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As expected, Max Domi became the latest player involved in the Chicago Blackhawks‘ flurry of moves with the forward being traded Thursday to the Dallas Stars, it was announced.

Domi, along with minor league goaltender Dylan Wells, went to the Stars in exchange for goalie Anton Khudobin and a 2025 second-round pick.

The trade itself was finalized shortly after Domi’s new team came away with a 5-2 victory against his old team. Domi was scratched for the game with the Blackhawks announcing he was being held out for roster management purposes.

Domi, who turned 28 on Thursday, joins the Stars at a time when they are in the hunt for both the Central Division and Western Conference regular-season titles. Beating the Blackhawks saw the Stars push their divisional lead to five points over the Minnesota Wild while having a one-point edge over the Vegas Golden Knights for the best record in the conference.

Even before the season started, there was an expectation that Domi could be traded for a number of reasons. The Blackhawks came into the season with the belief they would be closer to a lottery pick than a playoff spot.

And because of that, the team would be in a position to trade players, considering it had a number of pending unrestricted free agents along with players on team-friendly contracts who could be parlayed into draft capital.

Domi was part of a pending unrestricted free agent class that also featured Andreas Athanasiou, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. He signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Blackhawks in the offseason after spending the 2021-22 season with the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blackhawks opened the season winning four of their first six games. Since then, they have endured through five different losing streaks of more than four games with two of them being separate eight-game skids.

Domi still emerged to lead the team in scoring with 18 goals and 49 points while averaging 18:17 in ice time. He’s projected to score 67 points, which would be the second-most points in his career.

What might have been his strongest performance of the season might have also been an audition for the Stars. On Feb. 22, Domi scored two goals — including the winning goal — and finished with three points in a 4-3 win against the Stars.

Acquiring Domi means the Stars now have another top-six forward to bolster a team that is averaging 3.24 goals per game, which ranks 14th in the NHL. Most of those goals — 67% to be exact — have come from six players. Domi now gives the Stars another option while also being another power-play threat. Eighteen of his points this season have come on the extra-skater advantage, which could prove vital for a team that already has the No. 9 power play in the NHL with a 23.3% success rate.

Domi’s departure comes in what has been a hectic week for the Blackhawks. They have already traded Kane to the New York Rangers, forward Sam Lafferty and defenseman Jake McCabe to the Toronto Maple Leafs and defenseman Jack Johnson to the Colorado Avalanche.

The draft capital received in return for those trades has set the Blackhawks up to have 11 picks for the 2023 draft, nine picks for the 2024 draft and another nine picks for the 2025 draft.

But it’s not just about the total number of picks the Blackhawks own. They have two first-round picks in each of those drafts. They are also one of the strongest contenders to win this year’s draft lottery, as they have the second-fewest points in the NHL, and if they win the lottery, they would be in a position to take the presumed No. 1 pick in Connor Bedard.

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Sale, Crochet named comeback players of year

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Sale, Crochet named comeback players of year

LAS VEGAS — Left-handers Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves and Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox won Major League Baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year awards on Thursday.

Cleveland right-hander Emmanuel Clase won his second AL Reliever of the Year award and St. Louis righty Ryan Helsley won the NL honor.

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani joined David Ortiz as the only players to win four straight Outstanding Designated Hitter awards. Ohtani and the New York YankeesAaron Judge won Hank Aaron Awards as the outstanding offensive performers in their leagues.

Major League Baseball made the announcements at its All-MLB Awards Show.

Sale, 35, was 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177⅔ innings for the NL’s first pitching triple crown since the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in 2011. He earned his eighth All-Star selection and first since 2018.

Sale helped Boston to the 2018 World Series title but made just 56 starts from 2020-23, going 17-18 with a 4.86 ERA, 400 strikeouts and 79 walks over 298⅓ innings. He was acquired by Boston from the White Sox in December 2016 and made nine trips to the injured list with the Red Sox, mostly with shoulder and elbow ailments. He had Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, and returned to a big league mound on Aug. 14, 2021.

Sale fractured a rib while pitching in batting practice in February 2022 during the management lockout. On July 17, in his second start back, he broke his left pinkie finger when he was hit by a line drive off the bat of the Yankees’ Aaron Hicks. Sale broke his right wrist while riding a bicycle en route to lunch on Aug. 6, ending his season.

Crochet, 25, was 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA over 32 starts for a White Sox team that set a post-1900 record of 121 losses, becoming a first-time All-Star. He struck out 209 and walked 33 in 146 innings.

He had Tommy John surgery on April 5, 2022, and returned to the major leagues on May 18, 2023. Crochet had a 3.55 ERA in 13 relief appearances in 2023, and then joined the rotation this year.

Sale and Crochet were chosen in voting by MLB.com beat writers.

Clase and Helsley were unanimous picks by a panel that included Hall of Famers Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers, along with John Franco and Billy Wagner. The AL award is named after Rivera and the NL honor after Hoffman.

A three-time All-Star, Clase was 4-2 with a 0.61 ERA, 66 strikeouts and 10 walks in 74⅓ innings, holding batters to a .154 average. The 26-year-old converted 47 of 50 save chances, including his last 47.

Voting was based on the regular season. Clase was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in the playoffs, allowing three home runs, one more than his regular-season total.

Helsley, a two-time All-Star, was 7-4 with a 2.04 ERA and 49 saves in 53 chances. He struck out 79 and walked 23 in 66⅓ innings.

Ohtani became the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. A two-way star limited to hitting following elbow surgery, Ohtani batted .310 and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs while stealing 59 bases.

Ortiz won the DH award five years in a row from 2003-07.

The DH award, named after Edgar Martinez, is picked in voting by team beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments. MLB.com writers determined the finalists for the Aaron awards, and a fan vote was combined with picks from a panel of Hall of Famers and former winners to determine the selections.

Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers and 144 RBIs while hitting .322.

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

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Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

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Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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