D Heiskanen injured as Stars lose to ‘better team’
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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
SEATTLE — The Dallas Stars‘ 7-2 loss Sunday to the Seattle Kraken was further compounded by the loss of their star defenseman Miro Heiskanen in the second period.
Heiskanen was injured in the buildup to the Kraken’s first goal with 17:50 remaining in the second period of Game 3. Seattle rookie forward Tye Kartye fired a shot on net from the left faceoff circle that may have been deflected before Heiskanen was struck in the face.
After the puck went off Heiskanen’s face, he fell to the ground in front of the net before the Kraken’s Jordan Eberle recovered the loose puck for a 1-0 lead. Heiskanen remained on the ice and clutched his face before receiving treatment from a member of the Stars’ athletic training staff.
Heiskanen, who had a bloodied left cheek, went to the Stars’ dressing room. Stars coach Pete DeBoer said there was no update on Heiskanen’s condition and that the team will know more Monday ahead of Game 4 on Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena with the Kraken holding a 2-1 series lead in this Western Conference second-round series.
“Obviously a big piece, but that’s not why we lost,” DeBoer said. “They were the better team tonight. No if, ands or buts about that.”
Even if Heiskanen were to miss just one game, his departure would come with significant ramifications to the lineup. The 23-year-old defenseman is averaging 29:45 in ice time which is the most of any player in the postseason. Heiskanen, who also quarterbacks the first-team power-play unit and also plays on the penalty kill, is tied for third on the team with seven points.
Heiskanen played in all but two games for the Stars during the regular season. And when he was out of the lineup, the team turned to rookie Nils Lundkvist in his absence. Lundkvist, who was a health scratch Sunday, has yet to feature in the postseason.
As for what happened after Heiskanen departed?
Eberle’s goal was the first of four unanswered goals the Kraken scored which eventually led to them taking a 5-1 lead into the final frame. The Kraken have had 16 different scorers this postseason and they relied on that versatility again Sunday. Alexander Wennberg, Carson Soucy, Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvainen all scored in the second with Yanni Gourde and Justin Schultz adding two more in the third.
The Kraken had 11 players who finished the game with at least one point with Beniers, who was one of the three finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy for the NHL’s best rookie, leading the way with two points.
DeBoer pulled starting goaltender Jake Oettinger after two periods in favor of backup Scott Wedgewood. Oettinger finished with 12 saves on 17 shots. DeBoer was asked if he thought Oettinger had an off game.
“I thought our whole group was off,” DeBoer said.
DeBoer was then asked what gave him cause for concern about that decisive second period.
“What didn’t give me cause for concern tonight?” DeBoer chuckled. “We didn’t stop the bleeding. We gave up all kinds of goals and opportunities. I wish it was one thing. I’ll have to look at the tape. They were better in just about every area than us tonight.”
Part of what allowed the Stars to advance to the second round and further legitimize their Stanley Cup aspirations is their defensive structure.
They entered Sunday ranked first in scoring chances allowed per 60 in 5-on-5 play, fourth in shots allowed per 60 in 5-on-5 play while also allowing the second-fewest high-danger scoring chances per 60 in 5-on-5 play, per Natural Stat Trick.
Dallas held firm in those categories. Seattle had 20 shots, 19 scoring chances and nine high-danger scoring chances in those 5-on-5 sequences. Those figures are all below the averages the Stars have allowed throughout the playoffs.
But it still didn’t prevent them from having their poorest defensive performance of the postseason.
“I think we deserved what we got,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “They were the hungrier team. They executed and took advantage of their opportunities.”
This is not the first time the Stars have been in the position of falling behind in a series after giving up quite a few goals. In the first round, they fell into a 2-1 hole following a 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild before they closed out the series with three straight victories and only allowed three goals over the final three games.
Benn was critical yet measured when talking about the game. He was asked about how much Heiskanen’s absence played a role in their second-period struggles and said that other players must step up in those situations.
“I think personally, I was probably one of our worst players,” Benn said. “We’ll fix it, we’ll move on, have a quick memory and get ready for Game 4.”
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
Juan Soto, Alex Bregman, Willy Adames, Pete Alonso, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried are among the 12 players who opted for free agency instead of signing the qualifying offers extended to them by their teams, leaving Cincinnati Reds right-hander Nick Martinez as the lone player to accept ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
Soto, the crown jewel of this year’s free agent class, spent last season with the New York Yankees team that won the American League pennant and is widely expected to sign a contract worth at least $500 million. Bregman, Adames, Alonso, Burnes and Fried should also net nine-figure deals.
The qualifying offer is a mechanism for teams to receive compensatory draft picks when their best players sign elsewhere. Eligible free agents — those who have not previously been given a qualifying offer and spent the entire prior season on the same team — can be tendered a one-year contract for the mean salary of Major League Baseball’s 125 highest-paid players, a number that has jumped from $13.3 million to $21.05 million over the past dozen years.
If that player signs elsewhere, his prior team will receive an additional draft pick either after the first round or fourth round, with earlier picks going to smaller-market teams and later picks given to those who carried higher payrolls. Teams that sign those players also face penalties. The harshest are levied against those that exceeded the luxury tax threshold, costing them their second- and fifth-highest selections in the upcoming draft and an additional $1 million in international bonus pool money.
Martinez’s agent Scott Boras said Monday that the righty will play next season on a one-year, $21.05 million contract. Since the qualifying offer system began in 2012, only 14 of 144 players have accepted one.
Being tied to a qualifying offer does not typically affect high demand free agents like Soto, Bregman, Adames, Alonso, Burnes or Fried. But the tier below them — a list composed of outfielders Anthony Santander and Teoscar Hernandez, first baseman Christian Walker and starting pitchers Nick Pivetta, Sean Manaea and Luis Severino — could have their markets impacted by teams hesitant to absorb the penalties that come with signing them.
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Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer
The New York Mets landed veteran outfielder Jose Siri in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, the team announced Tuesday. In return, the Mets surrendered reliever Eric Orze.
Siri, 29, was tied for the lead among all center fielders in defensive runs saved last season but he struggled offensively, batting .187 with 18 homers, 14 stolen bases and an adjusted OPS+ of 76.
He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, meaning he’s likely to get a minor bump over his 2024 salary of $757,800.
Siri had a meandering path to the big leagues, bouncing through five organizations before making his debut with the Astros in September 2021. He has been known for playing with a demonstrative flair that can sometimes bug opponents.
Early in this offseason, some industry sources said they expected the Rays to move on from Siri, who had a staggering 170 strikeouts and just 31 walks in 448 plate appearances last season.
Harrison Bader, who was the Mets’ primary center fielder last season, became a free agent again. Tyrone Taylor played well in 44 games at the position, though he just had hernia and elbow surgery, procedures from which the Mets expect him to recover by the start of spring training.
But Siri gives the Mets some coverage at the spot no matter how the rest of the offseason plays out.
A contingent representing the Mets’ organization, including owner Steve Cohen and head of baseball operations David Stearns, traveled to California in recent days to meet with slugger Juan Soto. But that negotiation could continue for another week or more, with Soto and agent Scott Boras taking information and offers from the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and other teams.
Orze, 27, pitched in two games for the Mets last season, allowing four runs in 1⅔ innings in his first-ever major league outings. He was a fifth-round pick of the Mets in the 2020 draft.
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
The Cleveland Guardians‘ Stephen Vogt was named American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday after winning the AL Central in his first season on the job.
The 40-year-old Vogt, who had never managed before this year, steered Cleveland to a 92-69 record. The Guardians made it to the AL Championship Series before losing to the New York Yankees.
He is the third AL manager to win the award, given out since 1983, in his rookie season managing.
Despite injuries to starters Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie that left the Guardians short-handed for most of the season, Vogt managed Cleveland’s bullpen brilliantly, with its 2.57 ERA more than half a run better than the next-best team. The Guardians improved by 16 games over the previous season and won Vogt’s first playoff series against Detroit until the Yankees dismissed them in five games.
Over his 10-year playing career, Vogt played for six teams and was twice an All-Star. He took over in Cleveland for the retiring Terry Francona — himself a three-time Manager of the Year — after spending a season as the Seattle Mariners‘ bullpen coach.
Vogt received 27 of 30 first-place votes and finished ahead of two other AL Central managers, Kansas City‘s Matt Quatraro (two first-place votes) and Detroit’s A.J. Hinch (one).
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