Kaplan: Rangers’ rebound, latest on Blackhawks and more around the NHL
On Dec. 3, the New York Rangers were nearing an abyss. Things came to a pressure point during the home game against the Chicago Blackhawks, one of the worst teams in the league. En route to another loss, captain Jacob Trouba had enough. The defenseman laid out two massive hits, got into two fights, and as he was escorted off the ice for a five-minute roughing major on the latter, threw his helmet into the boards. Along the way, he appeared to yell at his teammates on the bench: “Wake the f— up!”
Did they ever.
Since then, New York has rattled off seven straight wins and is starting to look like the team that made it to the Eastern Conference Final last year. Coach Gerard Gallant admitted to our broadcast crew before Sunday’s rematch against the Blackhawks (a 7-1 Rangers win) that his team suffered from a hangover to start the season. Because of what they achieved last season, they believed things would come easy to start this year. Instead, they had to work for it. His players agree.
“We weren’t playing good hockey. We were in a little bit of a lull. We had expectations that we were just supposed to win games because of last year,” Adam Fox told me on Sunday. “[Trouba] brought energy. Obviously he did what he had to do to get us going. Some emotion is what we needed to respond pretty well.”
Added Vincent Trocheck: “Whenever your captain shows that much emotion, and he goes out of his way to make a hit or get in a fight to get the guys going, it’s a message sent to our team that something’s not right. After that game, we had a talk, and everything we talked about has kicked in.”
During the second intermission of Sunday’s game, Rangers assistant Gord Murphy told me he liked that his team was “finding a way” — something that wasn’t a guarantee for them a few weeks ago. “Our players are in a good place,” Murphy said.
After the game, I asked Trocheck to describe the confidence level of the Rangers right now.
“It’s higher than it was,” Trocheck said. “I think it was pretty low at one point. But we’ve done a lot recently, and worked at doing everything the right way so that we can be more predictable on the ice. And our confidence is starting to build more and more.”
A SIDE STORY brewed in that Dec 3 Blackhawks game: Blackhawks forward Andreas Athanasiou, the recipient of a massive Trouba hit, questioned the captain’s role on the team calling him “an $8 million player with zero goals.”
“It didn’t really bother me,” Trouba told me before Sundays game, with a laugh. But he clearly remembered the moment. After scoring his first goal of the season a night earlier — on an empty net — Trouba doubled his total with a goal in the 7-1 blowout win against Chicago. Athanasiou was also on the ice, and Trouba immediately made eye contact with him, and appeared to mouth: “Do you want the puck?”
The rebuild in Chicago
After being between the benches for two Chicago Blackhawks games this past week, it’s been tough to see the team in this way. They’ve picked up just three points since Nov. 14 (1-14-1 record) getting outscored 72-30 in that span. For context, the next closest teams in that span are Philadelphia and Arizona with 11 points.
This is all part of the Chicago front office’s grand plan — conduct a rebuild in earnest, leverage this season for future sustained success. But none of it has been easy on the players or coaching staff, who take pride in putting in a good effort. You can see the frustration on Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews nearly every shift. Kane has the lowest shooting percentage of his career; it’s sub 4 percent, and his career average is 11.5. And after scoring seven goals in his first 11 games, Toews has just three in the 18 since. While they’re frustrated, they’re still committed to the team.
Coach Luke Richardson shared a great story about Toews making two mistakes in a game against the Oilers last month. Toews asked Richardson to show those clips in the video session with the team. Richardson didn’t, but let the players know the captain had asked to, setting an example for accountability. The Blackhawks are expecting Kane and Toews to come to them sometime in the new year letting them know which direction they’d like to go at the trade deadline. Neither player is rushing into a decision, and it’s not guaranteed they will be traded.
GENERAL MANAGER KYLE DAVIDSON told me on Friday that he hasn’t had any specific trade discussions on any of his players yet. The trade market has been slow this season. As one GM told me at the Board of Governors meetings, “It’s impossible to get a trade done right now. Nobody can get anything done.” Things are expected to pick up after the holiday freeze. Aside from Kane and Toews, Davidson has told his GM peers that all of his UFAs will be available. But while the Blackhawks are looking to accumulate as many picks and prospects as possible — and ideally spread them over the next few draft classes — Davidson says he isn’t just trading players for the sake of trading players. In other words, he’s not giving away players for sixth-round picks just to say he did it.
ONE OF THE BLACKHAWKS players I believe has been generating value is defenseman Jarred Tinordi, who was an important waiver claim by Chicago in October. If he’s healthy at the deadline, he would be a solid sixth or seventh defenseman pick up for a contender. But it was tough to see Tinordi leave the ice on Sunday leaking blood after taking a puck to the face. He was placed on IR with a facial fracture.
Tinrodi took a skate blade to the face in a Dec. 9 game against the Jets, and received between 50-100 stitches (the team doctor said he lost count). Tinordi had been wearing a protective cage in his games since, and Sunday was the first time he took it off. Brutal break.
Richardson and Davidson were both effusive about Tinordi when I asked about him before Sunday’s game, explaining how his role had grown. At age 30, this was the most regular role Tinordi has had in the NHL. He’s spent his career on six different NHL teams, bouncing up and down between the NHL and AHL, and takes pride in being a sound, physical defenseman, but also a leader. His maturity makes him a beloved teammate. (When he went down on Sunday, the Rangers, one of his former teams, showed a great level of concern as well). In the Friday game against Minnesota, goalie Petr Mrazek was disappointed by the second goal he let in, which trickled past him. At the TV timeout, it was Tinordi who came to chat with Mrazek, hyping him back up.
Wild find their game
BILL GUERIN HAS demonstrated, in his short time so far as GM of the Minnesota Wild, that he has a pulse for what his team needs. It began with his decision to buy out Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, knowing the locker room needed to turn over to new voices. It continued last year bringing in Marc-Andre Fleury, one of the most popular players in the NHL.
This year’s addition of Ryan Reaves can’t be understated. Reaves had his first signature moment last week, a massive open ice hit on Detroit’s Filip Hronek which sparked Minnesota to victory. His impact goes further than that. “Everybody says we got bigger and more firmness because of him, but I think his presence is more than physicality,” coach Dean Evason said. “He’s not going to run people every game. He’s very calm on the bench. He’s very mature. His work ethic — he’s ripped up — sets an example and he’s just a really good teammate. I think that’s more the impact.”
Evason said before Wild power plays, Reaves gets absolutely jacked up, screaming “Let’s go power play, pow pow!” before kicking the bench in front of him — fully aware he’s not going to go out there. Reaves is just pumped for the team, period. “Sure it’s nice to have a guy who can beat the heck out of anybody he wants at any time, it makes everyone a little firmer,” Evason said. “But he’s a great teammate, and he also can play. If Ryan can’t play the game, he’s not going to be on our hockey club just to fight.”
THE WILD HAVE had to do some soul searching early, but seem to have found their stride. Since Nov 27, they lead the league with 18 points, going 9-2-0. Last season, the Wild had a top five offense, scoring 3.72 goals per game. Evason can’t quite describe it. “Last year we scored at will, it was crazy,” he said. “Guys were having career years, pucks were going in all over the place. And it didn’t this year.” This season, Minnesota is more middle of the pack at 3.13 goals per game. And it was especially troubling early. “It was hard to score, it’s still hard to score for us,” Evason said. “But our realization that this is who we are. And our realization that we need to defend first has really helped us become a better club.”
Update on defending champs
While the injury bug hit the defending champion Colorado Avalanche hard, they’re finding ways to stay afloat in the competitive Central Division until they get to full strength. Kudos to Mikko Rantanen, who has scored six goals in the six games since Nathan MacKinnon has been out, which is almost half of Colorado’s goal total (13) in that time.
With so many new faces rotating in, coach Jared Bednar has had to make adjustments, adding in more video sessions, both for the group and individual players. “I’m definitely coaching different,” Bednar said. “We changed a few things, play a little safer, going back to teaching conceptual things like protecting the middle of the ice.” Those changes have showed up mostly in the neutral zone, as well as forecheck.
WHILE THERE WAS some excitement when Gabriel Landeskog got on the ice two weeks ago, it wasn’t much of an update. The captain, recovering from knee surgery, went out on his own just to give it a twirl. Landeskog is still looking at a mid to late January return, hoping to get back before the All Star break. Losing MacKinnon to an upper body injury in early January was a huge blow — especially pronounced on the power play. The injury, described to me as a new one for MacKinnon, is one that just needs time to heal. The team said four weeks, but nobody would be surprised if he got back sooner. MacKinnon has a history of coming back a bit sooner than expectations.
Keep an eye on the Avalanche at the deadline. Everyone in the league knows Colorado is in the market for a center, and have the ability to make a splash. Should either Kane or Toews decide to waive their no movement clause, Colorado would be on their shortlist.
What direction in St. Louis?
It’s hard to know what to make of the St. Louis Blues right now. They’re a veteran team built to win now, and GM Doug Armstrong feels like he successfully staved off a rebuild thanks to the smart drafting (and long-term signings) of Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas. And yet, the Blues can’t consistently find their game, putting them currently outside of the playoff picture.
When I covered a game in St Louis on Dec. 11, the most-used word by players and coaches was frustration. “They’re all frustrated. We’re frustrated. There’s a lot of frustration because we’re used to winning,” coach Craig Berube said. “We’re going through it right now, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. All we need to do is string together a few wins here, and get those wins by playing the right way, and we can be right back in it.”
ARMSTRONG TOLD ME his staff has two plans in place for what direction they could go in at the trade deadline, though he wouldn’t commit to a timetable for when he would make that decision. Two veterans become free agents this summer: Vladimir Tarasenko and captain Ryan O’Reilly. Since Tarasenko has a no trade clause, St Louis has had a hard time moving him. That’s shaping up to be an offseason divorce. Meanwhile, front office executives on teams have told me they believe O’Reilly could be available. Also, keep an eye on Josh Leivo as a sneaky depth pickup at the deadline, should St Louis unload.
THE BLUES BRASS didn’t shy away from answering questions about Jordan Binnington, who was making more noise for his antics — picking fights on the ice, bumping other players — rather than his play. Berube said it was a case of the goalie channeling his frustration by trying to do too much. He was trying to solve all of the team’s problems, and lost mental focus along the way. Berube gave Binnington a few days off, and told him to focus only on his position. “It’s hard because he’s a highly competitive guy, and you talk about frustration — nobody is more frustrated than him in the room, nobody,” Berube said.
Armstrong was also involved. “That’s not a good look for a goaltender to do that,” Armstrong said. “Those antics may have had an effect early, it doesn’t have an effect anymore. I think it’s run its course.”
Rocky road in Philly
Kevin Hayes‘ healthy scratch didn’t sit well with players across the NHL. It was a classic John Tortorella moment, and let’s remember that Tortorella and Hayes have a relationship that dates back to their days with the New York Rangers. But it’s extremely rare to see a team’s leading scorer scratched for performance reasons. “I hate the precedent that sets,” one veteran player texted me. “He’s embarrassing a guy who works his ass off and is actually contributing, just to prove a point.” It feels like this could be the beginning of the end of Hayes’ tenure in Philadelphia.
TORTORELLA HAS BEEN talking about building a process of playing the right way, but it’s been a frustrating season in Philly. The latest blow is that veteran Cam Atkinson will miss the season with neck surgery. More change is on the way. At the deadline, they’ll shop a few of their players, hoping a market materializes for James van Riemsdyk. But there could be bigger structural changes too. Over the last several months, there have been too many mixed messages, too many changes of course. Philadelphia wants to be on a more consistent path and the franchise will figure out how to commit to that.
The 2025 Little League World Series is underway, with some of the best young players around the country competing in Williamsport — all with the hopes of eventually making it to the major leagues one day.
And a few of them will make it … as evidenced by all the Little League alumni in Major League Baseball today.
This year’s MLB Little League Classic between the the Seattle Mariners and New York Mets will feature a number of MLB players who have played little league baseball in one way or another, either with local teams in their home countries or with Little League specifically. In fact, Seattle manager Dan Wilson played in the 1981 Little League Baseball World Series with Barrington (Illinois) Little League.
As the Mariners and Mets face off at historic Bowman Field in Williamsport on Aug. 17 — which you can watch on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast at 7 p.m. ET — let’s take a look at “then” and “now” photos of notable players on each team that played little league.
More: Little League World Series: Results, schedules, more
Watch every game: LLBWS
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso played for Tampa Bay Little League in Tampa Bay, Florida.
J.P. Crawford, SS, Seattle Mariners
Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford played for Lakewood Little League in Lakewood, California.
Edwin Diaz, RP, New York Mets
Mets reliever Edwin Diaz played for Miguel Luzunaris Little League in Humacao, Puerto Rico.
George Kirby, SP, Seattle Mariners
Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby played for Rye Little League in Rye, New York.
Francisco Lindor, SS, New York Mets
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor played little league baseball in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Jeff McNeil, 2B, New York Mets
Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil played for Goleta Valley South Little League in Santa Barbara, California.
Cal Raleigh, C, Seattle Mariners
Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh played for Great Smokies Little League in Sylva, North Carolina.
Julio Rodriguez, CF, Seattle Mariners
Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez played little league baseball in Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.
Kodai Senga, SP, New York Mets
Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga played little league baseball in Gamagōri, Japan.
Juan Soto, RF, New York Mets
Mets right fielder Juan Soto played for Banco Central Little League in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Bryan Woo, SP, Seattle Mariners
Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo played for Alameda Little League in Alameda, California.
All childhood photos courtesy of the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners.
Sports
Arch Manning is finally Texas’ starting QB! Coaches and scouts on his expectations and draft status
Arch Manning needs no introduction to the college football world. From the moment the sophomore quarterback committed to Texas in the class of 2023, the grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning has been in the public eye.
After a redshirt season in 2023 and serving as a changeup to Quinn Ewers last season, Arch Manning will get his opportunity to be the face of the Longhorns — and potentially college football. He won’t get the chance to ease into the starting role, as top-ranked Texas will play at defending national champion and No. 3-ranked Ohio State in its season opener on Aug. 30.
As Manning readies for the 2025 season, we had our NFL draft and college football experts dive into all things Arch. Heather Dinich looked at how Manning could change Texas’ offense this season, and Adam Rittenberg talked to opposing coaches to get their initial impressions. Jordan Reid broke down Manning’s game from a scouting perspective, and Matt Miller talked to NFL evaluators about what stands out about the young QB and when he could enter the draft.
Let’s begin with Reid’s breakdown of what Manning has put on film to date.
Jump to a section:
Scouting report | Texas’ offense
Opposing coach perspective
NFL scouts talk Arch
What does Manning look like from a scouting perspective? What stands out most, and what does he need to work on?
Two starts and 95 career passing attempts provide too small a sample size to assess any signal-caller, but the early returns on Manning are positive. He has immense potential, but his starts came against 2-10 Mississippi State and 5-7 Louisiana Monroe. At 6-foot-4, 222 pounds, Manning has prototypical size and a well-built frame. He finished last season with 939 passing yards, nine touchdown passes and two interceptions over 10 games, and he has picture-perfect mechanics. He throws from a strong platform and seems to always play on balance from the pocket.
Manning also has a quick, over-the-top delivery that helps him get the ball out effectively. He has the necessary arm strength and confidence to drive the ball into tight windows, but one of the more impressive parts of his film was his success as a downfield thrower. He averaged 10.0 air yards per attempt last season, and 15 of his 61 completions went for 20-plus yards.
Manning finished last season with seven completions on throws of 20-plus air yards, and three of his nine touchdowns came on downfield passes, which was an element mostly missing from Texas’ offense when Ewers was quarterback. Manning will help the offense generate more explosive plays downfield because of his touch, arm strength and comfort on deep-shot plays.
Unlike his uncles, Manning can also turn into a reliable running threat on designed QB runs or when plays break down. His frame and mobility allow him to string together positive plays outside the framework of concepts.
But Manning needs refinement on true multistep progressions from the pocket. He has a habit of sticking to his primary read too long, so he must learn when and how to move on to his next options quickly. Too many times last season, he stared down his first read, hoping the receiver would get open.
Manning can also improve on using his mobility to his advantage. His internal clock in the pocket was inconsistent. During several plays, he could have hurt defenses even more as a running threat instead of hanging in the pocket too long. — Reid
How will Texas utilize Manning, and how will things look different with him instead of Ewers?
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told ESPN that his offensive system won’t change, but it has evolved with the strengths of different quarterbacks — just as it did when Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator at Alabama and transitioned from Tua Tagovailoa to Mac Jones late in the 2019 season.
“The beauty of it for us right now is we have two years with Arch of working with him every day and have a really good understanding of the things that he’s good at, and so we can focus and tailor things around what he does well,” Sarkisian said.
“Probably the most natural thing is his athleticism to where he’s a threat. When he runs the ball, you have to account for him because there’s a speed component to the way he runs, and there’s a physical component to the way he runs. And so some of the things that we’re able to do in short yardage may be a little bit different than where we’ve been in the past.”
Sarkisian said that the Longhorns have added the quarterback run in short-yardage, third-down situations and in the red zone — while also allowing Manning to recognize his strengths.
The Longhorns were middle of the pack in the red zone last season, as their 63.8% touchdown percentage ranked 55th in the FBS. Texas was 49th in third-down conversion percentage (42.1%). Manning could boost both categories. He averaged 4.3 yards per carry last season (25 carries for 108 yards and four touchdowns), a marked improvement over Ewers’ minus-1.4 yards per carry in 2024 (57 carries for minus-82 yards and two touchdowns).
“We may not change so much, but his ability to use his legs on third down in the red area to create plays when people are in man coverage and people are blitzing and there’s voids to go run, I think would be another component to that as well,” Sarkisian said. — Dinich
What do opposing college coaches think of Manning, both good and bad?
Most opposing coaches have a better sense of Manning off the field than on it, but they like what they’ve seen.
“He’s getting a lot of publicity, but he seems like a pretty level-headed kid,” a coach who will face Manning this fall said. “It doesn’t seem like he bought into the hype.”
An SEC coach added: “You’ve got a ton of respect for the kid, handling what is an insane situation.”
However, Manning’s limited game experience (11 career games, including 10 in 2024) creates doubt about whether he can reach the elevated expectations he’s facing as a first-year starter.
“He’s going to be a good player,” another SEC coach said. “The hype that it’s been, it’s impossible to reach.”
Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby, who faced Manning in his only conference start last season, thought the quarterback’s command and composure stood out. Manning completed 26 of 31 passes for 325 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, while adding a rushing touchdown, in a 35-13 Texas win.
“You’ve got to find ways to get him off platform,” Lebby told ESPN. “For a guy who hadn’t played a ton up to that point inside that game, man, he was really, really calm. He had great demeanor, and he had command of what Sark and his staff was trying to accomplish.”
2:19
Arch Manning dazzles with 5-TD performance vs. UTSA
Arch Manning replaces the injured Quinn Ewers and tallies five total touchdowns in Texas’ win vs. UTSA.
Several coaches who studied Manning noted his athleticism, which showed on a 67-yard run against UTSA and runs of 26 and 21 yards against Mississippi State and Georgia, respectively. Texas used Manning primarily as a running threat when Ewers returned from injury.
“Any time a quarterback can make all the throws and has enough ability to run the ball, they’re usually pretty f—ing good,” an SEC defensive coordinator said. “But I’m sure he’ll force some stuff and make some mistakes.”
Manning’s run threat certainly will be part of his repertoire, but how much? Coaches say a lot depends on Texas’ confidence in projected backup Trey Owens, who had only four pass attempts last season, because the more Manning runs, the more he opens himself up to injury.
“Sometimes, that comes into play, what your backup’s like,” a coach who faced Texas last season said. “I don’t imagine there will be a lot of designed runs. It will be Arch doing it on his own.” — Rittenberg
What do NFL scouts and evaluators think of Manning, and what are they looking to see from him this season?
Based on conversations I had with scouts, Manning is arguably the nation’s most discussed player. I spoke to 20 evaluators, and each was excited to talk about Manning. But not one evaluator polled is sure when they’ll scout the third-generation star as an active NFL draft prospect.
As a redshirt sophomore, Manning is draft eligible for the 2026 draft but also has three years of college eligibility remaining. No one I talked to thinks he’ll use all three years, but scouts aren’t ready to commit to him as a 2026 prospect, either. Grandfather Archie Manning, who has been more hands-on than Arch’s famous uncles, told Texas Monthly that he doesn’t expect Arch to enter the 2026 draft. But scouts are doing the legwork just in case.
“We’re evaluating him, while at the same time knowing he probably goes back to school [for the 2026 season],” an AFC scouting director said.
NFL scouts typically say 25 collegiate starts is the minimum any incoming quarterback should have before entering the draft. Manning has only two. A long playoff run this season could get him to 18 starts. But if the family agrees that more starts are better in the long run — Peyton started 45 games in college, and Eli had 41 — then it’s unlikely Arch will have a one-and-done starting season.
“People in the league want him to come out. Fans want him to come out. But I really feel like he’s in no rush, given his support system,” an NFC West scout added. “The family is going to care where he goes and who has the first pick when he does enter the draft.”
That sentiment was echoed by other scouts, and there’s precedent. The Manning family determined Eli’s landing spot in 2004, as Archie and Eli told the San Diego Chargers not to draft him coming out of Ole Miss. The Chargers picked Eli but traded him to the New York Giants, his preferred destination.
“The situation is going to matter,” an NFL general manager said. “With NIL money and his family situation, there is no rush to get to the league. So, they’ll wait and see what the environment is before making a decision.”
One NFC scouting director predicted that the Manning decision would come close to the mid-January deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft. “They’ll want to see which team has the No. 1 pick and if they’ve fired their coach — which is pretty common — [and] who the replacement is before jumping into the draft,” the scouting director said.
Would Manning and the family consider an earlier entry into the 2026 draft if a team with the right appeal, be it an emotional tie to an organization or the right football fit, were in position to draft him? Potentially, but after conversations with scouts, this is an unknown.
Online speculation that the Manning family wants him to land with the New Orleans Saints, where his grandfather played, or maybe the New York Giants to follow uncle Eli, has been rampant. But one thing is for certain — Arch will go his own way. He didn’t go to Tennessee or Ole Miss and try to live in the family legacy. Overconnecting the dots between where his uncles played hasn’t been a smart bet.
If he enters next year’s draft, Manning wouldn’t be the guaranteed No. 1 pick. Cade Klubnik (Clemson), Drew Allar (Penn State), LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina) and Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) are also receiving first-round attention.
Manning is the most hyped quarterback coming out of high school since Trevor Lawrence, but arguably under more pressure and with more attention.
“We’re still talking about a guy who has two starts, right?” an AFC South area scout said when asked to break down Manning’s game. “He’s big, he has a strong arm and I love the flexibility in his throwing motion. And he can move much better than his uncles ever did. But he’s very raw, and last year, the game was way too fast for him when he got in against Georgia and looked overwhelmed.”
Manning was a fish out of water too often when thrust into action last year. On film, there were a lot of “one-read-and-go” situations when he would take off as a runner if the fast-throwing option wasn’t there, which was referenced by several scouts. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian will develop his eyes and his pocket patience, but that’s the jump scouts need to see this season for him to live up to the generational quarterback label. — Miller
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike