They were “waxed” and “spanked” in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final by the Florida Panthers, when they lost 6-1. They “put us on our heels early and we were lollygagging around” in the first period of Game 4, when Florida built a 3-0 lead and chased starting goaltender Stuart Skinner for the second straight game.
“It’s certainly not the time to lollygag around, right?” Draisaitl asked rhetorically.
Indeed, it is not, which might be why Draisaitl didn’t let the Oilers linger in overtime too long before ending Game 4 with his 11th goal of the playoffs — shoving the puck towards the Panthers’ net, having it deflect off defenseman Niko Mikkola and behind Sergei Bobrovsky at 11:18. Edmonton won 5-4, tied the series at 2-2 and completely flushed any lingering embarrassment over that Game 3 “spanking.”
In the process, Draisaitl continued to rewrite the NHL record books and loudly stated his case as the Stanley Cup playoffs’ most valuable player.
As of Friday morning, Draisaitl had the second-best odds at winning the Conn Smythe Trophy, according to ESPN BET (+225), trailing Florida center Sam Bennett (+140) and ahead of teammate Connor McDavid (+260), who won the award in a losing effort last season.
Oilers defenseman Jake Walman believes that it’s not just Draisaitl’s scoring but his all-around game that’s what makes him such a driving force for the Oilers.
“He’s a beast who can do it all for us,” Walman said. “There have been stretches in this postseason when he’s played great defensively too.”
Edmonton has a plus-4 in goal differential with Draisaitl on the ice in the postseason.
“It’s incredible. He’s a horse out there for us,” said forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has played with Draisaitl since the 29-year-old center was drafted third overall in 2014 by Edmonton. “We can always lean on him. He always finds a way to get those big [goals].”
The numbers make that statement undeniable. Draisaitl’s Game 4 winner was his fourth overtime goal of this postseason, setting a new single playoff year record in the NHL. Incredibly, Draisaitl also holds the single-season record for overtime goals in the regular season (six), which he also set this season.
Draisaitl is just the fifth player in NHL history to score multiple overtime goals in a Stanley Cup Final series. Maurice Richard holds the record with three OT goals.
“He’s one of the best players in the world for a reason. He not only says what he’s going to do, he backs it up with his play and his actions. That’s what makes him an amazing leader,” Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “We get into overtime. In those tense moments, he has an ability to relax and just make plays. He gets rewarded for working hard.”
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Leon Draisaitl scores OT winner for Oilers in Game 4
Leon Draisaitl notches the game-winning goal with this one-handed effort in a pulsating Game 4 that levels the series for Oilers.
Draisaitl has been perhaps the NHL’s most dominant player when factoring in the regular season with the postseason. The Oilers star finished a close second to Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck in the voting for the Hart Trophy as league MVP, after a season in which Draisaitl led the NHL in goals (52) and was third overall in points (106). Draisaitl was the winner of the Hart in 2019-20, and this was the fourth season of 50 or more goals in Draisaitl’s 11-year NHL career.
Draisaitl is now second to Sam Bennett (14 goals) in postseason goals, after scoring his 11th in overtime of Game 4. He’s now tied with teammate Connor McDavid with 32 points in 20 playoff games to lead all scorers.
He has now reached 30 points in two straight postseasons, becoming only the fifth player in NHL history to accomplish that feat, along with McDavid (2024-2025), Nikita Kucherov (2020-2021), Mario Lemieux (1991-1992) and Wayne Gretzky (1987-1988 and 1983-1985). Draisaitl now has three 30-point playoff seasons in his career, tying him with McDavid and Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier for second all-time behind all-time leader Gretzky, who had six 30-point playoff campaigns.
It’s not just the amount of scoring for Draisaitl — it’s when he’s scoring. Consider that he has 16 points in the final two rounds of the playoffs, including a series-best seven points in the Stanley Cup Final. Draisaitl has points in 17 of 20 playoff games, and nine of his past 10 overall.
“He’s as clutch as it gets,” said goalie Calvin Pickard, also a Game 4 hero for Edmonton with 22 saves and a win in relief of Skinner. “He’s been playing great. Always scoring big goals at big times.”
In the case of his Game 4 performance, Draisaitl not only came through in the clutch but also did in a building that hasn’t been friendly to him. He hadn’t tallied a point in any of his previous five Stanley Cup Final games on the road against the Panthers. He didn’t even generate a shot on goal in Game 7 last season or in Game 3 this postseason. He also failed to generate a shot attempt in Game 3, marking just the second time in 93 career playoff games that this occurred for Draisaitl.
On Thursday, he made up for lost time with three points, assisting on goals by Nugent-Hopkins and Vasily Podkolzin before scoring one of his own in overtime.
Florida coach Paul Maurice believes his team has defended Draisaitl and McDavid “reasonably well” in the series at 5-on-5.
“I think they’re still going to generate some action,” the coach said. “I think the even-strength chances are pretty tight through four games.”
One of the differences for Edmonton this postseason, after losing to Florida in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2024, is their confidence and comfort in playing in tight games and grinding series. If they get down, they don’t get flustered. If things aren’t clicking offensively, they’re patient.
“You just get comfortable in those situations knowing that you play one good game, you find a way to get a win on the road, and you go home and the series is tied. That’s really all it is,” Draisaitl said before Game 4. “Sometimes those games where you just get waxed a little bit, they’re almost easier to get out of, right? We didn’t play our best. They played their best. We weren’t even close to bringing our best. You park that, you move on.”
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Draisaitl comes up big with OT winner in Game 1
Leon Draisaitl nets the winning goal late in overtime to help the Oilers take Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
For all the message-sending that the Panthers did in Game 3 — on the scoreboard, on the ice and with their mouths — the Oilers sent an important one about their resiliency with their Game 4 rally.
“It tells you that our group never quits. We believe that no matter how bad it is, if we get over that hump of adversity, we’re going to keep pushing, we’re going to keep coming, and eventually it’ll break,” Draisaitl said. “You don’t want to be in these situations too many times. But when they happen, I think we’re great at it.”
It helps to have someone like Leon Draisaitl scoring when it matters most.
“I don’t know what could convey what he means to our team,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “The leadership, the play. He has just elevated his game in the toughest moments.”
The San Francisco Giants acquired three-time All-Star Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox on Sunday in a stunning trade that sent a player Boston once considered a franchise cornerstone to a San Francisco team needing an offensive infusion.
Boston received left-handed starter Kyle Harrison, right-hander Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and Rookie League right-hander Jose Bello.
The Red Sox announced the deal Sunday evening.
The Giants will cover the remainder of Devers’ contract, which runs through 2033 and will pay him more than $250 million, sources told ESPN.
The trade ends the fractured relationship between Devers and the Red Sox that had degraded since spring training, when Devers balked at moving off third base — the position where he had spent his whole career — after the signing of free agent Alex Bregman. The Red Sox gave no forewarning to Devers, who expressed frustration before relenting and agreeing to be their designated hitter.
After a season-ending injury to first baseman Triston Casas in early May, the Red Sox asked Devers to move to first base. Devers declined, suggesting the front office “should do their jobs” and find another player after the organization told him during spring training he would be the DH for the remainder of the season. The day after Devers’ comments, Red Sox owner John Henry, president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City, where Boston was playing, to talk with Devers.
In the weeks since, Devers’ refusal to play first led to internal tension and helped facilitate the deal, sources said.
San Francisco pounced — and added a force to an offense that ranks 15th in runs scored in Major League Baseball. Devers, 28, is hitting .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs, tied for the third most in MLB. Over his nine-year career, Devers is hitting .279/.349/.509 with 215 home runs and 696 RBIs in 1,053 games.
Boston believed enough in Devers to give him a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension in January 2023. He rewarded the Red Sox with a Silver Slugger Award that season and made his third All-Star team in 2024.
Whether he slots in at designated hitter or first base with San Francisco — the Giants signed Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman to a six-year, $151 million deal last year — is unknown. But San Francisco sought Devers more for his bat, one that immediately makes the Giants — who are fighting for National League West supremacy with the Los Angeles Dodgers — a better team.
To do so, the Giants gave a package of young talent and took on the contract that multiple teams’ models had as underwater.
Harrison, 23, is the prize of the deal, particularly for a Red Sox team replete with young hitting talent but starving for young pitching. Once considered one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, Harrison has shuttled between San Francisco and Triple-A Sacramento this season.
Harrison, who was scratched from a planned start against the Dodgers on Sunday night, has a 4.48 ERA over 182⅔ innings since debuting with the Giants in 2023. He has struck out 178, walked 62 and allowed 30 home runs. The Red Sox optioned Harrison to Triple-A Worcester after the trade was announced.
Hicks, 28, who has toggled between starter and reliever since signing with the Giants for four years and $44 million before the 2024 season, is on the injured list because of right toe inflammation. One of the hardest-throwing pitchers in baseball, Hicks has a 6.47 ERA over 48⅔ innings this season. He could join the Red Sox’s ailing bullpen, which Breslow has sought to upgrade.
Tibbs, 22, was selected by the Giants with the 13th pick in last year’s draft out of Florida State. A 6-foot, 200-pound corner outfielder, Tibbs has spent the season at High-A, where he has hit .245/.377/.480 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs in 56 games. Scouts laud his command of the strike zone — he has 41 walks and 45 strikeouts in 252 plate appearances — but question whether his swing will translate at higher levels.
Bello, 20, has spent the season as a reliever for the Giants’ Rookie League affiliate. In 18 innings, he has struck out 28 and walked three while posting a 2.00 ERA.
The deal is the latest in which Boston shipped a player central to the franchise.
Boston traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers in February 2020, just more than a year after leading Boston to a franchise-record 108 wins and a World Series title and winning the American League MVP Award.
Devers was part of that World Series-winning team in 2018 and led the Red Sox in RBIs each season from 2020 to 2024, garnering AL MVP votes across each of the past four years. Devers had been with the Red Sox since 2013, when he signed as an international amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. He debuted four years later at age 20.
Boston is banking on its young talent to replace Devers’ production. The Red Sox regularly play four rookies — infielders Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, outfielder Roman Anthony and catcher Carlos Narvaez — and infielder Franklin Arias and outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia are expected to contribute in the coming years.
Ohtani, 21 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament, will be used as an opener, likely throwing one inning. Because of his two-way designation, Ohtani qualifies as an extra pitcher on the roster, giving the Dodgers the flexibility to use a piggyback starter behind him.
That is essentially what will take place in his first handful of starts — a byproduct of the progress Ohtani has made in the late stages of his pitching rehab.
Ohtani, 30, initially seemed to be progressing toward a return some time around August. But he made a major step during his third simulated game from San Diego’s Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three simulated innings and compiling six strikeouts against a couple of low-level minor leaguers.
Afterward, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could return before the All-Star break. When he met with reporters prior to Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants — an eventual 5-4 victory — Roberts said it was a “possibility” Ohtani could pitch after just one more simulated game.
After the game, Roberts indicated the timeline might have been pushed even further, telling reporters it was a “high possibility” Ohtani would pitch in a big league game this week as an opener, likely during the upcoming four-game series against the Padres.
“He’s ready to pitch in a big league game,” Roberts told reporters. “He let us know.”
If you’re just getting back home from your Father’s Day activities, you had better sit down, because Sunday evening’s Boston Red Sox–San Francisco Giants trade is a doozy.
Rafael Devers, second among third basemen and seventh among hitters in fantasy points this season, is headed to the Giants, traded minutes before their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Boston’s return includes pitchers Kyle Harrison, who was the Giants’ scheduled starting pitcher Sunday night (subsequently scratched), pitcher Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and pitching prospect Jose Bello.
Expect Devers to continue to serve in a designated hitter-only capacity with his new team, considering his season-long stance, which is primarily an issue for his position eligibility for 2026. He might factor as the Giants’ future first baseman if given a full offseason to prepare for the shift to a new position — or it could happen sooner if he has a change of heart in his new environment.
As for the impact on Devers’ numbers, the move from Fenway Park to Oracle Park represents one of the steepest downgrades in terms of park factors, specifically run production and extra-base hits. With its close-proximity Green Monster in left field, Fenway Park is a much better environment for doubles and runs scored, Statcast reflecting that it’s 22% and 10% better than league average in those categories, respectively, compared with 8% worse and only 2% above par for Oracle Park.
Devers is a prime-age 28, with a contract averaging a relatively reasonable $31.8 million over the next eight seasons, and he’s leaving a Red Sox team where his defensive positioning — he has played all but six of his career defensive innings at third base — was a manner of much debate, to go to a team that has one of baseball’s best defensive third basemen in Matt Chapman (once he’s healthy following a hand injury). Devers’ unwillingness to play first base probably played a big part in his ultimately being traded, and it’s worth pointing out that one of the positions where the Giants are weakest is, well, also first base.
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Perez: Devers gives Giants a ‘really good offense’
Eduardo Perez, David Cone and Karl Ravech react to the Giants acquiring star 3B Rafael Devers from the Red Sox.
Devers’ raw power is immense, as he has greater than 95th percentile barrel and hard-hit rates this season. He has been in that tier or better in the latter in each of the past three seasons as well. He’s at a 33-homer (and 34 per 162 games) pace since the beginning of 2021, so the slugger should continue to homer at a similar rate regardless of his surroundings. He should easily snap the Giants’ drought of 30-homer hitters, which dates back to Barry Bonds in 2004. Devers’ fantasy value might slip slightly, mostly due to the park’s impact on his runs scored and RBIs, but he’ll remain a top-four fantasy third baseman.
If you play in an NL-only league, Devers is an open-the-wallet free agent target. He’s worth a maximum bid, considering he brings a similar ability to stars you might invest in come the July trade deadline, except in this case you’ll get an extra month and a half’s production.
Harrison is an intriguing pickup for the Red Sox, though in a disappointing development, he was immediately optioned to Triple-A Worcester. A top-25 overall prospect as recently as two years ago, Harrison’s spike in average fastball velocity this season (95.1 mph, up from 92.5) could be a signal of better things ahead. Once recalled to Fenway Park, his fantasy prospects would take a hit, as that’s a venue that isn’t forgiving to fly ball-oriented lefties, but he’d be a matchups option nevertheless.
Expect Hicks to serve in setup relief for his new team, though he’d at best be fourth in the Red Sox’s pecking order for saves.