‘There’s not one right way to do it’: Why paying goalies is so complicated in today’s NHL
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Emily Kaplan, ESPN
As the New York Rangers and Igor Shesterkin‘s camp negotiate for a new contract, the goalie doesn’t want to talk about what’s at stake — though everyone else around the league does. According to sources, Shesterkin declined an eight-year, $88 million offer at the start of the season, which would have made him the highest paid goalie in NHL history.
“He’s special,” Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said on Oct. 14, when Shesterkin stopped 31 shots in a 4-1 win. “I can see why he turned down the 88 [million dollars]. Good agent.”
Five nights later, Shesterkin was even better, turning away 34 of 35 shots against the high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs.
“You can see why he’s going to be the highest-paid goalie in the league,” Toronto’s veteran goalie, Anthony Stolarz, said after the game. “Hats off to him.”
Even after Shesterkin allowed four goals through two periods against the rival Washington Capitals on Oct. 29, his opponents were feeling stymied. Said Capitals assistant Scott Allen ahead of the third period: “You see why he’s asking for $13 million, or whatever it is by now.”
The entire league seems to agree that Shesterkin, 28, is among its top goalies and deserves to be paid as such. But how much should a goalie make in today’s NHL? That might be one of the toughest questions to answer in the league.
JEREMY SWAYMAN AND the Boston Bruins ended a summerlong standoff when he signed an eight-year, $66 million contract ($8.25 million in average annual value) ahead of the season opener. Shortly after, the Dallas Stars’ Jake Oettinger signed an identical deal. They both match what the New York Islanders and Ilya Sorokin agreed to in 2023, and are roughly around what the NHL’s current save percentage leader Connor Hellebuyck ($8.5 million AAV) signed for in 2023 on a seven-year deal.
Starting next season, eight goalies will make at least $7 million. By contrast, 107 skaters will be at or above that mark — with 11 making at least $11 million.
“I think we’re in a decent place, [goalies] are now making great money, but it’s also not superstar money,” one starting goaltender said. “It just shows you how the league views our position. GMs don’t want to make goalies the highest-paid players, but I think lots of guys could make a good argument.”
Star forwards play roughly a third of the game. Star defensemen, at best, skate for half. Their performance can vary based on linemates, matchups and a variety of other nuances. A goaltender is in net (practically) the entire 60 minutes, alone in the crease. But even as it is the most isolated position, front office executives say goaltending is the hardest to evaluate — and therefore compensate.
“Agents want to do apples to oranges comparisons when it comes to goaltenders,” one front office executive said. “We have comps for top centers. Comps for top-four defensemen. Comps for goaltenders are way more complicated.”
Carolina GM Eric Tulsky, who comes from an analytics background, explained how slim the margins are.
“A lot of what makes goaltending hard is that a guy who stops 92% of shots is one of the best goalies in the world,” Tulsky said. “A guy who stops 91% is kind of average. And the difference between those is not very big. You watch a guy face 500 or 1,000 shots, and he might stop 91 or 92% by chance. It takes a lot of time to know for sure that this is a guy that is going to stop 91 or 92% day after day.”
The core argument for not giving goalie superstar contracts tend to center around this uncertainty, posed by one front office executive: “How many mega goalie contracts age well?”
Plus, there’s proof of concept that it’s not always necessary to have one goalie on a big contract.
The Florida Panthers just won a Stanley Cup with the league’s highest-paid active goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million cap hit). Florida spends more on goaltending than any other team. Backup Spencer Knight makes $4.5 million while Florida boasts the league’s only “Goaltending Excellence Department” — which includes four coaches/executives dedicated to the position.
But over the past 10 years, there have also been two Stanley Cup winners with starting goaltenders making the league minimum (Jordan Binnington in 2018, Matt Murray in 2016) while the Golden Knights won in 2023 with Adin Hill earning just $2.175 million, which represented less than 3% of their salary cap.
The theme? “There’s not one right way to do it,” Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said. “I don’t think there’s a hard and fast way anyone thinks about spending on goaltending. It probably just depends on what you have on your team.”
IN SURVEYING 12 high-ranking team executives about philosophies in paying goaltending, a common theme emerged, summed up by one GM: “The value of a goaltender is based on how your team is built, rather than his talent.”
One front office executive believed that “if you put Andrei Vasilevskiy on 10 different teams, you’d have 10 different save percentages.”
Most executives deferred to team construction. One GM cited Vegas as a team that was strong down the middle and had an excellent defensive core. “They can get away with average goaltending,” he said.
But poor goaltending can derail a team quickly. “Your 5-on-5 game might be good,” Predators GM Barry Trotz said. “But if you have weak goaltending, that doesn’t allow you to go on any streaks.”
The biggest issue for most front offices is projection on goalie development. It’s why a team like Philadelphia, looking for its goaltender of the future, is hedging its bets. The Flyers are carrying three goalies aged 22-27, and drafted another two in 2023.
“I think people have the idea that goalies peak really late,” one GM said. “I’m not sure I believe that. I don’t think it takes time for the goalie to develop; I think it takes time for teams to say, ‘Wait, this goalie is really good.'”
By then, the goalie might be past his physical prime, hence the risks of a long-term deal. One front office executive who just signed a goalie to a max term said he’s confident, based on that goalie’s pedigree and work ethic, that years 1-5 will go great. After that, the team might need security to cover for potential decline.
Those in the goaltending union often claim their position is both misunderstood and scapegoated. Some agents said in conversation with front office executives, they’ve heard phrases such as “goaltending is a crapshoot,” or “I don’t understand goaltending.”
“Confidence in a goalie from management can be fleeting,” one high-profile goalie agent said. “There’s not a ton of patience. If the season isn’t going well, pressure is on the goalie right away.”
Ray Petkau, who represents Hellebuyck and several other goalies, said he believes goaltending can be misunderstood by some in the analytics community. For example, several front office executives cited Goals Saved Above Expected as a go-to stat for evaluation. Petkau said that one doesn’t tell the whole story.
“If a goal is deflected by an opposing player 2 feet in front of the net, it’s assigned X amount of value. But if a shot is deflected off the goalie’s defenseman, that’s not considered the same way by some of the groups providing public analytics information. Some say it averages out over time, but they don’t take into account that some teams have more defensemen who have a habit of blocking off their stick.”
Petkau prefers performance when facing high-danger chances as a stronger stat for evaluation, but that too has variables that can’t be controlled by the goalie. He also said goalies’ strengths should mesh with a team’s needs. For example, if a goalie isn’t great with rush chances, he shouldn’t go to a team that allows a lot.
THE CLIMATE ISN’T going to get any easier for goalies. League average save percentage has dipped in each of the past nine seasons, and we’re trending for the lowest number (.901) since 2005-06. Tulsky sees a trend of offensive creativity, specifically with more East-West movement and an increase in backdoor plays.
“The game’s getting faster, people are getting stronger, and so it all happens that much quicker,” Tulsky said. “When you’re in a position where your job is to react, that makes it much harder.”
Another leaguewide trend: there are now fewer Shesterkins — obvious No. 1 workhorses — and more incidents of goaltending by committee.
From 2010-2019, the league averaged 20.4 goalies per season who started at least 50 games. Over the past three seasons, that number is now 14.3.
Consider the New Jersey Devils, who needed an upgrade in net for this season. GM Tom Fitzgerald determined it was best to get a combination of goaltenders making less than $8 million versus having one make $8 million and another at the league minimum. The Devils’ new tandem is Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen, both acquired via trade, with their former teams retaining salary.
“Other goalies we looked at, some were going to be free agents,” Fitzgerald said. “You just don’t know what they were going to be priced at with the cap going up.”
Cost certainty is huge in today’s NHL, where everyone knows the salary cap is going up after several stagnant years — but nobody knows exactly by how much and how quickly.
That’s what makes contracts in general difficult right now. Many agents are focused on percentage of the cap. The three highest players this season, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, are in the 15-16% range. According to sources, the argument by Shesterkin’s camp is that he is the team’s most important player, so he should be the top-paid player on the team. Currently, that’s winger Artemi Panarin at $11.64 million.
The Rangers, in contrast, need to account for future contracts (winger Alexis Lafreniere just resigned at a $7.45 million annual cap hit, and defenseman K’Andre Miller is due). New York can also offer something no other team can: an eighth year. That means if Shesterkin hit the open market, other teams would have to ante up the AAV to match New York’s total value.
Only Vasilevskiy and Bobrovsky have come close to the record $10.5 million AAV Carey Price earned on an eight-year deal, which kicked in during the 2018-19 season, when Price was 31. Price played only two full seasons on the deal. He has been on long-term injured reserve for most of the past three seasons.
Since there are only so many goalie jobs, there are fewer opportunities to reset the market. Hellebuyck could have in 2024, but instead took less to stay in Winnipeg, a place where he felt comfortable and a team he believed could win with.
That’s why the entire league — and specifically the goaltending union — is waiting for resolution on Shesterkin. He could help shape the future of the position — resetting the market for the next generation.
ST. LOUIS — Pavel Buchnevich scored three goals for his first career playoff hat trick and added an assist as the St. Louis Blues beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-2 in Game 3 of their first-round series on Thursday night.
Cam Fowler had a goal and four assists, and Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Colton Parayko also scored, and Robert Thomas had three assists to help the Blues cut the Jets’ series lead to 2-1. Jordan Binnington made 17 saves.
David Gustafsson and Neal Pionk scored for the Jets, who won the first two games in Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck gave up six goals on 25 shots before being pulled midway through the third period. Eric Comrie stopped two of the three shots he faced.
Game 4 is in St. Louis on Sunday, with Game 5 in Winnipeg on Wednesday.
Buchnevich, who had just one goal in 22 previous postseason games, gave the Blues an early lead with two goals in the game’s opening minutes. He got it going just 48 seconds in by kicking the puck off his stick and into the net, and then he tipped Thomas’ shot for a power-play goal at 3:11.
Fowler, who assisted on the first two goals, made it 3-0 with 4:09 left in the opening period.
Buchnevich and Fowler became the first Blues teammates with three points in a period of a playoff game since Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger in Game 3 of the 1998 West quarterfinals against the Kings.
Binnington robbed Cole Perfetti of a power-play goal midway through the second that would have gotten Winnipeg back in it. Perfetti and the Jets thought the puck crossed the goal line in Binnington’s glove, but after a lengthy league-initiated review, the save stood.
Buchnevich’s third goal, at 5:24 of the third period, came less than a minute after Gustafsson gave the Jets some momentum with his first of the playoffs.
Kyrou had a power-play goal at 7:56 and Toropchenko scored with 9:28 left to make it 6-1 and chase Hellebuyck.
Pionk had a power-play goal for the Jets 2 1/2 minutes later, but Parayko got the Blues’ third goal with the man-advantage with 3:43 remaining to close the scoring.
We’re just about at the one-month mark of the 2025 MLB season — meaning, yes, it’s still too early to give much credence to the standings, but there are quite a few surprises nonetheless.
Just 2.5 games separate four teams — three of which have winning percentages above .600 — in the NL West, as the National League is shaping up to be packed with many powerful playoff-contending squads. And in the NL East, the current basement dweller, in a division that includes the Marlins and Nationals … is still the Braves?!
Meanwhile, in the American League, while the Yankees are playing as well as projected, a number of teams are hovering around .500, the Orioles are scuffling and the Twins have the second-worst record in the league.
What will the month of May bring for these clubs? Will they be able to carry — or change — their momentum?
Our expert panel has combined to rank every team based on a combination of what we’ve seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez and Bradford Doolittle to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.
Record: 16-9
Previous ranking: 2
The Dodgers spent the offseason loading up their roster in hopes that they would become almost immune to the attrition that plagues teams throughout the season. Their pitching depth has been compromised nonetheless. Tony Gonsolin (back), Blake Snell (shoulder), Blake Treinen (forearm) and Michael Kopech (forearm) were added to the injured list before the end of the season’s first full month. And though none of their aforementioned injuries are considered serious — for now, at least — they offer yet another reminder of how delicate pitching depth can be. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have won in spite of that. Not at the rate many expected them to, perhaps, but enough to keep them among the sport’s elite. — Gonzalez
Record: 17-8
Previous ranking: 1
Any thought that the Padres’ deflating NL Division Series loss and the underwhelming offseason that followed it would weaken their resolve in 2025 has been grossly misplaced. They’ve stormed out of the gate with the second-best record in baseball, winning each of their first seven games and claiming five of their first six series. Nick Pivetta has been a revelation. Fernando Tatis Jr. is displaying a newfound patience that has made him look like the best player in the sport. The bullpen has been dominant. But what has stood out most is the energy of the Padres’ home environment and how their players continue to feed off it. They are 12-1 at Petco Park this season, a place that has seen their pitching staff post a 1.30 ERA. — Gonzalez
Record: 18-7
Previous ranking: 3
Don’t look now but the Mets are on fire — and the fans at Citi Field are getting very excited. The raucous atmosphere at the ballpark during the Mets’ extra-inning game against the Phillies on Wednesday came through even on the broadcast. That’s not surprising for a team that entered the season with high expectations and, so far, has more than met them. A starting rotation that seemed to lack star power when the season began has been one of the best units in the majors. The rotation’s average game score (56) ranks just behind MLB-leading Texas and its ERA (a sparkling 2.29) is easily the best in the majors. — Doolittle
Record: 15-10
Previous ranking: 7
If it wasn’t obvious last year, Aaron Judge is still proving he’s the best hitter on the planet — and it’s not particularly close. The two-time AL MVP has been Bondsian (should it just be Judgian at this point?) again to start the season. He leads the majors in batting average (.415), OBP (.513), slugging (.734) and OPS (1.247), and is tied for second in RBIs (26), to name a few categories.
Remember: Last season, he slashed .322/.458/.701 with 58 home runs — and won MVP — after a middling start through the beginning of May. In 150 games since May 3 last year, he’s batting .367 with 59 home runs, 152 RBIs and a 1.273 OPS. It has been an unreal stretch — going back, really, to his 62-homer season in 2022 — that we haven’t seen since Barry Bonds was splashing balls into McCovey Cove. — Castillo
Record: 16-9
Previous ranking: 4
When franchise icon Buster Posey assumed the role of president of baseball operations, he set out to build the Giants into a team that would win on the strength of pitching and defense. That, Posey said he believed, was key to thriving at a place like Oracle Park, which traditionally saps offense. But while that develops, the Giants have enjoyed a much-needed spark of offense from Jung Hoo Lee, who’s slashing .333/.388/.581 with 10 doubles. Lee’s rookie season of 2024 was plagued by a torn labrum. The Giants couldn’t truly catch a glimpse for how his elite bat-to-ball skills would translate within Oracle Park’s spacious outfield. They have now. — Gonzalez
Record: 14-10
Previous ranking: 8
When it comes to Arizona’s lineup, Corbin Carroll is the spark plug, Josh Naylor was brought in to provide punch in the middle of it and Geraldo Perdomo is one of its most crucial — yet unheralded — contributors. Their production was to be expected. But Pavin Smith‘s has been a welcomed sight. The 29-year-old left-handed hitter put together a really solid 60-game sample last season and has taken that to a new level in the first month, batting almost .400 while boasting the second-highest slugging percentage among those with at least 70 plate appearances. The D-backs never really replaced Joc Pederson‘s production at designated hitter with any outside acquisitions. Smith has shown they didn’t need to. — Gonzalez
Record: 16-10
Previous ranking: 6
On two occasions in five days, both teams scored at least 10 runs in a game at Wrigley Field. On Friday, the Cubs beat the D-backs 13-11 by scoring five runs in the seventh inning and six runs in the eighth. On Tuesday, they trailed the Dodgers by three runs heading into the bottom of the eighth and wound up beating them 11-10 in the 10th. It spoke to the early identity of this Cubs team. With Justin Steele out for the season and their bullpen a mess, the Cubs might have to slug their way to the top of the NL Central. And with the likes of Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch and Carson Kelly off to strong starts, they just might. — Gonzalez
Record: 13-12
Previous ranking: 5
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has been able to cobble together contention-worthy bullpens for the most part during his time with the Phillies, but his wizardry in that area has been tested early. The Phillies have gotten solid enough work from the trio of Jose Alvarado, Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks, but pretty much every other reliever has struggled. Of particular concern is veteran right-hander Jordan Romano, who inked a one-year, $8.5 million free agent deal with Philadelphia over the winter. Romano’s early-season ERA is an unsightly 13.50 and he has given up two or more runs in four of his 10 outings. — Doolittle
Record: 15-10
Previous ranking: 9
It took longer than projected, but right-hander Casey Mize and first baseman Spencer Torkelson are finally realizing their potential together as former No. 1 overall picks in consecutive years. The 28-year-old Mize, the top pick in 2017, has been the best starter in a rotation featuring Tarik Skubal with a 2.22 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in four starts despite just a 18.9% strikeout rate after posting a 4.49 ERA last season. Torkelson, meanwhile, is slashing .264/.373/.571 with seven home runs in 25 games. The 2018 No. 1 pick has already accumulated 1.1 fWAR (his career high is 1.5, which he set in 2023 when he slugged a career-high 31 homers). — Castillo
Record: 14-10
Previous ranking: 10
The Rangers’ solid early pitching has helped them establish an early lead in the AL West despite a negative run differential. They will be hard-pressed to remain on that perch if their aggressive offense doesn’t start producing when it’s not hitting home runs. Texas is in the bottom five of the majors in swinging at first pitches, walks and scoring runs, and only four teams have relied more on homers to score. The ambush approach has worked for their attack in the past, but so far this year, it has not. — Doolittle
Record: 14-12
Previous ranking: 9
The Rafael Devers predicament is no longer an issue. The third baseman-turned-DH reverted to his usual self since that historically dreadful start (0-for-19 with 15 strikeouts), batting .253 with 13 RBIs and seven doubles since April 2. And yet, strangely, the Red Sox have struggled to consistently produce high-scoring outputs. Boston has scored four or fewer runs in 13 of 21 games this month. It’s baffling for a lineup with that much firepower — especially considering four regulars have an OPS of at least .820. — Castillo
Record: 14-10
Previous ranking: 11
It’s shaping up to be another year of the so-called experts (Who, me?) overlooking the Guardians and another year of the Guardians stomping on low expectations. At least so far. They’re 14-10 despite a minus-five run differential and closer Emmanuel Clase‘s 7.84 ERA. Steven Kwan is batting .337. Kyle Manzardo has seven home runs. Jose Ramirez has an .824 OPS with five homers and four steals. Logan Allen has a 2.11 ERA through four starts. Clase’s struggles after a historically great season are alarming, but Hunter Gaddis (no runs over 9⅔ innings), Cade Smith (1.38 ERA), Jakob Junis (1.64 ERA), Joey Cantillo (1.35 ERA) and Tim Herrin (2.00 ERA) have sparkled out of the bullpen. The Guardians just keep humming along in a very winnable AL Central. — Castillo
Record: 13-12
Previous ranking: 19
Things looked quite bleak for the Brewers early. They lost their first four games, during which their staff gave up a combined 47 runs. It looked like the start of a long year in Milwaukee. Then the Brewers did what they’re best known for — win, regardless of who’s gone or who’s hurt. Since the first day of April, they have won 13 of 21 games to keep pace with the Cubs in the NL Central. During that stretch, their rotation has put together a 2.34 ERA, second only to the Mets for the major league lead — even though seven starting pitchers currently make up Milwaukee’s IL. — Gonzalez
Record: 13-11
Previous ranking: 21
The Astros appear to have a new ace in Hunter Brown, who has been one of baseball’s best pitchers during the opening month. Brown has strung together three straight scoreless outings, lowering his season ERA to 1.16. The early-season star of Brown’s arsenal has been a four-seamer that has picked up 1.3 mph in average velocity over last season, per Statcast. Opponents are 2-for-35 against Brown’s heater in 2025 and the assigned run value of the four-seamer (plus-7) puts it in a tie with the slider of Miami’s Max Meyer as the most valuable pitch in all of baseball so far. — Doolittle
Record: 10-14
Previous ranking: 18
The Braves have more or less bounced back from their winless season-opening trip, a skid that dropped them from ESPN’s preseason No. 2 team to the middle of the pack. Yet all is not well in Cobb County. Good news: Spencer Strider made a triumphant return to the majors last week. Bad news: He made a frustrating return to the IL not long after. Luckily, his hamstring strain was classified as Grade 1 and if all goes well, his IL stint won’t be a long one. Still, his one-start return is apropos for an elite team that has struggled to build momentum. — Doolittle
Record: 13-11
Previous ranking: 15
The disconnect between the home and road versions of Seattle’s offense is reaching absurd levels. At T-Mobile Park, the Mariners remain punchless, hitting .226 as a team while scoring at a rate (3.6 runs) better than only three other teams in their respective home venues. On the road, they are the punchers, hitting .267 with a top five road scoring average in baseball.
An avatar in that is third baseman Dylan Moore, fresh off winning AL Player of the Week honors, boosted by the fact that the M’s are on a road trip. For the season, Moore is hitting .200/.333/.350 in Seattle with one homer. On the road, he’s at .311/.340/.600 with four homers. Maybe the Mariners’ hitters could petition to play all their games on the road? — Doolittle
Record: 12-13
Previous ranking: 13
The Blue Jays have enjoyed a solid first month, which registers as a success after last year’s last-place debacle. But the first month of the season will be remembered for their decision to give Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500-million contract. Whether that investment pans out will make or break the franchise’s future. Stringing together a few solid months to remain within striking distance at the trade deadline would be a good start. — Castillo
Record: 12-13
Previous ranking: 17
The Reds’ offense has mostly underperformed — minus a 24-run onslaught against the Orioles on Easter Sunday — but their pitching has been mostly solid. And the most encouraging signs have come from their two young frontline starters, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo, who have clearly taken big steps forward. The two have combined for a 2.56 ERA through their first 10 starts. Greene, whose fastball is averaging 99 mph, has struck out 35 batters and issued only six walks in 30⅔ innings. Andrew Abbott, meanwhile, was activated off the IL around mid-April and has given up only two runs in 11 innings. — Gonzalez
Record: 10-14
Previous ranking: 12
For all the work done to make Steinbrenner Field feel like home, the fact is that the Rays are still without one. That was obvious over the weekend when the Yankees traveled to Tampa to take three of four games as the visiting team in their spring training ballpark. The Rays have played all but five games at their temporary residence, going 9-10 after having their schedule changed to frontload home games to avoid the summer heat and rain. They’ll need to be better than that to make noise in the AL East. — Castillo
Record: 9-14
Previous ranking: 20
The Orioles’ chief concern entering the season was their starting pitching, and it’s proved to be a very real problem — one without an obvious solution. They have the highest starters’ ERA in baseball by nearly a half-run. Charlie Morton, their $15 million free agent addition, has a league-worst 10.89 ERA in 20⅔ innings through five starts. Dean Kremer has a 6.84 ERA after yielding eight extra-base hits to the Nationals on Tuesday. Cade Povich has a 6.38 ERA. Zach Eflin, their Opening Day starter, was put on the IL because of a lat strain after three starts. Grayson Rodriguez and Albert Suarez began the season on the IL because of shoulder injuries and their returns aren’t imminent. This is a weakness that could bury Baltimore in the standings before long. — Castillo
Record: 10-14
Previous ranking: 16
Kansas City ranks last in baseball in runs scored per game, averaging fewer than three. Bobby Witt Jr. is raking again and Maikel Garcia has been a pleasant surprise, but other than that, it has been ugly. Vinnie Pasquantino has a .186/.260/.314 slash line. Salvador Perez also has struggled with a .185 batting average and .528 OPS. This has all amplified the fan base’s cries for the club to call up top prospect Jac Caglianone as soon as possible.
Caglianone was the team’s first-round pick at No. 6 last year. He possesses perhaps the best raw power across the minors, but the first baseman has played only 16 games above Double-A. As an elite two-way player in college, he could be capable of playing the outfield, but he has played only first base as a pro, so there isn’t an obvious positional fit. But his bat could force its way to Kansas City soon enough. — Castillo
Record: 10-15
Previous ranking: 23
The Cardinals turned some heads with a season-opening sweep of the Twins, but now they’re right about where we expected — five games below .500 in the wake of a brutal 1-6 trip and battling the typical inconsistency of a mediocre-to-bad team. Brendan Donovan has been red hot; the likes of Nolan Arenado, Lars Nootbaar and Victor Scott II have provided encouraging signs; and key members of their staff, most notably Sonny Gray and Steven Matz, have pitched well. But there has been at least as much bad to counteract the good.
Case in point: Miles Mikolas took the mound with a 7.64 ERA on Wednesday afternoon and proceeded to throw six scoreless innings against the Braves. The Cardinals lost anyway. They scored only once. — Gonzalez
Record: 11-12
Previous ranking: 22
After a hot — and surprising — start, the Angels have started to level off, dropping back to .500 with a run differential well below break even. The bullpen has been a problem area despite a near-perfect start to the season from veteran closer Kenley Jansen. One glimmer of hope from that group is 27-year-old right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn, who, despite logging only 6⅔ innings this season, ranks fourth on the Halos with 14 strikeouts. He’s whiffing batters at a rate of 18.9 per nine innings — or more than two per frame. He also has given up a couple of homers, but the raw talent certainly seems to be there for Zeferjahn to work a high-leverage role. — Doolittle
Record: 11-13
Previous ranking: 26
For all the early talk about Sutter Health Park being a new hitter’s paradise in MLB, the Athletics’ immediate problem is that their opponents have done a much better job of playing to its conditions. The A’s lost eight of their first 10 home games in Sacramento, and while the ugly home/road splits of the pitching staff might be expected, the much bigger surprise is that their hitters have also been better on the road. The difference has primarily been homers: 13 long balls in 11 games at home; 22 in 13 games on the road. — Doolittle
Record: 11-13
Previous ranking: 25
The Marlins have held their own in the win column over the first month, though they hold one of the NL’s worst run differentials. Still, as long as Miami is hovering around .500, it’s probably not fair to turn the focus to what so many see as the inevitability of a Sandy Alcantara trade. Nevertheless, whether you’re tracking Alcantara for trade value purposes or you’re holding out hope that the Marlins can be a surprise contender, the better he pitches, the better off you’ll be. Alas, Alcantara is not yet back to his pre-injury, Cy Young form. A quality start against Cincinnati on Wednesday lowered his ERA to 6.56 but his K/9 (6.56, matching the ERA) and BB/9 (4.63) are both well off his presurgery standard. — Doolittle
Record: 9-15
Previous ranking: 24
The Twins couldn’t overcome injuries in 2024, collapsing down the stretch to fall out of postseason contention, and it looks as if they won’t be able to overcome injuries in 2025 either. Royce Lewis, the talented but oft-injured infielder, sustained a hamstring injury during spring training and hasn’t played in a game yet. Right-hander Pablo Lopez, the club’s Opening Day starter, landed on the IL because of his own hamstring injury after three starts. An oblique strain has kept utilityman Willi Castro, an All-Star last season, off the field since April 16. The Twins, meanwhile, have sunk to fourth place in the competitive AL Central, ahead of only the White Sox. — Castillo
Record: 11-13
Previous ranking: 27
Is it too soon to be on record watch? Probably, but the Nationals have lots of reasons to be excited about MacKenzie Gore, who is on pace to make a run at 300 strikeouts this season. He already has produced a pair of 13-strikeout starts and was leading the NL in whiffs after his last start against Colorado. The Nationals’ single-season mark is 300 on the nose, established by Max Scherzer in 2018. The champ from the Expos portion of the franchise’s history is Pedro Martinez, who struck out 305 in 1997. It’s heady company for Gore, long touted as an elite prospect who is on the verge of establishing himself as an elite big league pitcher. — Doolittle
Record: 10-15
Previous ranking: 28
The Pirates’ first month has been marked by controversy. The opening homestand was tainted by the removal of Roberto Clemente signage in the right-field portion of PNC Park. Then there were the personalized fan bricks that were extracted from outside the ballpark without an initial explanation. Then came this past Saturday — a day when fans lined the Clemente Bridge to receive a Paul Skenes bobblehead, then crammed into the ballpark and filled the air with “sell the team” chants for Pirates’ frugal owner Bob Nutting. Skenes, who will start at Dodger Stadium on Friday, continues to look dominant, posting a 2.87 ERA through his first five starts. But everything around him continues to be a mess. — Gonzalez
Record: 5-19
Previous ranking: 29
The White Sox are losing far more than they’re winning. That’s expected and won’t alter their long-term plans. But Luis Robert Jr. not being good could have a significant impact. Ideally, the veteran center fielder would have dashed to a fast start and had contenders throwing trade offers with top-end prospects at the White Sox to sort through before the trade deadline. But Robert is slashing .145/.267/.250 with 27 strikeouts in 22 games. That won’t attract the kind of haul the White Sox seek as they continue their painfully thorough rebuild. — Castillo
Record: 4-18
Previous ranking: 30
It was a mere three weeks into the season when the Rockies determined that a drastic change was necessary. On the afternoon of April 17, they announced the firing of hitting coach Hensley Meulens and replaced him with longtime manager Clint Hurdle, who had taken on an advisory role with the organization. The Rockies were in the midst of a six-game losing streak then, during which they had accumulated only 12 runs — seven of which had come the night before. Things have not gotten much better since. Hurdle, of course, is no wizard. The Rockies hold the third-lowest OPS in the majors and its worst record, all while playing in the sport’s most difficult division. It will be another long season in Colorado. — Gonzalez
OTTAWA, Ontario — Simon Benoit scored on a slap shot from the point at 1:19 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators and a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.
Auston Matthews won a faceoff back to Benoit at the left point, and the defenseman fired a low shot through traffic that beat goalie Linus Ullmark to far post.
Toronto also won 3-2 in overtime — on Max Domi‘s early goal- – at home Tuesday night. Game 4 is Saturday night in Ottawa.
Matthews and Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto, and Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves.
Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux scored for Ottawa. Ullmark stopped 17 shots.
Tkachuk tied it at 2 for Ottawa with 8:38 left in regulation. On a rush, he beat Stolarz with a low wrist shot from the high slot.
Matthews gave Toronto a 2-1 lead 32 seconds into the third, scoring from close range off Mitch Marner‘s pass from behind the goal.
The teams traded power-play goals in the second period. Giroux opened the scoring for Ottawa at 1:38, and Knies tied it at 8:31.
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