Connect with us

Published

on

Wednesday was one of the wackiest NHL days in recent memories. The trade floodgates opened when Florida, which has been searching for luxury names without having give much up, did just that by acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko in the morning for a pair of draft picks and 50% salary.

A flurry followed.

The Edmonton Oilers traded for Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick from Anaheim. The New York Rangers got their third-line center in Alex Wennberg (though they’re not done yet). Philly finally ended its blue-line stalemate, extending Nick Seeler and trading Sean Walker — and the Flyers received the first-round pick they coveted, in exchange for taking on Ryan Johansen‘s contract.

And then we got the deal that shook everyone: 22-year-old Colorado Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram went to Buffalo in exchange for 25-year-old center Casey Mittelstadt. A former No. 4 draft pick vs. a former No. 8 pick. The deal was one for one.

Then the Vegas Golden Knights ended the night with their typical brash flair, swooping in for Noah Hanifin.

And that might not be as chaotic as what’s going on behind the scenes. The Jake Guentzel sweepstakes are stirring; two of the Penguins’ division rivals (Carolina and New York) have legitimate chances at landing the playoff-ready winger. The Golden Knights and Panthers are in on Guentzel, too — and seeing either of 2023 Stanley Cup Finalists get him after already making moves would totally annoy the rest of the league. But Vancouver has stuck around in an attempt to go bold. On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Chris Johnston said the Canucks were exploring flipping Elias Lindholm to Boston if they can land Guentzel. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes followed that up Wednesday and said the proposed deal could involve sending Jake DeBrusk to the Penguins. I keep hearing the Bruins are plotting something big. The Canes have finished as a finalist in these type of chases before, but rarely for rentals. But sounds like they have as good a shot as anyone for Guentzel.

Outside of Guentzel, the next two days could bring other surprises. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported that Blues GM Doug Armstrong is reducing the salary for winger Pavel Buchnevich, who is under contract until 2025, to facilitate a move. Armstrong is seriously looking at shaking up his roster. The Devils haven’t let go on getting Jacob Markstrom yet, but could also be unloading contracts, like Tyler Toffoli’s, considering there’s significant interest and New Jersey didn’t make progress with the winger on a new one.

So what’s going on? One front office executive said he felt teams were being more creative than ever this year. He theorized it could be the effects of the Panthers making it to the Stanley Cup Final as the last team to sneak into the playoffs. The parity is so extreme this season, with so many teams in the hunt for a spot, why not be bold? Anything can happen.

Here are a few other notes around the league …


EVERY TRADE DEADLINE there’s one big open secret everyone in the league catches wind of. Last year, it became increasingly apparent Patrick Kane wanted to go to the Rangers — which manifested, even after New York seemingly chose Vladimir Tarasenko as its trade deadline target over Kane.

This season? Calgary defenseman Noah Hanifin preference was Tampa, and the Flames were going to help him get there. But the deal never got done, as he ended up in Vegas.

The Lightning were a fit; their blue-line depth is thin, especially without Mikhail Sergachev. And they could have fit Hanifin’s $4.95 million salary under the cap by using Sergachev’s long term injured reserve space. But Tampa — which does not have a first- or second-round pick this year, or first-round pick in 2025 — just couldn’t match a compensation offer for Calgary. In recent years Tampa Bay GM Julien BriseBois hasn’t minded raiding the well as long as he signs the player to an extension. (See: Brandon Hagel, Nick Paul, Tanner Jeannot.) Hanifin would’ve likely re-signed in Tampa. But it wasn’t that easy for the Lightning — and it’s possible an extension would have limited their flexibility.

This season feels like an inflection point for Tampa. BriseBois tabled contract talks with captain Steven Stamkos until the summer, signaling a pause in status quo. How long can the Lightning keep going with this group? Or might they have to take a step back to recoup some depth around their star players?

I’ve always believed that how the Lightning handle this trade deadline would be telling. It’s in Tampa’s nature to be aggressive — and often unexpected — this time of year. The Lightning have cap space to spend and needs to fill. How big the Bolts go will tell us a lot about the direction they’re headed.

The rest of the league, by the way, is still bracing for a Tampa surprise. “Wait until Friday,” a rival executive said on Wednesday night. “Julien will probably trade all of his [remaining] draft picks.”


THE FLORIDA PANTHERS have been aggressive looking for upgrades — despite having one of the best teams in the league, and despite limited tradable assets. They were hopeful on Hanifin. They are still hovering around Guentzel. They could take a flier on Max Pacioretty. For now, the Panthers have made one big move with their nearly $6 million in cap space: acquiring Tarasenko for a third-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick, with 50% of the 32-year-old’s $5 million salary retained. One rival front office executive told me on Tarasenko: “This will probably be the steal of the deadline. I wish we had guys with no-trade clauses who only wanted to come [to my team].”

That’s the big thing with the Panthers: They’re becoming a destination. It feels fitting to talk about Florida after Tampa Bay, because for so many years the Panthers envied what the Lightning had. Players coveted Tampa because of sunshine, favorable taxes and winning culture. Over the past two years, Florida has emerged as a legitimate rival. The Panthers opened a gorgeous new training facility this winter that’s so close to where players live, most drive golf carts to get there. The results are speaking for themselves on the ice.

The Panthers’ pro scouting staff has done an excellent job identifying value players to thrive in their system. But the front office hasn’t been afraid to make difficult, unemotional decisions. To that end, Florida is also gaining a reputation as a place where you can showcase yourself — then get paid elsewhere. Radko Gudas (three-year, $12 million contract in Anaheim) and Alex Lyon (two-year, one-way deal in Detroit) are recent examples. The Panthers will need to make more difficult decisions this summer, with 10 pending UFAs on their roster — most notably Reinhart, Brandon Montour, Gustav Forsling and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. But they’re not going away as a contender anytime soon.


THE VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS put all of their chips on the table. It’s in their DNA. In just seven years of existence, the Golden Knights have been extremely competitive and highly aggressive going after pretty much every big name who becomes available. It feels like ancient history, but they were chasing Erik Karlsson from Ottawa in 2018. They made one of the most impressive deck pitches to Patrick Kane this fall. There have been plenty of examples in between.

Right after Vegas won a Stanley Cup, the front office began plotting ways to win another championship. And so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Golden Knights are active at the deadline yet again — they tend to do a ton of work around this time.

Just think of the players Vegas has acquired at the deadline over the years; many are crucial to the fabric of the organization. Captain Mark Stone, for starters. Also (and not limited to) Alec Martinez, Chandler Stephenson, Ryan Reaves, Robin Lehner, Mattias Janmark, Ivan Barbashev and Jonathan Quick. Let’s set aside conspiracy theories about long term injured reserve. Yes, it’s uncanny they’re missing Stone (and therefore have the ability to spend his $9.5 million cap hit) for the second straight season, but they’d much rather have their heart-and-soul captain than his cap space to spend.

The Golden Knights did their first piece of business acquiring Anthony Mantha for a second- and fourth-round pick at just 50% of his cap hit (just $2.85 million on the books). Mantha’s talent as a true power forward with good hands is undeniable. When he is engaged, he can completely drive play. But the Red Wings gave up on him as part of their core when they realized his age didn’t match their timeline. Then inconsistency plagued Mantha’s time with Washington. He often found himself in former coach Peter Laviolette’s dog house and began this season as a healthy scratch before finding his way under Spencer Carbery. I talked to one of Mantha’s former teammates who predicted a massive impact in Vegas, noting how demanding Bruce Cassidy can be as a coach. “[He] has so much more to give,” the former teammate said. “Put him in the right locker room and culture and you’re going to see the best out of him. He’s going to be a monster for them … just watch.”

And then the Golden Knights’ second move was even bigger as they snagged Hanifin, a dynamic in-his-prime defenseman. The Massachusetts-born Hanifin didn’t want to sign long term in Calgary. He wants to play in the United States, and the Golden Knights were a team he reportedly was interested in signing an extension with.

Most teams would be done after that. Not Vegas. They still could add a forward.


NEW YORK SNAGGED Wennberg as its new third-line center. And the Rangers are not done yet.

They have looked at a ton of options when it comes to forwards. Remember, they are filling the spots of Filip Chytil and Blake Wheeler, both done for the season.

One of New York’s top targets at center was 26-year-old late bloomer Tommy Novak. The Predators tried holding out to see if they could get a haul for Novak, such as a first-round pick. But Nashville played too well to become a seller, and the Predators decided to make Novak part of their future, inking him to a three-year, $10.5 million deal.

Then New York landed on Wennberg, who should fit in quite well. Wennberg is known for his hockey IQ. He long has been an analytics darling, even though his production has rarely matched up to his underlying numbers. He led all Kraken forwards in ice time and had second-line center responsibilities. Pushed down to a third-line role, he should thrive and will help on the penalty kill.

So what’s next for the Rangers? Sounds like they were making a late push on Wednesday to land Guentzel. I know GM Chris Drury was very hesitant about including Kaapo Kakko in a package. New York might not be willing to give up the assets that the Canes (who have a deep prospect pool and could part with a roster player) or the Canucks (who are reportedly trying to engage Boston) can give up. If not Guentzel, it sounds like Frank Vatrano is still an option — though the Rangers initially balked at Anaheim’s high asking price.

I’ve heard the Ducks offered the Rangers a package deal a few weeks ago that included Henrique and Vatrano for Kakko and a first-round pick. The Rangers clearly thought that was too rich for their liking.

Continue Reading

Sports

Stanton won’t blame ailing elbows on torpedo bats

Published

on

By

Stanton won't blame ailing elbows on torpedo bats

NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton, one of the first known adopters of the torpedo bat, declined Tuesday to say whether he believes using it last season caused the tendon ailments in both elbows that forced him to begin this season on the injured list.

Last month, Stanton alluded to “bat adjustments” he made last season as a possible reason for the epicondylitis, commonly known as tennis elbow, he’s dealing with.

“You’re not going to get the story you’re looking for,” Stanton said. “So, if that’s what you guys want, that ain’t going to happen.”

Stanton said he will continue using the torpedo bat when he returns from injury. The 35-year-old New York Yankees slugger, who has undergone multiple rounds of platelet-rich plasma injections to treat his elbows, shared during spring training that season-ending surgery on both elbows was a possibility. But he has progressed enough to recently begin hitting off a Trajekt — a pitching robot that simulates any pitcher’s windup, arm angle and arsenal. However, he still wouldn’t define his return as “close.”

He said he will first have to go on a minor league rehab assignment at an unknown date for an unknown period. It won’t start in the next week, he added.

“This is very unique,” Stanton said. “I definitely haven’t missed a full spring before. So, it just depends on my timing, really, how fast I get to feel comfortable in the box versus live pitching.”

While the craze of the torpedo bat (also known as the bowling pin bat) has swept the baseball world since it was revealed Saturday — while the Yankees were blasting nine home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers — that a few members of the Yankees were using one, the modified bat already had quietly spread throughout the majors in 2024. Both Stanton and former Yankees catcher Jose Trevino, now with the Cincinnati Reds, were among players who used the bats last season after being introduced to the concept by Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT-educated physicist and former minor league hitting coordinator for the organization.

Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells were among the Yankees who used torpedo bats during their season-opening sweep of the Brewers.

Stanton explained he has changed bats before. He said he has usually adjusted the length. Sometimes, he opts for lighter bats at the end of the long season. In the past, when knuckleballers were more common in the majors, he’d opt for heavier lumber.

Last year, he said he simply chose his usual bat but with a different barrel after experimenting with a few models.

“I mean, it makes a lot of sense,” Stanton said. “But it’s, like, why hasn’t anyone thought of it in 100-plus years? So, it’s explained simply and then you try it and as long as it’s comfortable in your hands [it works]. We’re creatures of habit, so the bat’s got to feel kind of like a glove or an extension of your arm.”

Stanton went on to lead the majors with an average bat velocity of 81.2 mph — nearly 3 mph ahead of the competition. He had a rebound, but not spectacular, regular season in which he batted .233 with 27 home runs and a .773 OPS before clubbing seven home runs in 14 playoff games.

“It’s not like [it was] unreal all of a sudden for me,” Stanton said.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone described the torpedo bats “as the evolution of equipment” comparable to getting fitted for new golf clubs. He said the organization is not pushing players to use them and insisted the science is more complicated than just picking a bat with a different barrel.

“There’s a lot more to it than, ‘I’ll take the torpedo bat on the shelf over there — 34 [inches], 32 [ounces],'” Boone said. “Our guys are way more invested in it than that. And really personalized, really work with our players in creating this stuff. But it’s equipment evolving.”

As players around the majors order torpedo bats in droves after the Yankees’ barrage over the weekend — they clubbed a record-tying 13 homers in two games against the Brewers — Boone alluded to the notion that, though everyone is aware of the concept, not every organization can optimize its usage.

“You’re trying to just, where you can on the margins, move the needle a little bit,” Boone said. “And that’s really all you’re going to do. I don’t think this is some revelation to where we’re going to be; it’s not related to the weekend that we had, for example. Like, I don’t think it’s that. Maybe in some cases, for some players, it may help them incrementally. That’s how I view it.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Rangers’ Eovaldi gets season’s 1st complete game

Published

on

By

Rangers' Eovaldi gets season's 1st complete game

CINCINNATI — Nathan Eovaldi pitched a four-hitter for the majors’ first complete game of the season, and the Texas Rangers blanked the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Eovaldi struck out eight and walked none in his fifth career complete game. The right-hander threw 99 pitches, 70 for strikes.

It was Eovaldi’s first shutout since April 29, 2023, against the Yankees and just the third of his career. He became the first Ranger with multiple career shutouts with no walks in the past 30 seasons, according to ESPN Research.

“I feel like, by the fifth or sixth inning, that my pitch count was down, and I feel like we had a really good game plan going into it,” Eovaldi said in his on-field postgame interview on Victory+. “I thought [Texas catcher Kyle Higashioka] called a great game. We were on the same page throughout the entire game.”

In the first inning, Wyatt Langford homered for Texas against Carson Spiers (0-1), and that proved to be all Eovaldi needed. A day after Cincinnati collected 14 hits in a 14-3 victory in the series opener, Eovaldi (1-0) silenced the lineup.

“We needed it, these bats are still quiet,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said of his starter’s outing. “It took a well-pitched game like that. What a game.”

The Reds put the tying run on second with two out in the ninth, but Eovaldi retired Elly De La Cruz on a grounder to first.

“He’s as good as I have seen as far as a pitcher performing under pressure,” Bochy said. “He is so good. He’s a pro out there. He wants to be out there.”

Eovaldi retired his first 12 batters, including five straight strikeouts during one stretch. Gavin Lux hit a leadoff single in the fifth for Cincinnati’s first baserunner.

“I think it was the first-pitch strikes,” Eovaldi said, when asked what made him so efficient. “But also, the off-speed pitches. I was able to get some quick outs, and I didn’t really have many deep counts. … And not walking guys helps.”

Spiers gave up three hits in six innings in his season debut. He struck out five and walked two for the Reds, who fell to 2-3.

The Rangers moved to 4-2, and Langford has been at the center of it all. He now has two home runs in six games to begin the season. In 2024, it took him until the 29th game of the season to homer for the first time. Langford hit 16 homers in 134 games last season during his rookie year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Source: USC flips Ducks’ Topui, No. 3 DT in 2026

Published

on

By

Source: USC flips Ducks' Topui, No. 3 DT in 2026

USC secured the commitment of former Oregon defensive tackle pledge Tomuhini Topui on Tuesday, a source told ESPN, handing the Trojans their latest recruiting victory in the 2026 cycle over the Big Ten rival Ducks.

Topui, ESPN’s No. 3 defensive tackle and No. 72 overall recruit in the 2026 class, spent five and half months committed to Oregon before pulling his pledge from the program on March 27. Topui attended USC’s initial spring camp practice that afternoon, and seven days later the 6-foot-4, 295-pound defender gave the Trojans his pledge to become the sixth ESPN 300 defender in the program’s 2026 class.

Topui’s commitment gives USC its 10th ESPN 300 pledge this cycle — more than any other program nationally — and pulls a fourth top-100 recruit into the impressive defensive class the Trojans are building this spring. Alongside Topui, USC’s defensive class includes in-state cornerbacks R.J. Sermons (No. 26 in ESPN Junior 300) and Brandon Lockhart (No. 77); four-star outside linebacker Xavier Griffin (No. 27) out of Gainesville, Georgia; and two more defensive line pledges between Jaimeon Winfield (No. 143) and Simote Katoanga (No. 174).

The Trojans are working to reestablish their local recruiting presence in the 2026 class under newly hired general manager Chad Bowden. Topui not only gives the Trojans their 11th in-state commit in the cycle, but his pledge represents a potentially important step toward revamping the program’s pipeline to perennial local powerhouse Mater Dei High School, too.

Topui will enter his senior season this fall at Mater Dei, the program that has produced a long line of USC stars including Matt Leinart, Matt Barkley and Amon-Ra St. Brown. However, if Topui ultimately signs with the program later this year, he’ll mark the Trojans’ first Mater Dei signee since the 2022 cycle, when USC pulled three top-300 prospects — Domani Jackson, Raleek Brown and C.J. Williams — from the high school program based in Santa Ana, California.

Topui’s flip to the Trojans also adds another layer to a recruiting rivalry rekindling between USC and Oregon in the 2026 cycle.

Tuesday’s commitment comes less than two months after coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans flipped four-star Oregon quarterback pledge Jonas Williams, ESPN’s No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in 2026. USC is expected to continue targeting several Ducks commits this spring, including four-star offensive tackle Kodi Greene, another top prospect out of Mater Dei.

Continue Reading

Trending