Tamin Lipsey scored 14 of his 25 points in the second half to lead No. 16 Iowa State to a 96-80 win over Mississippi State on Monday night in a neutral-site game that was the 100th Division I basketball contest played at the Sanford Pentagon. Joshua Jefferson scored 18 points and Blake Buchanan had 13 points and six rebounds for the Cyclones (3-0).
Mathew Barzal, Islanders Recover For 3-2 Overtime Win Against Devils
NEWARK, NJ -- After blowing a 2-1 lead with just 4.7 seconds left in the third period, the New York Islanders came away victorious in overtime for the 3-2 win.
Mathew Barzal scored the game-winning goal at 1:17 of overtime, after a goegous give-and-go with Jonathan Drouin before he beat Devils' netminder Jacob Markstrom glove side:
Barzal. 180 feet of two-way overtime hockey. 🚨🚨🚨 #Isles
— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) November 11, 2025
Holy smokes was that fast. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/NFRAXX07Br
Ilya Sorokin stopped 33 of 35 for a win and has been electric over his last two starts. He stopped all 33 shots he faced in the Islanders' 5-0 win against the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Here's how the game unfolded:
It was a rocky start for the Islanders at The Rock, as just 38 seconds into the game, they found themselves on the penalty kill for having too many men on the ice.
The penalty kill was going pretty well before Timo Meier rifled one low glove side, as he was left unguarded from the slot at 2:12 of the first:
Reeled one in early. #NJDevils | @Mikes_Amazingpic.twitter.com/IJdTCM47Fm
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 11, 2025
But, have no fear Islanders fans as Horvat is here -- seemingly every game.
No. 14 continued his hot streak, beating Markstrom high blocker side at 6:55 of the second to tie the game at 1-1.
Horvat heater continues 🔥🔥🔥
— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) November 11, 2025
Team 🇨🇦??? pic.twitter.com/jt64EmkjjZ
Not only did that goal extend his point streak to six games (six goals, two assists), but that gave Horvat 12 goals over his last 13 games, an unprecedented heater for one of the best two-way forwards in the league.
Kyle Palmieri scored on the power play with 2:53 to go in the third, with Horvat notching career assist No. 300 on the play. Mathew Schaefer, who recorded the primary assist, now has 12 points in 16 games to begin his NHL career:
FOR THE LEAD!#LGI | @fordpic.twitter.com/OEEL1o4p7a
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 11, 2025
But, as mentioned, the Islanders couldn't hold on. With the net empty, Simon Nemec's point shot went through three Islanders' bodies, glancing off Jean-Gabriel Pageau and past Sorokin to tie the game at 3-3 with 4.7 seconds to play in regulation:
4.7 SECONDS LEFT! pic.twitter.com/LPCmpDj5r6
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 11, 2025
The Islanders will now battle the Vegas Golden Knights and the Utah Mammoth on Thursday and Friday respectively, as they continue on with their seven-game road trip.
Rangers' offense erupts in 6-3 win over Predators to snap MSG losing skid
NEW YORK (AP) — Mika Zibanejad scored to end a lengthy goal drought on home ice, Gabriel Perreault picked up his first NHL point and the New York Rangers used an offensive outburst to defeat the Nashville Predators 6-3 on Monday night for their first victory at Madison Square Garden this season.
Perreault assisted on Alexis Lafrenière’s goal a little over 24 hours after getting called up from Hartford of the American Hockey League. Artemi Panarin had two goals and Vladislav Gavrikov and Will Cuylle also scored, while Lafrenière had three points.
The Rangers matched their entire goal production from their first seven home games, when they were 0-6-1 and got outscored 23-6 before facing struggling Nashville. Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves, including a blocker stop when he didn’t have a stick early in the third period.
Juuse Saros got pulled at the second intermission after allowing five goals on just 12 shots, with backup Justus Annunen finishing it out in net. Despite Matthew Wood’s first career hat trick, which doubled his goal total in the league, the Predators lost a fifth consecutive game and for the eighth time in their past nine.
Zibanejad’s goal on a semi-breakaway off a perfect pass from defenseman Adam Fox midway through the first was New York’s first at MSG in 141:27, dating to Oct. 23 against San Jose, two home shutout losses ago.
Gavrikov scored his second with his new team with 1:53 left in the first to restore the lead after Wood tied it on the power play minutes earlier. Playing for the first time since Oct. 9 after missing the past month with an undisclosed upper-body injury, center Vincent Trocheck had the primary assist.
Up next
Predators: Travel to Sweden to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in Stockholm on Friday and Sunday in the NHL’s Global Series event of the season.
Rangers: Visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night, looking to improve on their league-best 7-1-1 road start.
Mathew Barzal's OT goal, Ilya Sorokin's 33 saves lift Islanders to 3-2 win at Devils
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Mathew Barzal scored in overtime, Ilya Sorokin stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced and the New York Islanders bounced back from allowing the tying goal to Simon Nemec with 4.7 seconds left in regulation to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Monday night.
Barzal scored 1:17 into 3-on-3 OT to get the win, not long after Nemec’s shot at 6 on 5 with Jacob Markstrom pulled for an extra attacker beat Sorokin to extend the game. Nemec’s goal was ruled good after officials spent a few minutes reviewing it.
Kyle Palmieri had put the Islanders ahead on the power play with just under three minutes left in the third period. Palmieri scored it off a rebound of a shot by No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer who has become the favorite to win the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.
Palmieri also assisted on Bo Horvat’s tying goal 6:55 into the second. The Devils had taken an early lead on Timo Meier’s power-play goal 2:12 in, and the Islanders did not have their first shot on net until past the nine-minute mark.
Sorokin could not be blamed on Meier’s goal after some tic-tac-toe passing, and he was screened on Nemec’s first of the season. He continued his stretch of strong play since getting some practice tips recently from coach Patrick Roy, himself a Hall of Fame goaltender.
Markstrom made 22 saves for New Jersey.
Up next
Islanders: Visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night to open a three-game Western Conference road trip.
Devils: Visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night to begin a stretch of five consecutive games away from home.
Could Nathan MacKinnon accomplish a feat unseen in over three decades?
The Colorado Avalanche have started the season on a tear, breaking franchise records seemingly every game. That’s the result of an offense as explosive as Colorado’s—relentless, fast, and skillful. At the heart of it all is Nathan MacKinnon, setting the pace and leading the charge, steadily etching his name deeper into Avalanche history.
On Sunday, MacKinnon notched a five-point night, including two goals, and in the process surpassed Peter Šťastný for third place on the Avalanche’s all-time goals list with his 381st career goal.
Maritime Hockey (@HockeyMaritime) on XWhat a performance from Nathan MacKinnon as he had two goals and five points in the Colorado Avalanche's 5-4 OT win against the Vancouver Canucks.
The 2013 first overall pick currently leads the league in both goals (14) and points (29).
#GoAvsGoThere is no shortage of superlatives to describe Nathan MacKinnon, yet even we’re beginning to exhaust the vocabulary. Entering the weekend, MacKinnon sat just behind young sensations Macklin Celebrini, 19, and Connor Bedard, 20, in the NHL scoring race. The 30-year-old’s response? A figurative “Watch this.”
Nate Dogg Is Hungry
Across back-to-back games against the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, MacKinnon delivered a masterclass, piling up four goals and five assists for nine points. Colorado dismantled Edmonton in a 9–1 rout, then outlasted Vancouver 5–4 in an overtime thriller—each night punctuated by MacKinnon’s unmistakable imprint on the ice.
Just when you thought the kids were pulling away, MacKinnon—carrying a noticeable chip—took a very on-brand chip out of Celebrini and Bedard’s early scoring cushion. If the NHL adopted a tradition from Major League Baseball, MacKinnon is in contention for the hockey Triple Crown. He leads in goals (14) and points (29). However, his 15 assists are technically tied for sixth best in the NHL, as Evgeni Malkin leads the way with 18 assists, Connor McDavid is in 2nd with 17, while three players, including Cale Makar are tied with 16 assists before we find MacKinnon with 15.
When you add it all up, MacKinnon is on track for a career-best season—an impressive feat considering he tallied 140 points in 2023–24, with 51 goals and 89 assists while playing all 82 games for the fourth time in his career. Though the season is still young, he’s pacing for 72 goals and 77 assists, totaling a staggering 149 points. For comparison, last year’s Art Ross and Ted Lindsay winner, Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay, finished with 121 points, but MacKinnon is showing early that he could go even further. Could we be looking at a sweep of the Art Ross, Ted Lindsay, and Hart Memorial trophies? The ceiling is sky-high for Nathan MacKinnon, but it’s just as high for the rest of his teammates.
The Avs Are a Scary Bunch
What makes the Avalanche even more intimidating, however, is their depth. It’s one thing to marvel at the offensive exploits of the Oilers, with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl typically posting astronomical numbers as a duo, but Edmonton is top-heavy. They can deliver some big bombs, sure, but they also leave plenty of openings for opponents to exploit—evidenced by their eight-goal loss on home ice just a few nights ago to this team, and back-to-back defeats in the Stanley Cup Finals the last two seasons.
Colorado is utterly stacked from top to bottom. You have two players in MacKinnon and Makar who are the best in their position. Forget the term arguably. It’s not even close right now. These two are the very best in their position and Martin Nečas, fresh off that eight-year, $92 million contract extension, give him a few years and maybe he’ll be in the conversation as the best winger in the NHL, but time will tell. And then you have to account for the rest of the team.
2022 Vibes?
15 different Avalanche players have found the back of the net so far this season, combining for a total of 64 goals. For context, the next closest team, the Montreal Canadiens, also have 15 goal scorers, but they’ve managed only 57 goals—showing that Colorado is not just spreading the scoring around, but also getting more production out of each individual through 16 games.
And of course, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have the Nate Dogg himself driving the puck up the ice like a man possessed and snapping goals and setting up plays from every angle imaginable. But when I look at this team, there’s a lot of similarities to the 2022 Cup team.
d (@avsinseider) on Xno championship win will ever hit as hard as the 2022 colorado avalanche winning the stanley cup. just goosebumps every single time i think about itThere’s that chemistry, the deep camaraderie, the genuine respect for one another, and a shared goal of becoming champions again. For many on this team, it would be their first taste of a championship, and for Brent Burns, a chance to cap his career at the very pinnacle.
MacKinnon Triple Crown Bound?
For Nathan MacKinnon, what could be more emblematic of supremacy than claiming the NHL Triple Crown? Only five players in league history have accomplished this rare feat: Howie Lorenz, Gordie Howe, Phil Esposito, Wayne Gretzky—who astonishingly achieved it seven times—and Mario Lemieux, who managed it twice. Even more remarkable, however, is that Gretzky alone paired the Triple Crown with a Stanley Cup victory in the same season, doing so three times in 1984, 1985, and 1987. In 1988, while Gretzky captured his final Cup with the Oilers, Lemieux captured his first Triple Crown that season, though the Pittsburgh Penguins somehow failed to make the playoffs despite his historical individual campaign.
But if MacKinnon can capture the Triple Crown, he’d be the first to do it in more than 33 years. And if the Avalanche capture the Cup this season, MacKinnon will enter hockey immortality.
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Luka Doncic underlines his 38-point night with monster dunk in Lakers' win
For once, Luka Doncic had to serve the punishment. For not hitting any half-court shots during his pregame warmup, Doncic had to drop to the court and give his coaching staff pushups.
The exercise seemingly powered him up for the two-handed dunk to come.
Doncic dazzled in the Lakers’ 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at Spectrum Center, scoring 38 points with seven assists, six rebounds and one emphatic third-quarter dunk to help the Lakers flush the memories of a blowout loss in Atlanta.
LUKA DUNKČIĆ pic.twitter.com/7zhLcXrBkk
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 11, 2025
Austin Reaves returned from a three-game absence with 24 points and seven assists while Rui Hachimura scored 21 points with perfect three-for-three shooting from three-point range.
Reaves, who was out with a right groin strain, announced his presence by throwing a lob up to Deandre Ayton for the Lakers’ first basket. After Charlotte (3-7) blitzed the Lakers with eight made three-pointers in the first quarter to take a 40-36 lead, Reaves answered by scoring seven of the Lakers’ first 10 points in the second. He gave the team a jolt of energy by racing for a transition layup to beat the halftime buzzer, giving the Lakers (8-3) a two-point lead.
"He's an All-Star-level player,” coach JJ Redick said before the game. “He's, along with Luka, an incredibly dynamic offensive player. I think our depth increases, the lineup optionality increases, so not having him in the lineup really, really hurts us.”
The Lakers went 2-1 in games without Reaves, but the 20-point loss to Atlanta on Saturday was so striking that Redick was left questioning the identity of his team. The Lakers looked lifeless. Redick waved the white flag by the middle of the third quarter after the starting unit let the deficit balloon to 25.
With Doncic and Reaves back, the Lakers wouldn’t repeat their third-quarter woes.
The Lakers started the second half with an 11-4 run that forced the Hornets to call a timeout. Reaves then assisted a three-pointer from Hachimura that pushed the lead into double digits. Doncic hit a stepback three to put the Lakers up by 12. Doncic’s assist to Hachimura extended the lead to 17.
A driving, two-handed dunk was the exclamation point, stunning the Charlotte crowd as he hung on the rum and screamed. With two dunks this season, he already doubled his total from last year.
Read more:Bronny James shows his improvement for shorthanded Lakers
Doncic assisted a Reaves three with 8:01 remaining in the fourth quarter and Reaves put up his arms and threw his head back in relief. He had missed his first seven three-point attempts and finished two-for-10 from three-point range.
Reaves’ return gets the Lakers one player closer to their full roster. LeBron James is scheduled to practice with the South Bay Lakers this week as he progresses through his return from right sciatica.
Rookie Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) is also nearing his return as Redick estimated the forward could make his NBA debut during this road trip, which continues Wednesday at Oklahoma City and ends with a back-to-back in New Orleans on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Solo Ball and Alex Karaban lead No. 3 UConn past Columbia 89-62
Solo Ball had 23 points and Alex Karaban added 20 points and six rebounds as third-ranked UConn topped Columbia 89-62 on Monday night. Tarris Reed Jr. had 19 points and eight rebounds while Jayden Ross scored 10 points off the bench for the Huskies (3-0). Miles Franklin and Blair Thompson had 10 points each for Columbia (1-1).
Two Hurricanes' Rookies Open Up About Recording First NHL Points
The Carolina Hurricanes’ 6-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday was a special game for two rookies.
Both Charles-Alexis Legault and Joel Nystrom picked up their first NHL points.
Legault recorded one goal and one assist, while Nystrom had an assist on the night, marking a memorable night for the two young players.
“You dream of scoring one since you've been a kid, so being able to get one tonight is a great feeling,” Legault said.
“Today, I got my first point, and I'm real happy for that,” Nystrom said.
Former Blackhawks Goalie Signs With Overseas Club
Former Chicago Blackhawks goalie Malcolm Subban is taking his talents overseas.
HC Dynamo of the Czech Extraliga has announced that they have signed Subban for the rest of the 2025-26 season.
Subban spent all of this past season at the American Hockey League (AHL) level with the Belleville Senators. In 24 games with Belleville, the former Blackhawk posted an 11-6-4 record, a .883 save percentage, and a 3.13 goals-against average. Now, with this latest move, Subban is continuing his career with HC Dynamo.
Subban spent two seasons with the Blackhawks from 2019-20 to 2020-21. In 17 games as a member of the Blackhawks over that span, he posted a 6-8-1 record, a .900 save percentage, and a 3.20 goals-against average.
Subban's time with the Blackhawks ended in December 2021 when he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for future considerations. From there, he had stops with the Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets, with his most recent NHL appearance coming during the 2023-24 season.
Athletics 1B Nick Kurtz wins AL Rookie of the Year award, Braves C Drake Baldwin wins NL honor
Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz was a unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year, and Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin won the National League award.
The 22-year-old Kurtz batted .290 with 36 homers, 86 RBIs and a 1.002 OPS in 117 games this year. The first baseman became the eighth rookie since 1901 to finish with an OPS over 1.000 while making at least 400 plate appearances.
A’s teammate Jacob Wilson was second in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America that was announced on Monday night. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony was third.
Baldwin, 24, stepped up for Atlanta after No. 1 catcher Sean Murphy was sidelined by a cracked rib in spring training. While Murphy was limited by injuries for much of the year, Baldwin hit .274 with 19 homers, 80 RBIs and an .810 OPS in 124 games.
Baldwin’s win secured an extra selection for Atlanta after the first round in next year’s amateur draft under the collective bargaining agreement’s prospect promotion incentive.
Baldwin received 21 of 30 first-place votes. Cubs right-hander Cade Horton was second, and Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin finished third. The balloting was conducted before the postseason.
Kurtz and Baldwin each get $750,000 from a pre-arbitration bonus pool, and runners-up Wilson and Horton each receive $500,000.
The Manager of the Year for each league will be announced on Tuesday, followed by the Cy Young Award winners on Wednesday.
Kurtz, 22, starred at Wake Forest University before he was selected by the A’s with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 amateur draft. The 6-foot-5 slugger began this season in the minors, but he hit an RBI single in his first big league at-bat on April 23 against Texas.
It was a sign of things to come.
He hit a solo drive off Dodgers reliever J.P. Feyereisen for his first big league homer on May 13. He belted four more homers in a span of four days that same month, including his first career multihomer game on May 21 against the Angels.
He had his signature performance on July 25 at Houston, becoming the youngest player in major league history and the first rookie to hit four home runs in one game. He went 6 for 6 with eight RBIs while matching an MLB record with 19 total bases.
Kurtz is the 14th unanimous selection for AL Rookie of the Year and the second from the A’s franchise, joining Mark McGwire in 1987. He is the ninth winner for the A's overall, sending most in the AL behind the Yankees' 10.
Baldwin was a third-round pick in the 2022 draft out of Missouri State University. He started on opening day for Atlanta and got his first major league hit on March 29 at San Diego.
Baldwin had one of his biggest days of the season on July 21, driving in six runs in a 9-5 victory over San Francisco. He went deep twice and finished with five RBIs in his first career multihomer game on Aug. 7, an 8-6 win over Miami.
Baldwin is the seventh catcher to win the NL honor and the second from the Braves, joining Earl Williams in 1971. He is the 10th winner from the Braves franchise overall, trailing only the Dodgers with a record 18.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Former Sabres Goalie Signs With New Team
Former Buffalo Sabres goaltender Malcolm Subban is on the move, as he has signed a one-year contract with HC Dynamo of the Czech Extraliga.
Subban was acquired by the Sabres during the 2021-22 season from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for future considerations. He played four games with the Sabres during that season, where he posted a 0-2-1 record, a .871 save percentage, and a 4.85 goals-against average.
Subban also spent the 2022-23 season with the Sabres' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In 39 games with Rochester that campaign, he recorded a 20-14-5 record, a .903 save percentage, a 2.94 goals-against average, and two shutouts. This would be Subban's final season with the Sabres organization.
Following his time with the Sabres, Subban made appearances with the Springfield Thunderbirds, Cleveland Monsters, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Belleville Senators. Now, he is set to play for his first international team by signing with HC Dynamo, where he should be a nice part of their roster.
Here's how our AL Rookie of the Year ballots played out as Athletics' Nick Kurtz was unanimous choice
Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports
MLB awards season is officially underway, with the announcement of this year’s top rookies Monday serving as the opening act in a week celebrating baseball’s best from the 2025 season.
The Athletics’ Nick Kurtz took home the Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year Award unanimously. His teammate, shortstop Jacob Wilson, finished second with 23-second place votes. The Red Sox’s Roman Anthony finished third in the race with three second-place votes and 15 votes for third.
Cam Smith finished 12th in AL ROY voting: pic.twitter.com/KsItJ9dsMD
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) November 11, 2025
Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin was also named NL Rookie of the Year on Monday.
This year’s Rookie of the Year ballot came with a new wrinkle, as it was expanded from three to five spots, affording voters the opportunity to recognize a few more rookies from the season that was. (For reference, MVP ballots have long featured 10 spots, and Cy Young ballots expanded from three to five in 2010).
Each award’s electorate is made up of two representatives from each of the 15 chapters of the Baseball Writers Association of America coinciding with the 15 markets in each league, amounting to a total of 30 voters. This year, two of the 30 voters for AL Rookie of the Year were members of our MLB team: Russell Dorsey from the Chicago chapter and Jordan Shusterman from the Cleveland chapter.
[Get more Athletics news: A's team feed]
While Kurtz’s unanimous award came as no surprise, considering how dominant he was at the plate, there were several other intriguing storylines among AL rookies that made the remainder of the ballot a challenge to fill out. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how Dorsey and Shusterman voted, and what motivated their support for the five players included on their ballots.
Jordan Shusterman’s ballot
1. Athletics 1B Nick Kurtz
2. Athletics SS Jacob Wilson
3. Red Sox OF Roman Anthony
4. Red Sox C Carlos Narváez
5. Royals LHP Noah Cameron
Russ Dorsey’s ballot
1. Athletics 1B Nick Kurtz
2. Red Sox OF Roman Anthony
3. Athletics SS Jacob Wilson
4. Royals LHP Noah Cameron
5. White Sox SS Colson Montgomery
Wow, Nick Kurtz is amazing
It wasn’t just that Nick Kurtz was the best rookie in the 2025 class, which he was. The A’s young first baseman was one of baseball’s best hitters. And while he burst onto the scene with his four-homer game against the Houston Astros on July 25, it was only the tip of the iceberg for the 22-year-old slugger. If you need to know just how absurd Kurtz’s season was, take a look at any advanced metric, including his eye-popping 170 wRC+ in 489 plate appearances. Kurtz joined MVPs Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge as the only players in MLB with an OPS over 1.000 this past season and got additional hardware for his outstanding season in the form of the AL Silver Slugger Award for first base. The A’s slugger showed that debuting in the big leagues less than a year after being the No. 4 overall draft pick was no problem for him. Kurtz capped off his stellar rookie campaign leading all rookies in home runs, runs scored, RBI, walks and OPS. — Dorsey
Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage might have rightfully stolen headlines as the most remarkable story from the 2024 draft class, but what Kurtz did at the plate in his debut season just a year after being drafted deserves ample acknowledgement as historic in its own right. Kurtz’s 1.002 OPS was the sixth-highest ever for a rookie with at least 450 plate appearances in a season, and he finished tied for fifth in the AL in home runs with 36, despite playing only 117 games. Kurtz’s peak came midsummer, when he hit an outrageous .395/.480/.953 across 23 games in July, headlined, of course, by his six-hit, four-homer game on July 25.
And while that epic showing was the apex of his rookie campaign, Kurtz hardly fell off afterward, demonstrating that his red-hot July wasn’t much of an outlier. From his four-homer game through the end of the season, Kurtz hit .271/.394/.530, good for a 154 wRC+ that ranked 11th in MLB over that span. While his sky-high strikeout rate and struggles against southpaws represent moderate red flags, this version of Kurtz is doing more than enough damage to warrant the whiffs and platoon splits. And considering he’ll turn just 23 before Opening Day next year, it’s entirely reasonable to think Kurtz will improve upon his current weaknesses and unlock an even higher offensive ceiling in short order, establishing himself as one of the game’s most feared sluggers for years to come. — Shusterman
G Fiume via Getty Images
Jacob Wilson vs. Roman Anthony for second
After a dreadful first half, the Red Sox surged to the second AL wild-card spot after Roman Anthony arrived on June 9, going 57-38 from then on. And with Boston looking for offensive consistency, baseball’s No. 1 prospect provided that spark. Anthony’s .396 on-base percentage jumps off the page, but the rookie phenom’s well-rounded game was impossible to deny, as he sported a .292 batting average and .463 slugging percentage before his season ended early due to an oblique strain.
What was tough about my second-place vote is that it was impact vs. body of work. Jacob Wilson was as consistent as any player in this season’s rookie class, and there was a time before Kurtz’s arrival when he was likely going to claim the Rookie of the Year Award. But what ultimately led me to vote for Anthony second and Wilson third is that I don’t believe the Red Sox make the postseason without Anthony’s spark and instant impact in the lineup. You could see that in the fact that the Red Sox weren’t the same after his injury. Wilson had a phenomenal campaign, but he didn’t raise the level of play for the A’s like Anthony did for the Sox. — Dorsey
The Red Sox indisputably played their best baseball with Anthony in the lineup, and they sorely missed him down the stretch and into October. And if we’re choosing which American League rookie I’d want on my team for the long haul, I’d take Anthony over Wilson, considering his significant offensive upside, and I’d even consider choosing him over Kurtz.
Ultimately, this award is about which players had the most outstanding rookie seasons, and I considered the playing time and positional difference to be a wide enough gap to give Wilson the edge over Anthony on my ballot. Wilson started 124 games at shortstop, while Anthony started 32 games in right field, 17 games in left and another 17 at DH. Even if Wilson’s glove didn’t grade out especially well and might eventually fit best at second base, that pure workload as a rookie at a premium position was meaningful, especially with Wilson also boasting a fairly compelling offensive résumé.
He finished tied with Bo Bichette for second in the American League with a .311 batting average, and his 13 home runs far outpaced both my and many evaluators’ expectations for his slugging output. Wilson might not hit the ball hard, but he has already demonstrated a knack for translating his elite contact ability into extra-base hits in a way that lends optimism that he can be an all-around offensive threat in the majors. Given their wildly different skill sets, Wilson and Kurtz are a tremendously fun duo for the Athletics to build their lineup around. — Shusterman
Don’t forget about Noah Cameron
In a down year for rookie starting pitchers, Royals rookie left-hander Noah Cameron separated himself from the rest of the pack this season. Cameron got an opportunity to pitch every fifth day in a Kansas City rotation that was beat up for most of 2025, and he made the most of his chances. In his first 13 starts, Cameron allowed more than three earned runs just three times, showing that he was more than capable of sticking in the rotation. While Cade Horton got much more love on the National League side for his contributions to the Cubs’ success, Cameron, who finished fourth in the ROY race with three second-place votes, deserves similar love for his body of work in ‘25. — Dorsey
In the wild-card era, before 2025, 18 pitchers threw at least 130 innings in their rookie season while recording an ERA under 3.00, including just four in the American League. All 18 received Rookie of the Year votes, with five winning the award outright and another seven finishing runner-up. Enter Cameron, whose 2.99 ERA in 138⅓ innings across 24 starts helped stabilize an injury-ravaged Royals rotation all summer — a large enough sample of stellar run prevention to warrant inclusion on my ballot.
Cameron was a delight to watch do his thing in 2025, a crafty lefty with two distinct breaking balls that graded out as elite pitches per run value, including a curveball that rated as one of the best of its kind across the league. While his modest peripherals and velocity indicate he might not have much more upside than what he demonstrated, Cameron still showed enough to suggest that the Royals could feature a terrific trio of left-handers in 2026 if Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic can return fully healthy. — Shusterman
Russ’ final pick: Colson Montgomery
The fifth spot on my ballot came down to two players who both deserved recognition. One was Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez, and the other was White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery. Narváez had the body of work on his side, and while being the starting catcher for a playoff team is one hell of an argument, Montgomery’s power production was hard to deny. The White Sox rookie hit 21 homers in just 255 at-bats and finished the season with a very respectable .841 OPS.
Montgomery’s season is in many ways similar to Gary Sánchez’s 2016 rookie campaign, in which he burst on the scene with 20 homers in 53 games. Sánchez owned a ridiculous 1.032 OPS and did it over the last two months of the season. Sánchez finished as ROY runner-up that season, and while that was too high for Montgomery in this year’s class, there’s precedent for a similar body of work being recognized. Also, while not known for his defense, Montgomery finished the season as a well-above-average defender at shortstop, with plus-seven defensive runs saved and plus-six outs above average putting him top-10 among shortstops in both categories. — Dorsey
Jordan’s final pick: Carlos Narváez
Montgomery’s power production, plus his surprisingly stout defense at shortstop, were difficult to overlook, and yes, he played the same number of games as Anthony (71), so the sample size on its own was not necessarily disqualifying. But in the end, I opted to vote for a catcher in Narváez who made an impact on a playoff team, emerging as one of Boston’s more unlikely key contributors after he arrived via a rare trade with the rival Yankees last winter.
Russ rightly pointed out how much better Boston played once Anthony joined the lineup, and Narváez had a similar effect over the entirety of the season: The Red Sox went 67-40 — a .626 winning percentage — in Narváez’s 107 starts behind the dish and just 22-33 otherwise. That’s mostly a reflection of his work as a defender, with Narváez rating as a plus blocker, plus framer and nearly unrivaled at controlling the running game while regularly receiving praise from his pitching staff as a worthy field general and game-caller.
And while his second-half decline at the plate resulted in a mediocre 99 wRC+ (.241/.306/.419) by the end of the season, even league-average production with a plus glove at catcher amounts to an immensely valuable player. In a season that began with substantial hype surrounding Boston’s top three prospects in Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, it was Narváez who emerged as Boston’s second-best rookie in 2025 and snagged a spot on my ballot in turn. — Shusterman
Buffalo Sabres forward Jiri Kulich to miss significant time with a blood clot
Oct 25, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Buffalo Sabres center Jiri Kulich (20) in the face-off circle against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gerry Angus-Imagn Images
Gerry Angus-Imagn Images
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Sabres forward Jiri Kulich is out indefinitely because of a blood clot, coach Lindy Ruff announced following practice on Monday.
Ruff didn’t provide any further details except to say it’s “pretty serious,” and that the second-year player will miss “significant time.” The coach said the team will have a better idea on Kulich’s status within three to four weeks.
Kulich had already missed three games with what the Sabres described as an illness.
The 21-year-old has three goals and five points in 12 games for Buffalo this season, and coming off a rookie campaign in which he had 15 goals and 24 points in 62 outings. He’s from the Czech Republic and was selected by Buffalo in the first round of the 2022 draft.
The Sabres are 1-2-4 in their past seven and travel to play at Utah on Wednesday.
Former Buffalo Sabres Forward Out With Injury
Former Buffalo Sabres forward Casey Mittelstadt is going to miss some time, as Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm shared that he is going to be out week-to-week due to a lower-body injury.
With Mittelstadt being one of the Bruins' top forwards, they are undoubtedly going to miss him while he is sidelined. Based on Sturm's update, the former Sabre will be missing a decent amount of time, too, as he is considered week-to-week.
Mittelstadt has recorded four goals, five assists, and nine points in 15 games this season with the Bruins. This was after he posted 15 goals, 25 assists, 40 points, and a minus-29 rating in 81 games split between the Colorado Avalanche and Bruins this past season.
Mittelstadt was selected by the Sabres with the eighth-overall pick of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. In 339 games over seven seasons with the Sabres from 2017-18 to 2023-24, he posted 62 goals, 124 assists, and 186 points. This included him scoring 15 goals and setting career highs with 44 assists and 59 points during the 2022-23 season with Buffalo.
Mittelstadt's time with the Sabres ended when he was traded to the Avalanche during the 2023-24 season in exchange for defenseman Bowen Byram.
Sun Belt suspends 13 players, including 1 for rest of season, because of postgame brawl between Texas State, Louisiana
A brawl broke out near midfield involving several players from both teams in the aftermath of Saturday's game.