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Just days after it became public he wanted to leave, Patrik Laine is no longer a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets as the winger was traded on Monday to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris.

The Blue Jackets received a 2026 second-round pick in addition to Harris and will not retain any of Laine’s salary in the deal. Laine, 26, has two years left on his contract worth $8.7 million annually. Laine’s future with the Blue Jackets had been in question for quite some time. The speculation further intensified last week when Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell told TSN 1050 in Toronto that Laine was vocal about not wanting to play for the Blue Jackets anymore.

Waddell reiterated Laine’s desire to leave in a statement released at the time of the trade.

“We want players that want to be Blue Jackets and Patrik made it clear that he thought a change of scenery was best for him,” Waddell said. “We were able to acquire a good young player in Jordan Harris while maintaining financial flexibility in this deal which was very important to us. We wish Patrik all the best.”

Back in 2016, the Winnipeg Jets drafted Laine with the No. 2 pick and watched him score 80 goals in his first two seasons. He spent four full seasons with the Jets before he was traded to the Blue Jackets just one game into the 2020-21 season.

Laine’s arrival made him one of the crucial pieces of a Blue Jackets rebuild that was powered by free agent signing Johnny Gaudreau, established homegrown talents such as Zach Werenski and newer prospects such as Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko.

Laine, a hulking 6-foot-5 winger, had consecutive 20-goal seasons in 2021-22 and in 2022-23.

What ultimately became his final season in Columbus saw him miss nine games in October and November after being diagnosed with a concussion. He also missed three games in December before entering the NHL/NHL Players’ Association player assistance program in late January for an indefinite period.

Laine had six goals and nine points in 18 games before he was admitted into the player assistance program.

He now heads to Montreal, where he’s expected to play a major role in helping a young Canadiens roster that is seeking to take the next step in its evolution.

Ever since they lost the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, the Canadiens have been on a rebuild that has seen them miss the playoffs for three straight seasons but make strides under head coach and Hall of Fame winger Martin St. Louis.

St. Louis, who was hired in February 2022, has molded a young roster that went from 68 points in his first full season to finishing with 76 points in 2023-24, creating the belief that an 80-point season could be within reach.

Laine’s arrival could help with reaching that goal as he’ll give St. Louis another top-six option in a group that already included Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook, captain Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky, who was the No. 1 pick of the 2022 NHL draft.

While the Canadiens have built a strong group of young forwards, they’ve also drafted and developed defensemen. They’ve used homegrown talents such as Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj and Harris as part of their plans over the past few seasons with more talents such as former Boston University star Lane Hutson also joining the team.

Having a top-four defensive setup that features veterans Mike Matheson and David Savard along with Guhle and Hutson meant the Canadiens were able to move on from Harris, as they had other defensemen in the system who could challenge for a bottom-pairing role.

Now Harris joins a Blue Jackets defensive corps that includes Erik Gudbranson, David Jiricek, Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson and Werenski as the club seeks to improve on a 66-point season that saw it finish with the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the fourth-fewest points in the NHL in 2023-24.

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Ohtani blasts two HRs to halt 10-game drought

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Ohtani blasts two HRs to halt 10-game drought

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani hit two homers in an 11-5 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night, emphatically ending the three-time MVP’s longest homer drought since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ohtani led off the bottom of the first with his 24th homer, hammering Landen Roupp‘s fourth pitch 419 feet deep into the right-field bleachers with an exit velocity of 110.3 mph.

The slugger had been in a 10-game homer drought since June 2, going 10-for-40 in that stretch with no RBIs, although he still had an eight-game hitting streak during his power outage.

Ohtani led off the sixth with his 25th homer, sending Tristan Beck‘s breaking ball outside the strike zone into the bleachers in right. He also moved one homer behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Seattle’s Cal Raleigh for the overall major league lead.

Dodgers fans brought him home with a standing ovation as Ohtani produced his third multihomer game of the season and the 22nd of his career.

Ohtani reached base four times and scored three runs in his first four at-bats, drawing two walks to go with his two homers.

Ohtani hadn’t played in 10 straight games without hitting a homer since 2023 in the final 10 games of his six-year tenure with the Los Angeles Angels.

Ohtani had slowed down a bit over the past two weeks after he was named the NL Player of the Month for May with a formidable performance, racking up 15 homers and 28 RBIs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Dobbins’ second win over Yanks caps ‘fun’ week

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Dobbins' second win over Yanks caps 'fun' week

BOSTON — Hunter Dobbins had quite the week.

First, he said last weekend that he would rather retire than pitch for the Yankees because his father was drafted by New York twice before being traded.

Then, he went out and beat the Yankees.

A few days after his comments about never wanting to pitch for New York, he had to defend his dad’s story about being drafted by the Yankees in response to a New York Post article that cited multiple official databases and the Yankees’ own records that couldn’t confirm Lance Dobbins ever played with the organization.

On Saturday night, Dobbins (4-1) followed up by going six shutout innings in Boston’s 4-3 victory over New York, his second win over the Yankees in less than a week.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m more worried about just the win column, whether it’s against them or anybody. My job is to try and help this team win as many ballgames as we can, and pitch in meaningful playoff baseball games. That’s what I’m more focused on.”

But he realizes what it means to the fan base in this longtime rivalry, with the Red Sox fans heard chanting about the Yankees outside the park before he spoke in an interview room.

“Yeah, I love being able to perform and get those wins for the fans here,” he said. “They deserve it. It’s a great city, passionate fan base, so being able to get those wins — especially twice in one week — means a lot and looking forward to trying to build on that going forward.”

In his victory over New York last Sunday, Dobbins held the Yankees to three runs over five innings, two on a first-inning homer by Aaron Judge.

On Saturday night, Judge went 0-for-3 against him, striking out twice on curveballs.

“It was just kind of scouting,” Dobbins said of his game plan against New York’s slugger after Garrett Crochet struck him out three times in the series opener Friday.

“Crochet has an electric fastball. I can throw it hard, but the shape isn’t quite as elite,” he said. “So we knew we had better weapons to go at him with, so I felt like we did a good job of kind of keeping a balanced attack throughout the order.”

Dobbins struck out five and gave up only two singles Saturday.

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Rockies have worst 70-game mark since 1899

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Rockies have worst 70-game mark since 1899

ATLANTA — Kyle Farmer just shrugged when asked about being part of a Colorado Rockies team that has the fewest wins through 70 games since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.

“We don’t care,” Farmer said after Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves left Colorado with a 13-57 record.

The Rockies have the fourth-fewest wins by any team through their first 70 decisions in a season in MLB history, and the fewest since the 1899 Spiders won 12 of their first 70 decisions. Colorado (.186 win percentage) is currently on pace to go 30-132 this season.

“I mean, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Farmer said. “It is what it is. We’ve just got to show up tomorrow and play. There’s nothing you can really say about it except that if it happens, it happens.”

The Rockies made more inglorious history by setting a franchise nine-inning record with 19 strikeouts. That’s a lot of futility for one team to absorb in one day.

The 19 strikeouts by Braves pitchers also set an Atlanta record for a nine-inning game. Spencer Strider recorded 13 strikeouts in six innings, followed by relievers Rafael Montero and Dylan Lee, who combined for six more whiffs.

The only bright spot for the Rockies was the encouraging start by rookie right-hander Chase Dollander, a native of Evans, Georgia, who allowed four runs, three earned, in six innings.

The Rockies have 10 fewer wins than the Chicago White Sox, who have the second-worst record in the majors at 23-48.

Dollander said “just having a neutral mindset” is the key to remaining positive through a season already filled with low points for the team.

“Don’t ride the roller coaster,” Dollander said. “You know, there’s going to be lots of ups and downs in this game. This game is really hard. So it’s just, you know, staying neutral and we just keep going.”

Dollander was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 summer draft. Among other top young players on the team are catcher Hunter Goodman, who might return to Atlanta for the All-Star Game on July 15, and outfielders Jordan Beck and Brenton Doyle.

“You know we’re going to have our time,” Dollander said. “I mean, it’s just one of those things that you kind of learn as you go. I’ve been very fortunate to be here for a little bit now, and I can help us going forward.”

The 34-year-old Farmer said one of his jobs is to help the younger players endure the losses.

“For sure, keeping guys accountable and teaching them the right way to do stuff,” said Farmer, the first baseman whose double off Strider was one of only four hits for the Rockies.

“Keeping their heads up and they’ve got to show up each day and play, no matter our record. It’s your job and you worked your whole life to get here. Enjoy it. This is a great opportunity for a young guy to show what they can do.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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