The trade deadline for the 2024-25 NHL season is 3 p.m. ET on March 7. But the deals have been flying since the start of the season.

You’ll find information on every trade made since Oct. 6 here, including grades on all of the major ones. Follow along all the way through the deadline for the latest moves.

Trades are listed here, with the most recent ones first on the list.

More: Big Board
Contender flaws, solutions
Team-by-team guides
Grades for big trades

March 5

Lightning gets:
C Yanni Gourde, RW Oliver Bjorkstrand, D Kyle Aucoin, 2026 fifth-round pick, retain 50% of Gourde’s salary

Kraken get:
C Michael Eyssimont, 2025 second-round pick (TOR), 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick

Red Wings get:
Conditional 2025 fourth-round pick (TB or EDM), retain 25% of Gourde’s salary

Grades for the trade

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Panthers get:
G Vitek Vanecek

Sharks get:
F Patrick Giles

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March 4

Oilers get:
F Trent Frederic, F Max Jones, rights to prospect Petr Hauser

Bruins get:
D Max Wanner, 2025 second-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick

Devils get:
Rights to prospect Shane Lachance

Grades for the trade

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March 1

Panthers get:
D Seth Jones, 2026 fourth-round pick

Blackhawks get:
G Spencer Knight, conditional 2026 first-round pick

Grades for the trade

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Wild gets:
RW Gustav Nyquist

Predators get:
2026 second-round pick

Grades for the trade

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Avalanche gets:
D Ryan Lindgren, LW Jimmy Vesey, rights to prospect Hank Kempf

Rangers get:
D Calvin de Haan, C Juuso Parssinen, 2025 second-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick

Grades for the trade

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Feb. 27

Wild get:
C Tyler Madden

Kings get:
D Joseph Cecconi

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Feb. 26

Predators get:
RW Jesse Ylonen

Lightning get:
C Anthony Angello

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Feb. 25

Ducks get:
G Ville Husso

Red Wings get:
Future considerations

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Feb. 18

Predators get:
LW Grigori Denisenko

Golden Knights get:
Future considerations

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Feb. 13

Blues get:
RW Corey Andonovski

Penguins get:
RW Mathias Laferriere

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Feb. 7

Predators get:
D Mark Friedman

Canucks get:
Future considerations

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Feb. 3

Hockey Club gets:
C Sammy Walker

Wild gets:
Future considerations

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Feb. 1

Stars get:
C Mikael Granlund, D Cody Ceci

Sharks get:
2025 first-round pick, conditional 2025 third-round pick

Grades for the trade

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Jan. 31

Canucks get:
LW Drew O’Connor, D Marcus Pettersson

Penguins get:
D Vincent Desharnais, LW Danton Heinen, RW Melvin Fernstrom, 2025 first-round pick (NYR, top-13 protected)

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Rangers get:
C J.T. Miller, D Erik Brannstrom, D Jackson Dorrington

Canucks get:
C Filip Chytil, D Victor Mancini, 2025 first-round pick (top-13 protected)

Grades for the trade

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Flames get:
LW Joel Farabee, C Morgan Frost

Flyers get:
LW Andrei Kuzmenko, LW Jakob Pelletier, 2025 second-round pick, 2028 seventh-round pick

Grades for the trade

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Jan. 27

Islanders get:
D Scott Perunovich

Blues get:
2026 fifth-round pick

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Jan. 25

Hurricanes get:
RW Mikko Rantanen, LW Taylor Hall, RW Nils Juntorp

Avalanche gets:
C Martin Necas, C Jack Drury, 2025 second-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick

Blackhawks get:
2025 third-round pick (CAR)

Grades for the trade

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Rangers get:
RW Lucas Edmonds

Lightning gets:
C Ryder Korczak

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Jan. 22

Ducks get:
RW Justin Bailey

Sharks get:
LW Pavol Regenda

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Jan. 15

Blackhawks get:
D Dmitry Kuzmin

Jets get:
D Isaak Phillips

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Dec. 28

Avalanche gets:
C Juuso Parssinen, 2026 seventh-round pick

Predators get:
C Ondrej Pavel, 2027 third-round pick

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Dec. 18

Canadiens get:
D Alexandre Carrier

Predators get:
D Justin Barron

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Penguins get:
D Pierre-Olivier Joseph

Blues get:
Future considerations

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Kraken get:
RW Kaapo Kakko

Rangers get:
D Will Borgen, 2025 third-round pick, 2025 sixth-round pick

Grades for the trade

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Dec. 14

Blues get:
D Cam Fowler, 2027 fourth-round pick

Ducks get:
D Jeremie Biakabatuka, 2027 second-round pick

Grades for the trade

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Dec. 9

Avalanche gets:
G Mackenzie Blackwood, RW Givani Smith, 2027 fifth-round pick

Sharks get:
G Alexandar Georgiev, RW Nikolai Kovalenko, 2025 fifth-round pick, 2026 second-round pick

Grades for the trade

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Dec. 6

Rangers get:
D Urho Vaakanainen, 2025 fourth-round pick

Ducks get:
D Jacob Trouba

Grades for the trade

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Canadiens get:
D Noel Hoefenmayer

Oilers get:
RW Jacob Perreault

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Nov. 30

Wild gets:
D David Jiricek, 2025 fifth-round pick

Blue Jackets get:
D Daemon Hunt, 2025 first-round pick, 2026 third-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick, 2027 second-round pick

Grades for the trade

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Predators get:
G Justus Annunen, 2025 sixth-round pick

Avalanche gets:
G Scott Wedgewood

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Nov. 27

Predators get:
RW Ryder Rolston

Blackhawks get:
Future considerations

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Nov. 25

Penguins get:
C Philip Tomasino

Predators get:
2027 fourth-round pick

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Nov. 12

Capitals get:
C Lars Eller

Penguins get:
2025 fifth-round pick, 2027 third-round pick

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Nov. 10

Kraken get:
RW Daniel Sprong

Canucks get:
Future considerations

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Nov. 4

Oilers get:
D Ronnie Attard

Flyers get:
D Ben Gleason

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Oct. 31

Hockey Club gets:
D Olli Maatta

Red Wings get:
2025 third-round pick

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Oct. 30

Sharks get:
D Timothy Liljegren

Maple Leafs get:
2025 third-round pick, 2026 sixth-round pick

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Oct. 6

Avalanche gets:
D Tucker Poolman, 2025 fourth-round pick

Canucks get:
D Erik Brannstrom

The NHL trade deadline is Friday, but a lot of business has already unfolded.

The Avalanche made the shocking decision to trade Mikko Rantanen to Carolina — and already executed a follow-up deal to shore up depth. The Rangers began their roster reconstruction before Christmas by trading captain Jacob Trouba and 2019 No. 2 pick Kaapo Kakko before making a splash in acquiring J.T. Miller.

And when Seth Jones began voicing his displeasure, Chicago’s front office moved quickly — despite limited leverage — and completed a deal with Florida, which brought the Blackhawks their new goalie of the future, Spencer Knight. Even the Bruins got started on their retool, trading Trent Frederic on Tuesday.

There are still moves to be made this week, but NHL executives across the league have all echoed one thing: Just wait until the summer. With salary cap projections released for the next three seasons that include sizable jumps, teams are going to feel friskier. Free agency should be a doozy. There could be multiple offer sheets. And “hockey trades” featuring high-profile players are about to be a lot more common.

Agents and front office executives say everyone is settling in to the new financial reality.

So what’s in store the next few days? Here are a few trends we’re tracking.

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Any big splashes left?

• The big question on everyone’s mind: What is going to happen with Rantanen? The Carolina Hurricanes traded for the 28-year-old on Jan. 24. Like their acquisition of Jake Guentzel last year, the Canes made a move to acquire an unrestricted free agent without an extension in place. But I think Carolina had a different approach this time. With Guentzel, the Canes were too far apart before it was too late. Plus, the Canes said they had intel that they were a team Rantanen was interested in before making the trade. So they made him a sizable contract offer over the 4 Nations break. Rantanen wasn’t ready.

Now, look at the situation from Rantanen’s perspective. He thought he was going to spend his entire career in Colorado and the trade left him completely shell shocked. Rantanen barely got any time with the Canes before the 4 Nations break. The winger is methodical, and he’s viewing it as a two-step process: Does he want to sign in Raleigh? And if so, what does that contract look like? At the time of the offer, he was still on Step 1. And free agency is now just four months away.

Many teams are wondering whether Carolina — never afraid to do the brash and unexpected — would flip Rantanen, considering how much it gave up to acquire him. If Carolina double-retained, a team could have Rantanen for just over $2 million for the rest of the season. There would be plenty of takers.

However, Rantanen hasn’t told Carolina no. If the Canes get any indication he doesn’t want to re-sign with them at all, they would recalculate. If it’s still up in the air, my gut says the Canes keep Rantanen and bet that he’ll help them get over the playoff hump and ultimately decide Carolina is where he wants to play.

• Sidney Crosby‘s name is going to surface in rumors as long as the Pittsburgh Penguins are out of the playoff picture. We all know Crosby cares about winning and wants a more realistic shot at the Stanley Cup. However, I also know Crosby understands what he signed up for when he inked a two-year extension in September. Pittsburgh has some retooling to do, and for now, Crosby appears committed to that journey.

• And then there is Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand, who becomes a free agent this summer. Boston is beginning its retool, and seems to be listening on a lot of players. I’m not sure anyone outside of David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy is safe. Marchand has been steadfast that he wants to remain in Boston. The Bruins want that too — just at the right price and term — and have been negotiating with his camp all season. The sense around the league is that Marchand will stay in Boston, though it’s not guaranteed.

• The wild card, as always, is the Tampa Bay Lightning. By nature, GM Julien BriseBois always wants to go for it — and to go for the unexpected, though forwards seem to be the area of focus. Placing veteran Cam Atkinson on waivers on Tuesday could foreshadow new flexibility. The Lightning don’t have a first-round pick in the 2025 draft, but the consensus among executives is that the 2026 class is deeper.

• And if there’s a team that’s going to make an unexpected splash, keep an eye on Vegas. The Golden Knights are always all-in.

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The East is wide open

Many East teams have referred to 2025 as a sellers’ market. There are eight teams within six points of the wild-card spots. Every time I talk to executives in that mix, they feel the spots are up for grabs and anyone could emerge. But that also means few feel confident about going all-in.

• As of Tuesday, New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes was still getting second opinions on his upper-body injury and the best course of treatment. Either way, he’s expected to be out for a bit. Before the injury, the Devils were buyers — looking to shore up center and forward depth. I expect them to still look at forwards, especially ones that could help their biggest issue: 5-on-5 scoring. But given the circumstances I now think they could be in on rentals, too.

• The New York Rangers are in a gray area. They’ve already made a handful of trades, the latest a deal with the Avs in which they unloaded Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey in return for Juuso Parssinen, Calvin de Haan and second- and fourth-round picks in this year’s draft. I’m also told there are several teams in on UFA Reilly Smith, who remains sidelined until a deal is complete. However, the Rangers refuse to wave the white towel, which is why they’ve brought in roster replacements as part of their deals. Even though GM Chris Drury signaled he didn’t feel his opening-night roster could win it all, a spot in the postseason, and that all-important playoff revenue, is still attainable in a season of transition. New York is likely to be very active this summer. Look for the team to take big swings.

• Lou Lamoriello is extremely patient. He always has been. This season, Lamoriello waited as long as possible to make a decision on which direction the Islanders are headed. All season, other teams have told me they expect pending UFAs Brock Nelson (the top center available) and Kyle Palmieri to be available. But it’s never official until Lou says it is. Nelson’s postgame interview with Shannon Hogan on Tuesday — in which he got emotional — led me to believe he’s processing the reality that his Islanders tenure could be coming to an end.

• The Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators are itching to take the next step in their rebuilds. Detroit has looked at defensemen. The Senators have looked at depth forwards. I think both would like to add and give themselves a chance here.

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Some teams aren’t going to trade for the sake of trading

• The Capitals have been the darlings of the Eastern Conference this season. The word I got was that they weren’t going to tinker for the sake of tinkering. They know they hit on some good hockey trades and are open to more. (The common theme for players Washington has brought in recently: They’re all in their mid-20s.) However, there’s no need to fuss with what has been a terrific season. Now that Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren are re-signed, Washington has seven pending UFAs. GM Chris Patrick has had conversations with all of their representatives, but even if they’re not close on a contract — sounds like there’s mutual interest between Jakob Chychrun and the team, but still work to be done — I don’t expect any to get traded. There is also possible movement for Ethan Bear, who has been playing very well for Hershey of the AHL. With Dylan McIlrath and Alexander Alexeyev sitting as scratches on the big roster (the Caps have remained very healthy), Bear’s path appears blocked. If there’s an NHL opportunity for Bear, Washington could make a move to facilitate that.

• Every time I’ve talked to Philadelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere over the past two seasons, he reiterates that the team is in building mode. Once again, there has been interest in defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and center Scott Laughton. As coach John Tortorella mentioned, if they trade Ristolainen, who is replacing the big, right-shot defenseman? Philadelphia would make a move only if the return is right. Same goes for Laughton, a heart-and-soul player who has told the Flyers that he’d like to stay. Laughton responded to the trade rumors with a cheeky photo on social media in which he used a recent team dinner to recreate “The Last Supper.” There has been much more interest in Laughton, though the Flyers will make a move only if it makes sense for them. (I think a first-round pick would be enticing.)

• Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said he felt less pressure than in years past to get a first-round pick at this deadline, though he did pick one up in the Jones trade — giving them nine picks across the first and second rounds over the next two years. Chicago is likely to move Ryan Donato, considering there’s a ton of interest. The Blackhawks also may try to find a new home for Petr Mrazek, now that they have Knight. But other than that, the next few months are all about giving their young players the right exposure and development. Then, expect Chicago to be a big player over the summer. The Blackhawks can’t have another season like this one. It’s time to get going.

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Plans have changed for a few teams

• When the Columbus Blue Jackets opened training camp in September, GM Don Waddell had an idea of what his trade deadline would look like: sell, sell, sell. Big picture, the team is in building mode, and this season was going to be a challenging one as they grieved the unimaginable loss of Johnny Gaudreau. The season opened, and the injury bug was relentless: Sean Monahan, Boone Jenner, Kent Johnson, Erik Gudbranson, the list goes on and on. Through it all, Columbus has persevered and finds itself in the playoff picture. And it has created a conundrum.

Waddell told me he couldn’t fall asleep last week as he contemplated what to do. In any other season, he’d stick to the plan and sell, because he knows this team isn’t realistically a Stanley Cup contender. But he’s not sure that’s the right thing to do. How could he remove any players from a locker room that has created such a special bond? The Jackets signed Mathieu Olivier, who would have been an attractive target, to an extension Wednesday morning. Ivan Provorov, a pending UFA, is the player Waddell is getting the most calls on. Waddell isn’t sure he’ll be able to re-sign Provorov; he’ll continue to try again this week. Unless it’s an offer Waddell can’t refuse, there’s a good chance Provorov stays. And there’s a good possibility the Blue Jackets add, too. They’ve been scouting for forward depth.

• The Dallas Stars got going on their business early, acquiring Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci, out of necessity. They had injuries — especially on the blueline ahead of 4 Nations — and they had holes to fill. They’re not necessarily done. Miro Heiskanen and Tyler Seguin are out long term, and their timelines remain unclear. Dallas has room to add complementary pieces. Keep in mind, though, that this is a front office that drafts extremely well — and it has already traded away its 2025 first-, second- and fourth-round picks.

• The Florida Panthers were poised to have a quiet trade deadline. Yes, they’re going for it again, but they didn’t have a ton of assets to give up. Then Seth Jones became available, and he answered their need on the right side of the blue line. And now, Matthew Tkachuk is out for the rest of the regular season with an injury he sustained at 4 Nations. With cap space to play with, everyone around the league is betting on the Panthers bringing on someone else as well.

No matter who they bring in, the question for Dallas and Florida: Will Heiskanen or Tkachuk be available for Day 1 of the playoffs?

On the fictional St. Louis Wolves team in Abbott and Costello’s famed routine, the third baseman’s name is I Don’t Know, which is appropriate because, for large stretches of baseball history, teams have tried, often without success, to find a quality third baseman. And yet, in 2025, it appears the search has shifted across the diamond. For one of the few times in major league history, we’re asking, Who’s on First?

First base is a position in flux. In 2024, major league first basemen batted .246, their lowest total since 1900. They also posted an OPS of .736, their lowest since 1968, the Year of the Pitcher (the highest OPS by first basemen in any season was .882 in 2000, during the steroid era, and a little more recently, .853 in 2006). A first baseman has won a Most Valuable Player Award 32 times, most of any position (right field is second), but last season marked the second time in 10 years that no first baseman finished in the top five of the MVP balloting.

“There are probably only five or six [starting first basemen in the game now] who fit the mold of a typical first baseman, but there are 24 or 25 who don’t,” said Pat Tabler, who played 444 games at first base in the major leagues from 1981 to 1992. “In my fantasy baseball league, if you don’t get one of those five or six top guys, you got no chance. Now, you’re just like, ‘Whatever happened to the Eddie Murrays? Where are the Eddie Murrays today?”’

There is still talent at the position. Freddie Freeman, the MVP of the 2024 World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is a great player, a future Hall of Famer, as is the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper, who is starting his second full season at first base. The Atlanta Braves’ Matt Olson hit 54 home runs in 2023. The Toronto Blue Jays’ Vlad Guerrero is one of the best young hitters in the game. The Houston Astros’ Christian Walker, a brilliant defender, has hit 95 homers over the past three years. And since Pete Alonso made his New York Mets debut in 2019, the only player to hit more home runs is New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.

But the turnover has been glaring. Half the teams this season will have a different primary first baseman than in 2024. The days of the classic first baseman such as John Olerud, Don Mattingly, Mark Grace — long, rangy, great hitter, left-handed — seem to be over for now.

We spoke to luminaries of the game — those who have played the position, plus those who managed them — to find out exactly what has changed and why.

“It’s one of the important positions on the field,” said Keith Hernandez, often considered the greatest defensive first baseman of all time. “The numbers don’t lie. It’s not as important, or as productive, as it was.”

“I look at the first baseman that I played with and against — there were great first basemen everywhere,” said former first baseman Mark Teixeira, who hit 409 home runs from 2003 to 2016. “I only made three All-Star teams. There were great first basemen for my entire career. It has almost turned into a throwaway position.”

“Scouts tell me that the least drafted position in baseball is first base. There just aren’t any,” said Princeton baseball coach Scott Bradley. “The players who end up there were moved from other positions, unless they are projected as a 40- or 50-home run guy. It has become a stopgap position, a last-ditch effort.”

“It used to be a mainstay position; it’s not the same,” Milwaukee Brewers veteran first baseman Rhys Hoskins said. “Power is always needed. Now we’re seeing shortstops hitting 25, 30 home runs. There has been more of a focus to get athleticism in the middle of the diamond. First base has become more of a place to fill a gap.”

Perhaps it’s cyclical. In 2024, first basemen such as Olson, Alonso and Paul Goldschmidt had subpar seasons. Maybe in five years, there will be multiple superstars at the position. Over the past five years, surefire Hall of Fame first basemen Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera (who was more productive at third base) retired, as has Joey Votto, who has a good chance to make it to Cooperstown on the first ballot. And with the universal DH being established two years ago, a good hitter in both leagues can now be used as a DH, perhaps reducing the production at first base. As for first basemen posting their lowest batting average since 1900, and their lowest OPS since 1968, the stuff hitters see today is stunningly good, and offensive numbers are down at most positions.

But the decline at first base has been steeper than most. First basemen have had the biggest drop in OPS among all positions since 2015, according to ESPN Research.

“These are strange times,” said former major league manager Buck Showalter. “First base has become a one-dimensional place. How many prototype first basemen are out there? One of them, Pete Alonso, had trouble getting a two-year deal [as a free agent this winter]. If you have a good first baseman these days, it’s gold.”

Why have old-school first basemen become so rare?

“I think a lot of it comes down to body type,” said former major league manager Bobby Valentine. “The increase in velocity has negated the skills of the slower, thicker-body guys. And the taller guys, too, with the bigger strike zone, that makes you easier to attack. We are looking for smaller guys, shorter guys to play first base these days. The slider-speed bat guys, there aren’t many places for them in the game today.”

“You look at first basemen from back in the day and they look like football players and basketball players,” Tabler said. “Those guys are now staying in football and basketball, because it’s like straight to the NFL and the NBA. They’re not playing baseball anymore. That’s why I think there aren’t as many [first basemen] as there used to be. In football, you go to college for a couple of years, and you strike it rich when you are 20. Or, you go play football, and you get paid in college now. These guys just aren’t playing baseball.”

Teixeira said, “Maybe teams see all these injuries and understand that players are going to move around during a season, so the bigger first basemen aren’t as valuable to a team anymore. Maybe, early in their careers, players stop lifting all the time. Instead of getting bigger and stronger, they think they need to stay light and agile to be able to play multiple positions. The old way of thinking was to put the biggest, slowest guy at first base. He happens to rake, and he can hit all day long. Maybe we’re not taking a young player and just throwing him out at first base. You’re working with him more to develop all his skills.”

And the defensive structure of the game has also changed the look of the position.

“The position is not about power,” said San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin. “It’s about defense.”

“In today’s game, it should be about defense at first base,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

“I think the genesis of this was when the young GMs came to value on-base percentage and the shifting of the defense,” Tabler said. “If you have three defenders on the left side, you need a first baseman who plays basically like a second baseman. There’s no way Luis Arraez or Michael Busch could have ever played first base in the 1980s. But they do now because when they were moved over to first base, teams were shifting, and you needed a first baseman who could cover all that ground on the right side. That’s where this started. Teams started to value defense more than home runs. We’ll find power somewhere else.”

Teams are looking for power in traditional non-power positions. Thirty years ago, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, who is 6-5, likely would have been a first baseman. So would Pittsburgh Pirates‘ shortstop-turned-center fielder, Oneil Cruz, who is 6-7.

“I had [Erubiel] Durazo [at first base], Travis Lee, Adrian Gonzalez, Don Mattingly, Chris Davis. I don’t know if we’re spitting out those type of guys anymore,” Showalter said. “When you go to college, you won’t see that guy. Everyone wants to be Bobby Witt [Jr.], a power-hitting shortstop/second baseman. The old baseball player development manual said, ‘Make him play catch, short, second, center field until he shows he can’t [do it] defensively. Don’t ever just start at first base.’ I used to tell [former Baltimore Orioles general manager] Dan Duquette that [Ryan] Mountcastle had no chance to play shortstop. Never. Never. Never. But Dan was so stubborn. Teams are so stubborn about that today. And Mountcastle ended up at first base.”

Tabler said, “GMs are so enamored with players who can play multiple positions because they want all those interchangeable parts, so you’re working with a 32-man roster instead of 26. They are so enamored with mixing and matching, to have someone ready when they bring a lefty in in the sixth inning. So, a guy who is pigeon-holed, you’re a first baseman, only a first baseman, they look at that and say, ‘That’s not good.”’

Alonso only plays first base. He is big, not particularly mobile and not particularly good defensively.

“He is the poster boy [for the changes in the position],” Valentine said. “He had a hard time getting a contract.”

Anthony Rizzo, a free agent, only plays first base. He made $14 million last year during a down (and injury-filled) season and, for now, he has no job. There is, as there always is in baseball, a financial component. If you platoon at first base, or choose an agile defender who doesn’t hit much, instead of a big, immobile one who might hit 35 home runs, you likely can pay that player less.

Even though some teams are stressing defense over power at first, “No one teaches defense at first base anymore,” Showalter said. “Guys like Keith Hernandez and Mattingly were so valuable with their defense.”

Said Hernandez: “Defense used to be a major plus at first base. Other than the catcher and the pitcher, no one is more involved in the game than the first baseman. Defense just isn’t as stressed as much today.”

Bradley said, “If you are designing the position, first base is a left-hander’s position in every way. Holding runners on, the bunt play, the position is built for a left-handed thrower. John Olerud is what a first baseman is supposed to look like: tall, long, left-handed. After college, when he pitched, he never dabbled in another position, like the outfield. He was always a first baseman. There aren’t any like him anymore.”

Indeed. Of the 30 primary first basemen in the major leagues, only four throw left-handed.

“I am stunned by that,” Hernandez said. “It is a position best played by a left-hander.”

But Hernandez, a left-handed thrower, is different from today’s first basemen. Instead of playing the outfield or third base or catching, then moving to first base, he started playing first at age 6, and played it full time at age 10. Now, very few are brought up that way. They play another position until they can’t.

But there is hope that things at first base can, and will, change. Bradley, Princeton’s baseball coach, has recruited a high school kid from California named Tomas Cernius, who is 6-3, 245 pounds, and bats and throws left-handed.

“He is a first baseman only,” Bradley said.

Tabler said that now the shift has been outlawed to some degree, he’s hopeful the position is going to change back to the old days of size, production and power.

“We’re going to get back to sluggers like Triston Casas,” Tabler said, referring to the Boston Red Sox first baseman, who is 6-5, 245 pounds, is exceptionally strong and only plays first base. “Give me a guy who hits 40 homers and drives in 125 and plays decent enough defense at first base. Hey, here’s Pete Alonso, he’s going to hit 40 homers and drive in 100 runs and answer the bell 150 plus times a year. What’s wrong with that?”

Nothing.

But right now, that’s not Who’s on First.