The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that they have assigned defenseman Ty Murchison to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The Flyers sending Murchison back to Lehigh Valley comes with key blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen being ready to start his 2025-26 season. As a result of this, Murchison will now be looking to continue to grow his game with the Phantoms.
Murchison was on his first career NHL call-up before being assigned back to the Phantoms. During it, he appeared in three games for the Flyers, where he recorded zero points, two blocks, five hits, and a plus-1 rating. Overall, the 6-foot-2 defenseman showed promise during his first chance on the Flyers' roster.
Now, Murchison will be aiming to make a big impact with the Phantoms after being sent back down to the AHL. In 21 games this season with Lehigh Valley, he has recorded one goal, three assists, four points, 30 penalty minutes, and a plus-9 rating.
Murchison was selected by the Flyers with the 158th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. In 25 career AHL games over two seasons with the Phantoms, he has posted two goals, four assists, six points, 36 penalty minutes, and a plus-11 rating.
The Knicks on Tuesday won the 2025 NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas with a 124-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
It marks New York’s first win in the tournament, as the first two editions went to the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.
Both teams stayed neck and neck for the opening two-and-a-half quarters, when San Antonio went up by double digits late in the third behind a Victor Wembanyama solo run.
But that didn’t continue in the fourth, as the Knicks capitalized on Wembanyama sitting on the bench due to an injury limiting his minutes. New York outscored the Spurs 35-19 in the fourth, with OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson, the eventual MVP, showing their quality.
Each player on the Knicks will now take home an extra $530,933 for the win. Let’s analyze the game further with winners and losers:
WINNER: OG Anunoby, Knicks
Anunoby chose a fantastic game to go above and beyond. The 28-year-old forward recorded a game-high 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting overall, including a 5 of 10 clip from deep. He added nine rebounds and three assists to his stat line, with four offensive boards.
OG ANUNOBY CIRCUS SHOT. OG ANUNOBY FASTBREAK SLAM.
He's got a game-high 20 PTS with 24 minutes to go in the @emirates NBA Cup Championship on Prime 🏆
He may not have claimed the MVP award for his game, but these types of two-way performances can give New York the edge come playoff time.
LOSER: De’Aaron Fox, Spurs
With Wembanyama playing limited minutes on a bench role, these are the types of games where Fox has to reach the next level. That just wasn’t the case.
The point guard went for just 16 points on 5 of 16 shooting with nine assists, two rebounds and five turnovers. He was second to everything offensively and defensively down the stretch, and it’s not ideal that Wembanyama and Dylan Harper outscored him in less minutes.
WINNER: Jalen Brunson, Knicks
It may not be the NBA Championship, but Brunson remains on the right track to potentially winning the major trophy. The 29-year-old, sometimes deemed too small to be the No. 1 option on a title-winning team, assembled a 25-point showing to go with eight rebounds, four rebounds and two blocks.
Not everything was clean, though, despite the MVP win. He shot 11 of 27 overall, 1 of 5 from deep and 2 of 4 from the foul line. How things would look in a four-game series vs. San Antonio is unclear, but it’s a night to celebrate regardless.
Wembanyama has enjoyed two 40-point games against the Knicks in his young career, but he was limited to just 25 minutes in this one. Had he played the majority of the fourth quarter instead of Luke Kornet, perhaps the outcome may have been different.
But the young French star will not get the chance to add to his resume early on, scoring 18 points on 7 of 17 shooting with a 2 of 6 mark from deep. He added six rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. Now he’ll need to stay healthy with San Antonio’s roster in much better shape to embark on a playoff run.
Sometimes you need your role players to come up big when needed the most. New York received valiant bench-scoring efforts from Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek, but it was long-time center Robinson that was at the heart of everything.
In 18 minutes, he nabbed 15 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. The Spurs had success with second-chance points, but Robinson helped the Knicks tilt that to their advantage, especially without Wemby. New York also had 56 points in the paint to San Antonio’s 44. Again, it’s not the main title, but New York fans will appreciate what Robinson did for them given his time spent with the franchise.
The Knicks on Tuesday won the 2025 NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas with a 124-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
It marks New York’s first win in the tournament, as the first two editions went to the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.
Both teams stayed neck and neck for the opening two-and-a-half quarters, when San Antonio went up by double digits late in the third behind a Victor Wembanyama solo run.
But that didn’t continue in the fourth, as the Knicks capitalized on Wembanyama sitting on the bench due to an injury limiting his minutes. New York outscored the Spurs 35-19 in the fourth, with OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson, the eventual MVP, showing their quality.
Each player on the Knicks will now take home an extra $530,933 for the win. Let’s analyze the game further with winners and losers:
WINNER: OG Anunoby, Knicks
Anunoby chose a fantastic game to go above and beyond. The 28-year-old forward recorded a game-high 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting overall, including a 5 of 10 clip from deep. He added nine rebounds and three assists to his stat line, with four offensive boards.
OG ANUNOBY CIRCUS SHOT. OG ANUNOBY FASTBREAK SLAM.
He's got a game-high 20 PTS with 24 minutes to go in the @emirates NBA Cup Championship on Prime 🏆
He may not have claimed the MVP award for his game, but these types of two-way performances can give New York the edge come playoff time.
LOSER: De’Aaron Fox, Spurs
With Wembanyama playing limited minutes on a bench role, these are the types of games where Fox has to reach the next level. That just wasn’t the case.
The point guard went for just 16 points on 5 of 16 shooting with nine assists, two rebounds and five turnovers. He was second to everything offensively and defensively down the stretch, and it’s not ideal that Wembanyama and Dylan Harper outscored him in less minutes.
WINNER: Jalen Brunson, Knicks
It may not be the NBA Championship, but Brunson remains on the right track to potentially winning the major trophy. The 29-year-old, sometimes deemed too small to be the No. 1 option on a title-winning team, assembled a 25-point showing to go with eight rebounds, four rebounds and two blocks.
Not everything was clean, though, despite the MVP win. He shot 11 of 27 overall, 1 of 5 from deep and 2 of 4 from the foul line. How things would look in a four-game series vs. San Antonio is unclear, but it’s a night to celebrate regardless.
Wembanyama has enjoyed two 40-point games against the Knicks in his young career, but he was limited to just 25 minutes in this one. Had he played the majority of the fourth quarter instead of Luke Kornet, perhaps the outcome may have been different.
But the young French star will not get the chance to add to his resume early on, scoring 18 points on 7 of 17 shooting with a 2 of 6 mark from deep. He added six rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. Now he’ll need to stay healthy with San Antonio’s roster in much better shape to embark on a playoff run.
Sometimes you need your role players to come up big when needed the most. New York received valiant bench-scoring efforts from Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek, but it was long-time center Robinson that was at the heart of everything.
In 18 minutes, he nabbed 15 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. The Spurs had success with second-chance points, but Robinson helped the Knicks tilt that to their advantage, especially without Wemby. New York also had 56 points in the paint to San Antonio’s 44. Again, it’s not the main title, but New York fans will appreciate what Robinson did for them given his time spent with the franchise.
The Mets made the Jorge Polanco signing official on Tuesday evening.
Days after New York signed Polanco to a reported two-year, $40 million deal, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns talked up his acquisition in a press release, and gave some insight into how he anticipates the team to use the 32-year-old.
“We are excited to add Jorge to our organization and expect him to be a big part of our team over the next two years,” Stearns said in a press release. “Jorge’s athleticism and versatility on both sides of the ball make him a perfect fit as we continue to build out our team. As we stand now, we would anticipate Jorge playing first base, DH, and bouncing around to other positions as needed.”
After Pete Alonso signed with the Orioles last week, the Mets signed Polanco to give the team more versatility and to play first base. Interestingly enough, Polanco has appeared in just one game at the position in his 12-year career.
Polanco slashed .265/.326/.495 with 30 doubles, 26 homers, 78 RBI in 138 games last year with the Mariners, and while he's not expected to deliver the offensive production of Alonso, it gives Stearns and the Mets options to fill out the rest of the roster.
There are currently still other viable first base options in the free agent market, including veterans Paul Goldschmidt and Luis Arraez. There is also Cody Bellinger, who plays both outfield and first base, who is still available and the Mets are currently "very in" on.
But the Mets do have other areas of need this offseason, including in the outfield, starting rotation and bullpen.
In the past five days, the NHL has seen not one, but two blockbuster trades – one that sent late sent superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks to the Minnesota Wild, and one that sent veteran goalie Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Edmonton Oilers. Thus, we don’t want to hear any talk that, in the salary cap era, it’s next to impossible to get deals done.
However, if you judge the work done by now-former Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams in his more than five-years running the team before he was fired Monday and replaced with former Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen, you might take that talk about impossible trades a little more seriously. But from this writer’s perspective, that had more to do with Adams’ paralysis about taking big swings than it does about other teams pulling off major deals.
Now, are there trades that constitute significant gambles? Sure there are. But don’t you think the Wild just gambled that Hughes is going to be a long-term piece of the puzzle in Minnesota? And don’t you think the Oilers just gambled that Jarry is going to do what former Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner couldn’t do and carry the Oilers to a Stanley Cup championship?
The answer to both those questions is a resounding ‘yes’. But the old saying about nothing ventured, nothing gained is accurate when it comes to trades. And that means Kekalainen has to take a chance if the Sabres are going to be a playoff team for the first time in a decade-and-a-half.
As we’ve argued recently, Buffalo needs to deal from positions of strength, and when it comes to the Sabres’ goaltending and defense corps, they have strength. So trading someone such as defenseman Owen Power is something the Sabres should be looking into. But that said, Kekalainen can’t play it safe and only make a minor deal or two in the immediate weeks and months ahead. Because they have to know sticking with the status quo is going to enrage Buffalo fans.
There’s another saying that applies to the Sabres, and that saying is ‘safe is death’. It will be easy for Kekalainen to keep his core together, but as we’ve seen this season, that core simply doesn’t have what it takes to be winners. That’s not up for debate. That’s a fact.
And if Buffalo is ever going to break this cycle of letdown season after letdown season, they’re going to need Sabres management to step to the plate and and acquire a different set of players.
When Martin St-Louis was asked Tuesday morning after practice whether there was a chance Samuel Montembeault would play a game this week, he said he didn’t know and that they needed to figure it out. Well, they did that quickly as the Montreal Canadiens announced that Montembeault, who had started the season as their number one goaltender, was being sent down to the Laval Rocket on a conditioning stint.
According to CBA rules, this is something the netminder had to agree to, and it can last up to 14 days. While this is probably not where Montembeault thought he would be at this stage of the season, it was a good move on his part to agree to this.
His last appearance with the Habs was in relief to Jakub Dobes on December 9, when he gave up three goals on just 13 shots. As for his previous start, it dates back to December 2 when the Canadiens played an atrocious game against the Ottawa Senators and lost 5-2.
In 15 games this season, the Becancour native has a 5-6-1 record, a 3.65 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage. A lot can happen in a calendar year in the NHL. Last season, at this stage of the season, Montembeault was starting every single game and was being earmarked as one of Canada’s three netminders for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
For whatever reason, the 29-year-old netminder can’t seem to get it together this season. It’s not that he hasn’t been allowed to build his confidence back up, but he’s been unable to do it in the NHL with the Canadiens battling for a playoff spot this season. Perhaps in Laval, where the stakes will be lower and the scrutiny less intense, he’ll find a way to do it.
This option also makes sense for the Canadiens; it will allow both Jacob Fowler and Jakub Dobes to get some ice time. Both could have been sent to Laval without clearing waivers, but neither deserved to be based on their latest performance. When Dobes shone bright against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, he told the Habs loud and clear that he shouldn’t be going anywhere.
There has been a noticeable fashion movement in certain parts of South Florida over the past several weeks.
In popular areas across Miami-Dade and Broward County, people have been seen sporting their new Winter Classic gear in growing numbers.
The NHL officially revealed the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers uniforms for the 2026 Winter Classic last month.
Since then, Panthers fans both locally and on the road have been decking themselves out in the fresh new gear.
Considering the sudden and obvious popularity of the special edition threads, it’s not surprising that the Panthers are going to wear them more than once this season.
In addition to the Winter Classic itself, which takes place on Jan. 2, Florida will wear their new uniforms during two other home games at Amerant Bank Arena this season.
They will be on Sunday, Jan. 4, when the Panthers host the Colorado Avalanche, and on Wednesday, Feb. 4 against the Boston Bruins.
For more information on the Panthers’ Winter Classic uniforms, including a few photos, click here.
For a second time this season, the Flyers went to Bell Centre and left with a win.
They beat the Canadiens, 4-1, Tuesday night in Montreal.
Carl Grundstrom, Trevor Zegras, Bobby Brink and Travis Konecny all found the back of the net for the Flyers. Konecny’s goal was a game-sealing empty-netter.
Dan Vladar was strong again in net and Sean Couturier collected two assists.
The Flyers (17-9-6) snapped a season-long three-game losing streak (0-0-3). Despite those losses, the Flyers are on a five-game point streak (2-0-3).
Rick Tocchet’s club has earned at least a point in 16 of its last 20 games (11-4-5).
The Flyers are 2-0-0 in their three-game regular-season series against the Canadiens (17-12-4). They won a crazy game at Bell Centre a month and a half ago, beating Montreal in a shootout, 5-4.
The building is known for its lively atmosphere and it’s the home of a team that made the playoffs last season.
The Flyers and Canadiens don’t meet again until the regular-season finale April 14 in Philadelphia.
• Vladar continued to look like one of the Flyers’ best players with 21 saves on 22 shots.
The 28-year-old has already matched his win total from last season, when he went 12-11-6 as the Flames’ backup. Vladar has given up two or fewer goals 13 times in 20 starts with the Flyers.
Both the Flyers and Montreal struck in the final minute of the first period. Alexandre Texier put the Canadiens ahead after a risky pass by Konecny resulted in a neutral-zone turnover. But Grundstrom answered 39 seconds later with his third goal in six games with the Flyers.
Vladar nailed things down for the Flyers with 12 saves in the third period.
Montreal netminder Jacob Fowler stopped 17 of the Flyers’ 20 shots on the night.
• After going over nine months without game action, Rasmus Ristolainen made his season debut and played alongside Nick Seeler on the Flyers’ third defensive pair.
It didn’t take long for the bruising defenseman to get involved against the Canadiens. Not even nine minutes into the game, Ristolainen delivered a hard and clean hit on Juraj Slafkovsky. The early thump put the Flyers on the power play because Ivan Demidov wanted retribution and went after Ristolainen.
The physicality seemed to set the tone for Ristolainen’s return. He was highly effective with three hits, two blocked shots and a plus-2 rating in 19:18 minutes.
The Flyers are now significantly deeper defensively. A lot of teams would love a Seeler-Ristolainen third pair.
• Brink padded the Flyers’ lead to 3-1 with just 50 seconds left in the second period.
Matvei Michkov set up the goal with his second assist in the last two games. He found Brink after jumping on a mistake by Fowler behind Montreal’s net.
The Flyers took their lead earlier in the period when Zegras and Konecny executed a 2-on-1 rush. The goal gave Zegras his 33rd point in 32 games, eclipsing his point total from all of last season, when he had 32 in 57 games with the Ducks.
• The Flyers are back in action Thursday when they visit the Sabres (7:30 p.m. ET/ESPN+, Hulu).
Barzal did not partake in the morning skate due to something that occurred in their 3-2 shootout win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
For Tsyplakov, he's found himself on the outside looking in more often than not. While Tsyplakov has played better in his latest outings, the current 12 forwards are collectively playing too well to make a change.
The Islanders enter their game against Detroit on a three-game winning streak.
"Absolutely not," was Roy's answer when asked if Tsyplakov's lack of game action as of late has been because of anything he's done wrong.
"It's tough for him [to not play], and it's tough for us, as a coaching staff. I mean, that's the decisions you want to be making, to be forced to make. Sometimes, there are tough calls, and this one is a tough one because he's done what he's had to do. But right now, we have 12 guys who are playing really well. The line of Cizikas has an identity, and we love the way they're playing. We feel like Ritchie's playing really well with Shabby and Anthony Duclair. And the other lines are clicking. It's hard to make some changes sometimes."
“I’ve been focusing on my defensive game so I can earn my teammates’ and coaches’ trust and get out there more.”
Roy added that Tsyplakov has come in with a great attitude and has worked hard so that when he does get his next chance, he'll be ready.
Now, you have probably heard the trade rumors surrounding Tsyplakov, which is to be expected regarding a forward who shown that he can play in the NHL over his first season-and-a-half in the big leagues. He's also affordable, signing a two-year extension worth $2.25 million annually this past summer.
The Islanders should listen to calls they get on the player but that doesn't meant they are actively shopping the 27-year-old.
With all the injuries to the forward group, Tsyplakov is a quality 13th forward for now, especially if he plays the responsible brand of hockey we've seen from him over his last handful of outings.
Yes, he was supposed to be a goal scorer in this league, but he's doing a stronger job using his 6'3, 203-lb frame to win more puck battles and help the team go north, rather than south.
Obviously, if Tsyplakov were playing very well, he'd be considered one of the Islanders' 12 best forwards and in the lineup every day. His lack of consistency has undoubtedly been a part of the problem, along with the play of everyone else.
Maybe there's a world where the Islanders flip him to a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs for Matias Maccelli, given his struggles to find consistency.
But, as of right now, having an NHL-caliber player waiting in the wings as an option, even if he is better than a "13th forward' is a good problem for the Islanders.
Tsyplakov, in his second NHL season, has recorded 1 goal and 0 assists in 20 games, averaging 9:20 minutes per game. He has 37 hits over that span.
US skier finished 1.55 seconds ahead of second place
Shiffrin has won the opening four slaloms of the season
Mikaela Shiffrin isn’t just winning every slalom of the Olympic season. She’s dominating each race and winning by large margins, too.
The American skiing standout claimed a record-extending 105th World Cup victory after several of her top challengers went out during the opening run of a night race Tuesday.
