LHP Jose Castillo signs with NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines after being non-tendered by Mets

Jose Castillo is heading overseas. 

The lefty is signing with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the NPB after being non-tendered by the Mets last month. 

Castillo saw action with four big-league teams last year, but never quite stuck. 

He did three different stints in the Big Apple, the last of which was when he was claimed from the Orioles last month.

With the 29-year-old out of minor league options, though, the Mets decided to let him hit free agency rather than paying him the $1.7 million he was projected to earn in arbitration. 

Castillo's command remained an issue at times last season, but he did a good job limiting the damage, pitching to a 2.35 ERA across his 16 appearances in orange and blue.

Overall, he posted a 4.98 ERA and 1.68 WHIP in 29 outings on the season. 

He'll look to try his luck over in Japan next year. 

Keeping Up With The Abbotsford Canucks: November 2025

The 2025–26 season has not been kind to the Vancouver Canucks, but it’s been even less-so to their AHL-affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Abbotsford went through some pretty sizable changes to their roster during this off-season, moving on from Calder Cup Champions Artūrs Šilovs, Sammy Blais, Phil Di Giuseppe, Tristen Nielsen, Nate Smith, Christian Wolanin, Akito Hirose, Cole McWard, and more via trade and free agency. Fan-favourites Arshdeep Bains, Max Sasson, Linus Karlsson, Aatu Räty, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and more have earned themselves positions with the NHL club, while Guillaume Brisebois and Jett Woo have yet to return to their lineup due to injury. 

With all of this and more in mind, it’s not entirely shocking that Abbotsford currently sits at the bottom of the Pacific Division and near the bottom of the AHL entirely with a record of 4–13–3. The AHL Canucks have had to deal with injuries to not only their own lineup, but Vancouver’s as well (as the Canucks have also played a role in the depletion of Abbotsford’s roster). Here’s a bleak — but optimistic — recap of Abbotsford’s November. 

Stat Leaders 

Team Stats: 

Record: 4–13–3 (T-30th) 

Points%: 0.275% (31st) 

Goals-for: 38 (30th) 

Goals-against: 83 (32nd) 

PP%: 27.9% (4th) 

PK%: 67.7% (32nd) 

Points: 

Ben Berard: 5–7–12

Joseph LaBate: 6–4–10

Sawyer Mynio: 2–7–9

Nils Åman: 1–8–9

Ty Mueller: 3–5–8

Goaltenders: 

Jiří Patera: 2–2–1

Aku Koskenvuo: 1–2–0

Nikita Tolopilo: 1–3–1

C.J. Kier (EBUG): 0–0–0

Jonathan Lemieux: 0–0–1

Ty Young: 0–6–0

Photo: Kaja Antic-THN

Storylines 

The Goaltending Conundrum  

Just as Vancouver had a goaltending conundrum at the start of November, so did Abbotsford. With Thatcher Demko unavailable for the Canucks’ back-to-back at the start of the month, Vancouver ended up recalling Patera under emergency conditions, leaving the AHL Canucks with only Young for their game against the Colorado Eagles on November 7th. As luck would have it, Young sustained an injury that night, resulting in Abbotsford being forced to dress Colorado’s emergency backup goaltender C.J. Kier. 

With Young out, Tolopilo still dealing with an injury, and Patera up with the Canucks, Abbotsford brought both Koskenvuo and Lemieux up from the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings. Interestingly enough, it was Koskenvuo who snapped Abbotsford’s 11-game losing streak in his AHL debut, stopping 33 of 36 shots put on him by the San Jose Barracuda. 

Home-Ice Woes 

Abbotsford has had the most difficult time winning on home-ice since the season started (wins have been hard to come by in general, but at home, they’ve been even more difficult to grab). In eight home games throughout the start to now, the AHL Canucks have only managed one win. They have yet to win at home in regulation. 

While at the newly-named Rogers Forum, Abbotsford has only managed to score 13 goals, averaging out to 1.625 goals scored per home game. They’ve been shut out twice when on home-ice and have scored two goals or less in one game six different times. When it comes to goals-against on home-ice, Abbotsford is tied with the Texas Stars for the fourth-most allowed (38). 

Despite the bleak stats, Abbotsford has one thing going for them while on home-ice — their power play. The AHL Canucks currently lead the AHL in power play percentage while at home with a whopping 42.1%, nearly 10% higher than the next team in this category. With that being said, Abbotsford has also been given the least power play opportunities in the AHL when on home-ice, as they have only received 19 but scored on eight of them. 

Sawyer Mynio Has Had A Solid Start

In times when the AHL Canucks were suffering from roster depletion, it was Mynio who stepped up and provided solid play. With Victor Mancini, Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Tom Willander all on Vancouver’s roster at one point this season, Mynio became the AHL Canucks’ most heavily relied-upon defenceman in both offensive and defensive scenarios (alongside Jimmy Schuldt). 

During this span of time, Mynio was tasked with quarterbacking Abbotsford’s power play while also playing on their penalty kill. All this has occurred while Mynio adjusts to playing on the right-side — a position at which Abbotsford’s depth was paper-thin. For a 20-year-old AHL rookie, Mynio’s accomplishments so far have been impressive, especially considering the circumstances surrounding his team. 

What’s Up With Danila Klimovich? 

Having won the Calder Cup back in June, expectations were mixed for an Abbotsford team that was expected to lose many of their top players to NHL call-ups. That’s one thing that has happened. 

Even so, there’s still one AHL Canuck whose fate remains a bit of a mystery. The 2025–26 season is Klimovich’s fifth in the AHL, as he made the jump to North American pro-hockey immediately after being drafted by Vancouver in 2021. Since then, Klimovich has yet to make his NHL debut, with his entry-level contract being prolonged with every year he spends without making it. 

Last season, Klimovich had looked as though he could be turning a corner after scoring a career-high 25 goals and 13 assists in 65 AHL games played. It was a solid message to send after struggling with injuries the season prior. However, throughout the first two months of the 2025–26 season, Klimovich only has two goals and two assists in 18 games played.

Consistency has been one of, if not the biggest caveat in Klimovich’s game in the past. It appears this could be an issue this season as well. He went scoreless in the first 17 games of the year for Abbotsford, but then exploded for a two-goal performance in their 5–2 win against the Tucson Roadrunners on Saturday. While his lack of scoring consistency isn’t particularly for lack of effort, as he has the most shots on net of his team with 39, it’s something to keep an eye on from Klimovich as his fifth AHL season plays out. 

Up Next

After a November that only saw them return to Abbotsford for two homestands, the AHL Canucks will begin December with a four-game home stretch beginning tomorrow, December 2nd, with back-to-back matches against the Calgary Wranglers. They’ll also host their ever-popular Teddy Bear Toss on December 6th and their 5th Anniversary Game on December 7th, both against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The AHL Canucks will return to Abbotsford for one more homestand in December when they take on the Tucson Roadrunners on December 19th and 20th. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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Knicks’ Jalen Brunson not surprised by Immanuel Quickley’s success with Raptors

Immanuel Quickley just needed his chance. 

The young point guard was as a spark plug off the bench for the Knicks his first four seasons, finishing in the top-10 of Sixth Man of the Year voting twice. 

Due for a big contract, though, New York decided to ship him out of town. 

Quickley was traded to the Raptors alongside fellow RJ Barrett as part of the OG Anunoby deal nearly two years ago. 

The 26-year-old has taken full advantage of his opportunity since then. 

He missed some time to injury but established himself as a starter in Toronto’s lineup, producing 17.0 points and 5.2 assists over his first season and a half with the team. 

Quickley has been able to stay healthy to this point this year -- putting together 16.0 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.6 rebounds across the first 21 games of the season. 

Though some around the game may be surprised by the Kentucky-product’s growth, his former teammate certainly isn’t. 

“The way he’s worked on his game since I’ve seen him and even before then,” Jalen Brunson said. “Hearing about his work ethic and everything, nothing surprises me -- the way he’s been playing and what he’s been able to do has been great.

“This is the opportunity he’s been looking for and he’s been showing out. I have nothing by respect for him, that’s my guy. The way our relationship is we go out there, we compete but I’m always rooting for him.”

Quickly gave the MSG-faithful a blast from the past returning to the Big Apple on Sunday, finishing just shy of a double-double (19 PTS, 8 AST) while knocking down 50 percent of his shots (7-of-14).

He’ll face Brunson and the Knicks again next week in the NBA Cup Quarterfinals.

New York Rangers Will Miss Adam Fox All Over The Ice

Saying that the New York Rangers have had a subpar start to the season is an understatement.

The Blueshirts have a 13-12-2 record, and they sit 12th in the Eastern Conference. Rangers optimists will argue they're only one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second wild-card spot. However, the Penguins have three games in hand, so the Rangers have to hope that other teams ahead of them falter to climb back into a playoff position.

Unfortunately, the Rangers got bad news over the weekend when star defenseman Adam Fox was injured in a game Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fox was placed on long-term injured reserve with a shoulder injury that will sideline him from week to week. And the Rangers will be in tough to stabilize their play in their zone without Fox, who leads the team in average ice time at 23:50.

Fox and defense partner Vladislav Gavrikov are by far the most-used Rangers blueliners. Those two average more than four minutes per game more than Will Borgen and Braden Schneider. And Rangers coach Mike Sullivan acknowledged it won't be easy to simply slot in another D-man to replace the high-end performances the team has come to expect from Fox.

"Obviously, 'Foxy' is not an easy guy to replace for so many reasons," Sullivan said after practice Monday. "I'm stating the obvious when I say that, but we're going to put a game plan together based on the people that we have to try and set our group up for success."

That's far easier said than done. With 26 points in 27 games, Fox sits second in the NHL in points by a defenseman, ahead of everyone other than Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar. So while the Blueshirts will miss Fox's high panic threshold and elite ability to read plays in his own zone, his talent on offense will be missed the most.

Adam Fox Is A Huge Contributor To Rangers' Subpar Offense

The Rangers' goals-for average of 2.63 is the fifth-worst in the league right now, and three of the four teams below the Rangers in that department – the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames – are at the bottom of the NHL standings.

Thus, removing Fox's terrific offensive skills is going to hurt the Rangers badly – and that includes missing him as a key member of their power play. The next-highest scoring Rangers defenseman is Gavrikov, who has 11 points – less than half of what Fox has this year.

Having arguably the best goaltender in the NHL, star Igor Shesterkin, will help the Rangers on 'D.' The team allows only 2.63 goals against per game, which ranks tied for the fifth-fewest in the NHL.

The addition of Gavrikov has improved the Rangers' play in their own end, but on offense, Fox's contributions will be especially missed. There's no player Sullivan can insert into the lineup who will have a notable positive impact on offense the way Fox can be a difference-maker with the puck.

Fox's absence puts more pressure on the forwards to put up the points. Artemi Panarin was tied as the NHL's 10th-highest scorer in November, with 19 points in 15 games, and fellow forwards Mika Zibanejad, Will Cuylle and Vincent Trocheck recorded at least 10 points that month. They stepped up their games from October, when Fox led the way with nine points in 12 games and Panarin and Zibanejad hovered around half a point per game.

New York Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov (44) talks to defenseman Adam Fox (23) during their Oct. 20 game against the Minnesota Wild at Madison Square Garden. (Brad Penner-Imagn Images)

Rangers' Upcoming Opponents Include Top Scorers

Fox will miss at least 10 games and 24 days with his shoulder injury. Of their 10 opponents, only three rank in the top 10 for fewest goals against per game – the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche and Philadelphia Flyers. But five of them rank in the top 10 for most goals-for per game – the Avalanche, Anaheim Ducks, Stars, Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks.

That means the Rangers' defense will face significant tests in limiting their opponents' scoring chances so that they can do enough on offense without one of their top producers.

It's unlikely the Rangers have enough depth to handle the test on defense without Fox.

You can ask veteran Rangers defensemen Borgen and Carson Soucy to eat more minutes in the wake of Fox's injury. You can ask youngsters Schneider and Scott Morrow to take advantage of the additional opportunities Fox's injury will provide to them. Considering the Rangers' defense pairs that don't involve Gavrikov or Fox have all been outchanced this season, according to moneypuck.com, they don't inspire much confidence.

Fox was in the midst of a bounce-back performance this season. He should be back by the Olympics, according to ESPN's Emily Kaplan. But if the Rangers can't tread water without him, Fox's offensive resurgence will probably be for naught.

2025-26 NHL Fantasy Hockey Week 9 Primer and Pickups2025-26 NHL Fantasy Hockey Week 9 Primer and PickupsTarget top teams for maximum games. Exploit streaming opportunities and uncover hidden gems like Mats Zuccarello and Jared McCann.
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The ACC is trying to spark men’s basketball. A better showing in the ACC/SEC Challenge would help

The Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences are southern-footprint neighbors best known for different long-running strengths: the ACC with rich men’s basketball tradition, the SEC in football. As the third ACC/SEC Challenge begins Tuesday, the SEC is coming off a year with a record haul of 14 NCAA Tournament bids, two Final Four teams and Florida winning the national championship. The SEC’s rise has magnified that concern and presented the ACC an opportunity to help its case.

Panthers Recall Jack Studnicka From Charlotte Checkers

The Florida Panthers have recalled center/winger Jack Studnicka from their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. 

The 26-year-old has played in just eight AHL games this season, but has notched a goal and six points. Studnicka was a standout performer during pre-season, scoring four goals and five points in four games. 

The former 2017 second-round pick (53rd overall) hasn't had much success at the NHL level, but has amassed 107 games of NHL experience. In those 107 games, Studnicka has scored six goals and 16 points, doing so with the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks.

In his AHL career, Studnicka has scored 58 goals and 168 points in 233 games. 

The Panthers are dealing with several injuries to their forward group, those being Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, Eetu Luostarinen and Cole Schwindt. Prior to Studnicka's call-up, the Panthers had 12 healthy forwards, and Studnicka's arrival provides them with a ready player willing to step into the lineup if additional injuries are sustained.

Jack Devine has played five NHL games since his call-up, but he hasn't recorded a point yet and is averaging just 8:43 of ice time. 

The Panthers are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs. Currently, it's unknown whether Studnicka will make his season debut against the Maple Leafs. 

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Panthers' AHL Affiliate Sign Robby Fabbri To PTOPanthers' AHL Affiliate Sign Robby Fabbri To PTOVeteran winger Robby Fabbri has signed a PTO with the Florida Panthers' AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.

Flyers fall to Penguins as they lose key piece and the game in second period

Flyers fall to Penguins as they lose key piece and the game in second period originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Things went downhill for the Flyers on Monday night not long after Tyson Foerster went up the tunnel in pain.

The Flyers were rolled by the Penguins, 5-1, at Xfinity Mobile Arena. They also lost one of their top young goal scorers to an injury.

Foerster exited in a 1-1 game during the second period and did not return. He suffered an upper-body injury while unloading a shot on the Flyers’ second 5-on-3 power play.

After the Flyers came up empty, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust each scored power play goals to give Pittsburgh control of the game in the middle stanza. Rodrigo Abols and Sean Couturier were both whistled for holding penalties.

It was a massive momentum swing. Just 43 seconds prior to suffering his injury, Foerster tied the game on the Flyers’ first 5-on-3 opportunity.

Coming off an impressive 3-1-0 road trip, Rick Tocchet’s club did not have a good start to this season-long six-game homestand.

For a second time this season, the Flyers (14-8-3) had a three-game winning streak snapped. They haven’t won four in a row since Feb. 6-12 of the 2023-24 season.

The Flyers are 1-1-0 in their four-game regular-season series against the Penguins (13-7-5). The first meeting saw some blood boil late in a 3-2 shootout win for the Flyers.

• Dan Vladar made 22 saves on 27 shots.

With two goals, Crosby continued to torture the Flyers. He now has 59 regular-season markers against the Flyers, the most of any player all-time.

In the final frame, Tommy Novak added a third power play goal for Pittsburgh. Not even two minutes later, Kevin Hayes scored the Penguins’ fifth goal.

Pittsburgh netminder Tristan Jarry stopped 27 of the Flyers’ 28 shots.

• Despite coming off his first two-goal effort of the season, Matvei Michkov was the first player on the ice Monday at the Flyers’ morning skate.

The 20-year-old winger did a lot of work in close and around the net with assistant coach Jay Varady. After Michkov failed to score on a couple of attempts, you could hear his competitiveness take over.

“He wanted to work on the down-low stuff, the backdoor, getting the puck up,” Tocchet said. “It’s funny, he was getting mad at himself, but that’s him, he wants to look at other avenues of scoring. And that’s one of them he can be really good at.”

Michkov was right there battling around the net on Foerster’s goal. He didn’t have a point on the night, but he has looked so much more like himself over the last three and a half weeks.

The Flyers will need more of that, too, if Foerster is to miss time.

• During the first period, Blake Lizotte gave Garnet Hathaway a blatant shot to the jewels right in front of the Flyers’ bench. Hathaway had just finished a hit on Lizotte, who then retaliated with his stick.

The Flyers failed to capitalize on the ensuing power play. Nineteen seconds later, Crosby had them in a 1-0 hole.

• The Flyers are back in action Wednesday when they host the Sabres (7:30 p.m. ET/TNT).