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It’s not easy being a baseball fan. The commitment is intense: 162 games from the thaw of early April through the sweat of summer to the cool evenings of October — and that doesn’t include spring training or the never-ending offseason.

The sport has a payroll structure that even its defenders would agree isn’t exactly equitable across all 30 teams. The New York Mets, case in point, will pay Juan Soto nearly $122 million in 2025 — a $75 million signing bonus plus a $46.875 million salary. That outlay will top the 2024 Opening Day payrolls of 13 teams.

As free agent signings and trades continue to roll in — with many top free agents still unsigned — it all leads to the annual winter rite of fans complaining about:

1. The payroll disparity in the sport.

2. Their cheap owner who refuses to spend money.

3. Their front office not making the moves necessary to improve the team.

We have a name for this: the Aggrieved Fan Index. Let’s rank the top 10 fan bases who currently have the greatest right to be frustrated, factoring in teams’ expectations coming into this past season, their 2024 performance and what they’ve done so far this offseason.

(Disclaimer: The Athletics, whose fans in Oakland arguably have the right to be the most frustrated of all, did not make this list since they won’t be playing in their new home until 2028. I mean, who are their fans right now anyway? Still those in Oakland? Or West Sacramento? People in Las Vegas who think Brent Rooker might be the magician playing at the Bellagio?)


Throughout their history, the Marlins have been plagued with poor ownership. Original owner Wayne Huizenga won a World Series in 1997 and immediately tore the team apart. John Henry flipped the Marlins after a couple of years and bought the Boston Red Sox. Art dealer Jeffrey Loria shrewdly bungled his way to making an estimated billion dollars or so over his original purchase. When Bruce Sherman bought the team in 2017, there was hope things would be different — he brought in Derek Jeter as proof of that concept, right?

Alas, Jeter is long gone, and the Marlins continue to annually run one of the lowest payrolls in the league. Even though fans in Miami are used to it by now, 2024 was particularly harsh. The Marlins surprisingly made the playoffs in 2023 on the strength of their pitching and a 33-14 record in one-run games. While it was pretty clearly a fluke, there were still reasons to have hope going into 2024, but then their top pitchers got hurt, opening up the floodgates. They traded batting champ Luis Arraez in May, followed by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and A.J. Puk ahead of the trade deadline, and then six more players on July 30. They’ve traded Jake Burger this offseason and are exploring trade possibilities for Jesus Luzardo. If Luzardo is traded, that will leave Sandy Alcantara as the only player making more than $3.5 million.

Marlins fans, bless them, have been here many times before. Someday maybe they’ll get an owner interested in building a consistent winner.


For much of the 2010s, the Cardinals thrived while the National League’s big-market franchises were serving canned cranberry sauce and frozen green beans for Thanksgiving dinner. The Los Angeles Dodgers were still digging themselves out of the Frank McCourt disaster when St. Louis went to the World Series in 2011 and 2013. The clueless Wilpons owned the Mets. The Philadelphia Phillies were in a rebuild that went a decade between playoff appearances. The Atlanta Braves missed the postseason four years in a row. The Cubs were rebuilding the first half of the decade. As those organizations improved, however, it was no longer enough for the Cardinals to be merely competent. They had to learn to spice things up a bit.

That didn’t happen. Instead, in 2023, the franchise had its first losing season since 2007. In 2024, it was another non-playoff season, with the Cardinals overachieving just to win 83 games. Their fans, used to winning, are already growing impatient, especially since 2025 looks like a rebuilding year. The Cardinals are trying to trade Nolan Arenado. They may trade Erick Fedde, acquired at the 2024 trade deadline. They’re going to give Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker another chance to prove themselves, but if those two don’t hit, where will the offense come from? They haven’t developed a starting pitcher — at least one they didn’t trade away (see Zac Gallen and Sandy Alcantara) — in seemingly forever. The last homegrown starter to make 30 starts in a season was Jack Flaherty in 2019.

The only $100 million free agent the Cardinals have signed remains Matt Holliday, way back in 2010. Going down the route they did last offseason — acquiring pitching depth with the likes of Sonny Gray/Lance Lynn/Kyle Gibson but not making any major additions — is not a path to success. The fans have spoken as well: In 2024, attendance dropped below 3 million for the first time in a non-COVID-19 season since 2003. The Cardinals are a long way from being the Marlins or the Rockies, but this does feel like a precarious time in Cardinals history — and the franchise could go in either direction.


This ranking is tempered only by the fact that Rockies fans have long grown accustomed to their team not doing anything and didn’t expect them to be any good in 2024 anyway. Still, back-to-back 100-loss seasons and no evidence that things are going to turn around any time soon must make even the most dedicated Rockies fan question their faith. Or maybe not: Attendance remains solid as the Rockies drew 2.5 million fans in 2024, 15th in the majors. They outdrew the Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals — all playoff teams. Maybe we should just blame the fans: Keep showing up and there’s no incentive for ownership to fix things. (Although, the Coors Field sunsets are lovely).

Fun fact: Since 2011, only the Marlins have lost more games than the Rockies (1,224 losses to 1,209). Despite that, the Rockies stick to a plan: They will rely almost solely on developing homegrown talent, even if they haven’t been very good at it, with the occasional bad free agent signing mixed in (think Kris Bryant and Ian Desmond). Look, it’s almost impossible to lure pitchers to Colorado, but, amazingly, the Rockies have signed just one big free agent hitter in franchise history: Larry Walker, back in 1995 (no, Bryant didn’t count at the time despite the $182 million contract, and he certainly doesn’t count now).

Sign Pete Alonso. Sign Anthony Santander or Teoscar Hernandez and see how many home runs they can hit in the thin air. Roll the dice on a player like Joc Pederson. Find some sort of offense and at least make this team interesting.


The Cubs are the lone big-market team in a division with three legitimate small-market clubs and one midsized franchise — and yet, they haven’t made the playoffs in a full season since 2018. That’s one playoff appearance in the past six seasons if you do the math. The Cubs even swiped manager Craig Counsell from the rival Brewers — only to see the Brewers win another division title while Chicago finished 83-79 for the second straight season.

It was disappointing enough that chairman Tom Ricketts wrote a season-ending apology to the fans: “There is no way to sugarcoat it — this is not where we planned to finish the season. Bottom line, we did not play a complete season of competitive baseball. As a result, we have again missed the most exciting and exhilarating month of the season — October.”

The Cubs would have ranked higher on this list if not for the recent trade to acquire Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros — finally, a big swing from the Jed Hoyer-led front office to add a much-needed potent bat for the lineup. Some of that goodwill was burned, however, with the ensuing trade of Cody Bellinger to the New York Yankees, a deal that can only be construed as a salary dump. Maybe Bellinger won’t be needed, but it certainly hurts the Cubs’ depth. It’s even possible that Isaac Paredes (sent to Houston in the Tucker trade) and Bellinger will be worth more than Tucker in 2025.

That gets us to the heart of this piece: A reminder that the most important person in any organization is the owner. From 2016 to 2020, the Cubs ran a top-five payroll four times in five seasons under the Ricketts family. After trimming payroll in 2021 under the auspices of a rebuild, they got back to ninth in 2024 but seem intent on remaining below the luxury tax. Under Hoyer, the Cubs have improved their farm system, and the team appears ready to win. But is ownership commitment really there? Ricketts’ letter concluded with, “It is time for us to get to work to bring championship caliber baseball back to Wrigley Field.” They need to do more than trade for Tucker to do that.


Well, you knew the Pirates were going to show up at some point; it was just a matter of when. I’m guessing Pirates fans will tell you their team should be No. 1: six consecutive losing seasons, eight out of nine going back to the last playoff appearance in 2015, frustrated sentiment regarding owner Bob Nutting that goes, “Spend Nutting, get Nutting.”

Indeed, Nutting might be No. 1 on the most-despised owners list. That goes back to the playoff teams of 2013 to 2015, when the Pirates refused to make big additions at the trade deadline. Since 2019, Pirates’ payrolls, according to Cot’s Contracts, have ranked 30th, 30th, 30th, 29th, 28th and — big spending! — all the way up to 25th this past season. General manager Ben Cherington has tried to build things with the scraps given to him, and the team has been a more competitive 76-86 the past two years. He’s even managed to sign Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and Mitch Keller to long-term extensions. And, of course, the Pirates have a superstar in Paul Skenes, who projects as the best pitcher in baseball in 2025 based on his dominant rookie season.

It always feels like the Pirates are plugging leaks though. They’re moving Oneil Cruz to center field after his defense was shaky at shortstop, but while that fixes a hole in center, it opens one at shortstop. They needed a first baseman and acquired Spencer Horwitz from the Blue Jays (by way of Cleveland) but gave up an interesting young starter in Luis Ortiz to do so. Hayes is under contract through 2029 at a team-friendly rate but had a miserable 2024. Even in a more equitable system, it’s not realistic for the Pirates to sign a top free agent, but this is a team that could benefit immensely from even a couple of second-tier free agents, just a little bump in payroll to plug those leaks.

The window to sign Skenes to a long-term extension probably only exists until Opening Day. The comparison here would be the six-year, $75 million extension the Braves gave Spencer Strider after his rookie season, which means that a Skenes deal starts at $100 million-plus. Worth noting: Forbes estimated the Pirates’ net operating income in 2023 at $68 million. Spend Nutting, get Nutting.


It’s now been more than 30 years since the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, so an entire generation of Jays fans have grown up without memories of those glory days. They went 21 years without making the playoffs before making consecutive ALCS appearances in 2015 and 2016. While that team was quickly torn down, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette soon arrived ready to usher in a new golden era.

But that hasn’t quite happened. Yes, the Jays made the playoffs in 2020, 2022 and 2023, so it hasn’t been misery, but the Jays fell apart last season, going 74-88. They’ve been passed in the AL East pecking order by the Orioles and the Red Sox as well. And Guerrero and Bichette? Free agents after 2025. Needing a bat, they pursued Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto the past two offseasons, but after losing out on Soto earlier this month, they adjusted by trading for … Andres Gimenez, a second baseman with a .298 OBP and nine home runs. He’s a lockdown defender, but the offense still needs help.

The Blue Jays have increased payroll the past two seasons, even paying a luxury tax for the first time in 2023, but that was only following years of underspending in their market size. The front office hasn’t figured out how to get the team over the hump and now, coming off a losing season and failing to land Soto with Guerrero and Bichette perhaps departing next offseason, Toronto might be staring into the abyss.


One of themes of this offseason is that the teams with secure local TV contracts are spending money and going after free agents while those clubs stuck in the Diamond Sports Group fiasco are selling their old baseball cards just to pay the bills. Guess which category the Twins fall into? They’re now one of the teams whose games MLB will produce and distribute, which is the perfect excuse for the Pohlad family not to spend one cent more than necessary, a family tradition going back to Carl Pohlad’s purchase of the team in 1984.

You know, I considered putting the Guardians here because they spend even less on payroll than the Twins — and I personally find them extremely frustrating for never going above and beyond what you expect (that’s on ownership, not the front office). But at least the Guardians usually manage to, nonetheless, put a good team on the field, including this past season when they reached the ALCS. Cleveland always seems to overachieve, whereas Minnesota often underachieves despite a talented roster playing in what has historically been a soft division.

In 2023, the Twins finally ended their long playoff winless streak — and then subsequently cut payroll for 2024, blaming the TV situation. It looks like they’re going to sit out this offseason as well, as they haven’t done anything except sign some guys to minor league contracts. That means their best bet for 2025 will be hoping, once again, that Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton will stay healthy. Rinse, repeat and cry tears of frustration, Twins fans.


White Sox fans didn’t expect the team to go out and sign Soto, Max Fried and Blake Snell after losing a modern-record 121 games — although, in theory, they could have tried something like that — but that only conveys the hopelessness of the current situation on the South Side. Since winning the World Series in 2005, the White Sox have just three playoff appearances. This is a new level of rock bottom, however, and remarkably, they might be just as bad in 2025.

Indeed, while GM Chris Getz seemed to do well in the Garrett Crochet trade, that now means the two best players from the 2024 team are gone — Crochet and Erick Fedde (traded at the deadline), who combined for 8.8 WAR. The rest of the team combined for minus-2.2 WAR. Luis Robert Jr., the team’s third-best player, might be next to go, although Chicago would be trading low on him coming off a bad season. On top of all that, the new anti-tanking draft rules mean the White Sox will be drafting 10th instead of No. 1 overall in July. Light at the end of the tunnel? The White Sox aren’t even in the tunnel yet.

You know what, though? These depressing situations can turn around quicker than people realize. Heck, just last year, the Royals went from 56 wins in 2023 to the playoffs the following season, although the White Sox admittedly don’t have a Bobby Witt Jr. on their roster. The Orioles went from 110 losses in 2021 to 101 wins in 2023. The Tigers lost 119 games in 2003 and were in the World Series three years later. It can happen.


Ha! You were perhaps expecting to see the Cincinnati Reds here, but Mariners fans have suffered a certain type of aggrievement: the pain of falling just a little bit short with an ownership unwilling to do just a little bit more. The Mariners have four straight winning seasons and did break that two decades-long playoff drought in 2022, but then they missed the playoffs by one win in 2023 and then one win in 2024.

With chairman John Stanton once again holding a line on payroll — the Mariners are running lower payrolls than they did in 2016 through 2018 — president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto’s hands are tied. That hasn’t stopped him before, but so far the Mariners haven’t made one major league transaction (other than letting Jorge Polanco and Josh Rojas go). Meanwhile, the AL West is the most winnable it has been in years. The Astros won the division with just 88 wins in 2024, traded Tucker and might lose Alex Bregman, too. Now is the time for the Mariners to pounce and add some offense. Instead: silence. There’s a reason why frustrated Mariners fans can buy “.540” T-shirts — an homage to Dipoto infamous “win 54%” of your games comment.


The Angels were once a model franchise. From 2002 to 2009, they made six playoff appearances in eight years and followed that up with a bunch of winning seasons, including a 98-win campaign in 2014. Since then: nothing but bad decisions, bad moves, bad player development and a whole bunch of losses. The Angels are now riding a streak of nine consecutive losing seasons including a franchise-record 99 losses in 2024. They wasted the Mike Trout-Shohei Ohtani years. There is rarely any kind of coherent plan from owner Arte Moreno or the front office, with Moreno’s interference a key reason for the decade of failure.

The Angels have made moves this offseason. They signed Kyle Hendricks (35 years old) and Travis d’Arnaud (36 years old) and traded for Jorge Soler (33 years old). Their big move has been signing lefty Yusei Kikuchi (34 years old), who did finish 2024 with 10 terrific starts for the Astros but has never had a 2-WAR season. Trading for Soler as a full-time DH means Trout has to play the outfield on an everyday basis, even though it’s clear he needs to spend more time at DH in an attempt to just keep him in the lineup.

In other words, it’s the usual grab bag of players, repeating the pattern of recent history that hasn’t worked. Of course, all this is in stark contrast to the success of the Dodgers, a reminder that the Angels could be doing the same thing, with all the benefits of playing in the Los Angeles area with a large fan base (the Angels drew over 3 million fans every year from 2003 to 2019). Indeed, just over a decade ago, it was the Dodgers who were a complete mess, before the Guggenheim group purchased the franchise in 2012. That’s when the organizations splintered in opposite directions. The Angels now have the longest playoff drought in the majors. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have made 12 consecutive trips to the postseason and Angels fans have to watch Ohtani playing across town. Most frustrated fan base indeed.

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Angels’ Washington to miss remainder of season

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Angels' Washington to miss remainder of season

Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington will remain on medical leave for the rest of the season, the team announced Friday.

Bench coach Ray Montgomery will manage the team for what remains of 2025. Ryan Goins will serve as his bench coach going forward.

Washington, the oldest manager in the major leagues at 73, was placed on leave last Friday because of an undisclosed medical issue. He experienced shortness of breath and appeared fatigued toward the end of a four-game series at the New York Yankees that ended on June 19. Washington flew back to Southern California, underwent a series of tests and was placed on medical leave.

A longtime third-base coach and well-regarded infield instructor, Washington served as the Texas Rangers‘ manager from 2007 to 2014.

He was in his second year managing the Angels.

The Angels were 40-40 entering Friday night’s game against the visiting Washington Nationals, winning three straight under Montgomery and seven of 10 overall. Los Angeles has played better than most expected from a team with major league-worst streaks of nine straight losing seasons and 10 straight non-playoff seasons.

The 55-year-old Montgomery is getting his first job as a major league manager. The native of New York’s Westchester County is a former Houston Astros outfielder who served as the scouting director for Arizona and Milwaukee before joining the Angels as their director of player personnel for the 2020 season.

Montgomery became Los Angeles’ bench coach in 2021 after general manager Perry Minasian took over the front office, and he stayed with the Angels while Joe Maddon, Phil Nevin and Washington managed the club.

Goins played eight seasons in the major leagues before Washington hired him as the Angels’ infield coach before the 2024 season.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Martinez’s near no-hitter, Steer’s 3 HRs lift Reds

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Martinez's near no-hitter, Steer's 3 HRs lift Reds

CINCINNATI — Nick Martinez took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning before allowing pinch hitter Elias Diaz‘s double and Spencer Steer hit three home runs, leading the Cincinnati Reds over the San Diego Padres 8-1 on Friday night.

Martinez (5-8) walked his third batter, Jackson Merrill, on a low full-count sinker, then retired 22 consecutive hitters before walking rookie Trenton Brooks starting the ninth. Diaz then drove an 0-1 changeup off the base of the wall in left-center on Martinez’s 112th and final pitch, which tied his career high.

A 34-year-old right-hander, Martinez struck out six as the Reds won for the fourth time in five games. He also threw 112 pitches for Texas against Boston on May 28, 2015.

Taylor Rogers walked a pair of batters, forcing in a run, before striking out Gavin Sheets.

Coming off a pair of relief appearances, Martinez made his first start since June 19. He entered with one complete game over 118 big league starts, an eight-inning effort in a loss at the Chicago Cubs last Sept. 27.

After Martinez allowed seven runs over 2⅔ innings against Minnesota, Reds manager Terry Francona suggested he make a relief appearance. Martinez threw two perfect innings at St. Louis two days later, and Martinez offered to making another bullpen outing to keep starter Brady Singer on turn. Martinez pitched a 1-2-3 innings against the Yankees on Monday.

Steer hit solo homers in the second and fourth innings off Dylan Cease (3-7), then a two-run drive against Yuki Matsui in a four-run fifth. Steer has nine home runs this season.

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NHL draft tracker: Scouting notes and team fits for every first-rounder

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NHL draft tracker: Scouting notes and team fits for every first-rounder

The 2025 NHL draft is taking place on Friday (Round 1) and Saturday (Rounds 2-7) at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

This page will be your home for the entire event, as each pick is added below, including scouting notes and team fit analysis for the first-rounders.

More: Prospect rankings
Draft week buzz
Late-round gems
Needs for all 32 teams


Round 1

Team: Erie (OHL)
DOB: 09/05/2007 | Ht: 6-1.75 | Wt: 183 | Shot: L
2024-25 stats: GP: 17 | G: 7 | A: 15 | P: 22

Scouting notes: Schaefer is projected to become a true No. 1 cornerstone for years to come. A dynamic presence at both ends of the ice, he skates with ease and elite mobility to shut down opponents in all situations, while creating offense with quality transition play.

Executives and scouts view him as a future elite NHL defenseman and a foundational piece for a championship-caliber roster. Schaefer’s ability to control play from the blue line, play tough matchups, and run a power play — combined with the belief in his character and leadership — result in many believing that Schaefer has the tools to become a top-10 defender in the league, while wearing a letter as part of a team’s leadership group.

How he fits: After trading Noah Dobson earlier in the day, the Islanders drafted their franchise cornerstone defender. Schaefer does everything well, and is a dynamic skater with elite mobility. He will take on the toughest matchups, help the Islanders exit the zone with smooth passes and carry outs, and drive offense from the back end. He’s a future No. 1 defenseman who will log 25-28 minutes per night and run the power play.

Schaefer’s ability to dictate play from the back end is franchise-changing for the Isles. Schaefer will attend development camp next week, and it is highly likely he starts the season in the NHL lineup. Don’t be surprised if Schaefer is running the power play and logging major minutes by November.

A very emotional Schaefer hugged his family and pulled on the Isles jersey for the first time, with a cancer patch. Through tears, he shared his excitement and emotion, and gained the hearts of a lot more than just Isles fans.


Team: Saginaw (OHL)
DOB: 02/16/2007 | Ht: 6-0.75 | Wt: 184 | Shot: L
2024-25 stats: GP: 65 | G: 62 | A: 72 | P: 134

Scouting notes: Granted exceptional status in the OHL in 2022, Misa delivered one of the most remarkable goal-scoring seasons in recent memory in 2024-25, netting 62 goals in just 65 games. He projects to be a top-line forward capable of consistently exceeding 90 points per season in the NHL.

Misa’s offensive instincts are elite. He processes the game at a high level and executes at top speed. Scouts believe he is NHL-ready and has the potential to become an elite top-line center. Away from the puck, Misa excels at finding soft areas in coverage and has a flair for delivering in clutch moments. His combination of high-end playmaking and goal-scoring ability makes him a constant dual threat in the offensive zone.

How he fits: The Sharks kept everyone guessing until the very last moment, but ultimately selected Misa. He is a special talent and adds a second elite two-way center to the organization. He projects as a first-line star, with dual-threat playmaking and scoring ability — notching 62 goals in 65 OHL games.

If Misa’s two-way game continues to improve, there’s a real chance the Sharks will have two centers capable of dominating play in all three zones with 2024 No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini already in place. On the power play, Misa can facilitate, be a shooting threat and carry the puck on entries. Because of his dual-threat capabilities, he can play the bumper, the flank or down low. With this selection, the Sharks have the potential to feature the best one-two punch down the middle for years to come.


Team: Djurgarden (SWEDEN-2)
DOB: 05/07/2007 | Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 198 | Shot: L
2024-25 stats: GP: 29 | G: 11 | A: 14 | P: 25

Scouting notes: Frondell is a versatile two-way forward that plays both center and right wing. His flexibility is attractive to teams, although many believe he is most likely to reach his potential as a winger in the NHL.

Frondell is coming off one of the most productive seasons by an under-18 player in Allsvenskan history, giving him a confident projection as a first-line NHL forward. He’s a cerebral player, who picks apart defenders in one-on-one situations and defensive coverage in offensive zone play. The details of Frondell’s game are translatable, including excellent forechecking ability, willingness to attack the middle of the ice and high-end anticipation on both sides of the puck.

He has shown play-driving capabilities against men in the Allsvenskan, which has translated to the NHL for other prospects in the past. He’s projected to produce between 75-85 points per season. His style of play translates well and has executives excited about his ability to step in the league in the next 18 months.

How he fits: It was no secret that Chicago wanted to add some size up front, and Frondell is exactly that. He can play center or the wing, and brings an excellent two-way game. He confidently projects as a first-line forward that beats defenders one-on-one, drives play on both sides of the puck, and should score nearly a point per game.

He plays on the inside of the ice and has the ability to score 30-plus goals in the NHL because of his excellent shot. Frondell is a year away from playing in the NHL, and probably two or three from hitting his potential as a top-line forward who drives play. Chicago can play him behind Connor Bedard up the middle, or on Bedard’s line to capitalize on the versatility he brings.


Team: Moncton (QMJHL)
DOB: 04/11/2007 | Ht: 6-1.5 | Wt: 178 | Shot: L
2024-25 stats: GP: 56 | G: 35 | A: 49 | P: 84

Scouting notes: Described as a “coach’s dream” because of his ability to take an offensive or checking assignment and execute consistently. He makes smart, simple plays, provides a physical presence on the forecheck and generally agitates and makes life difficult on defenders.

He projects to be a quality second-line center with a decent chance of becoming a first-line player. He’s cerebral, with quick hands and playmaking ability. He’s not flashy, but he’s consistently effective and makes intelligent plays with the puck. As one scouting director described “he’s the type of player you win with.” Some have quietly compared him to Patrice Bergeron and Jonathan Toews, who are lofty comparisons, to say the very least.

How he fits: The Mammoth kept everyone guessing, would they trade or keep the pick. Ultimately, they kept the pick and selected Desnoyers. He can play in any situation as one of the best two-way players available. He’s a serial winner who plays whatever style of game required to win. If he needs to produce offense, he does. If he needs to shut down the opponent’s best, he does that too.

Utah needed some size and two-way capability to mesh with Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther, and Caleb Desnoyers is exactly that. He’ll be NHL-ready a lot sooner than people think because his professional details are top-notch. He projects as a play-driving, two-way, second line center that the Mammoth will turn to in key situations. As noted above, there’s a lot of Jonathan Toews in Desnoyers’ game, which will excite Mammoth fans, management and coaches.


Team: Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
DOB: 03/16/2007 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 178 | Shot: R
2024-25 stats: GP: 57 | G: 33 | A: 39 | P: 72

Scouting notes: A Swiss Army knife type of player who will be most effective on the wing because of his strong wall play, Martin projects as a middle-six forward capable of scoring 20 goals routinely, with upside as a second-line forward.

He’s a wrecking ball that will bring value in all three zones, on and off the puck. Martin has scouts raving about him after an excellent performance at the IIHF under-18 championship, with many opining that he could go very early in the first round. He’s a workhorse without an off switch, who brings a blend of physicality and hard skill. He’s a nightmare to contain with his brute strength, and forces defenders into precarious positions with good speed and willingness to make “winning” plays.

Several teams mentioned how impressive Martin was during interviews at the combine. Combine an attractive personality with the hard-nosed style, and it forms a rare combination that is valuable to many scouts who believe he’s the type of player teams need to win in the playoffs. Surely, his mention of Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett as a role model grabbed attention.


6. Philadelphia Flyers
7. Boston Bruins
8. Seattle Kraken
9. Buffalo Sabres
10. Anaheim Ducks
11. Pittsburgh Penguins
12. Pittsburgh Penguins (from NYR)
13. Detroit Red Wings
14. Columbus Blue Jackets
15. Vancouver Canucks
16. New York Islanders (from CGY via MTL)
17. New York Islanders (from MTL)
18. Calgary Flames (from NJ)
19. St. Louis Blues
20. Columbus Blue Jackets (from MIN)
21. Ottawa Senators
22. Philadelphia Flyers (from COL)
23. Nashville Predators (from TB)
24. Los Angeles Kings
25. Chicago Blackhawks (from TOR)
26. Nashville Predators (from VGK via SJ)
27. Washington Capitals
28. Winnipeg Jets
29. Carolina Hurricanes
30. San Jose Sharks (from DAL)
31. Philadelphia Flyers (from EDM)
32. Calgary Flames (from FLA)

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