As hockey fans await the start of the Stanley Cup final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, some pundits are pondering Connor McDavid's future in Edmonton.
McDavid has a year remaining on his contract and will be UFA-eligible next July. The Oilers can sign their 28-year-old captain to an extension on July 1.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post acknowledged that McDavid could re-sign “without fuss or muss” this summer, becoming the first Oilers icon to spend his entire NHL career in Edmonton. However, he also wondered if No. 97 might follow the example of former Oiler Mark Messier and head to the New York Rangers next summer with or without a championship.
Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star noted the dream of McDavid returning home to Toronto hasn't died for some Maple Leafs fans. He thinks the only way that happens is if the Oilers' superstar wins the Stanley Cup this year and decides he needs a bigger challenge, like helping the Leafs end their 58-year Cup drought.
Arthur admits the notion is a long shot. So is Brooks' idea of McDavid signing with the Rangers.
In Messier's day, the Oilers' dynasty was dismantled because their eventual-bankrupt owner couldn't afford to maintain a Cup contender in an era without cost certainty. Today, the Oilers are a contender with stable, deep-pocketed ownership, playing under a salary cap system with revenue sharing that allows them to retain their biggest stars.
Prediction: the Oilers sign McDavid this summer to an eight-year extension, making him the NHL's highest-paid player starting in 2026-27.
Meanwhile, speculation persists over whether Mitch Marner re-signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs or tests the UFA market on July 1.
The Toronto Star's Gord Stellick believes the Vegas Golden Knights will aggressively pursue the 28-year-old right winger this summer. He claimed they weren't happy with their second-round post-season exit and could shed some aging players for younger talent.
The Hockey News’ Julian Gaudio cited Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman claiming the Golden Knights discussed a trade last summer involving Marner with the Golden Knights. He believes it fell through because the Leafs wanted defenseman Shea Theodore as part of the return, and there was no guarantee that Marner would agree to the move.
Speaking of the Golden Knights, Damien Cox suggested the Leafs should follow Vegas' example by trading futures for players who can help them win the Stanley Cup. He also advocated re-signing Marner, as his departure would hurt their offense and special teams play.
Given GM Brad Treliving's recent remarks about changing the Leafs' DNA, Marner's return seems unlikely. Assuming he does and Treliving follows Vegas' example, there's no guarantee they would reach the same level of success as the Golden Knights.
In an unexpected but welcomed announcement on Monday morning, the Ottawa Senators revealed they signed defenceman Tyler Kleven to a two-year contract worth an average annual value of $1.6 million.
The terms of Kleven's deal represent a bridge deal that can bring the defenceman to restricted free agency at the conclusion of the 2026-27 season.
The Fargo, North Dakota native was slated to be a restricted free agent this summer, but with his signing, the Senators have taken one of their biggest internal items of business off their agenda.
Kleven took marked steps in his development in his first full NHL season. He tallied four goals and added six assists in 79 games while exhibiting strong defensive habits that continued to progress as the season went on.
According to Evolving-Hockey's 'total defence' (DEF) metric that combines a player's defensive contributions at five-on-five and while shorthanded into one single value, only Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub compiled more defensive value for the Senators than Kleven in 2024-25.
Most of Kleven's minutes were sheltered because he played on the third pairing in favourable matchups, but it is worth noting that Sanderson and Zub led the Senators in average shorthanded ice time per game, while Kleven only logged 19 minutes and 46 seconds of shorthanded ice time all season for an average of 15 seconds per game.
Should Travis Green and the coaching staff afford Kleven more defensive responsibilities and allow him to play regularly on the penalty kill, he should have a real opportunity to create more value for himself and the team. There is also the fact that Kleven spent most of his minutes playing alongside relatively inefficient partners in Nik Matinpalo, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Travis Hamonic.
Irrespective of who his partner was, the Senators tended to be on the wrong side of the shots (CF%), shots on goal (SF%), total goals (GF%), and expected goal (xGF%) battle.
A deeper look under the hood via HockeyViz, however, reveals that Kleven had strong isolated defensive metrics.
In the postseason, Kleven looked incredibly comfortable defending, but equally, there was a poise with the puck to elude the forecheckers and create extra time and space to generate clean exits.
His postseason play was an eye-opening performance that helped foster a belief that there is another level to his two-way game that he can reach more consistently as he gains experience and his confidence continues to grow.
Having a more effective partner would also benefit Kleven, and there is every reason to believe that will happen in 2025-26. With news that Nick Jensen had surgery this offseason to correct an undisclosed lower-body injury, it is widely believed the Senators are looking to add a right-shot defenceman to guard against the possibility that Jensen either will not be ready to start the season or may not be able to return to the level that he demonstrated in the first three months of the season.
If Kleven were a natural right-shot, he would certainly merit consideration for a top-four role. Heck, he may still get it if the asking prices in the free agent and trade markets are prohibitively expensive. With so many other organizations electing to use left-shot defencemen rather than overpay for lesser alternatives because of their handedness, the Senators could follow suit. They could pair Kleven with Chabot before targetting strong defensive left-shot options like Jon Merrill or Calvin de Haan in free agency.
The likelihood of the top-of-the-class free agents choosing Ottawa as a destination is small, but the path of using Kleven on his off-side would prevent the organization from having to overpay on the trade market as well. With an already thin farm system and the loss of their 2026 first-rounder as punishment for the organization's involvement in the Evgenii Dadonov scandal, moving a ton of futures or valued pieces off the parent roster may not be desirable.
It all depends on the return.
If the Senators find that right-shot alternative, however, it will allow Kleven to remain on the third pairing, where he would likely partner with the returning Jensen. Even if it takes time for Jensen to return to his pre-injury level, he represents a significant improvement over the alternatives.
Whereas Kleven's partners last season were more of the prototypical third-pairing sorts, Jensen is a hardworking defender who can skate and move the puck effectively - which, in theory, would create a balanced duo and give the organization three strong pairings to build off.
The Boston Celtics could go in several different directions with the No. 28 pick in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Center is probably the team’s most glaring roster need to address. Veterans Al Horford and Luke Kornet are both able to become unrestricted free agents this summer. Kristaps Porzingis has played well for Boston when healthy, but he’s also missed 65 regular season games since becoming a Celtics player two years ago.
So it would make sense to bolster the depth in the frontcourt with this pick.
One option if the C’s want a center is Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner. He averaged 19.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 34.2 percent from 3-point range last season. He also averaged 2.7 blocks per game at 7-foot-1 and 270 pounds.
Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner reminded NBA teams of his tremendous tools and rim-running, floor stretching potential at the Priority Sports pro day in Chicago.
4x Big East defensive player of the year has a 7'6 wingspan and 9'4 standing reach. pic.twitter.com/640Z0TzqC0
Michigan center Danny Wolf is another mid-to-late first-round prospect to consider, too. He averaged 13.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game for Michigan after transferring from Yale. He’s 7-foot and 250 pounds.
A case also could be made to just take the best player available. Either way, the Celtcs just need another player who can step in and play right away. A wing who can create his own shot and defend multiple positions would be helpful for Boston’s roster as well. You can never have enough 3-and-D wings.
The C’s have an expensive roster as a second apron team, so there aren’t many good options for them to add talent to their roster. The most cost-effective method is the draft, which is one reason why making a good pick at No. 28 is so important for the Celtics.
Which players should the Celtics consider with the No. 28 pick in the first round? Here’s a look at recent projections from expert mock drafts after last Wednesday’s deadline for players to withdraw their names from eligibility in the 2025 draft.
“The Celtics may not have multiple first-round picks in this draft, but their salary cap situation and Jayson Tatum‘s Achilles tendon tear make them one of the teams to watch. Penda, who can play either forward position, offers defensive versatility and a solid basketball IQ. His shooting does need to improve, but Boston should have the options around him to help compensate for that issue.”
“Thiero is a slasher with a jacked frame and an explosive first step, but he has severe limitations on offense as a shooter. If he’s able to figure out the shot, then his length and versatility would make him a classic 3-and-D role player. The Celtics have had good success at improving shooters, so he’d be a fair bet at this spot, considering his other strengths are tailor-made for their system.”
“Danny Wolf made a strong, final pitch to scouts against Auburn, finishing with 20 points and a number of eye-opening highlights that showcased his creation and shotmaking.
“Though his three-point numbers might not indicate shooting improvement, he added a pull-up and step-back to his repertoire this year. A 7-footer who made 21 dribble jumpers, served as Michigan’s lead playmaker and still averaged 9.7 boards and 1.4 blocks is bound to entice a number of teams.”
“A French prospect putting together a strong season with Le Mans, Penda checks several boxes as a long forward who can score inside and out and match up well physically defending multiple positions. He could give Boston some long-term flexibility as it enters a potential transition year next season.”
“Kalkbrenner could easily go in the top 20 given he’s over seven-feet tall and shoots 34.4 percent from three. He won Big East Defensive Player of the Year four times and has the makings of a Boston Celtic written all over him.”
There is all sorts of buzz about how this could be one of the biggest, wildest NBA offseasons ever. Here are just some of the latest rumors.
“Mutual interest” between Raptors, Antetokounmpo
It's no secret that Toronto Raptors decision maker Masai Ujiri has long had an interest in bringing Giannis Antetokounmpo north of the border, but that has never been an option.
"I don't know if it will happen but I do know there is mutual interest between Antetokounmpo and the Raptors. The wild card is cost." Add to that this comment from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on his Hoop Collective Podcast:
"The Raptors are a team that is starting to make noise within the league about looking for a big fish... There are some teams that sniff the ability to make a move and I think Toronto is one of those teams."
If Antetokounmpo demands a trade but wants to stay in the East (one of the rumors out there), then the Raptors have a chance. Their offer can pair a bigger-salaried player, such as Brandon Ingram or RJ Barrett, with some promising young players, such as Grady Dick and Ochai Agbaj. Additionally, the Raptors control all their own picks, so they could potentially select three (or more). I'm not sure if that offer would win the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes (and a third team likely gets involved to make the numbers work), but it's a legitimate offer.
The ball is now in Antetokounmpo's court. Does he demand a trade at all? If he does, what, if any, restrictions does he put on it? Stay in the East? Does he give a list of specific teams it has to be? There are more questions than answers, but Toronto could be a landing place for Antetokounmpo.
Pistons interested in Naz Reid, Myles Turner
The Detroit Pistons are looking for a floor spacing big man to run some pick-and-pop plays with Cade Cunningham, and they have their eyes on Minnesota's Naz Reid and Indiana's Myles Turner, reports Marc Stein in his newsletter.
Turner is about to play in the NBA Finals and is a key part of the Pacers' offense with his pick-and-pop play off Tyrese Haliburton. The league-wide expectation is that he won't really hit the open market and will re-sign in Indiana (likely on an Isaiah Hartenstein-sized deal).
Reid is a more interesting case. He is expected to opt out of his $15 million player option for next season, seeking a raise and the security of a multi-year contract. Minnesota is battling cap issues and would go deep into the second apron to bring back its three major free agents Reid, Julius Randle and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. That has led to considerable speculation that Reid could hit the open market, as he is alsoseeking a larger role. In that context, Detroit appears to be a good fit. It's something to watch.
Rockets looking to trade No. 10 pick
You can never have too many good young players... except the Houston Rockets kind of feel like you can. This is a team so deep that last year's Summer League standout Reed Sheppard had a hard time finding minutes. So when it comes to the No. 10 pick, the Rockets would rather trade it than keep it, reports Kevin O’Conner of Yahoo Sports.
"League sources expect the Rockets to look into trading this pick, whether it's a trade way up, a trade out for a star, or a trade out for a group of future picks similar to what the Spurs received from the Timberwolves when they moved up for Rob Dillingham last year."
The Rockets have a wealth of young players and picks to trade in order to go after Giannis Antetokounmpo or any other star that becomes available. The No. 10 pick is likely a part of any of those packages.
Zion Williamson not untouchable. Maybe.
The vibe from people close to the Pelicans is that new decision-maker Joe Dumars plans to keep Zion Williamson and become the latest executive to try and build around him. However, don't think of Zion as untouchable, reports Kevin O’Conner of Yahoo Sports.
"There are no untouchables in New Orleans. League sources say the Pelicans are gauging the market for everyone on their roster. They very well could end up keeping their core pieces, namely Zion Williamson, but it appears the Pelicans are looking into taking different paths this summer depending on what opportunities become available."
While there is trade interest in Zion, it's not expected to be a strong market, considering his contract and injury history, plus the latest personal life scandal surrounding him does not help matters. Some teams would take him in a favorable deal, but they are not willing to go all-in to acquire him. Which means expect Zion to be in New Orleans next season. Still, the door to a trade is open if one of the teams that misses out on Antetokounmpo comes calling with a big offer.
Bulls eying Egor Demin in draft
BYU's Egor Denim is maybe the most polarizing player in the draft. His supporters will point out he is the best passer in this class and as a 6'8" point guard with an excellent feel for the game he could lead a team. His detractors were not impressed with his 10.6 points a game on 27.3% from 3 — his shot needs a lot of work.
Apparently count the Bulls as backers as they reportedly are eyeing him as the No. 12 pick, reports Joe Cowley at The Chicago Sun-Times. That is a lot higher than we had Demin going in the latest NBC Sports Mock Draft, where he fell to the Wizards at No. 18. (For the record, we had the Bulls taking French forward Noa Essengue as someone who could play well off Josh Giddey.) However, by No. 12 in the draft teams should consider taking a big swing, and if the Bulls believe in Demin's potential, then go for it. We can discuss the Bulls' quality of player evaluation in recent years another day.
While Lane Hutson got most of the media attention when it came to Montreal Canadiens’ rookies, Emil Heineman was no slouch either. The Swedish winger, drafted 43rd overall by the Florida Panthers, was acquired in the Tyler Toffoli deal with the Calgary Flames in February 2022. Although he took some time to reach the NHL, he was worth the wait.
In his first full season in the NHL, Heineman showed he is ready to do whatever it takes to help his team win, even if it’s not the most glamorous job. Martin St-Louis put him on the fourth line alongside Jake Evans and Joel Armia, and the 23-year-old took to the job like a fish to water.
Unfortunately for the youngster, he suffered a freak injury when he was hit by a car in Utah in early January, which derailed his production in what had been a very respectable offensive season for a fourth-line player. The accident sidelined him until February 22, and once he returned, he could only muster a single point in 21 games, compared to 17 points in the first 41 games. In the end, he scored 10 goals and recorded eight assists in the regular season, totaling 18 points.
While his ten goals were most welcome on a team that has struggled for offensive production in the past, it’s not his offensive input that was the most valuable to the Canadiens, but his forechecking abilities. In just 62 games, he landed 173 hits, the fourth most on the team and the highest average per game with 2.79.
Heineman utilizes his 6-foot-2, 198-pound frame effectively to land punishing hits and dispossess opponents’ defensemen. He also has the speed necessary to get possession of the puck and feed it to his linemates.
Overall, I believe the youngster deserves a B+ for his performances this season. It’s not easy for a European player to adapt to the North American style of play, and Heineman was able to do it flawlessly after just one season in the AHL. His ability to perform with consistency allowed him to beat the likes of Joshua Roy for a spot in the NHL, and he never looked back.
After the Canadiens’ elimination in the first round, he was called upon to represent Sweden at the World Championships, where he recorded three points in 10 games and finished the tournament with a plus-2 rating and a bronze medal.
Photo Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
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Zack and Dominique Wheeler are expecting their fourth child any day now and the Phillies have adjusted their rotation this week as a result.
Wheeler had been scheduled to start Tuesday in Toronto, which would have also lined him up for the final game of the Phillies’ road trip this week in Pittsburgh.
Instead, the Phils will start Cristopher Sanchez, Mick Abel and Jesus Luzardo in Toronto Tuesday through Thursday. Starters for the Pirates series are TBD.
The Phillies’ off-day Monday allows for Sanchez to move up a spot while still pitching on the standard four days’ rest. Same with Luzardo on Thursday.
Abel will pitch the middle game, his second big-league start. The 23-year-old right-hander will remain in the Phillies’ rotation until Aaron Nola is ready to return from an ankle sprain, which could mean two starts. Taijuan Walker has shifted to the bullpen, where he’ll stay.
The Phillies bring a four-game losing streak to Toronto but hope to receive the jolt of Bryce Harper’s bat back in the lineup after five straight absences. Harper was hit in the right elbow by a 95 mph fastball last Tuesday and was swollen and sore for days before hitting in the cage over the weekend.
No Wheeler will make the series more difficult against a Blue Jays club that has won a season-high five straight games and is in the midst of its best offensive period of 2025, having scored 39 runs the last four.
The French wildcard Lois Boisson defeated the third seed Jessica Pegula to reach the French Open quarter-finals and send shock waves around Roland Garros. The 22-year-old, ranked No 361 in the world, stunned the American 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to the delight of the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd.
Boisson’s only real claim to fame before the tournament this year was when Britain’s Harriet Dart complained to an umpire about her, saying “tell her to wear deodorant”.
There was no justification for the driver’s rash and futile act of retribution at the Spanish Grand Prix
There was no justification for Max Verstappen’s rash and futile act of retribution at the Spanish Grand Prix, when he deliberately drove into the side of George Russell’s car. The world champion knows it and on Monday he admitted as much with something of a mea culpa on social media. Yet it also must be considered that it is part and parcel of what makes Verstappen so competitive, albeit in this case in an entirely unedifying and self‑defeating fashion.
Angry and frustrated at a sequence of events in Barcelona, including having to cede a place to Russell, Verstappen surrendered to his baser instincts. Having pulled over to give the place to Russell, he clearly then felt a point had to be made and accelerated back up the inside to collide with the Mercedes.
The Boston Red Sox will spend June digging themselves out of the hole they put themselves in last month.
They Red Sox enter Monday’s series opener against the Los Angeles Angels with a 29-32 record after going 11-17 in May. Although they bounced back by taking two out of three against the Atlanta Braves, their inconsistency makes it difficult to believe better days are ahead.
Their schedule won’t get any easier in June. After the three-game set vs. L.A., Boston will head to the Bronx for its first series against the New York Yankees this season. From there, the team will host the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays and the Yankees before a tough West Coast trip against the first-place Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, and Angels. The Red Sox will wrap up the month at home against the second-place Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds.
Here’s how Boston stacks up against the rest of the league in the latest batch of national MLB Power Rankings:
“Fair or not, the Rafael Devers situation is defining Boston’s season so far. The highest-paid player in the organization’s history, moved to designated hitter against his will, has declined to take ground balls and build more flexibility into the roster. Instead, everyone else is expected to move — more specifically, rookie Kristian Campbell, who is learning to play a corner infield position on the fly and taking grounders before games. Devers, meanwhile, has played a corner spot his whole career. Is it shocking that Campbell might be overwhelmed as he tries to hit as a rookie? He’s batting .120 in May.”
“The Red Sox offense is starting to warm up, and it’s not surprising to see who is leading the charge. He might not be playing the field, but that seems for the best, because Rafael Devers sure has taken to the DH spot: He’d tied for the MLB lead in RBIs (52), which is particularly impressive because he’s also leading the AL in walks. The problem is, of course, everything else with the Red Sox right now: They have fallen all the way to fourth in the AL East.”
“The Red Sox dropped six of seven to close out the month, finishing a miserable 11-17. Their middle-infield tandem of Kristian Campbell (.355 OPS) and Trevor Story (.432) finished last and next to last, respectively, among 169 qualified hitters during May.”
“The Boston bats have gone cold lately, but they still sport the 6th-best offense in terms of runs scored. That offense has helped them hide a bad rotation that lacks any reliable starters after ace Garrett Crochet.”
After years as a directionless collection of celebrity footballers, PSG are a true team now. But they still represent one of the sport’s darkest trends
Paris Saint-Germain’s success in the Champions League final on Saturday was a victory for youth and adventure. It was a victory for a team built with a coherent vision, and a rebuke to those who believe the game is just about collecting the biggest names. It was a victory for Luis Enrique, a very fine coach who has suffered dreadful personal tragedy. It was a victory for forward-thinking, progressive, fluent football.
Clockwise from top left: Last week, Chris Sale was crowned the fastest to reach 2,500 strikeouts. Check the stats of Dodgers pitchers Blake Snell and Clayton Kershaw and Nolan Ryan for a deeper story. (Associated Press; Los Angeles Times)
When is the "fastest" something of a slow roll?
How about last week when pitcher Chris Sale was crowned the fastest to reach 2,500 career strikeouts?
Not to diminish Sale's accomplishment: It took him fewer innings (2,026) to record No. 2,500 than any other pitcher in history. But because of injuries and a reduced workload — both huge, flashing signs of the times — he didn't achieve the feat until his 16th season.
Sale was appropriately humble, telling reporters, "I appreciate it for what it is, but I try not to get too caught up in stuff like that right now."
Perhaps he realizes it took others far less time to reach the 2,500 milestone, including the top two strikeout artists of all time: Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson.
Strikeouts are a single lens in viewing the substantive changes over the last 100-plus years in how pitchers are utilized, record outs and withstand the burden. But they can be an instructive one.
Catch a whiff of this: A certain Dodger currently on the injured list strikes out more batters per nine innings than any other pitcher in baseball history, which in effect is another way to express Sale's "fastest" title.
Blake Snell averages a record 11.1679 strikeouts per nine innings, edging out Sale, who is second all-time at 11.1056 among pitchers who average at least one inning per team game.
The believe-it-or-not distinction might explain why the Dodgers gave Snell a five-year, $182-million free agent contract last offseason. His wicked stuff that features a 96 mph four-seam fastball also could help explain why he's on the injured list for the eighth time in the last eight seasons, this time out since April 6 with left shoulder inflammation.
Snell is the epitome of a highly valued starter in today's game: He accumulates strikeouts at a higher rate than anyone else, gives up fewer hits than anyone else, and elicits only shrugs when someone points out that he has a grand total of one complete game in 213 career starts.
It is revealing that 13 of the top 20 pitchers on the all-time strikeout per innings list are active. The only one who didn't pitch in the 21st century is Ryan at No. 19, just ahead of another believe-it-or-not name, Lucas Giolito.
Among the 33 pitchers to average more than a strikeout per inning, the only one whose career began in the 1950s has a statue outside Dodger Stadium: Sandy Koufax.
Koufax and Snell are two of 10 Dodgers among the 33, a clue as to what the Dodgers front office values in mound performance. Several of the names are less than luminary.
Note: Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani averaged a mammoth 11.40 strikeouts per nine innings in six seasons with the Angels but hasn't pitched enough to qualify for the all-time list. He has recovered from elbow surgery and is expected to return to the mound after the All-Star break for the first time since August 2023.
Sale's accomplishment, then, is sustaining a near-record rate of strikeouts per nine innings for more than 2,000 innings, certainly worthy of note.
An equally valid definition of "fastest" to reach a strikeout milestone would be how long it took to get there. The pitcher that the 6-foot-6, left-handed Sale surpassed was his boyhood idol: Johnson, a 6-10, left-handed flamethrower who ranks second to Ryan on the career strikeout list with 4,875.
Johnson notched No. 2,500 in inning No. 2,108 — 82 more than it took Sale. But he did so in only his 11th season, five seasons "faster" than Sale.
Incidentally — and incredibly — Johnson was only halfway through his career. He retired in 2009 after 22 seasons with 4,135.1 innings and 303 wins.
Granted, Johnson was an anomaly, the only hurler ever to amass more than 200 innings and 300 strikeouts in multiple seasons well into his 30s. At ages 35-38 from 1999-2002, he averaged a staggering 354 strikeouts and 258 innings a season.
The only comparable hurler was Ryan (record strikeout total: 5,714), who also reached No. 2,500 in his 11th season, the milestone whiff coming in inning No. 2,287 when he struck out Andre Thornton of Cleveland while pitching for the Angels in 1978.
Ryan's longevity was even more impressive than Johnson's: 27 seasons from 1966-93, 5,386 innings and 324 wins. No current pitcher will come close to those numbers.
On the other end of the strikeout spectrum are Hall of Fame pitchers from more than 100 years ago who logged vast numbers of innings while striking out far fewer batters per inning. Velocity wasn't nearly as high or as prized as it is today and pitchers were expected to complete games they started.
Sale ranks No. 40 on the all-time strikeout list, and he next will pass Christy Mathewson, who needed a prodigious 4,788 innings to log 2,507 strikeouts from 1900-16. Mathewson is far down the list of strikeouts per nine innings, checking in at No. 689 with 4.71.
Walter Johnson, the legendary "Big Train" out of Fullerton Union High, is third all-time with 5,914 innings and ninth with 3,509 strikeouts in a career spanning 1907-27. But he averaged just 5.34 strikeouts per nine innings, ranking No. 520, a few notches ahead of the less than legendary former Dodgers swingman Elmer Dessens.
Other fabled names associated with blazing fastballs compiled surprisingly low strikeout rates as well. Bob "Rapid Robert" Feller, for example, sits at 6.07 strikeouts per nine innings.
Kershaw, meanwhile, is on the cusp of reaching a milestone that very nearly guarantees entry into the Hall of Fame: 3,000 strikeouts. The career Dodger in his 18th season has 2,974, and he's inching toward the finish line, having struck out six in three abbreviated starts since coming off the injured list two weeks ago.
Although Kershaw has consistently downplayed the significance of reaching 3,000, he told Tyler Kepner of the Athletic last week that it's on his mind.
“Yeah, I’d be lying if I didn’t want to do it,” Kershaw said. “But I think the coolest part is the company you get to be a part of. You know what I mean? There’s just some really special names.”
They include, of course, Ryan and Johnson. Nineteen pitchers have reached the milestone and 17 are in the Hall of Fame, with Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling falling short for reasons that had nothing to do with strikeout totals.
Kershaw is considered a Hall of Fame shoo-in, his earned-run average of 2.51 the lowest of any active pitcher that meets the innings qualification and his 212 career victories an impressive number in today's game.
Snell's candidacy falls into the "way too early to tell" category. Yes, he is the only pitcher to win a Cy Young award in each league, and his 3.18 career ERA sparkles. And, of course, striking out more batters per nine innings than anyone else in history stands out on his resume.
Yet Snell is in his 10th season and he has just 77 wins. Hall of Fame starters with the fewest MLB wins are Dizzy Dean (150) and Koufax (165), the careers of both cut short by arm injuries.
Snell's career should be far from over. He's only 32 and his lucrative Dodgers contract doesn't expire until after the 2029 season. But to have a shot at the Hall, Snell must fulfill the promise that prompted the Dodgers to sign him.
The only active pitchers besides Kershaw considered Hall of Fame locks are Justin Verlander and Scherzer, both hard throwers with the requisite strikeout totals.
Verlander, 42, has 3,457 strikeouts while averaging 8.98 per nine innings. He also has 262 wins — 46 more than Scherzer and 50 more than Kershaw, the next two active pitchers on the all-time list. No one else is close to 200.
Scherzer ranks fifth all-time in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.65, trailing only Snell, Sale, Robby Ray (another believe-it-or-not name) and Jacob DeGrom. Scherzer's career total of 3,408 ranks 11th, just behind Verlander.
Gerrit Cole, 34, appeared on a Hall of Fame track before undergoing Tommy John surgery in March. He won't pitch again until early next season, putting a long pause on his current totals of 153 wins, 2,251 strikeouts and 10.37 strikeouts per nine innings.
The only recently retired starter who might be rehearsing his Hall induction speech is another former Dodger, Zack Greinke, who posted 225 wins and 2,979 strikeouts along with a 3.49 ERA before retiring in 2024 after 20 seasons.
What about Sale, whose rebound from four years of debilitating injuries to win a Cy Young award with the Atlanta Braves was one of baseball's best stories of 2024? He finished in the top five of Cy Young voting seven years in a row from 2012-2018, and his 3.04 career ERA is lower than any active starter besides Kershaw and DeGrom.
“He’s kind of doing Hall of Fame stuff,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters. “That guy is probably as big a baseball fan as anybody, just the history of the game and the competition. He's a ballplayer, and it's really cool to watch.”
Yet Sale has only 141 wins, and that perceived blemish could be an interesting litmus test for Hall voters who profess to recognize that wins are much more difficult to accumulate now that teams routinely limit starters to six or fewer innings.
Strikeouts are king these days, and the Dodgers clearly know it.
The TK-O-Train won't be leaving town anytime soon.
The Senators announced on Monday that defenceman Tyler Kleven has signed a two-year contract extension. It carries a $1.6 million average annual value through the 2026-27 season. The 23-year-old became a full-time NHL player this season, appearing in 79 regular season games and all six of Ottawa’s playoff matchups.
"Tyler’s game elevated as our season progressed,” president of hockey operations and general manager Steve Staios in a team release. “He proved to be a reliable defenceman for us during the playoffs and we expect his game will continue to mature and develop.”
Kleven was scheduled to become an RFA on July 1st. He's the second RFA defenceman that Staios has signed this off-season. He inked Nik Matinpalo to a two-year, one-way contract extension worth $875,000 a season.
More details and analysis on this breaking story coming shortly here at The Hockey News Ottawa.
For the first time in 22 years, the Boston Celtics don’t have at least one member of the Ainge family on their front office staff.
Austin Ainge, who spent the past 17 seasons within the Celtics organization, morphing from the first head coach of the Maine Red Claws of the then-NBA Development League to Boston’s director of player personnel to one of the team’s assistant general managers — logging plenty of international miles scouting overseas along the way — is joining his father, Danny, on the Utah Jazz.
The younger Ainge will serve as the Jazz’s new president of basketball operations. Danny Ainge spent 19 seasons as the Celtics’ president of basketball operations before stepping down in 2021. He now serves as CEO of basketball operations for Utah.
Even when the elder Ainge departed after the 2020-21 season, the Celtics maintained a high level of front-office continuity around Brad Stevens, who elevated from coach to general manager that summer. Assistant GMs Mike Zarren (2003), Austin Ainge (2011), and Dave Lewin (2012) had all been in the organization since before Stevens’ arrival.
Ainge’s departure occurs as the Celtics prepare for an ownership transition, with Bill Chisholm waiting for final NBA approval on his $6.1 billion purchase. Change has been rare within the Celtics organization, but things will feel undeniably different after this summer. That includes potential changes to the core of this team, as Stevens’ front-office staff must charter an offseason path through murky waters.
Austin Ainge worked hard to distinguish himself on a staff helmed by his father. We can’t remember the last draft workout that didn’t feature Austin at the forefront, handling the “I can’t say too much” media responsibilities when reporters pried him for clues.
It was clear how much pride Danny Ainge took in the way his son carved out his own role in Boston, and all the time they got to share together on work duties.
“[Austin has] been around the game his whole life,” Danny Ainge told us in 2015. “Austin was in my coaches’ meetings, Austin was on the court, he was in my huddles. He was tugging on my pant leg telling me what to do when I was a head coach in Phoenix. He’s been around it his whole life. Him and I have talked basketball — I’ve talked more basketball with him than anybody else.”
Now father and son are reunited in Utah. Austin Ainge gets to put his stamp on Utah’s rebuilding process — one that features some familiar faces, not just with his father, but also with former Celtics assistant Will Hardy as head coach of the Jazz.
But seeing Boston’s brain trust, which includes vice president of team operations and organization growth Allison Feaster, around TD Garden and on the road will simply feel different without Austin’s presence. We’ll miss the tales of his latest international odyssey and the elite list of golf courses he navigated in his travels.
The lingering question for Boston is whether the team will infuse new blood in a front office role. The Celtics were rumored to be interested in outside possibilities after Stevens’ elevation in 2021 but mainly stayed in-house while adding Feaster, who first joined the team during Danny Ainge’s tenure.
At the very least, we need to know who will be tracking the records on the so-called “Boston Marathon,” where draft prospects engage in a three-minute, full-court sprint drills after their pre-draft workouts. Austin Ainge had to be sick of us asking about who held the records each year.
In Ainge, the Celtics are losing a whole bunch of institutional knowledge and someone who understood the vision of the team. Let’s see if the addition of another Ainge in Utah leads to any additional Celtics-Jazz trade chatter as both teams figure out their path forward.
Jesper Fast announced his retirement from professional hockey on Monday.
The 33-year-old Carolina Hurricanes right winger suffered a neck injury in the final game of the 2023-24 regular season, missed the playoffs and underwent neck surgery that August. He didn't play in the 2024-25 season.
"I never took for granted the privilege of playing in the best league in the world," Fast said in a statement the Hurricanes released. "I am grateful for all of the teammates, coaches, staff and fans from the Rangers and Hurricanes who made my time in the NHL so special, and for my family for everything they did to help me achieve and live my dream.
"I'd also like to thank Nassjo HC and HV71, organizations that played a vital role in my development into an NHL player."
Although Fast was a sixth-round draft pick in the 2010 NHL draft, the 157th overall pick ranks 24th overall in career scoring from that draft class, with 248 points in 703 games, and 24th in most goals, with 91.
He broke into the NHL with the Rangers in 2013-14, playing 11 games in the regular season but recording his first point in three playoff games. His first career goal came in November 2014 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Fast split the 2013-14 and 2014-15 campaigns between the Rangers and their AHL affiliate, but he appeared in 19 games during the Blueshirts' run to the Stanley Cup final in 2015, putting up three goals and six points. He became an NHL full-timer in 2015-16, recording 30 points in 79 games. He bested that total in two of his 11 career seasons, with 33 points in 2017-18 and 34 points in 2021-22.
After logging a career-high 16:36 average ice time in 2019-20, Fast left the Rangers to sign a three-year contract worth $2 million annually with the Hurricanes. He re-signed with Carolina for two years in 2023.
In the 2023 post-season, Fast not only scored the overtime-winner in Game 2 of the first round against the New York Islanders but also the series-clincher against the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 of the second round.
The Yankees were able to avoid a sweep with a 7-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night, but the team now heads back to the Bronx with a couple of injuries to keep an eye on.
Outfielder Jasson Dominguez suffered a left thumb contusion while stealing a base in the fifth inning, and closer Luke Weaver wasn’t available to pitch due to hamstring discomfort.
Both players will be evaluated on Monday during the Yankees’ off day.
Dominguez told reporters after the game that there’s “not much concern” with his thumb, saying he was already feeling better.
The outfielder has played well in his first full season in the big leagues, slashing .247/.346/.420 with six home runs and 25 RBI, posting a 117 OPS+.
As for Weaver, manager Aaron Boone planned to use him in the ninth inning on Sunday night, but Weaver felt something was off while he was warming up in the bullpen.
“He felt something when he had finished warming up, and then when he went to stretch, he felt something in the middle of his hammy,” Boone said, via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “So we had to make a switch on the fly there. We’re hoping it’s not too serious.”
The Yankees ended up tacking on an insurance run to make it a four-run lead, and lefty Tim Hill was able to close things out.
Weaver has been lights-out at the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen this season, pitching to a miniscule 1.05 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 25.1 innings, notching eight saves.
