There is sad news to report on Tuesday morning with the passing of former NHL forward Kyle Calder, who spent part of his career with the Detroit Red Wings, at the age of 47.
The daughter of former Blazer Kyle Calder (1998-99) has posted about his passing on Instagram. 47 years old. Played in Regina for most of his WHL career. Sad news to pass on. pic.twitter.com/nf3h0qpwcQ
Born in 1979 in Mannville, Alberta, Calder broke into the game with the WHL's Regina Pats before eventually being selected in the fifth round (130th overall) of the 1997 NHL Draft. He would continue his career playing with the IHL's Cleveland Lumberjacks before eventually transitioning to the AHL's Norfolk Admirals.
He would play several years as a member of the Blackhawks, which included a stint in the SHL with Södertälje SK during the 2004-05 NHL Lockout.
His time in Chicago ended in 2006 when he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Michal Handzus. As part of a three-team trade, he would be sent back to Chicago at the 2007 NHL Trade Deadline, who immediately flipped him to the Red Wings in return for Jason Williams.
Ironically, Calder's first game as a Red Wing took place in Chicago at United Center against the Blackhawks, and he scored a goal just 1:45 into the contest, converting on a centering feed from Johan Franzen.
He played in 19 total regular season games with the Red Wings, scoring five goals with nine assists. He also had an assist in 13 postseason games as Detroit advanced to the Western Conference Final.
Not retained by the Red Wings after the 2007 postseason, he signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings. He would spend time with both the Kings and the Anaheim Ducks organizations, and later played 13 games in the KHL with Barys Astana.
In 590 career NHL games, Calder scored 114 goals with 180 assists, and added two goals and one assist in 18 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
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Now that the Stanley Cup has been awarded, there is nothing left for teams to do except gear up for the future.
Next week, the 2026 NHL Draft will take place in Buffalo, and a few days later, the new league year begins on July 1 with the start of free agency.
There are going to be plenty of changes across the league landscape between now and Opening Night in October, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start predicting who is going to win the next Stanley Cup.
That’s right, official betting odds on the next Cup winner are out.
Checking in with BetMGM, the official betting partner of The Hockey News, the favorite to win the Stanley Cup didn’t even reach this year’s Final.
The favorite to win the 2027 Stanley Cup Final is the Colorado Avalanche, coming in at +700.
This year’s champion, the Carolina Hurricanes, are next at +750.
As for the Florida Panthers, they come in with the fifth-shortest odds to win the Cup next year, which isn’t bad considering the Cats didn’t even make the playoffs this past season.
For Panthers fans who are feeling confident that a healthy Florida squad will get back to their Stanley Cup winning ways, they can lock it in at +1100 odds, the same as the Edmonton Oilers.
Only the aforementioned Avalanche and Hurricanes, and the Vegas Golden Knights at +1000, come in with shorter odds than Florida and Edmonton.
Photo caption: Nov 30, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Mackie Samoskevich (center) celebrates with center Aleksander Barkov (left) and left wing Matthew Tkachuk (right) after scoring against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 31: Pittsburgh Penguins center Ben Kindel (81) skates during the third period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings on March 31, 2026, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
As the draft gets closer, let’s look back at the results for the Pittsburgh Penguins over the last 10 years. We’re going off of the look we took last year, to see what changes and developments have happened in the last twelve months that might have changed the way we see the draft now.
let’s see how the Pens have done recently in the draft.
2025
Grade: Incomplete (but hell yeah!)
One year isn’t near long enough to find deep meaning withing how an NHL draft went, but we still are including it to show what happened more than try and cast a critical eye at this point. For starters, getting a non-top 10 pick to play all season and be a contributing player is a unicorn occurrence, the Ben Kindel pick looks like it could be a very, very good one for the Pens. That alone will likely set them up for a good grade once it gets time to tell exactly what has panned out.
Beyond Kindel, it’s very much wait-and-see, which again is normal, expected and completely fine. Horcoff had a solid year in the NCAA, Zonnon turned heads making a seamless transition to the AHL in the playoffs and the rest of the many picks all had various degrees of success this season. There could be a few diamond in the rough hopefuls (Ryan Miller and Kale Dach are longshots worth keeping tabs on, for starters) and still plenty of time for the others to make their way. It’s early to make bold statements in any particular direction, but with that qualifier out of the way, the 2025 draft haul for the Pens could one day end up being very good. It certainly shows a lot of promise 12 months later.
2024
2025Grade: Incomplete (but trending nicely enough) 2026 Update: Yeah, that sounds about rightfor the time being
Brunicke became the rare teenaged defenseman in the NHL, though briefly and to spotty results. His future looks bright, especially after a great turn in the AHL playoffs. Several other players from this class like Howe, Pietila and Harding also completed modestly successful AHL seasons. It doesn’t look like a nearby NHL future is assured for any besides Brunicke, but considering that the Pens didn’t have a first rounder and only made two picks within the top-100, this is a so far so good situation for having a few decent prospects a couple years later. There’s enough going right at the moment that you don’t have to squint too hard to see several reasonable candidates for NHL action in the future, though it remains to be seen if any of them (besides Brunicke) will end up as important and long-lasting pieces of a future NHL roster.
Yager made his NHL debut for Winnipeg at the tail end of the season, but his overall prognosis is not looking very rosy at the moment based on underwhelming AHL stats. The Pens may have done well to trade him early on based on the post-draft developments, or lack thereof. (Of course, they’d be doing better still had they selected one of Matthew Wood, Samuel Honzek or Axel Sandin-Pellika, the next three choices off the board after they took Yager…)
Pieniniemi was just traded in what looks like a throwaway deal to move on from a young player after he failed to report to the ECHL at one point and held a virtual lock out for himself for a couple of months. Not unusual to see a third rounder flame out, but the circumstances around it were unfortunate to see that situation come to a resolution so quickly.
Ilyin had some nice moments in his AHL debut this spring and could well salvage this class, even if we include Rutger McGroarty as a stand-in for Yager, which he was as a prospect for prospect trade (McGroarty was drafted in 2022). The results from Pittsburgh’s 2023 picks is not looking like it’s going to create a lot of waves at the NHL level. At this point, you really need to see a big step from McGroarty in 2026-27 and Ilyin take a leap in order to get something out of it.
2022
2025 Grade: C- (with time remaining to improve the grade) 2026 Update: C- (with time starting to run out for the class)
Pickering had a very troublesome draft+4 that only saw him play in four NHL games and venture into the territory where he’s moving towards potential bust in a hurry. Next year will be big for him to sink/swim when it comes to his NHL prospects. The same could be said last year with some optimism but now is a lot more measured about what the possibilities are shaping up to be.
With that in mind, it looks like Murashov will likely be a one-man class out of this as far as candidates to play a major role as an NHLer for the long haul. (Plante and Devlin are in the NCAA with rights retained but not much pro projectability). Murashov has been a great AHL goalie and will likely soon get a chance to show if he has what it takes to make it in the NHL. Expectations around him have arisen monumentally within some segments of the media and fanbase, and not without reason. But it’s going to be a lot to live up to for him at this point. If Murashov becomes a quality NHL goalie, this grade goes up. Until then, it’s staying the same.
2021
2025 Grade: F (with a slight chance of improving) 2026 Update: Not much has changed
There was only one top-150 pick, so this class was likely always bound to be whatever Broz could develop into. He’s gotten right on the verge to see some NHL action but for one reason or another (sometimes due to him being hurt/sick when the opportunity was open), he’s only played one NHL game through his draft+5. Broz still has some intrigue and upside, but at this point he doesn’t look like a long-term difference maker either. Given the nature of this draft, a failing grade was almost bound to happen, so the harsh grade isn’t directed as a negative to the team so much as acknowledging the circumstances that occurred to make the result happen.
2020
2025 Grade: D+ (with slight chance to increase) 2026 Update: Moving to an F, for now
Clang provided the Pens with value when they moved him as part of the Rickard Rakell trade, and now he’s signed to a Swedish team after a few AHL seasons. Blomqvist has gotten stuck in the pecking order clearly behind Murashov. Blomqvist is a decent AHL goalie but hasn’t grown much beyond that to this point. The book isn’t closed on him helping the Pens at some point, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to be a major player either with Murashov and Arturs Silovs in his age range and firmly ahead of him.
Again, not much for high-value picks to work with so this is what it is. The curious decision to take goalies with both of the only two top-100 picks the team held was questionable then as it is now. It’s always good for a team to strategize taking the best player they think is out there, it might have been better if they tried to find a skater they liked for at least one of those picks.
2019
2025 Grade: D- 2026 Update: F
For all the hope that Poulin and Legare inspired, they have amounted to 19 games, 0 goals and two points between themselves. Even seven years later that is a bitter pill to swallow, following the expectations of developing some young talent. Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be and it wasn’t in this case.
Puustinen showed some flashes but didn’t have much staying power at the NHL level, and now the Pens have nothing from this draft class remaining in their organization with only the most modest of contributions to show from it (almost all of it at the NHL level from the seventh round pick). Disappointing result to end up with so little.
2018
2025Grade: I don’t know, maybe a C? 2026 Update: D-
The Pens brought Hallander back for 2025-26 to see what he looked like as a fully formed 25-year old, and the results weren’t that impressive before he suffered an unfortunate blood clot. He’s still under contract and might be a fringe player for next season if cleared to play but doesn’t look like much gained or lost either way. The best of this class was trading Addison when he had value to be a part of the Jason Zucker trade. Beyond that, another classic Jim Rutherford year of not prioritizing draft picks and ending up gaining virtually nothing out of the draft as a result.
2017
2025 Grade: F (or a 0 if we’re being really stern but accurate) 2026 Update: Yup
As written last year, “for the first time since the team’s initial two-pick amateur draft in 1967, the Pens produced a draft class that has zero NHL games played. None at all. Might as well have stayed home.”
Such is a risk with no first round picks and only two inside of the top-150. They weren’t set up for success in the 2017 draft and didn’t come close to finding any. Oh well, the banner will fly forever.
2016
2025 Grade: D+ 2026 Update: B-
Gustavsson’s rise into an NHL starting goalie, and a decent one at that, has changed my outlook about this draft class. If just grading that, you have to give the Penguins credit for mining a starting goalie out of a late-second round pick. (Perhaps less credit for trading said goalie less than two years later as part of the Derick Brassard deal, but that’s a different subject for a different day). Gustavsson did losing his starting job by playoff time to an even better goalie in Jesper Wallstedt but he’s turned into a very respectable player.
Considering the Pens again didn’t have a first round pick to make and little draft ammo to work with, they at least found one legit NHL player. That’s more than what they can say most other recent seasons.
The Athletic's Chris Johnston recently ranked the top 75 pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) in the NHL with July 1 rapidly approaching. Two Chicago Blackhawks were among the players ranked, as Ilya Mikheyev and Matt Grzelcyk made the cut.
Mikheyev was given the No. 31 spot on Johnston's pending UFA rankings. It is not difficult to understand why Mikheyev has made the cut, as he put together back-to-back strong seasons for the Blackhawks. The 31-year-old's solid secondary scoring ability and strong defensive play should make him a popular target if he decides to test the market this off-season. In 77 games this season, he had 18 goals and a career-high 36 points.
As for Grzelcyk, he landed the No. 67 spot on Johnston's list. The 32-year-old blueliner recorded zero goals, 12 assists, and a minus-9 rating in 69 games this season for the Blackhawks. This was after he scored one goal and set career highs with 39 assists and 40 points in 2024-25 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Teams looking for more defensive depth could consider taking a flier on the veteran defenseman if he reaches the market on July 1.
It will be interesting to see what kind of deals these two Blackhawks end up landing from here.
With the Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup on Sunday, the sports books already have lines for who they think will lift Lord Stanley in 2027.
The Colorado Avalanche, who were swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals come in at +750 while the Hurricanes are looking to repeat at +750.
The Golden Knights round out the top three, coming in at +1000.
The Philadelphia Flyers are not exactly widely expected to do what they did last season again in the upcoming season.
With a late-season surge after the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Flyers carried an electric run of form into the Stanley Cup playoff spot, clinching a berth in Game 81 and then eliminating the rival Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
The eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes put a commanding halt to that with a sweep of the Flyers in the second round, and that was the end of it.
Although those Flyers put up about as good a fight as you can in a series sweep, especially against a suffocating team like the Hurricanes, they have done little to improve their odds at a Stanley Cup of their own.
Now that the Hurricanes are officially Stanley Cup champions, BetMGM released its early odds for the 2027 Stanley Cup winner, placing the Flyers 17th overall at +5000.
At those odds, the Flyers are tied with the likes of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals, both of whom missed the playoffs and play in the same division.
Ahead of the Flyers are teams such as the New Jersey Devils (missed), the Utah Mammoth (Round 1 exit), the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings (swept by Colorado) and, somehow, the Ottawa Senators (swept by Carolina).
Admittedly, it is strange that the Mammoth, (+3000), Kings (+3500), and Senators (+1800) all have significantly better odds than the Flyers, who at least won a playoff round, even if it was against the Penguins.
The Senators, who lost to the same playoff opponent as the Flyers, showed nothing in their four games to justify such a massive gap between the two teams.
Out West, the Mammoth are probably about equal to the Flyers, and the Kings are annual pretenders, not contenders. At least the Flyers have some upward momentum.
With a strong showing at the 2026 NHL Draft and in free agency, the Flyers can easily position themselves to make such mediocre odds look short-sighted.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 05: Ilya Solovyov #7 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates against the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game on February 05, 2026 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Vitals
Player: Ilya Solovyov Born: July 20, 2000 (25 years old) Height: 6’3” Weight: 208 pounds Hometown: Mogilev, Belarus Shoots: Left Draft: Seventh round pick (205th overall) in 2020 by the Calgary Flames 2025-26 Statistics: 0 goals and 5 assists for 5 points in 14 regular-season games; 0 points in three playoff games. Contract Status: Signed through 2026-27 ($850,000 cap hit)
Story of the Season
The Penguins acquired Solovyov’s expiring contract in January by sending Valtteri Puustinen and a 2026 seventh-rounder to the Colorado Avalanche.
At the time Solovyov had skated in 16 games with the Avalanche and three games with the team’s AHL affiliate.
The trade came around the time Kris Letang was sidelined for two games with an upper-body injury. He suffered a fractured foot about a week and a half later that gave Solovyov a chance to slot into the lineup.
Solovyov spent most of his time in the regular season the bottom pairing with Connor Clifton.
He made his playoff debut in Game 4 as a substitute for Clifton on the right side of Ryan Shea. The Flyers never scored a goal with Solovyov on the ice, which was enough for head coach Dan Muse to keep dressing him over Clifton until the Penguins’ Game 6 elimination.
The Penguins re-signed Solovyov in May to keep him under contract for one more season before he hits unrestricted free agency in 2027.
Solovyov was traded to the Penguins on Jan. 20. He saw his ice time climb after the trade from 11:34 per game in Colorado to over 14 minutes per game in Pittsburgh.
Regular season 5v5 advanced stats
Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 11 defensemen on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 150 minutes.
These numbers come with the major caveat that Solovyov played just 14 games this season with the club. Within that small sample size, however, Penguins were generally excellent at generating scoring chances and poor at stopping opponents from scoring when Solovyov (generally paired with Clifton during the regular season) was on the ice in a sheltered role.
Solovyov is dealing with a limited sample, but he is a player that WAR sees some positive and encouraging signs for the minutes that he has played by being able to put a nice impact offensively and defensively overall in what he’s been asked to do. The goals and finishing will likely come down in time once he plays more, but it shows some tools. One possible issue is taking penalties, Solovyov was called for five minor penalties in 15 games with the Penguins (and three more in 16 games with Colorado), he’ll want to cut down on the amount of times he gets whistled for infractions relative to the small amount of time he’s played in the future.
Solovyov does have some power on his shots and as shown in the lower left chart, had the versatility to spend time on the left and right points during different stretches. He doesn’t have a lot of dynamic puck skills but that nice shot power could be part of the reason to get him into games in the future.
Solovyov’s skating is functional, he’s good in short areas and making pivots when needing to defend. His straight-line speed and acceleration is in-line with his 6’3, 210 pound frame to not exactly be thought of as one of the speedier skaters in the league.
Highlights
Solovyov assisted on a Ryan Shea goal in his Penguins debut on Jan. 29.
After extending Solovyov, the Penguins have Sam Girard, Ryan Graves, Parker Wotherspoon, Caleb Jones and Owen Pickering as some of the left-shot defensemen signed through next season.
With Shea hitting free agency and potentially set for a raise that could push him out of the Penguins’ pay range, will Solovyov be able to win a more regular roster spot in training camp? If not, he could be set to head into next season in a similar seventh-defenseman role to what Clifton (also a pending free agent) played last season.
Ideal 2026-27
Solovyov spent three seasons as a fringe roster player and part-time AHL player with the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche. His ideal 2026-27 season would likely include him earning a spot in training camp and playing his first full-time campaign in the NHL.
Bottom line
The Penguins saw Solovyov in a limited sample size and mostly in a sheltered role last season, but he served as a largely reliable bottom-pairing option when called into the lineup. There’s a chance a strong training camp could earn him a longer look at the NHL next season.
It’s well known that the Montreal Canadiens have one of the deepest pools of prospects in the NHL, thanks to years of high draft picks. One of their most successful prospects this past season has been right-shot defenseman Bryce Pickford. The third-round pick who was selected 81st overall by the Habs at the 2025 draft has had a season for the ages with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL.
On Monday, the CHL announced that Pickford had been named the defenseman of the year, thanks to an 83-point season, which included 45 goals and saw him finish the campaign with a plus-55 rating. No defenseman has scored more goals than Pickford in the last 40 years, and he’s impressed the Canadiens so much in the early goings of the season that he was signed to his ELC just before Christmas.
However, the news wasn’t all good on Monday, as The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler reported that the prospect may need shoulder surgery this offseason after playing through an injury this season. While this is definitely not good news, it’s impressive that he was able to perform the way that he has, considering the injury.
While Pickford has had a dominant season in the WHL, it’s important to remember that the step between that junior league and professional hockey is a steep one. Given where the Canadiens are in their rebuild, it will also be interesting to see whether they choose to let him develop or include him in a package for some immediate help.
Some would advocate that trading a right-shot defenseman when he has that much potential would be ill-advised, and it’s certainly not a course of action that would have been entertained back in 2022, but things have changed since then. The playoffs have made it obvious that the Canadiens need another right-shot defenseman, preferably one who can handle top-four minutes.
If the Canadiens aren’t convinced that David Reinbacher can be that player, they may need to go outside of the organization to fill that need. You have to give something to get something, as they say, and they won’t get an established right-shot blueliner if they do not dangle an enticing asset in front of a possible trade partner.
The New York Knicks celebrate with the Larry O'Brien trophy after defeating the Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA finals on Saturday in San Antonio.Photograph: Darren Abate/AP
The year of New York
Sometimes it’s just your year. When infectiously optimistic young mayor Zohran Mamdani was elected this past fall, there was a palpable vibe shift in the city. That’s not to say that there’s a direct correlation between the New York Knicks being NBA champions and the era of buoyant positivity permeating the city, but it’s also not to say there’s not one. Other American cities will, inevitably, have their moment in the sun again soon. But 2026 is the year of New York (someone get that memo to the Mets).
It may come across as condescending to you’ll get ‘em next time a group of professional athletes who were on the verge of a championship, but the it doesn’t feel like the San Antonio Spurs just squandered a golden opportunity. If anything, they far, far overachieved this year: it’s almost entirely unheard of for a young team to make it all the way to the finals in their first rodeo. The core of Victor Wembanyama (22 years old), Stephon Castle (21) and Dylan Harper (20) certainly took their lumps along the way, and lessons learned are often painful. But it’s not looking through rose-colored glasses to say that this Spurs team will be rodeo-ing for many seasons to come.
The Thunder are not inevitable
As the saying goes, that’s why they play the games. I’m old enough to remember nine months ago, when the Oklahoma City Thunder seemingly didn’t know how to lose and everyone in the NBA media ecosystem was talking about how they were going to cruise to a repeat championship. Flash forward to the present: where the formidable Thunder met their end against the pugnacious Spurs in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. Oklahoma City will absolutely be heard from again, and it wouldn’t be shocking if they wound up back in the finals next year. But let this be a lesson: in an era of parity, dynasties are best left labeled in hindsight, not prematurely.
LeBron shouldn’t retire yet
A 41-year-old with a beard full of grey being the guy to single-handedly backpack his team to a first-round playoff victory sounds fantastical. But there is one timeline in which it’s possible: the one with LeBron James. James has been asked about retirement relentlessly for the past several seasons, and the question is understandable. He is old enough that his own son is now his teammate. But he is, quite frankly, still too damn good to hang it up. When the Lakers found themselves without their top two scorers – All-NBA first-teamer Luka Dončić and guard Austin Reaves – the then-third option had to pull his cape out of the closet. He responded by dragging Los Angeles through the first round almost by force of will. Wherever James ends up next season, it simply cannot be retirement.
Everyone who has played any level of organized basketball has heard the same refrain: “We gotta play all 48.” But it’s rare that playing 46 or 47 minutes worth of high-level hoop comes back to bite you … anywhere besides the NBA playoffs. This year’s eventual champions, the Knicks, are that fact personified: clawing back from down 29 points in the second half of Game 4 to complete the largest comeback in NBA finals history. They knew what all great, connected, fearless teams know: it’s never over until it’s over. All it takes is, as captain Jalen Brunson put it after the Game 4 comeback, “chipping away”.
Steph needs help
Listen, maybe it’s just over. But Stephen Curry is still really, really good, and I for one am tired of watching him flame out in the play-in or, at best, the first round year after year. At this point, the 2022 championship feels like a fever dream. Maybe the answer is a 2024 Olympics-style reunion with old rival LeBron James. Maybe the long-rumored Giannis Antetokounmpo pipedream somehow comes to fruition. The Golden State Warriors are running short on time. They need solutions, and quickly. Otherwise, the flashes of brilliance Curry still delivers every spring will become increasingly fleeting, until one day they’re gone.
The Twitter DMs were real
Do we have concrete proof that the controversial, mean (and, if we’re honest, occasionally hilarious) Twitter DMs leaked earlier this season actually came from the keyboard of Kevin Durant? Not exactly. But the evidence is mounting. The most damning exhibit may have been the first round of the playoffs, where Durant’s Houston Rockets were bounced by a Lakers squad relying on meaningful postseason minutes from not only LeBron James Sr, but also junior. Death by Luke Kennard is a pretty scathing indictment all by itself. The Rockets were a walking reminder that talent and chemistry are not the same thing. They looked discombobulated and unmoored with or without Durant in the lineup, but they often seemed to be having a lot more fun when he wasn’t.
The Knicks won 16 of 19 games during their march to the title, but two of those three losses came in the first three games of the opening round. The opponent? A feisty Atlanta Hawks team that finally admitted defeat on the Trae Young experiment and embraced the future in the form of Jalen Johnson and his Most Improved Player running mate Nickeil Alexander-Walker. In exchange for Young, Atlanta landed the perfect veteran steward in CJ McCollum, who, as shocking as it may sound, was the only player in the entire postseason to consistently make the Knicks look mortal. Add in all that athleticism and depth, plus the No 8 pick in this year’s draft courtesy of the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Hawks should enter next season with a puncher’s chance in what promises to be a fascinating Eastern Conference.
Philly need to turn the page
Speaking of embracing the youth movement, there’s another team in the Eastern Conference that could stand to do the same. For a brief moment – around the start of the second round – it looked as though the stars were finally aligning for this moribund version of the Philadelphia 76ers. Joel Embiid looked like an MVP candidate again. Paul George didn’t look like a walking contractual albatross. Everything was clicking in a way that seemed to validate the grand vision that Daryl Morey had spent years chasing. Then the wheels came off. Morey is out of a job, and the underlying reality has reasserted itself. If there’s a path forward for Philadelphia, it probably doesn’t involve squeezing one more run out of Embiid and George. It involves turning the page, embracing the future, and building around Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe instead.
The Celtics should shake it up
There will be several coaches on the hot seat this summer. Joe Mazzulla, fresh off a Coach of the Year award, probably won’t be one of them. But he showed some serious warts in these playoffs – and, honestly, last year’s too – with his apparent unwillingness to stray from a three-point-heavy dogma even when circumstances demanded it. The pithy press conference quotes are cute and all. They become a lot less charming when your team keeps running aground on the same shoals every postseason. Beyond any tactical adjustments, the Boston Celtics have a major personnel decision to make. Jaylen Brown, the mercurial star who appeared to relish his months-long stint as the team’s No 1 option, may never have more trade value than he does right now. My takeaway? Sell high on Brown, and use the return to retool both the roster and the philosophy underpinning it.
There was a time, not all that long ago, when the blockbuster trade that sent Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns looked like a genuine win-win. While Towns didn’t exactly cover himself in glory during the title-clinching Game 5 of the NBA finals, that debate was settled this postseason. Randle once again proved more liability than asset when the games mattered most, while DiVincenzo will spend most, if not all, of next season recovering from an achilles tear. Meanwhile, Towns was indispensable during the Knicks’ march to the championship. He was particularly brilliant in Games 1 and 2 of the finals, helping set the tone for a dominant series victory and validating the gamble New York made when it acquired him.
Don’t make too much (or too little) of the regular season …
Somewhere between “the NBA regular season is irrelevant” and “the NBA regular season is the bible” lies a more nuanced truth: there is plenty to be gleaned from the six months between October and April, but none of it is definitive. Take, for example, the Detroit Pistons, who steamrolled the Eastern Conference for much of the regular season but carried glaring playoff-centric flaws that were obvious to anyone looking closely enough. Or the Knicks, who faced the opposite problem: a team that wasn’t blowing the doors off opponents during the 82-game marathon because it was clearly ironing out wrinkles in preparation for the 16-game sprint. The signs were there all along, not least when they captured the NBA Cup in December. On the other side of the ledger sat the Spurs. Their regular-season dominance over the Thunder turned out to be more than a curiosity; it was a preview. When the Spurs knocked Oklahoma City out in the conference finals, the warning signs had already been there for months. So by all means, take lessons from the regular season. Just don’t mistake them for gospel.
… and don’t trade for James Harden
There’s a famous meme, born from a scene in Arrested Development, in which one character asks: “Did it work for those people?” The response: “No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might ... but it might work for us.” That, in a nutshell, is the James Harden experience. Every few years, a different NBA front office succumbs to a kind of selective amnesia. Executives are charmed by Harden’s remarkably regular-season production and convince themselves that this time will be different. They willingly suppress the memory of the playoff shortcomings that have followed him throughout his career until, inevitably, those memories come flooding back in painful fashion. Then comes the disappointment. Then the trade request. Then the wheel spins again. I will never fully understand how the optimism persists, but the Cleveland Cavaliers became the latest franchise to learn the same lesson as so many before them: when the calendar turns to April, May and June, Harden simply cannot be treated as a dependable No 1 option.
There was one trait shared by the three best teams in the playoff field – the Thunder, Spurs and Knicks – they were run by smart, shrewd front offices. Their intelligence manifested in different ways. Oklahoma City and San Antonio largely built through the draft. New York took a more aggressive path, assembling their core through trades and free agency. But all three organizations excelled at the same fundamental task: roster construction. You may not have the Thunder’s seemingly endless depth. You may not have the Spurs’ lottery fortune. You may not possess the je ne sais quoi, culture and sheer stubborn resilience that powered the Knicks to a championship. But putting smart people in charge is one of the few competitive advantages available to every franchise.
You can win with a small guard
Becky Hammon is a brilliant basketball mind, a damn good coach and, unfortunately, the source of a quote that will live in infamy. “If your best player is small, you’re not winning,” Hammon said in 2023 while arguing that Brunson, listed at 6ft 2in, could never be a true No 1 option on a championship team. Given that Brunson now possesses both an Eastern Conference finals MVP and an NBA finals MVP trophy, it goes without saying that the take did not age particularly well. If the NBA teaches the same lesson over and over, this season hammered it home more forcefully than most: there is no single blueprint for superstardom. Brunson has flaws. Plenty of them. He is also one of the most outrageously clutch players the league has ever seen. The goal is not to find a flawless basketball demigod molded in the image of ames or Michael Jordan. The goal is to find a truly great player, one capable of leading a locker room and elevating teammates, then intelligently and relentlessly build a roster that amplifies his strengths. The Knicks’ radio broadcaster Tyler Murray captured it perfectly in his final call of the season: “The 2026 New York Knicks will forever be remembered as the team that proved no lead is too big, and no guard is too small.”
Fifteen-year-old cricket sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi blew his fuse in an India A game in Sri Lanka and pushed an opposition player after a heated on-field exchange.
HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 24: Rui Hachimura #28 and Jaxson Hayes #11 of the Los Angeles Lakers high five during the game against the Houston Rockets during Round One Game Three of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on April 24, 2026 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
While the Lakers are set to reshape their roster this offseason, there is something to be said about continuity as well.
Coming into this season, most expected it to be a sort of transition season from the LeBron James era to the Luka Dončić era. One of the primary objectives was to identify players on the team who complemented Luka and could be part of the next iteration.
Obviously, the team’s success changed expectations along the way, but the overall idea remains. The Lakers certainly got answers about who should and shouldn’t be around next year. The next step will be deciding who to keep and who to part ways with.
Two players who flourished this year, particularly at the very, very end of the season, were Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes. Both are set for unrestricted free agency but it looks like the pair could be prioritized by the Lakers this summer.
On Monday, Dan Woike of The Athletic reported that are believed to be internal free agents the team prioritizes this offseason.
The belief is that Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes are players the Lakers would prioritize bringing back as they try to best fit a roster around Dončić. And each piece of the puzzle the Lakers feel they need to add into their cap space takes up a slice that could go to James.
There is logic as to why the Lakers feel this way about both players.
With Rui, while there is plenty of discussion of areas his struggles, like his rebounding or defense, they don’t grow 6’8” forwards who are lights out 3-point shooters on trees. Even if he isn’t the perfect fit next to Luka, he is still a great one.
And even if things don’t work out, signing Rui to a deal and figuring out a trade later is a better option than losing him for nothing this summer.
As for Hayes, there is obviously the aspect of him being a solid rim-running center who has good chemistry with Luka. The friendship between the two, which led to Hayes actually getting a Slovenian passport, is also a factor.
That being said, he’s someone who has, more often than not the last two seasons, been unplayable in the playoffs. Even if he found a more suitable role as a backup big man, could the Lakers take a swing at another option in the backup center role?
It is that balance of continuity versus roster reshaping that the Lakers will have to grapple with as free agency opens.
New York Knicks owner James Dolan (center) celebrates with the Larry O'Brien trophy on Saturday night in San Antonio.Photograph: Ronald Cortes/Getty Images
The New York Knicks’ first NBA championship in 53 years may have been built on many things: Jalen Brunson’s brilliance, Mike Brown’s steady hand, a suffocating defense and a healthy roster when it mattered most.
According to much-maligned team owner James Dolan, it may also have required a little self-denial.
A video released Monday by the Roommates Show podcast revealed that Dolan urged Knicks players to consider abstaining from sex during what he anticipated would be a 10-week march to an NBA title, part of a broader appeal for sacrifice delivered shortly before the playoffs began.
“I had this idea that maybe you should give up sex for the next 10 weeks,” Dolan told players during a surprise speech to the team on 3 April. “The Spartans, they denied themselves, right, so they can have an edge. Get the edge.”
The remarks came as part of a lengthy address in which Dolan implored the team to seize what he described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to end one of the longest championship droughts in North American sports.
“This team can win it all,” Dolan said. “I don’t know if you understand what it would mean for you to win the championship this year. It would be life-changing for all of you.”
At the time, the Knicks had five regular-season games remaining. They would go on to win four of them before resting starters in the finale, then storm through the postseason with a 16-3 record, defeating the San Antonio Spurs in five games to capture the franchise’s first title since 1973.
Dolan’s comments have quickly become the most discussed portion of the speech, though the owner framed the suggestion as part of a wider message about commitment and discipline. He urged players to improve their diets, prioritize sleep and eliminate distractions during the playoffs.
“It’s not a long time,” Dolan said. “Sacrifice everything you’ve got these next 10 weeks to win that championship.”
The Knicks owner also acknowledged that any championship pursuit would require buy-in from players’ families.
“Go home, talk to your wives,” Dolan said. “Don’t tell them it was my idea. But let them know what this commitment is going to be like, and how they’re going to have to sacrifice too.”
“They were a little surprised, but the words hit,” a source told SNY.
Whether any Knicks players followed Dolan’s advice remains unclear. One person who apparently did not was head coach Mike Brown.
Speaking to the New York Post after the video surfaced, Brown said he had no intention of implementing the owner’s recommendation in his own household.
“There was no way that I could get that done,” Brown told the Post.
The speech was delivered during Brown’s first season in charge after replacing Tom Thibodeau, a controversial coaching change that Dolan also addressed during the meeting. He told players that Knicks leadership believed the roster was talented enough to compete for a title but needed a more collaborative approach.
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 15: Miguel Rojas #72 of the Los Angeles Dodgers rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the seventh inning during the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium on Monday, June 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tom Wilson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Rays have not always had the best of luck when playing on ESPN. A West Coast trip to Chavez Ravine on ESPN? Well, I was not expecting a great night. However, much to my delight, for 6 and a half innings the Rays went toe to toe, pitch for pitch, with the defending champs.
Unfortunately, the Rays lack of depth and early sloppy bit of defense proved to be too much against such a power house club.
Tampa Bay was able to strike early after Caminero laced a double off the wall, Ryan Vilade, the Rays left-handed pitcher specialist, delivered a 2-run bomb to give the Rays a rare early lead this road trip.
Vilade will probably never earn the trust to start against right handed pitchers, at least with any consistancy. He has his role against the small side of platoons. However, Vilade has truly made the most of his limited playing time off the pine for the Rays and has been a huge bright spot in the first half for the club.
Rays almost looked like the Rays of pre-June in the 2nd, with Nick Fortes laying down a slick sac bunt to move Austin Slater (single) and Cedric Mullins (walk) into scoring position. Taylor Walls followed that up with a second bunt, to score Slater and give the Rays a 3-0 lead. Against the Dodgers you knew runs were gonna be a premium, so the following inning was a true backbreaker for Tampa Bay’s chances.
Dodgers jumped all over Nick Martinez in the bottom half of the 2nd. Following a Mookie Betts double, Muncy hit a sharp grounder into the backhand glove of Aranda at 1st. Aranda was not able to field it cleanly, and a far too slow recovery and underhand toss to 1st later, even the not quite fleet of foot Muncy was able to win the race.
The very next batter, Tampa native Klye Tucker, delivered the game tying swing.
Following that swing, Tucker was not done taking the swiftly sinking Rays and handing them another few bricks to sink even faster. A 2-out Ben Williamson single attempted to drive in Aranda from 2nd to give the Rays the lead right back. Unfortunately, Aranda is very slow, did not seem to get a good jump, and Tucker made a perfect throw to get Aranda out by a country mile.
This was the closest the Rays would get to scoring the rest of the game.
On the other side of things, Nick Martinez had a gutty, gritty performance. It wasn’t his sharpest, and the Dodgers lineup has no breaks, but Martinez was able to keep the Rays in this one. 5.1 IP 5 hits, 1 walk, 6 Ks and most importantly just that one big blemish on the ledger of 3 ER. Hard to ask for more than that, and he gave the Rays that punchers chance for the mega upset.
Cam Booser would take the mound after Martinez departed, and was able to keep the score tied at 3s with two big Ks. Unfortunately, Kevin Cash ran out of arms.
To explain waht happened next you kinda have to look back to the previous series. With so many innings to cover, short starts, and poor appearances from Kimbrel and Sulser needing to be covered, left the Rays with very few usable arms left and fresh.
With the score tied 3-3, Cash had a real tricky choice. The contenders:
Cole Sulser: has been hammered nonstop in every appearance since returning from the IL and fresh off being chased for 4 runs without completing an inning just 48 hours prior.
Craig Kimbrel: would be three days in a row and the previous two days were ugly.
Garrett Cleavinger: 3rd day in a row
Casey Legumina: pitched two inning Opener the previous night.
Kevin Kelly and Brian Baker: both absolutely usable on back to backs but it’s the 7th and you are still tied so will need to cover the 8th and 9th.
So that leaves…oh no. Surely there’s somebody else? Yoendris Gomez isn’t still here? Nope, just Steven Matz. Welp, there’s a lot of lefties in the Dodgers lineup so I guess that’s something.
Welp, just ask the Blue Jays fans and Jeff Hoffman how fun it is to see Miguel Rojas up with the game on the line.
Matz somehow was able to pitch both the 7th and 8th and ONLY give up the game winning bomb to Rojas. It wasn’t pretty, he was getting hammered just foul, he was a boxer getting pummeled but standing still as the bell rings. Matz has given up a run in every appearance as a member of the Rays. Most of that was fine since he was a starter going 5-6 innings. As a reliever since he returned from the IL he has given up 16 runs in 12 IPs.
Despite the records, I don’t think anybody was expecting the Rays to be able to beat or even compete with the Dodgers right now. So, while it’s another loss in a long string of losses this month, to actually compete and make the Dodgers work and come within a lucky bounce here or there from stealing this one gives me some encouragement.
The Rays have banked a lot of wins. The AL is really bad. It won’t take much to keep afloat enough to convince Erik Neander to push some chips when trade season kicks off in a few weeks. Just got to endure a little while longer.
Peoria, AZ - February 18: Blake Hunt #39 of the San Diego Padres poses for a portrait on February 18, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
The San Diego Padres drafted catcher Blake Hunt as their Competitive Balance pick after the second round of the 2017 draft and signed him for $1.6 million. He had progressed to High-A Fort Wayne when he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays as part of the Blake Snell deal in 2020. He was with the Rays organization until he was traded to Seattle in November of 2023. In May of 2024, the Mariners traded him to the Baltimore Orioles.
Hunt was called up by the Orioles in July for one day but was not used. He stayed on the taxi squad for a month but was never promoted again. He was designated for assignment in January of 2025 then traded back to Seattle and optioned back to Triple-A Tacoma. For the 2025 season, Hunt hit .272/.368/.452 with eight home runs and 35 RBI with 15 doubles and two triples. During the season he was again designated for assignment, cleared waivers and stayed with Tacoma.
Hunt opted for free agency at the end of the 2025 season and was re-signed by the Padres to a minor league contract on Dec. 16. On March 2, in the Padres major league camp, Hunt suffered an oblique injury and was shut down. He started the season on the injured list and wasn’t sent out for a rehab assignment until May; he played in seven games with the ACL Padres for his rehab.
On June 3, Hunt made his Triple-A debut with the El Paso Chihuahuas and has played in eight games as the primary catcher for El Paso. In 26 at-bats, he had a 269/.375/.462 line with two home runs.
Spring expectations
At the start of spring camp, manager Craig Stammen stated that Hunt was the catcher they were looking toward as their number three catcher, available in El Paso as needed. His early spring injury pushed Rodolfo Durán into that position and the fractured toe to Luis Campusano gave that 11-year minor league veteran a chance to prove his worth. He has since contributed significantly to the Padres.
As a prospect with Seattle in 2024, Hunt was reported to have plus-power as well as a sub-two-second pop time behind the plate. At 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, he will easily be the biggest of all Padres catchers.
Blake Hunt gets his chance
Hunt, 27, is going to make his MLB debut after front-line catcher Freddy Fermin was placed on the seven-day concussion IL after being hit in the head with a bounced warm-up pitch from Yuki Matsui. Fermin has taken several direct hits to his facemask so far this season while catching. He had one previous concussion scare earlier this year but was only given a couple of games off.
The latest hit for Fermin required his removal from the game and further assessment indicated an IL stint was needed. Durán replaced Fermin on Saturday after his injury, and he started Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles in the final game of the series. Durán will start the first game of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals, but Hunt will most likely make his debut on Tuesday when Michael King has his next start.
With the debut of Blake Hunt, the Padres will have played host to the third member of their minor leagues making their MLB debut. Outfielder Jase Bowen, Rodolfo Durán and Hunt have all had minor league success without having an opportunity to play in the majors until injuries to Padres regulars have given them a big opportunity.
Hunt joins them and outfielder Samad Taylor as well as utility man Nick Solak in debuting with the Padres after the release of Nick Castellanos and injuries to multiple Padres regulars.
Miguel Rojas hits a pinch-hit home run during the seventh inning Monday. (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Miguel Rojas had practiced his dance moves in the Dodgers’ dugout Monday, long before he hit the go-ahead home run. Before the game, he strutted around, at one point even grabbing Dalton Rushing, decked in full catcher’s gear, to get hyped.
Rojas, who pinch-hit for Alex Freeland in the bottom of the seventh and homered to left, was more measured as he crossed the plate without any antics. His veteran steadiness never indicated that he‘d hit a pinch-hit home run only one other time in his career.
“It feels pretty good,” Rojas said. “It’s always a new day, a new opportunity that you contribute to win a baseball game. It’s pretty special, especially with this group that we have right here and the kind of season that we’re having.”
The Dodgers’ 4-3 win over Tampa Bay rid them of their middling road performance. The team split a six-game trip, capped by a Sunday loss to the Chicago White Sox, before returning home.
No one found more immediate success than Kyle Tucker, who temporarily put his .227 batting average on the trip in the rearview mirror. For how long remains a question. Tucker’s season so far has looked more like a teenager testing out their driver’s license: stopping and starting and stopping again. Yet everything seemed to be working when the Dodgers (46-27) beat the Rays (41-28).
“I would love to come back and do it again and make it consistent every single day,” Tucker said. “I guess, if it works out for one at-bat, it’s not like I immediately figured it out and everything is fine now. The important thing is, just try to do it every single at-bat. And, over the course of time — It felt good and everything. I’ve just got to try to do it again tomorrow.”
Of the five Dodgers who’ve played at least 60 games, Tucker has the lowest batting average (.239). Still, he battled in an eight-pitch duel in the second inning before taking a changeup 384 feet over the wall in right-center.
“It was nice,” Tucker said. “Mookie [Betts] did a good job getting that double in front of us, and [Max] Muncy was able to leg that single out. I just had an opportunity, and sitting on the ball right there was huge. Nice swing.”
His home run tied the score at three apiece, and Tucker wasn’t finished.
The next inning, the Rays’ Ben Williamson hit a two-out single to Tucker in right field, and Tampa’s Jonathan Aranda darted around third toward home. Tucker lasered a ball to Rushing, who tagged Aranda out on the slide.
“We play so many games that it can get frustrating,” Tucker said of the season’s ups and downs. “You’ve just gotta try to move on to the next batter or the next game and do your best with that. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
Miguel Rojas acknowledges the bullpen after homering in the seventh inning. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
The defensive play helped buoy an otherwise precarious start by pitcher Eric Lauer. The left-hander had been undefeated in three starts with the Dodgers, a large departure from the 1-5 record he had with the Toronto Blue Jays. After starting his year with a 6.69 ERA, Lauer had recorded a 2.76 mark with the Dodgers.
But inconsistencies plagued Lauer’s start, ranging from the three earned runs he gave up in the first two innings to a pitch clock violation in the fourth. While Lauer eventually settled, the command of his fastball remained absent. He normally crosses the strike zone with 53.7% accuracy on his fastball, getting batters to chase about 37% of the time. In the series opener, Lauer threw his four-seamer in the zone only 42% of the time, cutting his chase rate to 23%.
In other words, the best pitch in Lauer’s arsenal became one of his worst, and the Rays took advantage. Junior Caminero doubled in the first inning, and Ryan Vilade followed with a home run on a cutter, silencing a sold-out Dodger Stadium before the game could even heat up. The Rays tacked on another run on a safety squeeze, taking the lead until Tucker’s home run. Lauer finished after six innings, giving up the three earned runs, six hits and three walks, striking out four.
“The toughest inning for starters is that first inning, to get the flow of the game and to get the feel of what’s working, what’s not,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “My challenge [to Lauer] was to have that reliever mindset from the outset and be more on the attack and not feel your way into the game.”
Tampa Bay starter Nick Martinez fared about as well. The right-hander lasted 5-1/3 innings of three-run baseball, striking out six and walking one.
While there was movement on the bases for both starters, the game lulled until the seventh. A couple of feet separated Rushing’s foul ball from a home run. Reliever Steven Matz didn’t get so lucky with Rojas, who delivered his first homer since April 20.
Rojas acknowledged that pinch-hitting has been a challenge to adapt to, locating the pitches he can do the most damage on and putting together good at-bats in big moments. “I’ve never been a really good pinch-hitter,” he said.
After consulting with players such as Jason Heyward and Chase Utley and his former Venezuelan winter ball teammates, Rojas said he feels his mentality has changed and he’s been able to capitalize on more mistakes.
“The mentality for us bench players is to be the best players off the bench [in] the league,” Rojas said.
Espinal to be DFA’d
To make room for Tommy Edman on Tuesday’s roster in his return after he underwent ankle surgery over the winter, the Dodgers will designate Santiago Espinal for assignment. Espinal had returned to the roster May 29 after being DFA’d that month. He went five for eight on the trip but didn’t play Monday.
“[Espinal] has been great for us, but the fit right now with our ballclub just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Roberts said.
