Browsing: early

Already down Brock Boeser, the Vancouver Canucks lost two more forwards in the early going on Sunday.

Centre Filip Chytil exited the afternoon game against the Capitals after an open-ice hit from Washington forward Tom Wilson, while winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki left after taking a hard hit against the boards.

Both players were ruled out by the Canucks at the start of the second period.

The hit on Chytil occurred at the end of the first period and Chytil did not return for the start of the second. After an initial review, no penalty was called on Wilson for the hit.

As Chytil was bringing the puck up through the neutral zone, he sent a pass to Evander Kane and was hit by Wilson at centre ice moments after releasing the puck. A scrum ensued after the play.

Chytil stayed down on the ice for some time after the hit, had to be helped off the ice by the team’s trainers and was immediately brought back to the team’s locker room.

The 26-year-old has gotten off to a solid start in his first full season with the Canucks, tallying three goals in the team’s first five games.

However, he has a history of head injuries and missed the end of the 2024-25 season after suffering a concussion in March. He only played 10 games in the 2023-24 season while with the Rangers after sustaining a concussion in November.

Source link

Nearly three weeks after signing him to a one-year deal, the Golden State Warriors have waived guard Seth Curry.

The 35-year-old journeyman, and brother of Stephen, isn’t expected to be gone too long from the Bay Area. According to ESPN’s Anthony Slater, there is an expectation that Curry will be back with the Warriors at some point early in the NBA season.

Advertisement

Curry was waived due to the Warriors’ lack of flexibility with their salary cap. They have $206.3 million committed to their roster, just below the second apron of $207.8 million and cannot fit Curry’s veteran minimum contract.

[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]

That means the 15th spot on the Golden State roster will be empty to start the season.

During the preseason, Curry practiced with the team and traveled with them on their only road trip, but he was inactive for games.

Curry spent the 2024-25 season with the Charlotte Hornets, where he averaged 6.5 points and 1.7 rebounds largely off the bench. He became a free agent at the end of the season. Should he end up back with the Warriors it would mark the fifth team that he’s played for in the past five seasons.

Advertisement

[Get more Warriors news: Golden State team feed]

It would also mark the first time that the Curry brothers will be together on an NBA team. Stephen has been with the Warriors for his entire career after they took him with the No. 7 overall pick in 2009. The two-time MVP and two-time scoring champ been a centerpiece in their dynasty run that won four NBA championships. He averaged 24.5 points and six assists last season with the Warriors while averaging a league-high 4.4 made 3-pointers per game.

The Warriors went 48-34 last season and fell in the Western Conference semifinals for the second time in the past three seasons

Golden State opens the regular season Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Source link

OTTAWA — For Ottawa Senators fans, déjà vu comes in autumn. When the leaves are falling, so are the Senators down in the standings.

Itâ€s only been five games with a 2-3-0 record: not terrible, but not good either. A gutsy late comeback win against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday complicated a “sky is falling†vibe in Sensland while allowing for a much-needed ray of hope.

Compounding a bad start on the scoreboard for Ottawa with losing Brady Tkachuk for six to eight weeks after thumb surgery is a massive blow to a Senators team that wanted to take the next step.

With a five-game sample to work with, let’s take a look at what’s concerning about the Senators’ slow start and whatâ€s not.

Bleak outlook with Tkachuk out long-term

If you take any team’s best player out of the lineup for a long time, the team will be significantly worse. Thatâ€s the case with Tkachuk and the Senators. Tkachuk is Ottawaâ€s best play driver, top scorer, and emotional leader.

There will be a clear goal for the Senators without their captain.

“We have to have that belief in our identity that the team is not one player,†said Lars Eller.

Tkachuk’s absence for now may be mitigated by Shane Pinto, who is on an absolute heater, leading the league in goals with six. Ottawa needs depth scoring in the absence of their captain, and when your third line centre is on pace for 98 goals that helps.

Even if Pinto scores 30, thatâ€s a big boost for a team that struggles to score with or without Tkachuk.

Coach Travis Green said after Thursdayâ€s game that he’s leaving Pinto alone because heâ€s so hot with his scoring touch. Hopefully, Green will have that chance with others soon, including Drake Batherson, Fabian Zetterlund and Dylan Cozens. Regardless, Ottawa will struggle to conjure up all of Tkachukâ€s firepower.

Goals against down a man count the same as goals allowed at even strength. If you canâ€t kill penalties in the NHL, your route to winning games and making the playoffs will be terminated. That’s happening in Ottawa: they’ve given up nine goals while shorthanded on 20 attempts.

The only time Ottawa’s penalty kill has looked good was against Nashville, going six for six while shorthanded.

“We saw a version of what we want to be, as far as being aggressive,†said Green about his shorthanded unit.

The hot topic in Sens land has been the team’s use of a diamond penalty kill formation. It was unsuccessful last season, producing the 19th-best kill — and now is second-last at a truly awful 55 per cent in the first five games.

Last season, the Senators gave up the seventh most high-danger chances on their penalty kill; so far this season, they rank eighth in high-danger chances allowed per 60 according to Natural Stat Trick.

“Thereâ€s been a few breakdowns. There’s also a few lucky goals that kind of found their way,†said Green about the penalty kill.

You make your own luck. Sometimes youâ€re unlucky because youâ€re bad.

The problem with the diamond formation is that players are planted in a zone on the ice: they are mostly playing the zone, not the man. Sportsnet.ca spoke to a former NHLer in the off-season who explained that “you donâ€t want to think, just play†when youâ€re on the penalty kill. A byproduct of the zonal marking has been that the Sens often cede possession to the best players in the world: the goal is to limit them to the outside, but give a player like Connor McDavid time and he’ll burn you. Match that with the half-second it takes for a Senator to make a read in the zone coverage. That happened on Thursday when Chandler Stephenson walked right into the slot untouched to give the Kraken a 3-2 lead in the third.

If itâ€s broken, fix it.

Chabot-Jensen are struggling

Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen were a revelation to begin last season, with stellar plus-minus and analytics up until Jensen hurt his hip in November. For the rest of the 2024-25 season, the duo was fine but not elite.

After off-season hip surgery, Jensen hasnâ€t looked the same, and the pairing has struggled. Theyâ€ve been outscored five to two, while having a putrid 38 per cent expected goals share. Itâ€s still early, but itâ€s worrisome that they donâ€t have the spark so far.

Senators need saves, but improvement is showing

It starts with Linus Ullmark, who allowed 10 goals on 52 shots in his first two games. But in his last two starts, he has rebounded, stopping 52 of his last 57. Ullmarkâ€s track record in Ottawa has been great highs and some lows. The middle ground still looks to be a good-to-great starting goaltender.

The Senators currently have a team save percentage of .818, which is surely not what they will finish with. It’s only five games, too. The good news is that Ullmark was exceptional against Seattle, making stellar save after stellar save to give his team a chance for a miraculous comeback. There are concerns after Ullmark admitted to less-than-ideal off-season training preparations, but heâ€s trending in the right direction despite an .862 save percentage so far.

Meanwhile, there is real cause for concern with Leevi Merilainen, who was dreadful in his first start against Buffalo on Wednesday, allowing seven goals on 30 shots. Ottawa bet big on the 23-year-old with just 14 games of experience heading into the season. Nevertheless, Merilainen has a great AHL track record and wonâ€t allow seven goals a game every start.

Give it time. The fact that the Senators are 2-3-0 with that poor a save percentage is a testament to the team.

One clear concern is that Ottawa has allowed the first goal in each of its first five games.

Donâ€t fret, because here comes some optimism after all that gloom.

Improved play at five-on-five

Last season, Ottawaâ€s Achilles heel wasnâ€t goaltending or even the penalty kill but the severe lack of goals at five-on-five, where the team finished second last. This season, Ottawa has been middle of the pack, averaging the 18th most five-on-five goals per game early on. But when you look under the hood, there is more reason to believe.

The Senators sit eighth in expected goals share at 60 per cent at five-on-five, while 11th in expected goals for per game at five-on-five. Against Buffalo and Tampa Bay, Ottawa didnâ€t allow a shot on goal at five-on-five for over 20 minutes. Impressive stuff.

“Our five-on-five game is close (to where we want it to be)â€, said Green.

Plus, Ottawa is tilting the ice with Jake Sanderson and Jordan Spence on the first and third defensive pairings, respectively, with over 58 per cent for Sanderson and 67 per cent for Spence in terms of expected-goals share.

If all the strong five-on-five play persists over a long season, the Senators will be in a great position to start finding ways to win.

• 
• 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

  Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

  Latest episode

They are poised to score more

The Senators have been unlucky, with the worst PDO at .916 in the NHL. Itâ€s a statistic that combines a teamâ€s save percentage and shooting percentage, used to suggest if a team is lucky or not.

In Ottawaâ€s case, they have created a lot of shots but havenâ€t scored with a low shooting percentage, while they’ve allowed many goals on few shots. In five games, you can sometimes lose three because of bad luck mixed with some bad goaltending. Over 82 games, you are likely to return to the mean.

In the NHL, with so much parity, the little details make the difference between fortune to misfortune. Ottawa could be on track for a year from hell, but more likely, they will prove to be a better team than they’ve shown so far.

Source link

With the 2025 MLB regular season behind us, itâ€s time to review what we learned from a fantasy perspective and how we can apply it to next year.

In the coming days throughout October, weâ€ll be breaking down the standout seasons, the breakout candidates, the prospects to know, and our early 2026 rankings.

Here are the other positions we have covered so far:

Weâ€re moving on to shortstop now though and in terms of top talent and volume of strong producers, there isnâ€t a more impressive group across the game.

Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani at the top? Our early 2026 Top 300 rankings highlight key fantasy storylines heading into the MLB offseason.

2025 POSITION BREAKDOWN: SHORTSTOP

ðŸŽï¸ STATE OF THE POSITION

This is absolutely, no-doubt the best position group in real-life baseball and fantasy alike. Littered with elite talent, shortstops accounted for two of the top-10 players, three of the top-12, and 15 of the top-70 players in 5×5 leagues according to FanGraphs†Player Rater.

At the top was an expected duo of Bobby Witt Jr. and Francisco Lindor, the stalwarts at this position.

Then, the rest of the first round picks here all floundered. Elly De La Cruz didnâ€t take a step forward and 30 fewer stolen bases made him take a step back in fantasy value. Gunnar Henderson never snapped all the way back after an oblique injury in spring training. A virus stole Mookie Betts†power and a broken toe not long thereafter sent his season into a spiral. This whole trio has questions to answer before 2026.

Shockingly, Geraldo Perdomo filled that void and played like a legit superstar. Heâ€s sure to get top-of-ballot MVP votes and was literally one of the best players in baseball. Anyone who spent a very late pick on him or scooped him off their waiver wire reaped tremendous rewards.

Jacob Wilson was the other huge, unexpected story at shortstop this season. He wouldâ€ve won the batting title if not for Aaron Judgeâ€s heroics and showed more power than anyone expected. It will be fascinating to watch his growth as a hitter.

Otherwise, Trevor Story and Bo Bichette each enjoyed huge bounceback seasons while Zach Neto and Jeremy Peña broke out in huge ways despite each spending ample time on the injured list. Corey Seagerâ€s slow start followed by some injuries of his own were too much to overcome for him though.

Then, what was expected to be an upside filled middle-class of shortstops mostly flopped. Nothing more needs to be said about Anthony Volpeâ€s struggles. Ezequiel Tovar spent much of the year out and wasnâ€t particularly good when he played.

Willy Adames looked like a cataclysmic bust until a second half surge saved his season. Dansby Swanson puttered his way to another 20-20 season despite some serious cold stretches and a poor batting average. Masyn Winn was an abomination at the plate. Xander Bogaerts wasnâ€t too good there either.

This season was a good lesson that shortstop is a position filled with tons of top-end talent, but you could be left scrambling if you miss on that top tier and try to find a value later on.

🆠2025â€s Top Five Shortstops

1. Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals)

.295 / .351 / .501, 23 HR, 99 R, 88 RBI, 38 SB

Witt was the top shortstop again despite not being able to measure up to his historically great 2024. A .332 batting average, 32 home runs, 31 stolen bases, and 234 combined runs and RBI from then pushed him to be the number one overall pick in many drafts. Those expectations make his final numbers from this season feel pedestrian. Yet, he turned in one of the most balanced stat lines in the league and led this hyper-talented position in a season that felt close to his floor.

2. Francisco Lindor (Mets)

.267 / .346 / .466, 31 HR, 117 R, 86 RBI, 31 SB

Even in his age-31 season Lindor did not miss a beat. He hit 30 homers for the third straight season and was one of seven players to go 30-30. In fact, heâ€s a short-term back injury in 2024 and one stolen base away from joining Barry Bonds as the only players ever to have three straight 30-30 seasons. His power and rate stats lagged a bit compared to last year due to an early summer toe injury and prolonged slump that followed, but all of his numbers wound up exactly where weâ€d expected them to by seasonâ€s end. This man is a baseball metronome.

3. Geraldo Perdomo (Diamondbacks)

.290 / .389 / .462, 20 HR, 98 R, 100 RBI, 27 SB

Respectfully, where on earth did this come from? Perdomo had spent the first few years of his career as a contact oriented, slap hitting shortstop who was best known for his silky smooth defense. Before this breakout campaign, his career-highs were six home runs, 47 RBI, 16 stolen bases, 30 extra-base hits, and a .718 OPS. He didnâ€t just improve on each, but blew them so far out of the water they seem comical looking back. If you play in a points based league, Perdomo was more than likely the top shortstop and one of the five or so highest scoring players overall. It was nothing short of a legendary breakout season which will lead to tons of questions heading into next year as to how much we should believe it and where he should be drafted.

Geraldo Perdomo entered today with 5.4 fWAR, the 7th highest mark in Major League Baseball.

He hit his 16th HR of the season and owns a 134 wRC+. He deserves more recognition for the season he is having for the Diamondbacks.#DBacks pic.twitter.com/FmdLMnl8gX

— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) September 2, 2025

4. Elly De La Cruz (Reds)

.264 / .336 / .440, 22 HR, 102 R, 86 RBI, 37 SB

Itâ€s a bit surprising to see De La Cruz as the fourth-ranked shortstop and 15th hitter overall in earned value considering the discourse that surrounded him. Yet, those are the high standards a player is held to after earning MVP votes in their age-22 season and rising up to a consensus top-five pick in fantasy drafts. Funny enough, the main gripe with De La Cruz was always that his high strikeout rate was untenable for what some considered an elite player. Well, he finally got that in check and whiffed at far fewer breaking balls in the process. He also did far less damage and itâ€s fair to wonder if he can ever marry his outrageous power with an acceptable contact rate or if heâ€ll be spending the next few years on this same see-saw. With that, itâ€d be nice if he could steal something closer to the 67 bags from 2024 to give this profile more of a steady floor. Thereâ€s also a growing trend that heâ€s a much, much better hitter from the left side compared to the right.

5. Trea Turner (Phillies)

.304 / .355 / .457, 15 HR, 94 R, 69 RBI, 36 SB

Turner turned in his best overall season as a Phillie that likely wouldâ€ve seen him in the top-three at this position if not for a hamstring injury that knocked him out for September. Still, he hit .300 for the first time since 2021 and stole 30 bases for the second time since then. His home run power appears to be gone though, a trend that has held up for a few years now and is matched by the fading of his underlying power metrics. There remains an avenue for him to stay near-elite through his 30s with a speed and contact-based profile, just without the gaudy ceiling that pushed him to the front half of the first round for many of the last five years.

📈 2026 Breakouts

It can be difficult to identify a “breakout†per se at shortstop because itâ€s the most established position in the league and littered with stars. So, for these breakouts weâ€re seeking players who were outside the elite group at this position and who have the skills to rise to near first round value after next season.

CJ Abrams (Nationals)

Still only 25 years old, Abrams has all the tools to be one of the leagueâ€s most dynamic players. He just lacks the consistency required to do so. Heâ€s learning to be a bit more selective compared to the free-swinger he came in the league as and can do more damage now than ever before. Maybe his on-base percentage or defensive ability rise enough to be considered a star in real life, but more incremental improvements to his swing decisions can push him to a 30-30 season with a high batting average. New coaches and a new philosophy in Washington could help him move in the right direction this coming season.

Zach Neto (Angels)

It felt like Neto was on his way to a truly massive breakout this year, but just enough of a step back in the second half pushed him outside the top-10 in earned value at shortstop by seasonâ€s end. That did come in 128 games played though due to some missed time with an early shoulder injury and late hand injury. Nevertheless, he played at better than a 30-30 pace and made massive improvements with his swing decisions to the point where that facet of his game should be considered elite. He also figured out how to go out and get the baseball, making contact far more out in front of the plate compared to 2024. Thatâ€s how he gets to so much power without top-end bat speed. With 30 homers and 30 stolen bases as something like the 50th percentile outcome, there are plenty of ways for Neto to jump up a level and be considered a near first round pick entering 2027.

📠2026 Prospects To Know

Konnor Griffin (Pirates)

To plant a flag in the ground, Griffin has a great chance to contribute at the major league level next season. If he does, watch out. This is the most physically gifted top prospect weâ€ve seen in quite some time and he could take the entire league by storm. Think on Ronald Acuña Jr.â€s level. Itâ€s plus-plus power, speed, defense, and contact ability with a howitzer for an arm for the five-tool Griffin. He just put up 21 home runs and 65 stolen bases with a .333 batting average and .941 OPS in his first season of pro ball. That wasnâ€t all in the low minors either. He skipped the complex league altogether and closed the season with 21 games in Double-A, where he didnâ€t miss a beat as a 19-year-old. Heâ€s the best shortstop in the Pirates†organization by far and should get a chance to show that if they are interested in winning baseball games.

This kid is ridiculous. Konnor Griffin homers again. He’s a teenager until a month into next season and he has a .971 OPS with 3 homers and 5 SB through his first 11 Double-A games.

OPS of nearly .950 on the season, 19 homers and 65 bags. Insanity. pic.twitter.com/mTbwWSX7HT

— Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) August 31, 2025

Kevin McGonigle (Tigers)

The number one prospect in the game on some lists over Griffin, McGonigle tormented Double-A pitching with a .919 OPS, 12 homers, and more walks than strikeouts across 46 games this past season at 20 years old. That type of pedigree and advanced profile gives him a great chance to debut early next season and he could become a fixture at the top of the Tigers†lineup immediately. Expect more of a hit over power profile off the bat though with more doubles than home runs until he finds his second gear.

Aidan Miller (Phillies)

Miller is unlikely to contribute at shortstop next season with Trea Turner still ensconced in that spot, but is too good to spend another full season in the minors. He just stole 52 bases and hit 13 home runs across 108 games at Double-A and closed the season in Triple-A at just 21 years old. Heâ€s never played an inning anywhere besides short in the Phillies†organization, but could easily mix in at second or third depending on what happens with Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott in what could be a turbulent offseason in Philadelphia.

Colt Emerson (Mariners)

An injury-riddled 2024 season dulled some of Emersonâ€s shine after tons of excitement during his first taste of pro ball in 2023. He made up for lost time this past year blazing through High-A and Double-A to get a late season cup of coffee with Triple-A Tacoma in September. Only entering his age-20 season, it wouldnâ€t be surprising to see Emerson spend all of next season in the upper minors. Yet, JP Crawford is entering the final year of his contract in Seattle and thereâ€s a world where Emerson forces the issue sooner rather than later. Be advised weâ€re still waiting to see whatâ€s expected to become plus power from Emerson though.

Leo De Vries (Athletics) / Jesús Made (Brewers)

Itâ€s worth mentioning these two superstar-caliber prospects despite them each entering their age-19 season because they have the potential to be that good and both reached Double-A this past season. Keep them on your radar for a late season call-up if everything goes perfectly again in 2026.

🔮 2026 Top 12 Shortstops

1. Bobby Witt Jr.: The hands down best shortstop in the league even if he canâ€t get back to that 30 HR mark. No question whatsoever that heâ€s a high first round pick.

2. Gunnar Henderson: An oblique injury during spring training set him off track, but expect a return to elite status.

3. Francisco Lindor: A baseball metronome who we can expect to go 30-30 once again.

4. Elly De La Cruz: Bet on talent and hope the stolen bases sneak back near 50.

5. Mookie Betts: An .828 OPS through August and September followed by a strong showing in the playoffs has me believing in Betts for next season.

6. Trea Turner: Calm, cool, and a near .300 batting average with 30 steals will come again.

7. CJ Abrams: 30 steals, 20 homers, and a .250 average feel like a floor at this point.

8. Corey Seager: Itâ€s foolish to expect him to play 162 games ever again, but heâ€s still a star-caliber hitter when on the field.

9. Willy Adames: Reports of his demise were overstated as he was an easy top-10 shortstop in the second half.

10. Geraldo Perdomo: It feels disrespectful to put him here after this season, but the other talent at this position is too much to overcome for what could be a volatile, batting average driven profile.

Source link

Three shots back of leader Shane Lowry after Thursday’s first round of the DP World India Championship is perhaps one of the most unlikely of competitors.

Rahil Gangjee, a 47-year-old from Calcutta, India, eagled the par-5 18th hole at Delhi Golf Club, rolling in a 60-footer from just off the green, to cap a 5-under 67, his best round on the DP World Tour since he fired 66 in the third round of the 2016 Hero Indian Open.

Gangjee, who played his final five holes in 4 under on Thursday, has now teed it up 26 times worldwide this year, mostly on the Asian Tour, Asian Development Tour and Pro Golf Tour of India. But this is just his second DPWT start in over five years. His last made cut on the DPWT was the 2019 Indian Open. In all, Gangjee has made 78 career starts on the DPWT while posting five top-10 finishes.

He’s currently ranked just inside the top 1,000 in the Official World Golf Ranking, at No. 946. He’d missed six of his last seven cuts before posting a T-3 last week at his home Bengaluru Open on the PGTI.

“I’ve only played this place a thousand times, so I’m not shocked the way I played,†Gangjee said. “But having seen my results in the last eight months, I wasn’t expecting it. Made some changes to my putting stroke, my putting grip. So I’m glad it’s working out. That’s all I can say.â€

Gangjee was born in Calcutta in 1978 and lived three doors down from his inspiration, Arjun Atwal. As a kid, he participated in swimming, hockey, track, horseback riding and choir, along with golf. As an amateur, he won three East India Amateurs and the 1997 Sri Lankan Amateur, and he attended Bhawanipur Education Society College before turning pro in 2001. That year, he earned his first card by finishing runner-up at PGTI Q-School.

He spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour, then called the Nationwide Tour, and totaled five top-25s. His highlight came at the 2011 Mylan Classic, where he aced a 316-yard par-4. He’s made just one PGA Tour start to date, at the 2018 CIMB Classic, where he was T-75.

Gangjee’s eight world-ranked wins include two on the ADT last year.

“Last year and this year has been totally different to each other,†Gangjee added. “I think I’ve just been really tired, not being mentally and physically present. But heading into this week, like I said, all I want to do is just have some fun, hit some shots the way I know how to hit shots, and I don’t really care – I’m saying it – but I don’t really care how this week works out. I want to just have some fun playing golf for once.â€

OTTAWA — Good teams survive the loss of their most important player.

The injury appears to have occurred on Monday when Predators captain Roman Josi slammed Tkachuk with a cross-check from behind, causing him to go awkwardly into the boards.

Tkachuk was irate, possibly a telling sign that he knew it was a significant injury right away. He continued playing but didnâ€t in the last nine minutes of the game.

According to Senators head coach Travis Green, Tkachuk will be out “a significant amount of time,†or, more specifically, a minimum of four weeks.

There is still no clarity as to whether Tkachuk broke his hand or wrist on the play, and whether he will need surgery. If surgery is required, recovery could be even longer.  Zach Hyman broke his wrist and dislocated it in May and wonâ€t return until November.

“At the end of the day, you canâ€t replace a player like that,†said Drake Batherson, who will make his own return from injury Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+).

You can fill the Canadian Tire Centre with all the clichés about what makes a great captain, and theyâ€d all fit Tkachuk.

The Senators will miss his goal production. Tkachuk has led or been second in goals for the Senators each of the last four seasons, including leading the team last season with 29 goals in just 72 games.

Then thereâ€s the fighting, sheer toughness and the not-fun-to-play-against component he brings to every game.

And theyâ€ll miss his passionate commitment to win: Leadership.

Itâ€s a massive loss, but the Senators have experience to lean on from last season when Tkachuk went down after the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Senators went 5-4-1 from late February to early April, good enough to propel themselves into the playoffs. During that stretch, Tim Stutzle had multiple different linemates, including David Perron, Batherson and even longtime AHLer Angus Crookshank. The Senators, always a stout defensive team, became even more suffocating, with two shutouts while allowing 2.73 goals per game, significantly lower than their season average of 2.93. Defensive, low-event hockey kept the Senators in games.

Ottawa will need to replicate that and more this time around. Luckily for the Senators, the schedule for the next four weeks is light, with only four of their 15 games against teams that made the playoffs last year. There are winnable games that should allow the Senators to pick up points without Tkachuk.Â

Tkachuk’s injury will shift the onus for offensive production onto Stutzle. Who will be his left winger?

The only natural left-winger the Senators have on their roster is Olle Lycksell, who has just one goal in his 46-game career. Not ideal.

Perron and Ridly Greig are the next two left wingers on the depth chart, with Claude Giroux and Fabian Zetterlund as other possibilities. The Senators donâ€t just need someone to step up and fill that spot to Stutzleâ€s left, they also need players on every line to step up their play.

But Green loves his options, and Tkachuk’s injury gives him opportunities to juggle. There are lots of moving parts, and thereâ€s no question Green will have a blender out to try new combinations, as he should.

The next month will be a real litmus test for Zetterlund and Dylan Cozens, neither of whom has yet to match expectations since coming to the Senators before the trade deadline last season.

In Zetterlund’s case, he has been playing on the right side of Stutzle and Tkachuk but is comfortable as a right-shot left winger. He has had great analytics with Stutzle and Tkachuk on the top line, but is still looking for his first point through three games this season after signing a three-year, $12.75-million contract in the off-season. Zetterlund has two goals and five points in 29 games with the Senators, including playoffs. Sometimes stats speak for themselves, but Zetterlund was once a 20-goal scorer with the Sharks, and the Senators are counting on him to do it again.

Similar to Zetterlund, there is a ton of pressure on Cozens to step up without Tkachuk. That was the case even before the injury. So far, heâ€s been fine and produced on the power play, but not at five-on-five. For Ottawa to become a great team, a lot rides on whether Cozens is the 30-goal scorer from three seasons ago or the player who hasnâ€t reached over 20 in any other year. Like with Zetterlund, if Cozens doesnâ€t score much with Tkachuk out, the Senators will be starved for offence.

Maybe Cozens is better as a finishing winger on Stutzleâ€s right side. Shane Pinto, who plays the more important matchups while producing more than Cozens, could slide into the second-line centre role.

• 
• 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

  Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

  Latest episode

Another option in the top six for the Senators is Batherson, who has been a consistent scorer, with three consecutive 60-point seasons.

Interestingly, Batherson hasnâ€t played much with Stutzle over the years, but he did unite with the German in the majority of games when Tkachuk was out last season. When the two were on the ice together last season, the Senators had a 57 per cent expected goals share at five-on-five. It could be time to reunite Ottawaâ€s two most dynamic players with Tkachuk out. Batherson might have the pace and skill to match Stutzle, if he’s fully up to speed after missing the end of the pre-season.

But the obvious solution to filling the hole on Stutzle’s wing could be hiding in plain sight. Giroux could return to the top line, where heâ€s played with Stutzle the past three seasons alongside Tkachuk. The elder statesman has looked as effective this season as last, by analytics and the eye test. The problem with moving Giroux is that this season the third line of Giroux-Pinto-Greig has been the Senators’ best unit. Theyâ€ve contributed three of Ottawaâ€s five five-on-five goals with an expected goals share of 63 per cent. It would be risky to break that group up.

Regardless of how Ottawa tries to make up for Tkachukâ€s absence with scoring by committee, the Senators are in a win-now mode. A regression to missing the playoffs would be a “disappointment,†owner Michael Andlauer has said previously. It’s still only Week 2 but if the Senators free-fall down the standings without Tkachuk, they wonâ€t get the reward of a high first-round draft pick this season due to the punishment for the botched Evgenii Dadonov trade (they were docked their first-round pick). The Senators have zero incentive to tank.

The Panthers could serve as inspiration for the Senators during this next stretch. They’re playing without their captain (Aleksander Barkov) and their Tkachuk (older brother Matthew) and thumped the Senators 6-2 last weekend. Theyâ€re fine. Ottawa is no Florida, but to even come close, the Senators will need to emulate the Panthers. Next man up.Â

Source link

VANCOUVER — It can get dark so early around the Vancouver Canucks that it feels sometimes like youâ€ve missed the clock change and itâ€s suddenly December.

Instead, it is three games into an 82-game National Hockey League season. But here we are again with dusk apparently closing in.

The West Coast can get wet and gloomy in a hurry once summer ends, but it has actually been a beautiful autumn out here, and Tuesday was blue-sky sunny and 14 degrees.

The Canucks, however, are 1-2 through three games and coming off TWO STRAIGHT LOSSES! And after last season — and especially after one of the most positive and encouraging training camps and pre-seasons in a couple of decades — that feels ominous.

“Just from everything, you know, thatâ€s happened the last couple years, it probably feels a little bit more urgent than maybe if we were a team that was in the playoffs last year,†Canucks captain Quinn Hughes said after Tuesdayâ€s practice at Rogers Arena. “But we haven’t deserved that right to kind of be 1-2 and say, you know, ‘We’ll be good.†We have to go prove it.

“There’s a mental challenge, sure. But it’s our job to be positive throughout the whole season no matter what’s going on. So we tried to have fun today at practice. Definitely, there’s waves (of ups and downs) and I felt it last night. But for myself, just be positive and bring your best every game. So that’s what I need to try to do, and everyone needs to do.â€

The urgency, usually a precursor to desperation and then panic, that always seems to lurk near the Canucks was ramped up by the holiday weekend losses, 5-2 Monday at home to the St. Louis Blues, and 3-1 Saturday in Edmonton against the Oilers.

The Canucks werenâ€t nearly good enough in either game. But as usual, in a market scarred by disappointment over many years and wary of being fooled again, emotions are outracing reality.

The Canucks were sloppy in both games, especially against the Blues, but were still in position to salvage points had they executed better at the end.

Their top players arenâ€t producing but, in most cases, have underlying numbers that are less discouraging than their point totals.

Hughes, for example, is stuck on a single assist and is minus-two through three games, but his expected-goals-for share at five-on-five is 59 per cent. Elias Pettersson has just one assist and three shots on target, but his xGF is 68 per cent. Conor Garland has only one assist but co-leads Vancouver with nine shots.

The Canucks need to finish, and their power play that surged through the pre-season needs to offer something better than 0-for-7. The team also must earn more chances with the man-advantage, and stop turning over pucks and yielding quality scoring chances when theyâ€re chasing games.

They need to play tighter and sharper, like they proved they could do in a pre-season that had them (and many fans) brimming with optimism.

• 
• 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

  Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

  Latest episode

“The thing for me,†goalie Thatcher Demko told reporters Tuesday, “is the things that have been lacking are things that are super correctable. We can address those things, and we have in video and things like that. But, yeah, those are easy things to fix. We had so much momentum going for us in the pre-season games, and I don’t think itâ€s going to take much to kind of get back to that level and have that swagger as a group.â€

And as for any darkness closing in for Game 4 Thursday in Dallas?

“I mean, I think no one’s talking about it,†Demko said. “I think guys are fine. I mean, if you guys (in the media) are chatting about it. . . I don’t know. But I don’t get that sense in the room, to answer your question. I don’t think there’s a panic level or anything like that. We know we have to address some things. Weâ€ve got to clean some things up, for sure. We’re not turning a blind eye to that. But I think that we’re the same group we were a week ago. I feel good about our group, and I think guys are excited to get on the road.â€

The five-game trip opens with back-to-back contests against the Stars and Chicago Blackhawks, then moves to Washington for a Sunday matinee against the Capitals, then to Pittsburgh and Nashville for games next week.

The Canucks canâ€t make the playoffs even with an outstanding tour, but they can ease the pressure around them and make things a little brighter.

“I think you have to have adversity throughout the season; I don’t care what team you are,†winger Kiefer Sherwood, the best Canuck so far, told Sportsnet. “You think we have a good camp and it’s just going to be smooth sailing? Like, that’s not how a season works. If anything, it’s good to go through growing pains earlier, so that we know how to respond, how we can grow, how we stick together and we learn from it. At the end of the day, it’s what you do with those losses that can propel us to more wins.

“We have to flip the switch from training camp mode and, you know, summer happiness to lock in here. Itâ€s going to be hard, and I think youâ€ve got to embrace the hard, right? You can’t try to avoid it. It’s a long, grueling season, especially with our (condensed) schedule this year, so we have to embrace it. The urgency has to be now. It canâ€t be 10 or 15 games in. We did this to ourselves, and now it’s time for us to move forward and, like I said, put our work boots on and grow from it.â€

 â€œJust rely on our teammates and rely on each other,†Hughes told us. “The guys in this room are going to get us out of it. I actually feel bad talking this much about it because I just want to go out there and play, and just let the actions (speak).â€

The first Canuck campaign by an 18-year-old in 35 years ended Tuesday at three games when centre Braeden Cootes was sent back to his junior team in Seattle.

“We’re proud of what he’s done,†Canucks coach Adam Foote said of the first-round draft pick who made the opening-night roster out of training camp. “It’s not been his play at all; he’s a smart hockey player. We just think it’s the right thing for his development. This is going to be a condensed, long, heavy season. And you know, we have a young team. . . so it’s hard to have a lot of support around him for his age at this moment. So I think it’s the right thing for his development.â€

In three regular-season games, Cootes did not register a point nor shot on net while averaging just 10:47 of ice time. At five-on-five, the Canucks were outshot 20-7 with Cootes on the ice and high-danger scoring chances were 10-0.

Clearly, Cootes isnâ€t ready for the NHL. Yet. But he was — is — a great story for them and one of the brightest pieces in the Canucks†future.

Foote said the team was recalling minor-league centre Max Sasson, who is seven years older than Cootes and probably would have made the Canucks last week had he been subject to waivers. Sasson could play Thursday in Dallas while veteran checking centre and penalty-killer Teddy Blueger gets close to returning from a knee injury.

Blueger and defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph (groin), who is on injured reserve, practised Tuesday in red jerseys but fully participated in contact drills.

Apart from swapping fourth-line centres, Foote said he was “leaning towards†playing Pettersson between wingers Garland and Evander Kane, while elevating Filip Chytil to a line with Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk.

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser
Kane-Chytil-Garland
Bains-Raty-Sherwood
Oâ€Connor-Cootes-Lekkerimaki

Hughes-Hronek
Pettersson (Jr)-Myers
M. Pettersson-Mancini

Karlsson, Blueger, Joseph

Source link

October 14, 2025

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT)

Singles started on Sunday, with top seeds in action on Monday. at the ITTF Pan American Championships in Rock Hill, SC.  Top seed Hugo Calderano won his first two matches 4-0 and 4-1 to advance to face USA’s Sid Naresh in one Quarterfinal matchup.  In the second section of the draw, USA’s Nandan Naresh fell to Nicolas Burgos and Canada’s Eugene Wang fell to Brazil’s Felipe Arado to set up a Burgos-Arado matchup on Tuesday.

In the bottom half of the draw Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes topped Puerto Rico’s Angel Naranjo 4-2 and Brazil’s Leonardo Iizuka defeated USA’s Jishan Liang – leaving Cifuentes and Iizuka to battle Tuesday afternoon.  And in the bottom section of the draw, USA’s Kanak Jha defeated Brazil’s Guilherme Teodoro 4-2 and Gustavo Gomez of Chile defeated Marcos Madrid 4-2 to set up the final Quarterfinal matchup (Jha-Gomez).

In Women’s Singles, 7 of the top 8 seeds advanced to the Quarters.  Top seeded Bruna Takahashi will face USA’s Jessica Reyes Lai, USA’s Sally Moyland will face Canada’s Mo Zhang, and USA’s Lily Zhang will face Daniela Ortega of Chile.  Second seed Adriana Diaz easily advanced winning her two matches 4-0 and 4-0.  Diaz will face Chile’s Zhiying Zeng, who upset Brazil’s Giulia Takahashi 4-0.

The Quarterfinals of Singles and Doubles will be played Tuesday, with Team events starting at the end of the week and extending into the weekend.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.

Share the post “Pan Am Championships: Early Action”

Source link

With a few players on injured reserve and some young prospects making some pretty solid cases to stick around for good, the Pittsburgh Penguins will have some tough roster decisions to make in the coming days and weeks.

GM and POHO Kyle Dubas made it clear before the start of training camp that the team would deal with the “ripple effects” with veterans if youth made a true push for the NHL roster. Now that it’s happening in real time, what can the organization do about it?

Of course, waivers are an option, and the Penguins were already unafraid to explore that option when they waived veteran defenseman Ryan Graves. But another viable option could be an early-season trade market for some of their role players.

It’s unlikely that one of their “big three” trade candidates – Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, and Erik Karlsson – will be shipped out early one in hopes of better return packages at the trade deadline for their best assets. But that doesn’t mean a smaller trade cannot occur early, as it did last season when Lars Eller was traded to the Washington Capitals in November.

With that in mind, here are some players folks can, maybe, keep an eye on.

Lizotte, 27, has proven to be a perfectly serviceable – and effective – fourth-line center for the Penguins since the beginning of the 2024-25 season. He signed a two-year deal last summer, and he registered 11 goals and 20 points in 59 games last season, which was a career-best pace.

The 5-foot-9, 176-pound forward may be a bit undersized, but he hardly plays like it. He is relentless on the forecheck, uses his speed, drives the net, and doesn’t shy away from contact. Lizotte would be a perfectly solid addition to any contending team’s bottom-six, even just to shore up some depth.

And – in case anyone forgot – there was a brief period last season when he saw a stint as the team’s third-line center, and he registered five goals and nine points in nine games. Lizotte is capable of elevating the offensive side of his game in the right environment, which is a valuable trait when considering his defensive contributions.

Lizotte is – likely – one of the easiest players for the Penguins to trade, and it might just make some sense for them to both get a passable return and make way for a younger prospect.

‘The Young Guys Are Coming’: 3 Observations From Dubas’s Pre-Season Press Conference
On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins opened their 2025 training camp with a few words from general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas.

To some degree, an argument could be made here for Connor Clifton or Caleb Jones, too. However, Jones’s two-year contract may make it a bit more difficult to deal him, and Clifton’s $3.3 million contract may hinder any trade without retention.

On the surface, dealing Shea may not make too much sense. If he is dealt, the Penguins would only have two actual left-side defensemen on their roster in Parker Wotherspoon and Jones. Although it’s not an ideal situation, both Clifton and Matt Dumba have experience playing the off-side, and they could also recall prospect Owen Pickering.

Even if Shea, 28, may only be a seventh defenseman on other NHL teams, he is still a solid depth piece at a low cap hit of $900,000 for just this season. He should be able to be part of a player-for-player swap relatively easily, should the Penguins entertain it.

WBS Penguins Start Strong, Take Both Games Of Weekend Swing
The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to a 2-1 start this season, and they have played a bit better than most had expected up to this point.

Dewar was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs – along with blueliner Conor Timmins, who was dealt to the Buffalo Sabres this summer – just prior to the 2025 trade deadline. And, since his acquisition, he has been a really solid fourth-line player for the Penguins.

He had four goals and seven points in just 17 games with the Penguins last season after putting up just three points in 31 games with the Leafs prior to the deadline. He had a great pre-season and has already registered a point in the first three games, and his defensive conscience as well as the energy he brings could probably help fill out another roster’s depth.

Dewar – like Lizotte – is a perfectly fine player to keep around, should the Penguins choose. He has been a good player for the Penguins in his tenure. But he’s also the exact kind of player who is blocking a younger, higher-upside prospect from the roster.

Two Injured Penguins Players Going On California Trip
The Pittsburgh Penguins will have a couple of their injured players with them this week in California.

Up to this point, Novak has only played in five games for the Penguins, as he was injured after playing just two games for Pittsburgh following his acquisition from the Nashville Predators at the deadline.

As is the case with the other players on this list, Novak has been serviceable in those five games. Sure, he plays a bit on the perimeter, and yes, he could be less shy about taking contact. But the 6-foot-1 center has barely had any runway to develop chemistry with any of his new teammates, and he has a track record of being a solid bottom-six player in Nashville with 49 goals and 117 points in 201 games there. He has also displayed some chemistry with youngster Ben Kindel.

But, again, should his roster spot be filled by someone like Tristan Broz or Avery Hayes, who are six years younger and may be part of the Penguins’ future plans? The argument can be made that the Penguins should hold off a bit on Novak to see if he can build some trade value.

But, once again, if the Penguins are serious about a youth movement, they need to consider all options for helping that come to fruition for deserving players, even if that means shipping off someone like Novak a tad bit prematurely.

It’s Only Been Three Games. But Kindel And Brunicke Should Be In Pittsburgh To Stay.
Going into Pittsburgh Penguins’ training camp this season, it’s safe to say that most folks did not have 2025 11th overall pick Ben Kindel making the NHL roster out of the gate.

Bookmark THN – Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab  to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!

Source link

Oct 12, 2025, 12:11 AM ET

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes are preparing for a long road trip with concerns about the status of defenseman Jaccob Slavin.

He missed a large portion of the third period and all of overtime in Saturday night’s 4-3 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers.

“He’s getting looked at,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’ll know more about his status Monday. He came up a little gimpy.”

Carolina begins a six-game road trip Tuesday night at San Jose. The Hurricanes will go more than two weeks before playing again on home ice.

Slavin, 31, logged less than 4 1/2 minutes of ice time following the second period Saturday night. He was on the ice for more than 20 minutes in Carolina’s season-opening 6-3 victory over New Jersey on Thursday night.

Slavin, who didn’t play in the preseason, has appeared in more than 75 regular-season games in each of the past four seasons. He had three consecutive seasons earlier in his career when he played all 82 regular-season games.

He’s a two-time winner of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most gentlemanly player. He signed an eight-year contract in the summer of 2024.

The Hurricanes beat Philadelphia on Seth Jarvis’ goal with 16.7 seconds left in overtime.

Source link