Each off-season, anticipation builds over potential European standouts making the move to the NHL.
In recent years, we've seen players like Maxim Tsyplakov, Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Mikheyev, and Nikita Gusev sign with NHL clubs and have various levels of impact. No European signing has had the impact Artemi Panarin has had, scoring 302 goals and 870 points in 752 games since signing with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015.
The NHL has also seen players head in the opposite direction, leaving the NHL to pursue a career in Europe. The most common case for those players is that they were struggling to maintain a job in the NHL and were looking for a change of scenery in hopes of rejuvenating their careers.
This off-season has witnessed several players make the long-awaited jump to North America, but three players stand out and could have the greatest impacts on their teams.
Listed at just 5-foot-8, 156 pounds, Shabanov is on the smaller side of NHL players, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for it in skill. Shabanov recorded 23 goals and 67 points in 65 KHL games last season, serving as the driving force of Chelyabinsk, which lost in the Gagarin Cup finals.
Shabanov is almost certainly a lock to make the Islanders' opening night lineup, and he could very well compete for a spot in the top six. The Islanders' forward group, especially on the wing, doesn't blow you away with skilled players, which gives Shabanov some runway to push for a larger role.
Vitali Kravtsov, Vancouver Canucks
Kravtsov and Shabanov were teammates on Chelyabinsk, finishing first and second in points. Kravtsov led the team in goals, scoring 27, while pouring in 58 points in 66 games. The 25-year-old is a former ninth overall pick of the New York Rangers, but his first stint away from home was disappointing.
Plenty of hype had surrounded Kravtsov before he signed his entry-level contract with the Rangers, and the expectations proved to be too high. He wasn't interested in playing in the AHL, which resulted in loans back to the KHL when he couldn't maintain a spot in the NHL. After four seasons, the Rangers dealt him to the Canucks, where he'll be making his return.
His first stint in the NHL witnessed him notch six goals and 12 points in 64 games. Now, a bit older, more mature and carrying more confidence, Kravtsov will have the opportunity to fight for a roster spot out of training camp and play on a roster filled with talented players.
David Tomasek, Edmonton Oilers
Tomasek, a Czech-born right-handed shooter, dominated the Swedish league last season, scoring 24 goals and 57 points in 47 games. He led the SHL in assists and points, and the year prior led the league in goals. The 29-year-old is a journeyman, previously playing in Finland, Czechia and the OHL during his junior hockey career.
Tomasek was never drafted into the NHL, but his balance as an offensive threat could be a tool the Oilers utilize. At the moment, Tomasek is likely on the outside looking in when thinking of projections for the Oilers roster, despite signing $1.2 million contract.
MILWAUKEE — Shelby Miller is ready to help Milwaukee in its playoff push just over a week after the Brewers acquired the veteran right-hander from the Arizona Diamondbacks at the trade deadline.
The NL Central-leading Brewers reinstated Miller from the injured list before their Friday night game with the New York Mets. The Brewers also recalled pitcher Tobias Myers from Triple-A Nashville and placed pitcher Logan Henderson on the injured list with elbow inflammation.
Miller came to Milwaukee along with injured pitcher Jordan Montgomery from the Arizona Diamondbacks for a player to be named or cash. Miller was recovering from a right forearm strain at the time of the trade and last pitched in the majors on July 5.
The 34-year-old Miller is 3-3 with a 1.98 ERA and 10 saves in 37 appearances this season.
The Philadelphia Flyers may have temporarily patched up their goalie issues for now, but even GM Danny Briere admitted that won't always be the case.
Assuming the Flyers are rolling with Dan Vladar and Sam Ersson as their tandem in the 2025-26 season, Ivan Fedotov will join prospect Carson Bjarnason and, perhaps, Aleksei Kolosov in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Of the five, though, Vladar and Bjarnason are the only ones signed beyond this season, and Bjarnason is still a teenager.
Given how the last year has gone, it's safe to assume neither Fedotov nor Kolosov have futures in the NHL with Philadelphia, so there's room for opporunity here.
One goalie in need of an opportunity of his own is Nico Daws, who plays up the turnpike for the Metropolitan Division rival New Jersey Devils.
But, why would the Flyers want a third goalie? And why would the Devils trade away a 24-year-old prospect?
Briere has already said what we're all thinking: the Flyers are, more than likely, going to make use of a third goaltender at some point this season, whether it be due to injury or a dip in performance.
Vladar, 27, has never started 30 games in an NHL season before. While Ersson has, he's had to grapple with injuries and a workload he hasn't yet proven capable of handling.
And, if Briere and the Flyers are out on Fedotov and Kolosov, why give them the NHL reps?
This is where an option like Daws makes some sense.
The Devils are already set in goal for the foreseeable future after re-signing Jake Allen, Jacob Markstrom's backup, this summer.
Daws, a former third-round pick, is no longer waivers-exempt, meaning the Devils will likely lose him for free if he doesn't make the NHL roster or get traded before the season starts.
The Munich-born netminder already has 52 games of NHL experience, posting a 22-23-1 record, a 2.98 GAA, a .898 save percentage, and one shutout while making 47 starts.
Daws saw his most extensive NHL stints come in the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons, when the Devils struggled badly with injuries, health, and level of play at the goalie position.
When the Devils are good, though? It's a different story, albeit in a small sample size.
Last season, when Markstrom went down with a knee injury, Daws filled in behind Allen, playing in six games and starting four.
Across those games, the Devils goalie prospect went 3-1-0 with a jaw-dropping 1.60 GAA and a .939 save percentage while earning his first NHL shutout with a 29-save outing against the Nashville Predators on Feb. 23.
And, who can forget when Daws made 45 saves in a 6-3 takedown of the Flyers in the Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium just over a year ago? As an aside, those 45 saves are an outdoor game record.
Aside from Ersson, the Flyers lack options for an immediate, long-term solution at the goalie position. Bjarnason and Egor Zavragin are still a few years away, while it's unlikely Vladar is a late bloomer waiting to suddenly become an NHL starter.
And, if things don't work out with Daws, he's only under contract for one more year. It's better the Flyers have lots of arrows in the quiver than to have no options to try at all.
For the Flyers, players in their mid 20s are within the ideal age range to be targeting at this time, and the Devils may be forced to give up Daws one way or another.
Ryan Mountcastle (1B Orioles): Rostered in 24% of Yahoo leagues
Bringing the left field wall back in some at Camden Yards this year was supposed to help Mountcastle most of all, but the results just weren’t any good early on and then Mountcastle suffered a hamstring strain on May 30 that’s cost him more than two months. He’s finally set to return this weekend after going 12-for-31 with three homers and four doubles in nine rehab games at Triple-A Norfolk.
Since homers to left were very tough to come by in Baltimore for a couple of years, Mountcastle retooled his approach at the plate, resulting in him spraying more balls to the opposite field and hitting additional grounders. This year, he figured it made sense to try to resume hitting like he did when he first came up and produced a 33-homer season in his first full year in the majors in 2021. Before getting hurt, he succeeded in getting his pull rate back up to where it was in his debut. However, he was still hitting too many grounders. It also seemed like he was fairly unlucky; Mountcastle hit .246/.280/.348 with two homers through 52 games, but he had 16 barrels and a 46.5% hard-hit rate. Statcast gave him an xBA of .270 and an xSLG of .441.
Mountcastle might have returned from injury as a part-time player had the Orioles gotten back into contention before the deadline, but that’s obviously not how things worked out. Barring a Samuel Basallo callup, he and Coby Mayo can both receive all of the playing time they can handle while splitting time between first base and DH, and while Baltimore’s pitching is obviously rough at the moment, the top half of the lineup remains pretty good at generating RBI opportunities. Mountcastle should be solid enough in terms of average and the power categories to help.
Phil Maton (RP Rangers): Rostered in 19% of Yahoo leagues
The Rangers seemed primed to add a true closer at the deadline, but the big names went elsewhere. In the end, they settled for Maton and lefty Danny Coulombe and instead made a bigger addition to their rotation in Merrill Kelly. Still, Maton, who has never had the chance to close since debuting with the Padres in 2017, seems like the team’s best option in the ninth.
Maton’s stock faded last year, though he posted a decent enough 3.66 ERA for the Rays and Mets. That his velocity eroded was the primary culprit; his fastball dipped from 90.9 mph in 2022 to 89.0 mph in 2023 and 88.7 mph last year, and his strikeout rate followed suit. This year, though, Maton is back up to 90.6 mph, and he’s throwing his curveball harder than he has since 2021. His current 30.4% K rate is a big improvement over his 2024 mark of 22.6% and his career rate of 25.9%.
Maton probably won’t get every save chance the Rangers generate. Robert Garcia still might factor in when lefties are due up in the ninth, and Chris Martin could emerge as a factor after returning from a strained calf next month. Still, Maton seems like a perfectly fine bet at this point. This is about as well as he’s thrown at any point of his career, and there’s nothing in his peripherals to suggest things are about to change.
Bubba Chandler (SP Pirates): Rostered in 23% of Yahoo leagues
Here’s my second go this year at including Chandler in a Waiver Wire column. It’s surely been done hundreds of times over dozens of websites by now, but maybe one more will make a difference. Or maybe, more likely, it’ll be the arrival of Aug. 15, the date on which prospects can be called up for the first time, spend the rest of the year on the roster and retain rookie eligibility for 2026. There are still at-bat and innings thresholds to think about there, but that’s more of an issue for the hitters; Chandler will not be topping 50 innings over the final quarter of the season.
The pressure was initially on the Pirates to promote Chandler in May, as he opened up with a 2.03 ERA and a 69/21 K/BB over 48 2/3 innings in his first 11 starts. When it never happened, Chandler went into a summer swoon, often struggling with walks. One can’t simply chalk up all of his struggles to boredom, but it has to be playing a role; if the Pirates were trying to win, he would have been up by June 1 at the latest.
Given the troubles with walks and his very limited win potential while pitching for a bad team and having his workload monitored, it’s probably best not to be overly excited for Chandler’s arrival, at least not for fantasy purposes. Still, he’ll definitely get strikeouts, and he could offer some value while certainly being more motivated than he has been of late.
Waiver Wire Quick Hits
- Baltimore’s Dylan Beavers is another guy who could prove ready for the majors on Aug. 15. Too bad he’s not right now, with the Orioles sporting a Chad Allen-Dylan Carlson-Ryan Noda outfield. Beavers, hitting .309/.423/.438 with 18 homers and 22 steals in Triple-A, will be very much worth adding if he gets the call.
- I thought I might be recommending Cristian Javier here after his first Triple-A rehab start following Tommy John saw him average 93.6 mph with his fastball. However, he was down to 92.5 mph last time out, and he’s walked 10 in 9 2/3 innings over his three turns. Something encouraging needs to happen soon for him to warrant a pickup or even a place in Houston’s rotation.
The Athletics are far out of the playoff race entering the final third of the MLB season, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to play for.
The team’s exciting lineup — one of the youngest in baseball — has continued to impress throughout most of the year, but the Athletics’ inexperienced crop of starting pitchers has had encouraging performances since the All-Star break as well.
Though starter J.T. Ginn picked up the loss Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, manager Mark Kotsay continued to be optimistic about his staff. He emphasized the importance of this stretch, particularly for his trio of emerging starters: Ginn, Jacob Lopez and Jack Perkins.
“Obviously, Lopez is ahead of them with the amount of starts he’s had and a little more innings this year,” Kotsay told reporters postgame. “As far as Ginn and Perkins, these are important weeks for them, and obviously, tonight wasn’t terrible. I mean, three runs in five innings. Our offense just couldn’t help him out.
“But for Perk tomorrow, it’s another young guy that’s going out there. He’ll be limited on the pitch count — probably into the 80s — but for him to go out and have a good start is important.”
Mark Kotsay details the importance of strong outings from the Athletics' young starters at this point in the season pic.twitter.com/A0KCsmJ8Rj
Ginn struggled in the first inning, allowing back-to-back homers to Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle after nearly completing a 1-2-3 frame. But that would be all the Orioles could muster against Ginn and the A’s bullpen.
“Outside of that, I mean, he had nine strikeouts,” Kotsay said of the 26-year-old Ginn. “I thought he got back focused into the zone and really pounded it and did a good job from the second to the fifth.”
As a whole, this rotation has improved significantly in the second half of the season. Before the All-Star break, A’s starters managed just a 5.00 ERA; that mark was down to 3.65 entering Friday’s contest, according to Stathead.
Ginn arguably had the two best starts of his young career in late July, while Lopez hasn’t given up a run in his last two outings. Perkins, meanwhile, will make his second career start Saturday as the rookie looks to find his footing in the rotation.
If this up-and-coming group of starters can continue to perform at a similar level to their hitting counterparts, the Athletics could be a dangerous team sooner rather than later.
The Bakersfield Condors announced they have signed defenseman Mason Millman to a one-year, one-way AHL contract.
Millman recorded 14 points in 52 games for the Providence Bruins and six points in 10 games for the ECHL's Maine Mariners last season. He led the Bruins with a +20 rating.
The 24-year-old has five goals and 22 points in 92 career AHL games with the Bruins and Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He has 102 points in 152 career ECHL games.
A fourth round selection of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2019, Millman turned pro in 2020-21 after parts of three OHL seasons that saw him post 69 points in 130 games with the Saginaw Spirit.
England bowler ‘waiting to see extent of the damage’ first
Recurrence a chance he’d be ‘willing to take’ to make tour
The England bowler Chris Woakes has not given up on playing in the Ashes this winter after he revealed rehabilitation rather than surgery on his dislocated shoulder is being considered.
Woakes produced an astonishing display of bravery in England’s six-run loss to India in the fifth Test of a thrilling series earlier this week when he decided to bat at No 11 with his arm in a sling after a dislocation of his left shoulder on day one of the match.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – Rob Thomson has had a long career in the major leagues, so there probably aren’t too many situations that he hasn’t been through. But the recent amount of film-watching he’s done and reports that he’s read concerning players that are either rehabbing or just amping themselves up to get back to the big club is, no doubt, dizzying.
Now is a good time for the manager, as just about all is positive right now and it seems as though the Phillies might be getting some welcomed reinforcements shortly to help them with their stretch run.
“There’s a lot of them,” Thomson said from his office before his team took on the Texas Rangers in the first of a three-game series.
So, let’s start with the pitchers. Aaron Nola pitched Wednesday for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs and went 3.2 innings, gave up four hits, one run, walked two and struck out four. He threw 69 pitches, 40 for strikes.
“I watched all the tape and command was really good,” Thomson said. “He had a rough first inning, 28 pitches in the first inning, something like that. But he bounced back really well. I thought he threw the ball really well.”
Nola will start again Tuesday for Lehigh Valley and then possibly be back up with the Phillies the following Sunday. “I think so, yeah. I mean there’s a chance,” Thomson said.
Relievers José Alvarado and David Robertson also put in time with the Iron Pigs recently, as Alvarado pitched an inning on Thursday and Robertson pitched both Wednesday and Thursday.
“Back-to-back,” Thomson said of the right-handed Robertson. “15 pitches two days ago, five (Thursday) just to clean up an inning so we checked just about every box we needed to check. If he feels good, we’ll activate him on Sunday.”
As for Alvarado, Thomson seemed blown away by his performance on Thursday. “And Alvarado was unbelievable. 97, 98, I thought I saw a 99 in there. 15 pitches, I believe, and he just looked right. Cutter was fantastic.” Alvarado pitched the one inning, gave up a hit and struck out two. Eight of his 12 pitches were strikes. He can pitch again in the majors beginning August 19th.
Starter Zack Wheeler, originally slated to pitch Friday against the Rangers, was pushed back to Sunday as Thomson revealed earlier this week his ace was dealing with shoulder soreness for a few weeks now. In his four starts since throwing a one-hit, complete game on July 6, Wheeler has allowed 27 hits, including six home runs and 13 earned runs in 23.2 innings for an ERA of 4.94. Very un-Wheeler like numbers. But after an MRI showed no damage, it seems it’s business as usual for him.
“He had a bullpen today as long as he comes in fine tomorrow he’s starting Sunday,” said Thomson. And there you have it.
Outfield questions
Following the trade deadline last week – which brought in outfielder Harrison Bader, along with closer Jhoan Duran – Thomson said that he would be platooning his outfielders for “the next six games,” in order to get a better feel of who he would be using and when. Well his time is about up, but it appears the manager is giving himself some extra time.
“Yeah, I’m going to try and mix it up a little bit in the next couple of days because I want to find out who’s hot, who’s not and go from there,” he said. (Max) Kepler had a good day the other day (home run and double on Wednesday) and is swinging the bat pretty well lately. I really like Bader. (Brandon) Marsh is a guy, (Nick Castellanos) Casty’s an everyday guy, so I got to figure it out.” Friday’s outfield consisted of Kepler in left, Marsh in center and Castellanos in right against righthander Merrill Kelly. “Bader is going to play tomorrow and that’s all I’m going to give you,” Thomson said.
Bohm plans soon to come
Third baseman Alec Bohm is going to start playing on Sunday for Lehigh Valley, Thomson said. Otto Kemp was at third on Friday, but he has also played some left field since being called up in early June, further complicating the outfield decision. We should find out shortly what the game plan is.
The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the best deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, but the organization’s developmental model has not yielded enough results.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 40 NHL games.
The Sabres continued their practice of selecting players with longer development windows, since they do not have to sign them within two years. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, players drafted out of the KHL development system have their rights retained by their NHL club until 27 years old, because there is no transfer agreement between the KHL and NHL.
After watching recent interviews with Dan Milstein @HockeyAgent1 , the agent for many Russian NHL players, I'm amazed by his simple yet brilliant explanation for why Carolina drafts so many Russian players. pic.twitter.com/bvHXJEcbqj
With the first of two seventh-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Sabres selected Belarusian goalie Yevgeni Prokhorov. The 18-year-old played 28 games in the junior-level MHL last season for Dinamo-Shinnik Bobruysk, and posted a 2.19 GAA, and .903 save percentage, and went 3-3, with a 1.95 GAA and .943 save percentage in six playoff games.
With Belarus subject to the ban from the IIHF along with Russia due to the war in Ukraine, Prokhorov will not get any international experience like playing in the World Junior, and will likely play in the MHL again next season, but could see some time in the second-level VHL or KHL depending on his performance.
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The Hockey News’ exclusive summer splash series evaluating the off-seasons of every NHL team is into the final stretch. To put these rankings together, we’ve focused the spotlight on every franchise’s off-season additions, departures, hirings and firings. And we’ve labelled each team as belonging to one of three categories – teams that have improved, teams that essentially stayed the same, and teams that have regressed.
We’re now in the top part of these rankings, but Team No. 10 in our summer splash list – the New York Rangers – are still in a tier where they’re one of the slightly better teams, but otherwise stayed the same. So let’s take an in-depth look at how the Rangers’ off-season has developed, and the direction the Rangers are likely to be headed next season:
Additions
Mike Sullivan (Coach), Vladislav Gavrikov (D), Scott Morrow (D), Taylor Raddysh (RW), Justin Dowling (C)
The Breakdown: The Rangers had the 12th-best offense in the league last season with an average of 3.12 goals-for per game. Unfortunately, they had the same average goals-against, ranking 19th overall in that department – and every team below them, with the exception of the Montreal Canadiens, was a non-playoff team last year.
Meanwhile, the Rangers made a major change behind the bench with the hiring of former Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins bench boss Mike Sullivan, who could’ve had his pick of a slew of teams but chose the Blueshirts. Sullivan’s structure and accountability demands are likely to make the Rangers better as well.
After that, the only additions Drury made were depth players on defense (Scott Morrow) and up front (Taylor Raddysh, Justin Dowling). But let’s face it – the reason the Rangers were a top-10 summer splash team was because they hired Sullivan and signed Gavrikov – and they signed Gavrikov to a very reasonable $7-million per season contract. Gavrikov could’ve easily signed for more money, but his choice and Sullivan’s choice of the Rangers are endorsements of where this team is headed.
Departures
Peter Laviolette (coach), K’Andre Miller (D), Chris Kreider (LW), Zac Jones (D), Arthur Kaliyev (RW), Calvin de Haan (D), Chad Ruhwedel (D). Nicolas Aube-Kubel (RW)
The Breakdown: Drury did not have a ton of salary cap space to go out and make big moves, so it was necessary to purge some veteran salary this summer. That included trading RFA defenseman and longtime Ranger K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes for a first-round draft pick and a second-rounder. But if we’re talking trade-offs, adding Gavrikov in exchange for Miller is a net positive for the Rangers.
That said, the other key Rangers departure is greybeard winger and Rangers fixture Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks. Kreider had spent his entire 14-year career with the Rangers, but his $6.5-million salary (and the two years remaining on his contract) was too rich for Drury to keep around. And veteran coach Peter Laviolette paid the price for the Rangers missing the post-season last year, getting fired after only two years on the job.
Otherwise, Drury allowed fringe players Arthur Kaliyev, Zac Jones, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Calvin de Haan and Chad Ruhwedel to leave via free agency. With due respect to those five players, the Rangers aren’t going to be in trouble because they’re gone. The big issue that needed addressing was the Blueshirts’ defense corps, and all things considered, the Rangers are better as a whole.
The Bottom Line
The Rangers missed the playoffs last year after being the NHL’s best regular-season team in 2023-24. That was extremely frustrating for Rangers fans who were anticipating the Rangers being a better playoff team, not missing the playoffs altogether.
But Drury got a vote of confidence in a contract extension of his own, and he went to work to use all but $777,976 of his cap space to make his team more balanced and better in its own zone. And he moved heaven and earth to ensure he hired Sullivan to run things behind the Rangers’ bench.
We’re not prepared to say the Rangers got notably better – at least, not yet. And certainly, they didn’t get better than the nine teams ahead of them in our summer splash rankings. The Rangers should be in contention for a playoff spot this coming year, but the competition for a playoff berth in the Metropolitan Division will be fierce, and there’s no assurance the Rangers can fend off Metro teams, including the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets, to lock up a playoff spot.
The Rangers’ core of Artemi Panarin, Fox, Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller is solid. But the defense corps isn’t especially deep, nor is the wing position for the Rangers. It’s going to take a lot of effort, some good luck on the injury front, and terrific play from star goalie Igor Shesterkin for the Rangers to bounce back. But their moves this summer give them a better chance at bouncing back – and ultimately, we believe only nine teams had a better off-season than the Blueshirts did.
Dodgers outfielder Alex Call, above doubling against the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, has not struck out since joining the Dodgers at the trade deadline. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
At the end of the 2019 minor-league season, Alex Call looked at his hitting numbers, then looked himself in the mirror.
A former third-round draft pick who had already changed organizations once, he knew he had just had the kind of year that typically portends a short professional career.
As a 24-year-old outfielder at the double-A level in the Cleveland Guardians organization, Call had taken 325 plate appearances that year with the Akron RubberDucks. In 93 of them — a rate of nearly 30% — he recorded a strikeout.
It wasn’t the only ugly stat in a season that saw Call bat just .205, reach base at a .266 clip and hit only five home runs. But it was the biggest sign of a fundamental flaw plaguing the right-handed hitter’s game.
“That,” he recalled recently, while reflecting on what became a turning point moment in his career, “just wasn't gonna get it done.”
Six years later, Call joined the Dodgers as a trade deadline addition last week with a polar opposite reputation. Now, the defensively versatile outfielder is one of the harder outs in all the majors. Since the start of last season, his .297 batting average ranks eighth among MLB hitters with at least 350 plate appearances. More important, over that same span, he ranks top 60 in strikeout rate and walk rate (with a 55-to-39 ratio overall), and 22nd in chase rate; consistently putting together some of the better at-bats in all the sport.
“This guy’s just a straight grinder, works at-bats,” general manager Brandon Gomes said after the Dodgers acquired Call from the Washington Nationals in exchange for two pitching prospects. “Playing against him, he’s always incredibly frustrating to try to game plan for and get out.”
“I’ve faced Alex a few times,” added future Hall of Fame left-hander Clayton Kershaw. “He’s tough against lefties, a great defender. A good add, for sure.”
The Dodgers, of course, could have made splashier adds at the deadline. They were linked to All-Star caliber names, including Steven Kwan of the Guardians, but didn’t splurge to pay such inflated deadline prices.
Instead, they settled for Call, who was a smaller name but came with team control through 2029. They put their faith in his overhauled offensive skill set, hopeful a personal transformation more than half-a-decade in the making will make him a key piece in their pursuit of a second straight World Series title.
“That is my whole game,” Call said on the day he arrived with the club. “I am going to grind out at-bats, put the ball in play, take my walks, make it tough on the pitcher, lengthen out the lineup.”
The origins of that mindset date to that 2019 season, and the pandemic-altered year that followed.
Entering 2020, Call committed to a change at the plate. In what was a crowded pipeline of outfielders in the Guardians system — highlighted at that time by Kwan, who has since blossomed into one of the best left fielders in the game — he recognized he needed a new identity. If he was going to reach the majors, it was going to start with simply working better at-bats.
“It’s a bad feeling,” he said, “having a cloud hanging over your head after a season like that.”
The only problem: COVID-19 came, the 2020 minor league season was canceled, and Call (like so many other minor-league long shots clinging to big-league dreams) was left effectively on his own.
So, he found different ways to improve his bat.
As the baseball world shut down, Call bought a portable Junior Hack Attack hitting machine with a self-feeding ball dispenser. And everywhere he went that year — from spring training housing in Phoenix to his childhood home in Wisconsin to his family’s offseason residence in Indiana — he sought out any place “I could find a hitting cage and an outlet” to use it, he said laughing.
His focus was simple. Work on hitting fastballs up in the strike zone. Eliminate what had been one of the biggest holes in his swing.
“For me, it's just about having that mentality to where, it doesn't matter if I have two strikes or if it's an 0-0 count,” he said. “Believe I'm comfortable in every situation. I'm going to put the ball in play.”
By that winter, Call sought out a more advanced piece of training technology as well.
Over the previous couple years, a company called Win Reality had begun manufacturing virtual reality hitting goggles — using data-driven models, actual video and computer-generated images to recreate virtual at-bats against real pitchers from a hitter’s point of view inside Oculus-style headsets.
A handful of MLB teams, including the Dodgers, had invested in the system for their teams. In the months leading up to the 2021 season, Call decided to do the same for himself, buying the $300 product (and paying for its annual $200 software program) to help couple his new swing with a more discerning approach.
“[I was] just really practicing the zone,” Call said. “Knowing what pitches are my strengths and what pitches I don't want to swing at until two strikes. Developing that plan and developing that approach.”
The training paid off.
At the start of the 2021 season, Call was sent back to double-A Akron. When he arrived, he was informed by manager Rouglas Odor that he would only be slated to play 2-3 games per week — a quick reminder of how far down the organization depth chart he’d fallen.
“I remember him being very disappointed,” Odor, now the Guardians’ big-league third-base coach, recalled this week. “But he took ownership of his career, and didn’t let what I told him affect him.”
Call’s chance arrived that May, after Kwan went down with a hamstring injury. And almost immediately, his COVID-year changes took effect. Over 180 plate appearances, Call hit .310, drew 21 walks and — just as he’d hoped — cut his strikeout rate by half, punching out only 26 times.
“He was a totally different hitter,” said Odor, who had also been Call’s manager during his dismal 2019 campaign. “Defensively, he was already to play in the big leagues. He made some unbelievable plays … But offensively, he found his stroke. His plate discipline was more consistent. And he had an unbelievable season.”
By the end of the season, Call had been promoted to triple-A. The next July, he earned a promotion to the majors.
The ascent from there wasn’t linear. In August 2022, he was designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Nationals. In 2023, he played in 128 big-league games but hit only .200, sending him back to triple-A for most of last year.
Alex Call bats against the Houston Astros on July 28 as a member of the Washington Nationals. (Karen Warren / Associated Press)
Still, his plate discipline didn’t waver (he struck out only 78 times in his 439 plate appearances in 2023, an 18% rate, while also drawing 53 walks). His VR routine only became more ingrained, seeing upward of 54,000 simulated pitches (or, essentially 25 seasons’ worth of throws) through his headset each year, as he told the Washington Post last month.
It all has clicked over the last calendar year, with Call following up a productive return to the majors at the end of 2024 with his best full-season performance this term.
“The type of player that I am, I can hit the ball over the fence, but it's not really my full game,” Call said. “So for me, it was about trying to create as many opportunities to get on base as possible … I have to be able to hit the ball at good angles.”
Call is one of only four players with at least 200 plate appearances this season (along with Kyle Tucker, Gleyber Torres and Geraldo Perdomo) who strikes out less than 15% of the time, chases less than 20% of the time and whiffs less than 20% of the time. He has hit .236 with two strikes (better than everyone else on the Dodgers except Hyeseong Kim).
He had his first standout game with the Dodgers on Wednesday, when he singled, doubled and made a catch while crashing into the left-field wall to save an extra-base hit.
Eight at-bats into his Dodgers career entering Friday's game, he has also yet to strike out once.
“I’m always proud of players like Alex, because he wasn’t this big prospect, but he became an everyday big-league player,” Odor said. “He had the urgency to make something happen in order to reach his goal, and his dream.”
And now, Call is aiming to take his career one step further — to be not just a productive big-league bat, but one capable of playing an impactful role on a title-contending club in Los Angeles.
“I always knew that I could do it and be an established major leaguer,” Call said. “It’s just, sometimes it takes a little bit of time. And I'm grateful that I was given that time, and just continued to get better.”
The 2025-26 season is just a few months away. Training camp for the Minnesota Wild will begin in just over a month from now. Wild hockey will be here before we know it.
This means it is time for some players to sign professional tryouts with NHL teams to join them in camp. There are a few good NHL players who are still unsigned right now that could be PTO candidates if they go unsigned.
Victor Olofsson is one of them. The 5-foot-11 winger spent the 2024-25 season with the Vegas Golden Knights. He was on a one-year contract worth $1,075,000. In 56 games with the VGK, Olofsson recorded 15 goals, 14 assists and 29 points.
He was in and out of the lineup of Vegas' because of how good the Golden Knights' depth was. He recorded six goals on the power play last season.
Olofsson, 30, has spent seven seasons in the NHL and has three 20-goal seasons. His career high was 28 with the Buffalo Sabres in 2022-23. He is a top power play kind of guy who scored 11 power-play goals during the 2019-20 season. He finished that year with 20 goals.
In his career, Olofsson has recorded 105 goals, 106 assists, 211 points, 41 power-play goals and 28 power play assists in 370 games.
He has played in nine playoff games in his career. They all came last season with the Golden Knights. In four playoff games against the Wild, Olofsson had a power-play assist. It was a primary assist on Shea Theodore's opening goal in Game 6 which eliminated the Wild from the playoffs.
It is weird to think Olofsson is not signed yet and if he still isn't by training camp, he should be an option as a PTO for the Wild.
Unfortunately, no, but we're here to help pass the time. From Aug. 8 to Sept. 1, The Hockey News Nashville Predators will be counting down 24 players in 24 days, profiling every current or potentially rostered player.
Today's player profile is defenseman Adam Wilsby.
As an NHL Prospect
Wilsby was drafted by the Nashville Predators 101st overall in the 2020 draft out of Skellefteå AIK in HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden's second-highest hockey league. In his draft year, he scored 30 points in 41 games.
He was one of three defensemen selected in that year's draft which included Luke Prokop (73rd overall) and Luke Reid (166th overall).
Professional career
After getting drafted by the Predators, Wilsby spent two more seasons with Skellefteå AIK in the Swedish League. His numbers declined slightly from when he was playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, tallying 18 points in the 2020-21 season and 17 points in the 2021-22 season.
At the end of the 2021-22 season, he joined the Milwaukee Admirals, playing in three playoff games.
Wilsby was specifically in Milwaukee until last season, when he made his debut with the Predators against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 27. He scored his first NHL point against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 4.
Last season he totaled five points in 23 games logging six penalty minutes.
What role will he play this season
Wilsby's training camp will be crucial in determining whether the Predators want to keep him in Nashville.
He seemed like he was becoming a regular last season after getting called up in November, but suffered an upper-body injury that ended his season. Wilsby had a plus/minus of three, the best on the roster last year, but really wasn't producing much.
However, it seemed like the Predators liked what they saw from Wilsby as he spent three months up in Nashville. Coaching staff could have a preset place for him ahead of camp.
Considering the additions of Nic Hague and Nick Perbix, the only likely openings on the defense are going to be in the third pairing.
