Hurricane Milton wrecked the Tampa Bay Rays’ ballpark last fall, leaving them without a stadium. For this season, they will play their home games in the Yankees’ spring training facility, which has a capacity in the range of 11,000 fans.

And yet the Rays have outspent the Chicago Cubs in free agency this winter.

Which says so much more about the conduct of the big-market Cubs than about the Rays. Last week, the Cubs were outbid by multiple teams for the services of All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman, and the question that should hang over the franchise is: why? Why aren’t the Cubs spending more?

Owner Tom Ricketts provided no answers last week when he briefly stopped by camp in Arizona, told the players that it was a privilege to play for his organization (according to manager Craig Counsell) and then left without speaking to reporters. Jed Hoyer, the team’s head of baseball operations, cited the club’s budget when asked about the Bregman bidding. The Cubs dangled a four-year, $115 million deal that left them outbid significantly by the Tigers and Astros, and Bregman chose a three-year deal with the Red Sox, partly to give himself the option of testing the market again next fall since the deal includes two opt-outs.

Nothing about the Cubs’ offer could’ve given them a legitimate shot at landing a player who would’ve been a perfect fit. The Tigers offered the most total dollars on the table; the Astros offered a chance for Bregman to continue his Houston legacy, without being tapped for state taxes. The Red Sox deal offered the highest average annual salary with contractual flexibility. It was as if the Cubs wanted Bregman to play for less money and the privilege of being part of their organization.

But it’s hard to see that being appealing enough to convince someone like Bregman, who has played in the postseason in every year of his career and aims to continue that tradition. Despite the fact that the Cubs are playing in baseball’s land of opportunity, the incredibly weak NL Central, they’ve given no indication that winning is actually a priority. Making money seems to be the modus operandi.

This all comes at the end of a winter in which Ricketts already made headlines for his comments about the Cubs’ inability to keep up with the sport’s top payrolls when he told 670 AM in Chicago that “it’s really hard to compete” with the Dodgers. In that January interview, he said that fans “think somehow we have all these dollars that the Dodgers have or the Mets have or the Yankees have and we just keep it. Which isn’t true at all. What happens is we try to break even every year, and that’s about it.”

But that doesn’t really align with the available numbers from Sportico’s MLB team values rankings. The Cubs’ franchise value, as assessed by Sportico, was at $5.3 billion as of last season. That’s the fourth highest in Major League Baseball, and more than three times greater than the combined value of the Brewers ($1.6 billion), Reds ($1.5 billion) and Pirates ($1.4 billion). The Cubs’ revenue generated last season, as estimated by Sportico, was at $502 million, the fourth highest in the majors, behind the Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox.

With the draw of Wrigley Field, the Cubs’ ability to generate income is Teflon-coated, especially compared to other teams that didn’t spend much this winter. The Rays’ situation is fragile; it’s really tough for fans to get to and from the Marlins’ park; and even Cardinals’ fans have vacated their park in recent years because of the team’s lackluster play. But even in the worst years, the Cubs draw. It’s one benefit of playing in the third-largest market in the nation.

And yet the Cubs’ payroll will be significantly lower than last year. Per Sportico, the Cubs are in line to spend $186 million in player salary, or nearly $30 million less than last year.

Sure, the Cubs traded for All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker from the Astros — for one year, perhaps, because Tucker will be a free agent in the fall — but the front office seemingly had to move Cody Bellinger and his $27.5 million salary to make that happen. Tucker will make $16.5 million.

The Cubs swapped for Ryan Pressly, after the Astros agreed to pay down some of his salary. Colin Rea was signed for $5 million. And the Cubs signed Matthew Boyd to a two-year, $29 million deal.

The storm-ravaged Rays? They landed shortstop Ha-Seong Kim for $29 million over two years and signed catcher Danny Jansen to a one-year, $8.5 million deal. With those two contracts, Tampa Bay spent more in free agency than the Cubs.

Yes, the Cubs’ overall payroll currently sits just above $185 million compared to $72 million for the Rays, but in a crucial offseason for the franchise, Chicago has elected to spend like its small-market counterparts. And, yes, the Cubs do have reason for hope in 2025, but also likely not enough star talent to stand toe to toe with the National League’s best.

The defense is excellent — Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner are exceptional up the middle, and the outfield of Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Tucker will probably be the best in the majors. A signing of Bregman would’ve given the Cubs another lockdown defender, another Gold Glove contender feeding into a distinct style. The Dodgers might have the most prolific offense; the Phillies have a great group of veterans; Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider will be back for the Braves; the Mets added Juan Soto — but with a high-end third baseman, the Cubs could have been the best run prevention team in baseball, which often translates well in the postseason. And Bregman would’ve improved an offense that was so inconsistent last year.

Instead, the financially mighty Cubs chose to effectively stand down in the bidding for Bregman, content to fall somewhere in the range of 12^th to 14^th among the 30 teams in their payroll size, and they have a roster that feels unequipped to take on the teams that were willing to spend.

Ricketts can rightly expect the best effort from his players. But sadly, he has not reciprocated. The Cubs players — the Cubs fans — deserve better.

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury, a team spokesperson said Tuesday.

Demko will not join the Canucks on their five-game road trip coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. The team will reevaluate him after returning from the trip, which concludes March 1 at Seattle.

Demko, last season’s runner-up for the Vezina Trophy honoring the NHL’s best goaltender, did not make his season debut until Dec. 10 because of a knee issue that surfaced during the 2024 playoffs.

According to The Athletic, Demko’s current issue is not in that knee. He played only 32 games the year before that due to a groin injury.

The one-time All-Star is 6-6-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average and .891 save percentage in 17 games (all starts) this season.

Demko, 29, was selected by Vancouver in the second round of the 2014 draft and has played 236 career games, making 230 starts. He is 122-87-20 with a 2.80 GAA and .911 save percentage for his career.

As Demko’s availability has fluctuated, Kevin Lankinen has made the most of his opportunities in net. He is 19-8-7 with a 2.53 GAA and .905 save percentage in 34 games (32 starts). Vancouver will lean on him and third-stringer Arturs Silovs for its five-game road trip, which begins Saturday at Vegas.

The Canucks recalled Silovs from AHL affiliate Abbotsford on an emergency basis and also added a practice goaltender, Nikita Tolopilo, on Tuesday.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

Take a look at the list of goalies that have won the Vezina Trophy three or more times. It’s a who’s who of the greatest of all time: Hall of Famers Martin Brodeur, Ken Dryden, Tony Esposito, Dominik Hasek, Jacques Plante and Patrick Roy.

At 31, Connor Hellebuyck has a chance to join the group as a three-time winner this season. The Winnipeg Jets goalie, who leads the league in goals against average (2.07) and wins (34) and is second in save percentage (.925), could become the first since Brodeur to win the award in consecutive seasons.

“He’s one of the best in the world right now,” New York Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick said. “One easy way to sum that up was that we played them maybe a month or two ago and we do scouting reports on every goalie we’re playing. One of the things that kept coming up is: if he sees it, he’s going to stop it.”

This has led to Hellebuyck’s name being mentioned in the same breath as Tom Barrasso, Ryan Miller, Mike Richter, Tim Thomas, Quick and John Vanbiesbrouck — the best goalies the United States has produced. An argument could be made that he should be at the top of the list, and strong performances in backstopping the U.S. to two wins in the 4 Nations Face-Off bolster that argument.

The U.S. faces Sweden Monday (8 p.m. ET, TNT), and has clinched a spot in the championship Thursday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+).

Examining Hellebuyck’s figurative stature leads to looking at his literal one — and why he’s become a prototype — at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds. For context, if Hellebuyck added 10 more pounds, he’d be the exact height and weight as Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

In addition to his size, he’s durable. While most NHL teams rely on tandems to navigate a full season, finding a goaltender who is capable of starting more than 60 games is rare. Hellebuyck is on pace to finish with more than 60 starts for a fourth consecutive season.

“He is a bit of an anomaly compared to the rest of the league now,” said Jimmy Howard, who is ninth all-time in wins by a U.S. goalie. “First and foremost it’s his consistency. But it’s also his style. He’s very quiet in the net. He’s really good at controlling rebounds and putting pucks in spots. You don’t really see him getting spread out and flying around on the net. He’s very efficient in his movement.”

Consider:

• Since Hellebuyck made his NHL debut during the 2015-16 season, no goalie has played or started more games.

• No goalie has played more minutes, faced more shots, made more saves and had more shutouts than Hellebuyck since his rookie season.

• He is sixth in save percentage and sixth in overtime wins in that span.

• Since the 2022-23 season, his goals saved above expected is 72.51, per Natural Stat Trick, which is the best mark in the NHL in that span, with New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin well behind in second, with 51.44.

ESPN asked some of the all-time American greats — Thomas, Miller, Quick, Richter and Howard — about Hellebuyck’s place in the pecking order.

“It’s definitely something I’ve always strived to be, but it is a little crazy hearing it because I am only 31,” Hellebuyck told ESPN. “I’m only halfway through my career. It’s exciting that things are trending the way I’ve always wanted them to be. It’s an honor to even be trying to answer a question like this, to be honest with you.”

HELLEBUYCK’S 10 SEASONS in the NHL stack well against the other American-born goalies through this stage of their careers.

• He’s third in career shutouts among American goalies, two away from passing Miller for second place.

• He’s tied for fourth in career save percentage among U.S. goalies with more than 100 career games (.917).

• He’s sixth in career wins with 309, 11 wins away from surpassing Craig Anderson for fifth all-time, which could happen this season.

• He’s tied for seventh in goals-against average among U.S. goalies with more than 100 games, at 2.58.

• Hellebuyck passed Howard earlier this season to move into eighth in most games played (548).

“He keeps putting up these 30-win seasons, and now Winnipeg looks like one of the more powerful teams in the league,” Richter said. “That’s part of the package. That’s going to help you get wins, but by no means has this guy been sitting back. He’s been playing great hockey, and he’s a hard goalie to score against consistently.”

Another statistic that speaks to Hellebuyck’s place among all-time great American goalies is the historic place he holds in the Vezina conversation. The Vezina is an award that’s been dominated by Canadians — goalies from that country have won 80 times. The U.S. is tied for second-most Vezina wins by a nation with Czechia, as Dominik Hasek won six by himself between 1993 and 2001.

An American-born goalie has won the award 10 times, with Hellebuyck, Thomas and Frank Brimsek each winning the award twice. Hellebuyck could break the tie, becoming the only American to win the award three times.

“The last world championships I played in [in 2014], we had Connor Hellebuyck on our team and I hadn’t heard of him before,” Thomas said. “He was playing in college and I wasn’t paying attention to college when I was in the NHL. … Watching him over the course of that World Championships, I realized how much potential he had and was super impressed. He was doing great even then.”

THE U.S. HAS had high-level goaltenders before, but never someone like Hellebuyck who was seen as a prototypical goalie. That becomes evident when Howard, Miller, Quick and Thomas name their most influential American goalies, and how that’s evolved over time.

Thomas, born in 1974, grew up watching the game at a time in which there were not many American goalies. He was 10 when Barrasso won the Vezina and the Calder Trophy in the 1983-84 season. Despite Barrasso’s success, nine of the 70 goalies to play in the league that season were American. Seven of them won fewer than 10 games.

Miller, who was born in 1980, saw 11 American goalies in the NHL by the time he was 10. During the 1990-91 season, Barrasso played a key role in the Pittsburgh Penguins winning the Stanley Cup.

Both Thomas and Miller highlighted the importance of seeing American goalies play at the Olympics, which provided them with a platform in a sport largely dominated by Canadians. Thomas said he was influenced by Jim Craig’s performances with the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, while he and Miller said they were fans of Ray LeBlanc, who started for Team USA at the 1992 Olympics.

Craig played only 30 NHL games while LeBlanc was a career minor-leaguer who played one NHL game.

“You just kind of look for guys who were doing what you were doing,” Miller said. “That’s something I try to keep in mind when people talk about how representation matters in certain areas of sports or life or business. Not that I’m in the minority. But when No. 1, you’re American and No. 2, you’re a goalie? You’re looking for some commonalities.”

Howard and Quick, born two years apart, are part of a group that started seeing a shift. Howard was 10 when the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994 behind Richter. NHL players also participated in the Olympics in 1998.

That’s around the same time USA Hockey began the United States National Team Development Program, in 1996. The NTDP would play a foundational role in developing future NHL goalies such as Howard, Jack Campbell, Rick DiPietro, Thatcher Demko and Jake Oettinger.

“I remember going to Colorado Springs as a 14-, 15-year-old and going toe-to-toe with your peers and just learning from different goalie coaches from all different levels throughout the United States,” Howard said. “They’ve really put an emphasis on how being in the U.S., we’ve always had top forwards and top D, but it was goalies where we lacked. So USA Hockey really took an emphasis on developing more, so goalies aren’t just shooter tutors when it comes to practices.”

College hockey also began to further establish itself as a more prominent developmental path. Americans including Jon Casey, Damian Rhodes, Chris Terreri and Richter played collegiately in the 1980s and went on to the NHL. Then came goalies such as Jim Carey, Mike Dunham, Garth Snow and Thomas who played throughout the 1990s and would make it to the NHL. It continued into the early 2000’s with young Americans like Miller and Al Montoya.

Young hockey players had seen two Olympic cycles with NHL players. The U.S. went from a medal-less finish in 1998 to winning silver in 2002. It was around that time when college hockey saw more young American goalies, such as Howard and Quick, become some of the best in the nation.

Howard left the University of Maine in 2005 and signed with the Detroit Red Wings before becoming a full-time NHL goaltender in the 2009-10 season. Quick left the University of Massachusetts after two years, signed with the Los Angeles Kings organization in 2007 and became a full-time NHL goalie in the 2008-09 season.

The 2009-10 campaign saw 12 American-born goalies play in the NHL. Five of them finished in the top 11 in games played.

Seeing the impact Richter had with the Rangers and how that continued with more Americans such as Miller and Howard was something that resonated with a young hockey fan who grew up in Commerce Township, Michigan.

That fan was Connor Hellebuyck.

“There were a couple guys I grew up loving, but the ones who come to mind are Mike Richter, Ryan Miller and Jimmy Howard,” Hellebuyck said. “I know there are others I’m missing, but those three guys are ones I always look forward to talking to and I’ve gotten to know all three. I know Richter comes from a different era, but he was just the nicest guy ever.”

THE ANSWER TO who holds the title of greatest American-born goalie isn’t totally clear.

Everyone ESPN spoke to included Quick and Richter on their lists. Those two both acknowledged why it’s such a challenging debate.

“It’s difficult to compare in my opinion,” Quick said. “I just appreciate guys for what they did, what they brought to the league, to their teams and I know people like comparing numbers. I’ve never been a fan of comparing the numbers. I don’t think that ever tells the whole story.”

Richter said what makes it a difficult question to answer is the team in front of the goalie will influence the numbers — and that eras influence them as well. But he said stats are one way to be at least somewhat objective.

He used Barrasso and Quick as examples. Richter said Barrasso was “supremely talented” but was playing in an era that was far more prolific for offense, which is why he finished with a career 3.24 GAA, a number that would rank 70th among active NHL goalies.

Richter also raved about Quick. He said Quick, the nation’s all-time leader in several statistics, has had “an exceptional career in every category” while noting he’s the only American goalie to win more than 400 games while having a 2.49 GAA, which reflects how he’s had consistency and longevity.

Barrasso and Quick each won multiple Stanley Cups.

“When you are looking at who are the best players, it’s longevity, it’s championships and it’s what they meant to their team,” Richter said. “It’s a team game, and some are called on more than others but that doesn’t mean it’s always easier.”

That’s when the conversation shifts to Hellebuyck and whether he needs a Stanley Cup to ascend to the top spot.

Five of the American goalies who are in the top 10 in all-time wins have Stanley Cups. Three of them are in the Hockey Hall of Fame — and Quick is likely to get there — with Chico Resch being the lone exclusion. The five who didn’t win a Stanley Cup — Anderson, Hellebuyck, Howard, Miller and Vanbiesbrouck — are not in the Hall of Fame.

Of those players in the top 10 in wins, five have won the Vezina. The only two to win the Vezina and a Stanley Cup are Barrasso and Frank Brimsek, who played from 1938-39 through 1949-50.

“I really have to emphasize that this is so inexact, because Marcel Dionne was a great player but he never won a Stanley Cup,” said Richter. “You can’t fault him for that necessarily. He’s a Hall of Fame player. Championships are won and lost as a team. I don’t think it’s fair to determine if you’re not mentioned in the breath with the best if you haven’t won a championship in a team game.”

Quick said: “Goaltending is a very dependent position on the guys in front of you and the coaching staff. It’s the work that they put in that goes a long way in the goalie having success or not.”

Thomas, who won two Vezinas and a Stanley Cup, said that Hellebuyck just needs to keep doing what he’s doing.

“Based on what he’s accomplished and what he’s headed toward accomplishing, I wouldn’t say that he has to win a Stanley Cup to be in that conversation,” Thomas said. “But I would say trying to identify one person who is the greatest American goalie of all time is really hard to do because there are different circumstances for everyone.”

Miller said Hellebuyck and the Jets have what might be one of his strongest chances to win that elusive title this season. The Jets entered the 4 Nations Face-Off with the most points in the NHL. They were nine points clear of the Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights.

But that comes with the context that the Jets might need to win the Cup now, considering they have several players — including Nikolaj Ehlers, Alex Iafallo, Mason Appleton, Vladislav Namestnikov, Neal Pionk and Haydn Fleury — who are pending unrestricted free agents.

“All this makes me think of Roberto Luongo. He was in a Game 7 and was one win away from winning a Cup, and he still doesn’t have one [as a player],” Hellebuyck said. “But in my eyes, I still view him as one of the greatest of all time. There’s a lot of things you can do to still feel like you’ve achieved a lot.

“That being said, I think most hockey players play the game to win a Cup. … I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary on a resume. But it definitely helps.”