Drafted fifth overall in 2010, DeMarcus Cousins has been playing overseas since his last NBA appearances in the 2021–22 season with Denver and Milwaukee.Photograph: Gene Wang/Getty Images
DeMarcus Cousins was ejected from a game in Puerto Rico on Monday night after a heated confrontation with a courtside fan and a hostile exit that nearly escalated into chaos.
The 34-year-old former NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist, now playing for Mets de Guaynabo in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), got into a verbal altercation with a fan during a timeout in the fourth quarter.
Video shows Cousins grabbing his crotch at the fan, who responded by flipping him off. Cousins then appeared to lunge at the man before teammates stepped in.
Officials ejected Cousins, but the situation worsened as he left the court. Fans booed and threw drinks and food as Cousins shouted back and flipped his middle finger at the crowd.
#BSNPR | [VÍDEO]: Así fue que comenzó la situación de Demarcus Cousins cuando un fanático comenzó a tener una discusión con el jugador desde las gradas.
At one point, Cousins lunged toward the stands and had to be physically restrained by teammates and security. The moment drew instant comparisons to the infamous Malice at the Palace incident in 2004, though no further violence occurred.
Security eventually escorted Cousins to the locker room, soaked in beer and visibly agitated.
No formal discipline had been announced as of Tuesday. BSN officials are reviewing the incident.
Cousins returned to Guaynabo this season after playing in Taiwan and Mongolia. He first joined the Mets in 2023.
Drafted fifth overall in 2010, Cousins was a dominant NBA big man for much of the 2010s. He averaged 19.6 points and 10.2 rebounds over 11 seasons and made four straight All-Star teams.
Injuries, including a torn achilles and ACL, derailed his career. His last NBA appearances came in the 2021–22 season with Denver and Milwaukee.
Since then, Cousins has continued playing internationally. His return to the BSN this year was seen as a chance to revive his profile.
That opportunity may now be in jeopardy. The Mets have not commented on whether Cousins will face further punishment or remain with the team. BSN president Ricardo Dalmau is expected to address the matter this week.
The NHL offseason is in full swing as the finish line on the Stanley Cup Final is now within sight after three games. The NHL Combine is in the books, the Gold Star prospect showcase is a week and a half away, the Draft is just over two weeks away, and free agency will begin on July 1.
The salary cap ceiling is expected to increase significantly from $88 million in 2024-25 to $95.5 million in 2025-26 and is projected to continue rising year after year for the next few years. Teams are now in positions foreign to them when compared to the last handful of seasons, as now the majority of NHL clubs have considerable cap space to spend.
The most high-profile pending unrestricted free agent on the market is Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, and he may be one of the most prolific free agents in NHL history.
With the increased number of teams now able to afford Marner’s projected cap hit (7 years, $12,952,528 AAV), most of the league has been speculated as having interest in the 28-year-old, 100-point-producing former Selke finalist.
James Mirtle of The Athletic recently wrote about the nine most intriguing teams in the NHL heading into the offseason, citing the Anaheim Ducks as one of the nine. After making a considerable jump in the standings (59 points to 80), seeing the future core become the current core, and the hiring of Joel Quenneville as head coach, Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek has been given the green light by ownership to spend big in free agency—to the salary cap ceiling, if necessary—and the mandate to make the playoffs in 2025-26 after seven consecutive seasons on the outside looking in.
Mirtle reported “chatter” around the draft combine indicating the Ducks will send an offer Marner’s way that would make him the highest-paid player in the NHL, should he choose to sign it.
“Some of the chatter is that (the Ducks will) potentially be the high bidder for Mitch Marner, with an unheard-of average annual value north of the $14 million that Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl currently makes as the NHL’s highest-paid player,” Mirtle wrote.
The Ducks were notably rejected by a pair of unrestricted free agents—Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault—in the summer of 2024 after reportedly offering them each more term and AAV than they ended up signing for with the Nashville Predators. It seems the Ducks are preparing themselves to return to the table this summer as the NHL’s high bidder, this time hoping to reel in a bigger, younger fish.
The Ducks aren’t as close to contending for the Stanley Cup as some of the teams they’ll be reportedly bidding against in the Marner sweepstakes and they don’t have the tax advantage (if one believes there’s an advantage for teams who play in states without state income tax) of others, so submitting the offer with the most term and dollar amount will give them their greatest chance of signing him.
The Ducks have to leverage what they have if they truly intend to land Marner this summer: cap space, a willingness to spend that cap space, and a willingness to get creative, if necessary.
The Ducks demonstrated unique creativity when they structured Frank Vatrano’s three-year, $18 million contract extension during the 2024-25 season that will see him paid $900k every year for ten years, starting in 2035. His contract was structured this way to decrease his AAV from $6 million to $4.57 million. It will be worth monitoring whether the Ducks go a similar route with their potential offer for Marner.
Sticker shock will undoubtedly follow a contract offer for Marner with an AAV north of $14 million. It will give some pause, as the Ducks have several core pieces (Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Trevor Zegras, Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger) who may require substantial new contracts in the summer of 2026. That’s a bridge the Ducks may have to cross if/when they get there, as that is one of the better problems to have: too many young, talented players who’ve taken steps toward stardom and need big-money deals.
The Ducks are in a position within their build where their goal is to push for the playoffs, and Marner would be the biggest piece to help them get there. His potential signing would immediately become the largest and perhaps the most impactful transaction in franchise history, and he would immediately become a top-five talent (maybe higher) in franchise history.
It’s a shot worth taking, regardless of potential ramifications down the road. There’s a high likelihood that Mitch Marner doesn’t sign with the Anaheim Ducks. However, it would be in their best interest to offer the biggest contract on the table and, if he chooses to reject, force him to pass on becoming the highest-paid player in the NHL.
It's Tuesday, June 10, and the Blue Jays (36-30) are in St. Louis to take on the Cardinals (36-30). Chris Bassitt is slated to take the mound for Toronto against Miles Mikolas for St. Louis.
Thanks to Alejandro Kirk's double in the top of the 10th inning, the Blue Jays defeated the Cardinals 5-4 in the first game of the series. That win for the Blue Jays was their eighth in their last 10 games.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch tipoff, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Odds for the Blue Jays at the Cardinals
The latest odds as of Tuesday:
Moneyline: Blue Jays (-126), Cardinals (+105)
Spread: Blue Jays -1.5
Total: 8.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Blue Jays at Cardinals
Pitching matchup for June 10, 2025: Chris Bassitt vs. Miles Mikolas
Blue Jays: Chris Bassitt, (6-3, 3.56 ERA) Last outing (Philadelphia Phillies, 6/5): 7.0 Innings Pitched, 1 Earned Runs Allowed, 5 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 6 Strikeouts
Cardinals: Miles Mikolas, (4-2, 3.96 ERA) Last outing (Kansas City Royals, 6/5): 6.0 Innings Pitched, 3 Earned Runs Allowed, 8 Hits Allowed, 1 Walks, and 2 Strikeouts
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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Blue Jays at Cardinals
The Blue Jays have won 4 of their last 5 road trips to teams with winning records
The Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas has an ERA of 3.99 in his last 5 home starts on the mound
The Cardinals have covered in 4 of their last 5 games with Miles Mikolas as starting pitcher to return 1.13 units
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Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Toronto Blue Jays on the Moneyline.
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It may be a strange time of year for an Australian, and a strange tournament structure, but the decider is vindicated further each time it is played
In Australia it is winter, and it is footy season. AFL, NRL, the works. The autumn was passing strange, with unnervingly high temperatures and the Gold Coast Suns in the top four. But now it is June, and feeling more as it should, with nights in the southern half of the continent dipping deep into single degrees. The Raiders must be breathing out steam on Canberra mornings, half remembering dreams of ending a premiership wait. And strangely positioned among all this, the Australia Test team is getting ready to play cricket.
Australian winter tours happen, but outside the occasional Asian or Caribbean jaunt this century, they’re confined to quadrennial visits to England. Two years ago, the first time Australia qualified for a World Test Championship final, that match came directly before an Ashes series. As well as turning the supposed culmination into an incongruous appetizer, it also made the WTC final melt into the Ashes summer.
The Atlanta Hawks have always chosen Trae Young. They chose him the night he was drafted, trading Luka Doncic for him. They chose him again as recently as last summer, when Atlanta traded Dejonte Murray to New Orleans and kept Young as the core of its backcourt.
This summer, that could change.
New Hawks new general manager Onsi Saleh — as well as the just-added Bryson Graham (senior vice president of basketball operations) and Peter Dinwiddie (senior vice president of strategy and analytics) — have a decision to make about Young, and by extension the future direction of the Hawks.
Young is eligible for a four-year, $228.6 million max extension this offseason. Do the Hawks pay that, do they try to get Young to re-sign for a smaller amount, or do they look to trade him and retool the roster around their younger stars Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher? The Hawks also could push this decision back, those extension decisions available this summer will still be available all season and up through June 30 of 2026 (the risk by next summer is Young declining his player option and becoming a free agent, potentially leaving for nothing).
Young said during the season what he wants is to win.
“I wanna win… if that’s in Atlanta, that’s where I wanna be," Young said.
Young was an All-Star last season averaging 24.2 points and a league-best 11.6 assists a game while shooting 34% from beyond the arc, but also had a league-high 355 turnovers (4.7 a game), and he is a minus defender targeted by other teams. He is viewed around the league as a good player, but one who puts a ceiling on how good your team can be. However last season we started to see Young evolve his game some, he tried harder on defense, and he worked a little more off ball, positive steps we could see grow.
No max, but also no trade?
First, it's nearly impossible to envision the Hawks re-signing Young for the maximum. This is a team that, if it re-signs players such as Clint Capela and Caris LeVert, would be flirting with the luxury tax, something ownership is highly unlikely to want to pay for a 40-42 team that didn't advance past the play-in. Max out Young and that new management is going to limit its roster-building options in future years because they will be flirting with the tax.
As for trading Young, while those rumors are popular on NBA Twitter, they go nowhere with NBA front offices. Fans tried to link him to San Antonio for a long time, but the Spurs traded for DeAaron Fox (and are about to draft Dylan Harper at No. 2). Zach Lowe said it best on his Ringer podcast.
"I don't think there's a great market for him. So I don't think there's a trade out there that completely just reorients the franchise in a positive way."
That leaves two options. The first is to get Young to sign a more team-friendly contract. ESPN’s Bobby Marks threw out a three-year, $120 million extension, which feels about right. That's a $40 million per season contract ($17 million a year less than the maximum) and a shorter term, which has Young back on the market at age 29. It's also a more tradable contract in a year if the Hawks (or Young) want to go that route.
The other option is to postpone any decision and see how this season plays out, then make a call. If Johnson remains healthy throughout the season and the Hawks add depth through the draft and with the mid-level exception, this could be a team pushing for a top-six seed. After that, both sides might be more interested in a below-max contract extension (and if things go poorly, the ability to part ways is easier).
It's Saleh and the new front office's first major decision, and it will give us a good idea of the direction they plan to take the team in the coming years.
There’s no such thing as having too many good wing defenders in the modern NBA. If you look at the top 15 or 20 players in the sport, many of them are wings.
Therefore, it is essential for teams to fill their roster with players who can guard these shot-making shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards. The Boston Celtics were fortunate to have several high-quality wing defenders on their roster over the last two-plus seasons, but that could change going into the 2025-26 campaign.
Regardless of what offseason moves are made, adding a 3-and-D wing who can take on tough defensive assignments would be a nice boost for Boston’s roster.
The Celtics own the No. 28 overall pick in the first round and the second pick (No. 32 overall) in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
One player who fits the 3-and-D mold and should be available when the Celtics pick in the second round is Duke guard Sion James.
Learn more about James and his potential fit with the C’s below:
Sion James’ bio
Position: Guard
Height: 6-foot-6
Weight: 220
Birthdate: Dec. 4, 2002
Birthplace: Sugar Hill, Georgia
College: Duke
Sion James’ collegiate stats
2024-25 (w/Duke): 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists per game, 51.6 field goal percentage (39 games)
2023-24 (w/Tulane): 14 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists per game, 51.4 field goal percentage (31 games)
2022-23 (w/Tulane): 9.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists per game, 48.3 field goal percentage (31 games)
2021-22 (w/Tulane): 7.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists per game, 40.9 field goal percentage (29 games)
2020-21 (w/Tulane): 5.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists per game, 43.1 field goal percentage (23 games)
Sion James’ collegiate accolades
2025 ACC All-Defensive Team
Sion James’ highlights
Why Sion James fits with Celtics
James could be an effective 3-and-D player for the Celtics. He improved his 3-point shooting each of the last two seasons, hitting a career-high 41.3 percent of his attempts last season with the Blue Devils.
Defense is probably his best skill. He’s a 6-foot-6 wing who can guard and switch onto multiple positions, along with a high basketball IQ. He plays with physicality and doesn’t back down from a challenge.
Our Celtics insider Chris Forsberg sees James as someone who could step in and play right away, which would be valuable for a veteran team such as Boston.
“Sion James has a dose of toughness who can guard multiple positions,” Forsberg said, as seen in the video player above. “Transferring from Tulane to Duke, James improved his 3-point shooting from 38 percent to 41 percent as a senior. He has the college experience to come in as a mature player ready for an immediate role.
“With size to hold his ground, some have compared him to Aaron Nesmith, who has been essential to Indiana’s run to the NBA Finals. If James’ shot falls in the pros, he could be a steal in the second round.”
The New York Rangers were among the busiest teams in the NHL trade market during the regular season.
Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, Reilly Smith and Ryan Lindgren were among the notables the Rangers shipped out between December and the March NHL trade deadline.
GM Chris Drury was expected to continue retooling his roster during the off-season, hoping to get his club quickly back on track as a Stanley Cup contender.
The Hockey News’ Remy Mastey cited The Athletic's Arthur Staple, saying goaltender Igor Shesterkin, defenseman Adam Fox and left winger Artemi Panarin are the Rangers' only untouchables. Staple also indicated that the talk around the recent NHL draft combine in Buffalo had the Rangers, Sabres, Utah Mammoth and Seattle Kraken among the teams planning to shake up their rosters in the coming weeks.
Defenseman K'Andre Miller and left winger Alexis Lafreniere could become trade candidates. Rumors were swirling about the two young Rangers last month. Miller is an RFA with arbitration rights coming off a disappointing season, while Lafreniere signed a seven-year contract extension last fall.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post believes it seems inevitable that Miller will be traded. He cited several sources claiming the blueliner could become an offer-sheet target if he's not moved before July 1.
PuckPedia indicates the Rangers have $8.44 million of cap space with 19 active roster players under contract for 2025-26. Re-signing RFA left winger Will Cuylle is a priority, making Miller an enticing offer-sheet target if he and the Blueshirts reach an impasse in contract talks.
Trading Miller would leave the Rangers without a skilled left-shot defenseman to skate alongside Fox on their top defense pairing. Unless Drury gets a blueliner to address that need, Brooks thinks they might have to overpay for someone like Vladislav Gavrikov if the Los Angeles Kings rearguard becomes a UFA on July 1.
Brooks also claimed that Lafreniere was “surely available” this summer. He said the 23-year-old was the topic of several conversations during the draft combine but didn't know if those inquiries were “incoming or outgoing.”
The first pick in the 2020 draft, Lafreniere has teased a breakout performance but has yet to burst through as a star. His $7.45-million cap hit could become an obstacle for Drury's trade plans this summer.
Miller or Lafreniere could be part of a package offer for a young scorer. Mastey cited USA Today's Vince Mercogliano claiming the Rangers are among the teams interested in Dallas Stars left winger Jason Robertson. However, a recent report claimed the Stars aren't keen to move the 25-year-old Robertson and have had no trade talks with other teams.
(Header/feature image courtesy of Megan DeRuchie-The Hockey News)
Philadelphia Flyers winger Matvei Michkov is set to take part in one of the summer’s most anticipated hockey events when Russian NHL stars face off against KHL stars in Moscow on July 13. The game, fittingly dubbed the “Match of the Year,” promises to be a celebration of the sport while raising money for a good cause.
Giving back is at the heart of the “Match of the Year.” All proceeds from the event are donated to charity, with last year’s game raising 10 million rubles—around $127,000.
This year’s edition boasts an all-star roster, and Michkov is joining some of the game’s brightest Russian talents, including Alex Ovechkin, Andrei Svechnikov, Kirill Kaprizov, and Sergei Bobrovsky. It’s an enviable lineup for any hockey fan, but for Michkov—a rising star in the NHL—sharing the ice with these legends is both an honor and an opportunity to showcase his game alongside some of his most storied NHL countrymen.
Michkov is coming off a strong rookie campaign in North America, where he finished the 2024-25 campaign with 63 points, including 26 goals, which led all NHL rookies this past season. He was also able to finish out the season feeling exponentially more comfortable with the demands of an NHL season, improving his English and adjusting to the mental and physical grind of an 82-game stretch.
Sam Bennett, who is a pending UFA, continues to increase his value on the open market with a playoff-leading 14 goals. But according to his coach, potential buyers should be aware that there is more than meets the eye before offering Bennett a $10-million salary.
“He’s got a horrible attitude,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice sarcastically told TNT reporter Jackie Redmond during a TV timeout in Monday's Game 3 between Florida and Edmonton. “I think he’s got the bubonic plague, Dengue fever, he’s got a whole bunch of things. I don’t think he can be cured.”
Given more time, Maurice might have added that Bennett also reclines his seat on commercial flights, doesn’t tip 15 percent on meals and spends his off days kicking kittens. None of it might be true. But whatever it takes to keep Bennett in a Florida Panthers jersey.
Good luck with that.
Following a two-goal performance in a 6-1 win in Game 3, Bennett moved the Panthers to within two wins of claiming a second straight Stanley Cup championship. He also put himself in the driver's seat of winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
If he achieves both, you can bet that Bennett will be rewarded in free agency.
The only question is whether he will re-sign with the Panthers, where he's spent the past five years, or take his talents to the open market.
On Monday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stressed again in a pre-game interview with the TNT panel that Florida and other tax-free states do not have a competitive advantage. But try telling that to Canadian fans who have watched as teams from the state of Florida and Nevada have reached the final in each of the past six years.
🎙️ Gary Bettman on state tax and the salary cap: “It’s a ridiculous issue. When the Florida teams weren’t good, which was for about 17 years, nobody said anything about it.” @NHL_On_TNTpic.twitter.com/A82jPYfwdh
“It’s a ridiculous issue," said Bettman. "When the Florida teams weren’t good, which was for about 17 years, nobody said anything about it.”
Ridiculous as it might be, the Panthers don't have a single player earning more than $10 million this season. But they also have seven UFAs, including Bennett, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad, who will need new contracts. And after making three straight final appearances, none of them will come cheap.
Bennett is likely to earn the most out of all of them. With every goal, with every hit and with every Panthers win, his value continues to grow. At the start of the playoffs, the thinking was that Bennett might be worth somewhere around $6 million. Now, it looks like Bennett could eclipse captain Aleksander Barkov, who is earning $10 million, as the highest-paid Panther.
After all, Benett is every thing that a championship-contending team is looking for.
He hits, he fights and he comes up with clutch goals. Sometimes, he does all three on a single shift, as he showed in Game 3 when he delivered back-to-back bodychecks to cause a turnover in the defensive zone, then went the length of the ice and scored on a breakaway to put the game out of reach.
— Panthers Historian (@FlaCatsHistory) June 10, 2025
“He’s so good all over the ice, but he doesn’t cheat the game for the two goals,” Maurice told Redmond. “He’s under pucks, he’s does all the hard, right things. That's just who he is."
Too bad he’s supposedly infected with every infectious disease known to man.
Photo credits: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images and Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
One of the Knicks' unrestricted free agents this summer is veteran point guard Cam Payne, who joined the team last summer on a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract. Payne was coming off his ninth year and sixth team in the league, and earned himself the backup point guard position out of preseason despite Miles McBride coming off a career year and New York drafting another point guard in Tyler Kolek.
You know what you’re getting from Payne at this point: a steady handle, high-paced, immediate energy off the bench -- and when he’s hot, some big bucket-getting. He won’t be in the upper echelon of backup ones but can help round out a bench unit as a reliable floor general.
This is about what he provided. Payne averaged 6.9 points and 2.8 assists on 45.3 percent shooting from two and 36.3 percent shooting from three in 15 minutes a game.
His on/off splits were strong in large part due to cohesive bench lineups withKarl-Anthony Towns. He had a nice stretch in November with six double-figure scoring nights in seven games, and the Knicks went 4-1 when he had to fill in as a starter due to injuries or end-of-season rest.
The highlight of his season was a huge 14-point game in Game 1 against the Detroit Pistons, helping the Knicks go on a 21-0 run to come back and take opening control of the series. Unfortunately, these scant bright spots were mere flashes in an otherwise shaky campaign.
Payne was predictably a defensive sieve, and saw his minutes decrease as the regular season went on. He’d get benched in second halves if his jumper wasn’t falling, which happened often.
New York Knicks guard Cameron Payne (1) gestures after making a three point shot against the Detroit Pistons in Game One of the First Round of the NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden / Wendell Cruz - Imagn Images
Former head coach Tom Thibodeau never looked to move him out of his rotation spot, even with Kolek in tow and then Delon Wright joining at the trade deadline. That is until the playoffs, when the Knicks went down 0-2 to Indiana and Payne had accumulated a 23.8 percent clip from three and -30 plus-minus outside of that Game 1 outburst.
There were plenty of opportunities for this change earlier in the postseason or during the regular season. It wasn’t Payne’s fault he was relied upon so heavily despite his struggles, but a new coach could give him a more situational role, which would benefit him and the team -- should the Knicks choose to bring him back.
If he won’t be overplayed, there’s no harm in bringing him back as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency reserve guard. The right coach will prioritize developing their prospect point guard and playing less harmful veterans consistent minutes -- so just having Payne there in case of injuries would be fine.
It’s hard to imagine a giant market out there for his services. Smaller, score-first point guards are plentiful and not super attractive right now, and he didn’t have any kind of breakout season to warrant more than another veteran’s minimum deal.
Perhaps a contender throws an apron mid-level his way, in which case the Knicks are fine to let him walk. They could focus on retaining Wright, who had better and more sustainable postseason minutes, or give Kolek more burn.
If Payne is willing to return on the veteran’s minimum, there are worse 11th and 12th guys out there, assuming a new coach treats him as such. His bench presence and chemistry with his teammates makes him a value add as a Ryan Arcidiacono type.
Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stantonis tantalizingly close to a return from injury, and if he does what he did Tuesday with Double-A Somerset, the team will take that offensive production.
Starting at DH and batting second for the Patriots, Stanton went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk.
His first at-bat saw the slugger swing at the first pitch and ground out to third base before he walked on four pitches in his second AB. But then Stanton's offensive production showed up in his final two at-bats.
In the fifth inning, Stanton came up with runners on second and third and no outs, Stanton went down and lined a sharp single to center field to drive in two. He came up in the seventh with a man on second and no outs and battled back from a 1-2 count to work the count full. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Stanton lined a single to center to drive in his third run of the night.
Stanton has missed the first two-plus months of the season due to epicondylitis (tennis elbow) in both elbows.
“I just got to get some real at-bats in a game and let me figure it out,” Stanton told reporters on Tuesday, via Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. “This isn’t where I want to be, trust me.”
“This will tell me how close I am,” he later added. “There’s no simulating a major-league game, but if you want to get as close as you can, you get to a minor-league game.”
The slugger is coming off a 2024 season where he hit .233/.298/.475 with 27 homers and 20 doubles in 114 games.
Stanton was a force during New York's run to the World Series, as he mashed seven homers in 14 games.
Once Stanton returns, the Yanks will have a playing time conundrum on their hands with Ben Rice, who has been serving regularly as the designated hitter.
The Boston Bruins were not a good defensive team in the 2024-25 NHL season. The goaltending was subpar, too, highlighted by Jeremy Swayman’s career-worst campaign with the B’s.
But perhaps the biggest weakness that sunk the Bruins this past season was an inability to consistently score goals, both at even strength and the power play.
Re-establishing a strong, fundamentally sound defensive structure that’s hard to play against and getting Swayman back on track will be critical in the Bruins’ road back to prominence. But ultimately, teams have to score goals to win games.
“I think in the Bruins DNA is playing well defensively, that’s not going to change, but we have to find a way to be more productive offensively,” Sturm said Tuesday during his introductory press conference. “That’s going to be our goal and what we’re going to address from Day 1, and obviously special teams will be a big part, too.”
The Bruins not being able to generate enough offense didn’t just begin last season. It was an issue during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, too, especially in the second-round loss to the eventual champion Florida Panthers.
But the 2024-25 campaign was where it became a severe problem for an entire season.
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The phrase “evolving offensively” was used several times during Sturm’s press conference Tuesday. What exactly does that mean? How does Sturm plan to ignite this struggling offense? A good chunk of it starts in the defensive zone by forechecking hard, winning battles, getting the puck up ice quickly and playing with speed.
“When I talk about scoring more goals, scoring goals is not just (playing) in the offensive zone,” Sturm said. “Yes, that’s where the puck is going to end up, but for me it always starts with: How are we going to get there? That’s a big part, too, not just focusing on one area. There’s areas we can definitely get better.
“It’s coming out with the puck. We want to have the puck more. We have to have better zone entries and not turn pucks over. I think that part was a big issue. In the offensive zone, we’ll put that structure in place, but we also have to be more hungry and we got to have a better mindset. … I want them to have that offensive mindset and mentality when we have the puck. We want to play with pace with and without the puck, and not just think but play the game fast.”
The power play was a significant area of weakness last season for the Bruins offense.
The Bruins ranked 29th in both power-play percentage and power-play goals. The issue wasn’t drawing enough penalties. The B’s ranked 11th in power-play opportunities and sixth in power-play ice time. The problem was poor execution, specifically with zone entries and winning enough puck battles to maintain possession in the offensive zone with the man advantage.
“A lot of it was entries, a lot of it was some injuries, but those are not excuses,” Sweeney said of the power-play struggles. “We have to find a way to be more connected, more predictable (to each other) and understand what our strengths are as a group. We spent a lof of time on it.
“The personnel could change between now and Opening Night, but there are some guys who will have to go in and execute who are currently on our roster. We’re going to attack that.
“… There was a lot of time spent on addressing special teams overall because it had been a strength of our team for a lot of years and we took a significant step back last year.”
Sweeney also confirmed that Jay Leach, Chris Kelly and Bob Essensa are staying on the coaching staff, and that they are looking to hire one more assistant. Sturm wants that hire to be a person with “some power play experience.”
A key aspect in improving offensively will be player development. It’s an area Sturm excelled in with the Los Angeles Kings organization over the last seven years.
Plenty of young players will be in the mix for roster spots in training camp. Sturm did a great job helping the Kings’ top young players — Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke, for example — get ready for the NHL and thrive when they made the jump full time. Can he do the same with Fraser Minten, Fabian Lysell and Matt Poitras, among others?
The Bruins brought in Casey Mittelstadt at the trade deadline as part of the Charlie Coyle trade with the Colorado Avalanche. Maximizing Mittelstadt’s playmaking ability and finding ways for him to score more goals (his career high is 18) will be important. Elias Lindholm was disappointing offensively after signing a huge contract last summer. Can Sturm find a way to make Lindholm more effective on the power play?
And last but not least, the Bruins have to generate more scoring chances and goals from the blue line.
Zero Boston defensemen tallied 35-plus points last season. Getting Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy back healthy will help with that, but the defensemen have to be aggressive and join the rush more often. The development of 24-year-old defenseman Mason Lohrei, who tallied 33 points in his first full NHL season, will be an essential part of that process.
External upgrades to the roster will have to be made in the coming weeks and months as well, and that’s Sweeney’s job. The Bruins do not have much high-end offensive skill. They have one elite forward in David Pastrnak, who recorded 106 points (43 goals, 63 assists) last season.
Pastrnak led the B’s in scoring by 49 points — the largest gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 scorer on any team. Morgan Geekie scored 33 goals. Brad Marchand scored 21 before being traded in March. No one else on the roster scored more than 17 goals.
Sweeney has to be aggressive in the offseason to bring in top-six talent, whether that’s in free agency, the trade market or both. The Bruins have around $26.2 million in salary cap space, in addition to a better collection of prospects and draft picks to use in trades. Boston could have five first-round picks and four second-round picks over the next three drafts. That’s a lot of draft capital to potentially use in trades to acquire established players.
Depth wins championships, especially up front. It’s one of the primary reasons why the Panthers are two wins away from back-to-back titles. The Bruins need to bolster their scoring depth to have a chance at competing for a playoff spot in 2026.
“I love our team, even without any additions,” Sturm said. “I think we have good goaltending. I think when everyone stays healthy we have a really good defensive corps. I think we’re hopefully going to add a few pieces up front, but overall, I do like our core.
“But having said that, I think depth-wise we just probably need a little bit more.”
In a shocking turn of events, Mets superstar Juan Soto-- who posted a .421 OBP and .953 OPS during the first seven years of his big league career as he established himself as one of the best hitters on the planet -- again looks like the hitter he was from 2018 to 2024.
He seems pretty happy to be a Met, too.
As you take some time for these stunners to wear off, let's recap the first two-plus months of Soto's Mets tenure, which has included some hilarious screeching from a few areas of the New York media ecosystem about him longing for the Yankees.
But forgive us if we don't think Soto has been crying himself to sleep while staring at pictures of Monument Park.
Now, let's go back in time about 10 days.
On May 30, Mets president of baseball operationsDavid Stearns was understandably peppered with questions about Soto, who to that point was slashing .224/.352/.393 with a .745 OPS in 247 plate appearances over 55 games.
It was a large enough sample size to ask Stearns what he thought might be "wrong." Even at that point, Soto had been elite when it came to 12 of the 13 main advanced stats tracked by Baseball Savant. And his BABIP was at a career-low level. But not enough hits were falling.
And while Soto was continuing to execute well, he did appear to lack the confidence and command at the plate that is his trademark. He wasn't owning at-bats like usual. He wasn't elevating the ball enough.
He also wasn't using his signature Soto Shuffle much.
May 4, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (22) is greeted by teammates in the dugout after scoring in the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. / Tim Vizer - Imagn Images
Combine the above with the fact that Soto just happens to be playing his first season as a Met after bolting the Yankees to sign the biggest contract in the history of North American sports, and you have what many correctly thought was a dream narrative.
Here's what Stearns said at the time:
"I think he’s taking pretty good at-bats, he’s controlling the strike zone pretty well. He’s hitting the ball on the ground a little bit more than he has in the past. I think that’s something that he’s aware of. But telling yourself, 'Hey, I need to hit the ball in the air more,' doesn’t immediately translate to hitting the ball in the air more.
"Do I think he’s trying to do a little too much right now? Yeah, I think he’s probably trying to do a little bit too much right now. And that is natural for a player who cares about improving."
Stearns added:
"He’s still helping us win games. I’m aware that the OPS isn’t where he would want it, it’s not where we would want it, it’s not where our fans would want it. I get that. But I can say it’s not for lack of work behind the scenes. He’s working, he’s trying. He certainly wants results at a higher level than what we’ve seen so far. I’m pretty confident we’re going to get those."
Since those comments from Stearns, Soto has looked like vintage Soto in every way imaginable.
Over his last 10 games, Soto is hitting .364/.553/.697 with three homers, two doubles, 12 runs scored, six RBI, 13 walks, and four strikeouts.
He put an exclamation point on his recent performance by reaching base six times on Sunday in Colorado.
During this span, Soto has raised his OPS for the season from .745 to .820. His OPS+ is up to 138.
His swing is smooth and level. He's controlling at-bats and oozing confidence. He is shuffling again, and giving opposing pitchers his menacing nod during at-bats.
In other words, Soto is back.
Jun 1, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) hits a home run against the Colorado Rockies during the eighth inning at Citi Field. / Gregory Fisher - Imagn Images
Soto's BABIP is still quite low for him (.254 compared to his career average BABIP of .301), so it's fair to believe there's still a lot more natural climbing to the mean in store for him.
And again, it wasn't hard to see this coming when looking at his advanced stats from the first two months leading up to his breakout that started on May 30.
Many people don't like to have advanced stats cited to them when a player on their team is struggling, but guess what? They're often predictive, and they're a great resource to turn to when trying to figure out whether the numbers a player is putting up (whether they're positive or negative) are sustainable.
Soto's advanced stats told us he was due to break out. That he was basically still the same hitter he had always been.
Common sense also told us that this breakout was coming, as bad as some wanted to create a crazy narrative that he was sad because his pinstripes weren't navy anymore.
Take a look at those advanced stats now, and you'll see that Soto is in the 100th percentile when it comes to chase percentage and walk percentage. He's also near the top of the league in xwOBA (98th percentile), xBA (94th percentile), xSLG (97th percentile), hard hit percentage (96th percentile), average exit velocity (95th percentile), squared-up percentage (92nd percentile), barrel percentage (87th percentile), strikeout rate (82nd percentile), whiff percentage (75th percentile), and bat speed (74th percentile).
In addition to the shuffling and nodding, Soto is smiling, bottle-flipping mid-game, posing for pictures in the dugout with his teammates, and racing out to partake in postgame celebrations.
Soto is rolling, the team is rolling, and he looks pretty damn happy to be a Met.
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Australian captain Pat Cummins has backed Marnus Labuschagne to repay the faith of selectors in the World Test Championship final against South Africa beginning at Lord’s on Wednesday.
