record of 54 doubles set in 1977. Witt’s overall numbers aren’t quite as spectacular as last season, but he remains a top-five MVP candidate in the AL. Witt hasn’t gone on a true heater yet this season, but MLB pitchers beware: He has come out of the All-Star break in each of the past two seasons and gone on an extended tear.

How he’s doing it: Everything about Witt’s game — durability, aggressiveness, contact, swing plain, speed, home venue — suggests a player who is annually going to rank near the top of the charts in doubles, among many other categories. If only he didn’t hit so many triples and homers. — Doolittle

An All-Star’s take: “I can’t get him out. It’s just a tough at-bat. And [he] plays the game really, really hard. Some of the stars look cool and play it a little bit slower. Bobby is always playing the game really hard. A single is a victory against him, but he’s going to turn it into a double most of the time.” — Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize


Kyle Tucker: 30 home runs, 40 stolen bases, 120 runs scored

The most impressive thing he could accomplish: With 17 home runs, 22 stolen bases and 68 runs scored, Tucker is showing Cubs fans the all-around brilliance that earned him a fourth consecutive All-Star selection. That puts him on pace to join the exclusive club of 30 homers, 40 stolen bases and 120 runs — which has only 11 members (with Bobby Bonds having done it twice). At a minimum, Tucker would love to join the 30/30 club, which he just missed in 2023 with 29 home runs and 30 stolen bases.

How he’s doing it: Tucker’s career high in runs scored is 97, so joining the explosive Cubs offense has helped in that department. So has moving up in the lineup: He has mostly hit second for the Cubs after often hitting fifth for the Houston Astros (at least until last season). He has been a little more aggressive stealing bases to give him a shot at 40, and does it with great success, getting caught only once so far. — Doolittle

An All-Star’s take: “He stays in there against lefties, knows how to use the whole field. And knows what a strike is. He stays in the zone a long time. I got lucky this year. It was the one game he missed. He’s one of the tougher left-handed outs.” — Washington Nationals left-hander MacKenzie Gore


Byron Buxton: The perfect stolen-base season

The most impressive thing he could accomplish: Buxton just hit for the cycle and — knock on wood — he has been healthy so far, so he’s on track for a career high in many categories, including his first 30-homer season. But the fun number: He’s 17-for-17 in stolen-base attempts. Only six players have swiped at least 20 bases in a season without getting caught, with Trea Turner’s 30-for-30 with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2023 the single-season high.

How he’s doing it: Buxton has always been a terrific high percentage base stealer, including a 29-for-30 mark in 2017 and a 90% success rate in his career, but the surprising thing about his 2025 totals is perhaps that he’s even stealing bases at all, given all the injuries in his career. It would be easy for the Minnesota Twins to just shut him down on the basepaths — much like the Los Angeles Angels did years ago with Mike Trout — but the 31-year-old Buxton is running more than he has since he was 23. — Schoenfield

An All-Star’s take: “He’s one of the best players in the game when he’s healthy and when he’s playing out there. I think the biggest thing I’ve noticed from him is that it seems like his internal clock is just at a pace this year. It’s not like it flashes where he’s going crazy and then he’s backing off. It’s consistent. It’s just that consistent heartbeat. It’s like he’s running a marathon at an insane pace. He’s going to run a sub-three-hour marathon or something. He’s cruising along and it’s just fun to watch him play.” — Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan

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Is it the coach or the program? Ranking CFB coaches while factoring in expectations

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Is it the coach or the program? Ranking CFB coaches while factoring in expectations

Back in May, ESPN’s team of college football reporters voted on the sport’s best coaches for 2025. The results were about as you would expect: Start with the three active guys who have most recently won national titles (Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney), move on to guys with recent top-five finishes or national title game appearances (Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, Penn State’s James Franklin), then squeeze in a couple of long-term overachievers at the end (Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, Iowa State’s Matt Campbell).

The rankings made plenty of sense, but I couldn’t help but notice that the top eight coaches on the list all work for some of the richest, most well-supported programs in the country. There are some epic pressures associated with leading these programs — just ask Day — but there are also major advantages. It might only take a good head coach to do great things in those jobs, while at programs with smaller alumni bases or lesser historic track records, it might take a great coach to do merely good things. They’re such different jobs that it’s almost impossible to even know how to compare the performance of, say, Matt Campbell to Steve Sarkisian. Could Campbell have led Texas to back-to-back CFP semifinals? Could Sark have brought ISU its first two AP top-15 finishes?

The May rankings made me want to see if there were a way to apply stats to the conversation. If you think about it, we’re basically measuring two things when we’re gauging coach performance: overall quality and quality relative to the expectations of the job. I thought it would be fun to come up with a blend of those two things and see what the results told us.

Performance versus expectation

Gauging overall performance is easy enough. You could simply look at win percentage, and it would tell you quite a bit. From 2015 to 2024, the active coaches with the best FBS win percentages (minimum 30 games) were Day (.870), Lanning (.854), Swinney (.850) and Smart (.847). All ranked high in the May rankings. I tend to want to get fancy and use my SP+ ratings whenever possible, and they tell a similar tale. Looking at average SP+ ratings for the past decade, the top active coaches are Day (30.4), Smart (27.0), Lanning (22.3), Swinney (21.9), Franklin (20.3) and Freeman (19.0). They’re all in the May top 10 too.

Again, though, all of those coaches are employed by college football royalty. (Granted, Swinney gets bonus points for helping Clemson turn into college football royalty, but still.) Isn’t it more impressive to win 11 regular-season games at Indiana, as Curt Cignetti did in 2024, than to go 10-4 like Swinney did? Isn’t it probably harder to finish 12th in SP+ at SMU, as Rhett Lashlee did in 2024, than to finish fifth like Franklin did?

I’ve begun to incorporate teams’ performance against long-term averages into my preseason SP+ projections, and it seems we could use a very similar concept to evaluate coach performances. For each year someone is a head coach, we could compare his team’s SP+ rating for that season to the school’s average from the 20 previous years. (If the school is newer to FBS and doesn’t have a 20-year average, we can use whatever average exists to date. And for a program’s first FBS season, we can simply compare the team’s SP+ rating to the overall average for first-year programs.)

By this method, the 10 best single-season coaching performances of the past 20 years include Art Briles at Baylor in 2013-14, Jim Harbaugh at Stanford in 2010, Mark Mangino at Kansas in 2007, Bobby Petrino at Louisville in 2006, Greg Schiano at Rutgers in 2006 and Jamey Chadwell at Coastal Carolina in 2020 — legendary seasons of overachievement — plus perhaps lesser-remembered performances such as Gary Andersen at Utah State in 2012, Matt Wells at Utah State in 2018 and Brian Kelly at Cincinnati in 2007.

As far as single-season overachievement goes, that’s a pretty good list. And if we look at a longer-term sample — coaches who have led FBS programs for at least nine of the past 20 years — here are the 15 best performance versus baseline averages.

(Note: I’m looking only at performances within the past 20 years, so Nick Saban’s work at LSU (2000-04) or Michigan State (1995-99), for instance, isn’t included. I also went with nine years instead of 10 so Smart’s current nine-year run at Georgia could be included in the sample.)

Best performance vs. historic baseline averages for the past 20 years (min. nine seasons):

1. Chris Petersen, Boise State (2006-13) and Washington (2014-19): +12.8 points above historic baseline

2. Art Briles, Houston (2005-07) and Baylor (2008-15): +12.8

3. Gary Pinkel, Missouri (2005-15): +12.5

4. Nick Saban, Alabama (2007-23): +10.7

5. Jeff Monken, Army (2014-24): +10.3

6. Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern (2014-15), Tulane (2016-23) and Houston (2024): +10.0

7. Lance Leipold, Buffalo (2015-20) and Kansas (2021-24): +9.5

8. Bobby Petrino, Louisville (2005-06), Arkansas (2008-11), Western Kentucky (2013) and Louisville (2014-18): +9.5

9. Gary Patterson, TCU (2005-21): +8.6

10. Jim Harbaugh, Stanford (2007-10) and Michigan (2015-23): +8.5

11. Blake Anderson, Arkansas State (2014-20) and Utah State (2021-23): +8.5

12. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina (2005-15): +8.2

13. Greg Schiano, Rutgers (2005-11 and 2020-24): +7.8

14. Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky (2014-16), Purdue (2017-22) and Louisville (2023-24): +7.7

15. David Cutcliffe, Duke (2008-21): +7.7

If we are looking for pure overachievement and aren’t in the mood to reward coaches for winning at schools that always win, this is again a pretty good list. Petersen was spectacular at both Boise State and Washington, while Briles, Pinkel, Monken and Patterson all won big at schools that hadn’t won big in quite a while. (Monken, in fact, is still winning big.) Blake Anderson’s presence surprised me, but most of the names here are extremely well regarded. And Saban’s presence at No. 4, despite coaching at one of the bluest of blue-blood programs, is a pretty good indicator of just how special his reign at Alabama was.

Still, looking only at performance against expectations obviously sells coaches like Saban and Smart short. Saban is probably the best head coach in the sport’s history but ranks only fourth on the above list. Meanwhile, Smart has overachieved by only 6.0 points above the historic baseline in his nine seasons at Georgia thanks to the high bar predecessor Mark Richt set. But he has also won two national titles, overcoming Georgia’s history of falling just short and at least briefly surpassing Saban as well. If our goal is to measure coaching prowess, we need to account for raw quality too.


The best coaches of the past 20 years

If we combine raw SP+ averages with this performance versus baseline average, we can come up with a pretty decent overall coach rating. We can debate the weights involved, but here’s what an overall rating looks like if we use 60% performance versus baseline and 40% SP+ average:

I always like to say that numbers make great starting points for a conversation, and this is a pretty good starting point. Anyone reading this would probably tweak this list to suit their own preferences, and while it probably isn’t surprising that Pinkel is in the top 20, seeing him fourth, ahead of Meyer, Harbaugh and others, is a bit jarring. (I promise that this Mizzou alum didn’t put his finger on the scales.) Regardless, this is a fun mix of guys who won big at big schools and guys who won pretty big at pretty big schools. That was the goal of the exercise.

Maybe the most confusing coach in this top 20 is Dabo Swinney. Clemson had enjoyed just one AP top-five finish in its history before he took over 16 years ago, and he has led the Tigers to 2 national titles, 6 top-five finishes and 7 CFP appearances. And while they haven’t had a true, title-caliber team in a few years, they’ve still won two of the past three ACC crowns. How is he only 10th?

The main culprit for Swinney’s lower-than-expected ranking is his recent performance — it has been inferior to both national title standards and his standards. Since we’re using a team’s performance against 20-year averages, a lot of this rating is basically comparing Swinney to himself, and he hasn’t quite measured up of late.

From 2012 to 2020, Swinney’s average rating was an incredible 17.0, which would have ranked second to only Saban on the list above. But his average over the past four seasons is only 3.6.

Part of what made Saban so impressive was how long he managed to clear the bar he himself was setting in Tuscaloosa. Per SP+, his best team was his 14th — the 2020 team that won his sixth and final title at Bama. While Swinney was basically matching Saban’s standard 12 years into their respective tenures, Saban continued at a particularly high level for at least three more years while Swinney fell off the pace.

Comparing Saban, Swinney and Smart year by year, we see that Smart was hitting Saban-esque levels seven seasons into his tenure, but his rating has fallen off each of the past two seasons. Even Saban slipped starting in Year 15, even though he still had nearly the best program in the sport for a couple more years.


The best coaches of 2025

Six of the top seven coaches on the list above are either retired or coaching in the NFL now, so let’s focus our gaze specifically on the guys who will be leading college teams out onto the field in 2025. Using the same 20-year sample as above — which cuts off the tenure of Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz but includes everything else — here’s how the current crop of FBS head coaches has performed at the FBS level. We’ll break this into two samples: the guys who have coached for at least four years in this sample and the guys who have coached between one and three years.

Our May top 10 list featured eight guys who have been head coaches for at least four years; all eight are represented on this list, including four of the top five. (Sarkisian has averaged a 13.8 rating over the past two seasons, which is a top-five level, but his overall run as head coach at Washington, USC and Texas has featured a number of ups and downs.)

Maybe the name that jumps out the most above is Josh Heupel. I think anyone would consider him a very good coach (he’s 37-15 overall), but he doesn’t exactly draw any “best in the game?” hype. He benefited from a positive situation at UCF, where he inherited a rising program from Scott Frost in 2019 and produced big ratings in his first couple of years on the job. But his average rating at Tennessee has been a solid 14.0 as well; the Volunteers had been up and down for years, but he has produced four top-20 SP+ ratings in a row and two top-10s in the past three years. He might not be getting the credit he deserves for that.

All in all, I enjoy this list. We’ve got mostly predictable names at the top, we’ve got some oldies but (mostly) goodies spread throughout, and we’ve got room for up-and-comers like Jeff Traylor too. This 60-40 approach probably doesn’t give enough respect to the Chris Creightons of the world — the Eastern Michigan coach has overachieved against EMU’s baseline by 7.2 points per season, which is a fantastic average, but at such a hard job, his Eagles have still averaged only a minus-14.4 SP+ rating during his tenure. Still, this is a mostly solid approach.

Now let’s talk about some small-sample all-stars.

Four of the top six of this list coached in the College Football Playoff last season, and while the guys ranked fifth and sixth made our May top 10 list, the guys who won big at SMU and Indiana, not Oregon and Notre Dame, take priority here. I was honestly floored that Curt Cignetti didn’t make our top 10 list; he led James Madison to one of the best FBS debuts ever, going 19-4 in 2022-23, then he moved to Bloomington and led Indiana — INDIANA! — to 11 wins in his first season there.

On this list, however, Rhett Lashlee tops even Cignetti. I’m not sure we’ve talked enough about the job he has done at SMU. He, too, inherited a rising program, as Sonny Dykes had done some of the nitty-gritty work in getting the Mustangs back on their feet (with help from an offensive coordinator named Rhett Lashlee). SMU hadn’t produced a top-50 ranking since 1985 before Dykes did so for three straight seasons (2019-21). But after holding steady in his first year replacing Dykes, Lashlee’s program has ignited: 12-2 and 24th in SP+ in 2023, then 11-3 and 12th in 2024. Looking specifically at the 2021-24 range, as the game has undergone so much change, Lashlee’s 16.8 average rating ranks second overall, behind only Smart (18.0) and ahead of Kiffin (15.1), Cignetti (15.0), Odom (15.0), Heupel (14.0) and Day (13.9).

Along with quite a few others here, Lashlee made my 2024 list of 30 coaches who would define the next decade; he’d definitely still be on the list — along with new additions like GJ Kinne and perhaps Fran Brown — if I remade that list today.

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It’s MLB Home Run Derby Day! Predictions, live updates and takeaways

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It's MLB Home Run Derby Day! Predictions, live updates and takeaways

It’s 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby day in Atlanta!

Some of the most dynamic home run hitters in baseball will be taking aim at the Truist Park stands on Monday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN) in one of the most anticipated events of the summer.

While the prospect of a back-to-back champion is out of the picture — 2024 winner Teoscar Hernandez is not a part of this year’s field — a number of exciting stars will be taking the field, including Atlanta’s own Matt Olson, who replaced Ronald Acuna Jr. just three days before the event. Will Olson make a run in front of his home crowd? Will Cal Raleigh show off the power that led to 38 home runs in the first half? Or will one of the younger participants take the title?

We have your one-stop shop for everything Derby related, from predictions to live updates once we get underway to analysis and takeaways at the night’s end.


MLB Home Run Derby field

Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (38 home runs in 2025)
James Wood, Washington Nationals (24)
Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays (23)
Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins (21)
Brent Rooker, Athletics (20)
Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves (17)
Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees (17)
Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh Pirates (16)


Live updates


Who is going to win the Derby and who will be the runner-up?

Jeff Passan: Raleigh. His swing is perfect for the Derby: He leads MLB this season in both pull percentage and fly ball percentage, so it’s not as if he needs to recalibrate it to succeed. He has also become a prolific hitter from the right side this season — 16 home runs in 102 at-bats — and his ability to switch between right- and left-handed pitching offers a potential advantage. No switch-hitter (or catcher for that matter) has won a Home Run Derby. The Big Dumper is primed to be the first, beating Buxton in the finals.

Alden Gonzalez: Cruz. He might be wildly inconsistent at this point in his career, but he is perfect for the Derby — young enough to possess the stamina required for a taxing event that could become exhausting in the Atlanta heat; left-handed, in a ballpark where the ball carries out better to right field; and, most importantly, capable of hitting balls at incomprehensible velocities. Raleigh will put on a good show from both sides of the plate but will come in second.

Buster Olney: Olson. He is effectively pinch-hitting for Acuna, and because he received word in the past 72 hours of his participation, he hasn’t had the practice rounds that the other competitors have been going through. But he’s the only person in this group who has done the Derby before, which means he has experienced the accelerated pace, adrenaline and push of the crowd.

His pitcher, Eddie Perez, knows something about performing in a full stadium in Atlanta. And, as Olson acknowledged in a conversation Sunday, the park generally favors left-handed hitters because of the larger distances that right-handed hitters must cover in left field.

Jesse Rogers: Olson. Home-field advantage will mean something this year as hitting in 90-plus degree heat and humidity will be an extra challenge in Atlanta. Olson understands that and can pace himself accordingly. Plus, he was a late addition. He has got nothing to lose. He’ll outlast the young bucks in the field. And I’m not putting Raleigh any lower than second — his first half screams that he’ll be in the finals against Olson.

Jorge Castillo: Wood. His mammoth power isn’t disputed — he can jack baseballs to all fields. But the slight defect in his power package is that he doesn’t hit the ball in the air nearly as often as a typical slugger. Wood ranks 126th out of 155 qualified hitters across the majors in fly ball percentage. And he still has swatted 24 home runs this season. So, in an event where he’s going to do everything he can to lift baseballs, hitting fly balls won’t be an issue, and Wood is going to show off that gigantic power en route to a victory over Cruz in the finals.


Who will hit the longest home run of the night — and how far?

Passan: Cruz hits the ball harder than anyone in baseball history. He’s the choice here, at 493 feet.

Gonzalez: If you exclude the Coors Field version, there have been just six Statcast-era Derby home runs that have traveled 497-plus feet. They were compiled by two men: Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. James Wood — all 6-foot-7, 234 pounds of him — will become the third.

Olney: James Wood has the easy Stanton- and Judge-type power, and he will clear the Chophouse with the longest homer. Let’s say 497 feet.

Rogers: Hopefully he doesn’t injure himself doing it, but Buxton will break out his massive strength and crush a ball at least 505 feet. I don’t see him advancing far in the event, but for one swing, he’ll own the night.

Castillo: Cruz hits baseballs hard and far. He’ll crush a few bombs, and one will reach an even 500 feet.


Who is the one slugger fans will know much better after the Derby?

Passan: Buxton capped his first half with a cycle on Saturday, and he’ll carry that into the Derby, where he will remind the world why he was baseball’s No. 1 prospect in 2015. Buxton’s talent has never been in question, just his health. And with his body feeling right, he has the opportunity to put on a show fans won’t soon forget.

Olney: Caminero isn’t a big name and wasn’t a high-end prospect like Wood was earlier in his career. Just 3½ years ago, Caminero was dealt to the Rays by the Cleveland Guardians in a relatively minor November trade for pitcher Tobias Myers. But since then, he has refined his ability to cover inside pitches and is blossoming this year into a player with ridiculous power. He won’t win the Derby, but he’ll open some eyes.


What’s the one moment we’ll all be talking about long after this Derby ends?

Gonzalez: The incredible distances and velocities that will be reached, particularly by Wood, Cruz, Caminero, Raleigh and Buxton. The hot, humid weather at Truist Park will only aid the mind-blowing power that will be on display Monday night.

Rogers: The exhaustion on the hitter’s faces, swinging for home run after home run in the heat and humidity of Hot-lanta!

Castillo: Cruz’s 500-foot blast and a bunch of other lasers he hits in the first two rounds before running out of gas in the finals.

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