Defenseman Noah Dobson was dealt for the No. 16 and No. 17 picks, along with pending restricted free agent Emil Heineman.
On Sunday, we saw our first blockbuster trade of this draft season.
The Florida Panthers acquired Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for No. 9 and No. 25 in this year's draft, a 2029 first-round pick (top-10 protected), and a 2027 second-round pick.
The two deals aren't comparable, in the slightest, but it is interesting to look at value.
Dobson, despite being overrated by many within the Islanders' fan base, is an offensive defenseman who recorded a 70-point season at age 24 before a down season.
He was also a pending restricted free agent who forced general manager Mathieu Darche to trade him after the two sides couldn't agree on a contract extension, before he inked an eight-year deal worth $9.5 million annually.
Tkachuk, who won gold with his brother Matthew representing Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, is a three-time 30-goal scorer, a now former captain, and some teams hate to play against him given his grit.
In terms of the returns, there's no question Darche got back a lot for Dobson, especially given the little leverage he did have.
Victor Eklund, who they took at No. 16, and Kashawn Aitcheson, who they took at No. 17, are likely big pieces of their future alongside Calder winner Matthew Schaefer.
Tkachuk's package is significantly stronger, even if Senators fans don't see it that way right now.
While general manager Steve Staois didn't have leverage and Florida was really the only team he was going to go to, despite having the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes as options, he also didn't have to trade Tkachuk at this moment.
He had two seasons left at $8.205 million annually, and Staios could have forced his star to add more teams to his willing-to-be-traded-to list like Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman did with Dylan Larkin.
Obviously, Brady's dream was to play with Matthew, and with NTC handed out like candy, he made that a reality.
Honestly, is it fair to say that Ottawa got back what Tkachuk is worth if not more?
We are talking about three first-round picks and a second-round pick, with a few of them likely on the move to add a top-six scorer like Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson or St. Louis Blues forward Jordan Kyrou.
The real question is, how many more blockbuster trades are coming before Friday's NHL Draft?
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - JANUARY 03: Aaron Wiggins #21 of the Oklahoma City Thunder reacts after a made basket during the second half against the New York Knicks at Paycom Center on January 3, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Hawks are finalizing a trade for Aaron Wiggins, sending Oklahoma City Atlanta’s 2030 second-round pick and the less favorable of the Hawks’ and Lakers’ 2032 second-rounders. The agreement was reported late on June 21, 2026, hours after Atlanta retained CJ McCollum.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are finalizing a trade to send guard Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks for two second-round picks (Atlanta's in 2030 and the least favorable of Hawks/Lakers in 2032), sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/ypffJ3jMOk
Wiggins is a career 38% three-point shooter who can defend wings, attack a closeout and function without dominating the ball. He is also owed only a little more than $17 million across the next two guaranteed seasons, with a team option for 2028-29.
Aaron Wiggins is a product of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s strong drafting and player development system. A versatile wing with athleticism, handles, and shooting ability, the 3-and-D type has shot 38% from three in his career but has been limited to a bench role, topping out at 24.2 minutes per game due to the Thunder’s deep and talented roster.
Before the 2024-25 season, he signed a five-year, $45 million extension that declines over time with a team option for 2028-29; the Hawks will owe him slightly more than $17 million over the next two guaranteed seasons and may give him an opportunity for a larger role. We’ll always remember the January 3, 2025 game, when Wiggins scored a season-high 19 points (including 15 in the fourth quarter on perfect 5-of-5 shooting) to beat the Knicks, 117-107. We’re like pessimistic elephants, never forgettin’ the losses. . . .
Wiggins will not transform Atlanta into an Eastern Conference favorite by himself. He does give the Hawks another useful defender and shooter to deploy against Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby. And because Atlanta did not surrender either numbers 8 or 23 in this week’s draft, they can still draft a major prospect, trade a first-rounder, or pursue another established player. Crafty birds.
Over the weekend, McCollum re-signed with the team on a one-year, $21 million contract, marking the first major free agency news of the offseason. The deal, reported by Shams Charania, includes a 7.5% trade kicker and leverages McCollum’s full bird rights acquired at the trade deadline, effectively providing an implied no-trade clause.
The 35-year-old veteran played a key role in the Hawks’ strong late-season surge, averaging 18.9 points per game on 56% true shooting, and delivered clutch postseason performances, making him a valuable short-term veteran presence as the team eyes the future with its upcoming draft pick.
Atlanta finished in sixth place last season. In the first round of the 2026 playoffs, they pushed the Knicks to 2-1 before New York got right and rode a 15-1 pony to the NBA championship (have you heard?). The Hawks’ lack of depth was exposed and exploited by our heroes. The acquisition of Wiggins is thus a corrective step.
So Atlanta patched a hole with Wiggins (a solid but unproven 3-and-D guy who was stuck in OKC’s loaded roster) for basically peanuts, and kept McCollum as their veteran microwave scorer on a short deal. Atlanta must have other deals in their sights if they want to make a real leap, though. If they’ve tired of the first pick in the 2024 draft, Zaccharie Risacher (who averaged 7.7 MPG and 3 PPG in the playoffs), they could bundle the Frenchman and the aforementioned picks in an offer for a star. Miami and Boston seem to be the frontrunners in the race for Giannis, but could Atlanta be positioning itself as a dark horse?
Quietly, Atlanta is building a more complete roster. Are you concerned? Air it out below.
DENVER, COLORADO - JUNE 20: Paul Skenes #30 of the Pittsburgh Pirates inspects the ball as he pitches in the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on June 20, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Pittsburgh Pirates and their ace Paul Skenes are in the midst of an all-time bad string of losses as after Saturday’s contest against the Colorado Rockies the club dropped their seventh straight with Skenes on the mound.
Skenes has been the center of criticism in this stretch with many questioning if he’s slipping in his third big league season. Many have cited his velocity being down, as his four-seamer averaged 98.8 mph as a rookie and 98.2 last season. This season Skenes is averaging 97 mph on his fastball. So there certainly has been a downtick, but the third year pitcher believes that he’s pitching better overall than he has in years past.
“I don’t think I’m necessarily the same pitcher I was my rookie year and last year,” Skenes said. “I do think I’m throwing better. I’m very happy with how I’ve been throwing. I think I’ve evolved. If you’re not getting better in this game, you’re getting worse. I feel I’m better than I was last year. I think there are some numbers that show that; others don’t. But the gut feeling is I’m better.”
In this stretch of losses Skenes certainly has not been dominating opposing hitters the way that fans have grown accustomed to, especially the third time through a lineup where his efficiency starts to slip severely. The commentary team during Skenes’ outing against the Houston Astros suggested that team’s game plans for trying to hit against Skenes could also be why the righty has struggled lately. When Skenes is on the mound, no matter what the count may be, batters are instantly going into protect mode. By taking this approach at the plate the opposing offense is effectively playing a game of attrition. In a batter’s first and sometimes even second time at the plate they’re not necessarily looking for base hits first as much as they’re looking to wear Skenes down by making it longer at bats, where they’re getting six or more pitches.
Paul Skenes tonight:
6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO 104 pitches, 63 strikes, 19 whiffs
Some run support would have been nice, but let's finish this one with a W at least. pic.twitter.com/vjbLDFmCo8
Skenes stylistically already racks up a lot of pitches because of the swing and miss work that he implements into his game. That aggressive style compounded with batters looking to draw out long at bats has Skenes getting into high pitch counts early and often. In his last five starts Skenes has thrown 103+ pitches in each contest and gave up two earned runs in each but one of those last five outings. Aside from his games against Philadelphia and Toronto in the last seven starts, Skenes has been fairly efficient in not giving up a lot of runs, but he is certainly being pushed to his limits on the mound.
The team as a whole has largely not been great at supporting Skenes when he’s on the mound. The team’s offense is often dormant in these matchups, and the lack of run support has not helped. Against Philly on May, 17 the Pirates scored zero runs. Against Toronto on May, 23 the Pirates scored two runs and repeated the same low on May, 28 against the Cubs. In Skenes’ start against the Astros the Pirates did a decent job on offense by scoring nine runs, but lost the lead once Skenes came out of the game. Against Houston Skenes gave up one earned run, and three runs were scored during his time on the mound, but the Pirates lost 11-9, so that one is on the bullpen which is it’s own disaster zone right now. This trend of no offense continued in Skenes’ starts against the Dodgers, Marlins and Rockies.
Don Kelly seems to always field the worst possible lineup on nights that Skenes pitches, which isn’t helping matters either. Ryan O’Hearn is regularly missing from the lineup, while poor performers like Marcell Ozuna and Jared Triolo are consistently getting at bats. Henry Davis always catches for Skenes and he is mostly an offensive liability as well. The amount of prospects and random call ups that are on the field for Skenes starts is laughable too. While Skenes has had his own fair share of struggles this season, it’s fair to say that the best product is not always being put on the field to support him either.
Defensively the Pirates are not nearly as sound this year as they were last year either. O’Hearn is being asked to play mostly outside of his natural position, and there have been some shortcomings with him in right field. Oneil Cruz is still not a great defender in center field and to this point has not been able to make the out of the ordinary plays that a Gold Glove defender is capable of. The rotating cast in the outfield has not helped either, and the right side of the infield is average at best but certainly not great.
Baseball is such a cruel game. Why?
Paul Skenes, a generational talent and one of the best pitchers in baseball has not won a game for his team since May 12th
All things considered it could be a lot worst, as Skenes is still statistically right up there with the best pitchers in baseball, but there’s definitely a different feel around him and his most recent starts. Still though his Pirates’ teammates are confident in his abilities with Brandon Lowe saying he’s still pitching incredibly.
“That’s one of the things that everybody in baseball has been clouded by: how great Paul has been in his first two years,” Lowe said. “When you can look at a guy who has a (2.85) ERA, and the media says he’s having a down year … it’s pretty incredible, the numbers he’s been able to put up and what he’s been able to do, for people to question his ability at this point in the season.”
Some have also pointed to Skenes’ involvement in the World Baseball Classic and the hangover period that many players from the tournament have experienced, but Skenes stands by his conditioning and the work he continues to put in, and is not concerned by a perceived slip or downtick in velocity on his pitches.
“I mean, you can still blow it by them with 97 compared to 98,” Skenes said. “I’m feeling better after starts compared to the last couple years. If it weren’t for a couple short outings, I’d have more innings under my belt. I’m conditioned to throw more innings than I have been throwing.”
Kelly echoes his confidence in the work that Skenes does to keep his body in top shape during the season.
“I think we are trying to keep it in perspective,” Kelly said. “I think Paul has still done that, given us a chance to win, even though he hasn’t been maybe at the exceptional level he has been all of his career. He’s had stretches where he hasn’t been like that throughout the last two years. I think the one thing that we do know: The preparation, the work ethic, the man and how he goes about it, he’s always going to give everything he’s got.”
Skenes is scheduled to start against the Cincinnati Reds in a three game home stand following the team’s next series against the Seattle Mariners.
02 September 2025, Rhineland-Palatinate, Landau in der Pfalz: Cheetah girl Assama is out and about in the enclosure. The cheetah girl Assama was born as an only child at Landau Zoo at the beginning of July. The first few weeks were a rollercoaster of emotions with some health problems, but now Assama's overall good development allows her to make her first appearance in front of the press. Photo: Andreas Arnold/dpa (Photo by Andreas Arnold/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Just when you think there will be nothing to write about or stories to cover, all of a sudden, you wake up, read 30-something articles, and file a 1,000-word post filled with notes. Such is life in this wonderful place.
Enjoy a relatively slow Monday; we’ll be busy again on Tuesday with the NBA Draft going down at Barclays.
Not that it’s the most Knicks-centric thing, but it looks like the Celtics are it. According to Marc Stein, reporting after posting a humongous file on his Substack, Boston “emerged from the weekend with a real shot to win this race with a Jaylen Brown-centric offer.” Sounds like Milwaukee won’t even consider a third team to facilitate the deal or sweeten it, so stay alert for a Shams bomb dropping any time now.
We have already discussed how the potential landing of Giannis in Boston could affect the Knicks next season and beyond, and truth be told, I have between none and zero worries. Everything points toward Boston sending Jaylen Brown the other way, which is a Knicks win already. On top of that, the C’s are bringing back legitimately damaged goods in Adetokunbo, who has appeared in 36 (last year), 67, 73, 63, 67, 61, and 63 regular-season games in the past seven seasons. Want more? If Stein’s report is to be believed, then the Celtics are sending more than JB the other way, which makes sense considering the reports about the Bucks wanting to bake Bobby Portis into any Giannis deal, and the subsequent salary-matching that would entail.
Will the Celtics be better with a Giannis-Tatum pairing than keeping their two-man core together, given their track record and Tatum’s supposedly healthier body going forward? Our friends from CelticsBlog are calling it an “agonizing decision” and comparing it to the good old ‘07 trade for Kevin Garnett, which was the closest to a one-year victory for the C’s with KG’s prime virtually expiring right after they hung the ‘08 banner. Crippling an Eastern Conference rival, and the Celtics of all franchises? Make it happen, Bradley!
The earlier report from Marc Stein pointed to the opposite scenario, with the Heat ahead in the Giannis race.
“League sources say that the Heat remain in full-speed pursuit of Antetokounmpo but also indicate that the Boston Celtics have not yet abandoned hope.”
Renowned NBA analyst and deal-breaker Chad Ochocinco with the strong sauce, emphasis mine.
“As y’all know I’ve said it multiple times over the months. The sources that I do have, they know what they’re talking about. Which is why I’ve came on here and say things that I’ve said. All the other stuff, with Boston, and him going anywhere, none of that is going to happen. That’s just created dialogue to keep people guessing on where he might go.”
The Pistons want Kyrie Irving and Celtics-linked Rudy Gobert is saying he’s still “very far from thinking” about retiring. Stars are definitely aligning for the Knicks.
New York Jets wide receiver Isaiah Williams’s plans to score more touchdowns next season? Training with Olympic sprinters, reports ESPN’s Rich Cimini. After all of the struggles, this must be our year!
I sent this ESPN article to my Kindle yesterday without knowing the author. The more I kept reading, the more I suspected who was behind the pen. Always read former P&T scribe Jayson Buford, people.
Touching piece from yet another former P&T man (!!!) in Abe Bame and his tale about the Knicks parade, his son, sports in childhood, parenting, family moments, and our sickening yet charming world.
The ninth season of the BIG 3 tipped off over the weekend…
Michael Beasley and Dwight Howard just got ejected on the first day of The Big 3 season
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) June 20, 2026
…and of course, all of Dwight Howard, Michael Beasley, and Lance Stephenson got the fireworks going. I have been advocating for and willing to lead a BIG 3 blog here at SBN for more than five years. We’ll get there, we’ll get there. It’s a one-game suspension for Beasley and Lance, while Dwight somehow escaped punishment. The game was forfeited by Miami as they ran out of players. (lol)
If you have $3 million to spare, OG’s tip-in ball from Game 4 will soon be up for the craziest bidder. Meanwhile, I’m so frugal that I’m having an internal debate about whether or not I should buy any $20-buck Knicks paraphernalia following the championship.
Isaiah Thomas, not Isiah Thomas as shocking as that after your read the next quote, believes all the Spurs lacked to beat the Knicks in the Finals was… Chris Paul.
“I believe if they had Chris Paul on this roster, they would’ve won the finals. His experience and who he, a Hall of Fame career, is would’ve helped De’Aaron Fox, (Stephon) Castle, (Dylan) Harper.”
Isiah Thomas believed all the Knicks lacked to win 35 games were Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis. Close!
If you want a tough player, get yourself a Balkan. S/o Brandon Mullen from our sister site Blazer’s Edge for sharing Deni Avdija’s interview, in which he shared a ridiculous quote about the car crash he suffered last January. He was hooping 24 hours after suffering it.
“I saw my life flashing before my eyes. Airbags deployed, the car was a total loss. I took a really, really hard hit to the head from the airbag. My dad almost cut his entire hand. We were both pretty shaken up.
“The day after, I had a game… I’m the kind of guy who hides his injuries and the bad things that happen to him. You know? I’m not the type who comes and complains about things that happened to me or about injuries. I play… As long as I can walk on two legs, I can play.”
This went completely under my radar, but it turns out former New York Knicks bench warmer Guerschon Yabusele appeared on French show First Team over a week ago and touched on plenty of things, including the Knicks. Yabu admitted his frustration with the lack of playing time (“The games go on, and well, I still do not play. And sometimes, zero minutes.”) and seemingly started to think about what might happen given his precarious situation (“I would go home, I did not know what to do anymore. I said to myself, ‘But it is not possible. I am not going to go back into that for the whole season.’ I am not going to not play for two years.’”).
A free agent in a week, Yabusele also said he’s prioritizing signing another NBA deal, though he’s keeping his door open for a return to Europe.
Charles Oakley has spoken, and he’s mad at both James Dolan and Patrick Ewing. By extension, he’s happy about the current Captain.
This is incredible 🇨🇻💙 There was an interview happening with a fan and Cape Verde fans went insane seeing their team score their first goal ever#FIFAWorldCuppic.twitter.com/L0Vyi06W3I
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 31: The NBA logo on May 31, 2026, outside the NBA Store in New York, NY. (Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
AJ Dybantsa does not want to hear “from the Boston area.” He grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. In his head, when he imagines the moment – when his name was called and he would walk out onto the stage – he wants to hear “from Brockton.
When Malika Andrews reached out to the projected No.1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft the other day, he wanted to make sure she understood the difference. He wanted to make sure she wrote it down: he’s from Brockton, not Boston.
She wrote it down. She always does.
Andrews, 31, is the face of ESPN’s NBA coverage. She hosts “NBA Today” and “NBA Countdown,” just wrapped the 2026 NBA Finals on site and in 2022 became the first woman to host the draft.
So, she sweats the details, like the preferred hometown of a teenager, because for 30 seconds she'll decide how the biggest moment of his life will sound.
Andrews doesn’t just wing those seconds. She reports them.
The instinct is deeply ingrained. Andrews came up from print, ran her college newspaper at the University of Portland, earned a New York Times reporting fellowship, and then covered the NBA for the Chicago Tribune. ESPN hired her in 2018 to write. She's also the host of WNBA Countdown and just this year has added tennis to her roster; she will be hosting ESPN's Wimbledon coverage in a week. Tennis isn't her background, but she is a reporter at heart.
She likes to tell the story of the people behind the news.
The Knicks are still on her mind as she prepares for the draft. She was on site when they won their first title in 53 years. It wasn’t the trophy that she remembered.
“There’s winning an NBA title, and then there’s winning an NBA title for a franchise like the Knicks,” Andrews said. “I’ve covered a lot of champions. This one was different.”
What she keeps thinking about is how the team will get remembered. Jalen Brunson, told for years he was too small, just a second-round pick. OG Anunoby, hurt during Toronto’s 2019 title run and stuck watching. Josh Hart, a near disaster of a mistake in Game 4 that ended up not mattering.
“I am glad they will be remembered as winners instead,” Andrews said.
She knows the job of a reporter helps shape those memories.
Andrews tries to find the best words for the biggest moments, that put the people in context. Like the Knicks' title and the kids’ memories of beginning their NBA career.
So, before the draft, even during those NBA Finals, she calls every prospect she can reach, about 15 to 20 of them. She does some research, but she always makes a point to ask every prospect the same thing. “When you dreamed about that moment, what did you hear?”
“It’s a clip you’re going to go back and watch,” she said, the whole family will watch it. “I do want their input.”
Reporters do not owe a source input in how a story is shaped. Andrews makes an exception for input for the draft. The kids get one shot for a lifetime memory, she wants to get it right.
On the floor, she works from a binder – alphabetized by last name – no teleprompter, the night running live. Below the camera, her researcher Gil Bransford holds the lowest-tech tool in the building, a note card clipped to what amounts to a trash picker-upper and taps the bottom of her chair with updates.
The morning of the draft, Andrews is filled with nervous excitement. The lights and camera go on, the first name is called and that drains out.
“I always feel this deep calm,” she said. “And it’s not about (me), it’s about these guys.”
The draft opens Tuesday, June 23, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, 10 days after the city’s title. Dybantsa is expected to be among the first names commissioner Adam Silver reads. When the moment comes, there will be general talk: one year at BYU, top player in the country, three gold medals with the national team in the under-19, 17, and 16’s, etc.
Meanwhile, Andrews will quickly flip to the notes she wrote while talking to him. There, in her writing she will see the thing that was most important to him.
And Andrews will remember to say that he is from Brockton.
Pavelski, a former star NHL center who played for the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars, was surprisingly in the running for the Maple Leafs' coaching vacancy, despite never having a role on an NHL coaching staff.
In the aftermath of being considered for the head coach job in Toronto, Pavelski spoke on the process of interviews and what it was like being contacted by the Leafs regarding the role.
"It was awesome, it was interesting," Pavelski told The Athletic. "When I got the call, if I had interest in the job, yeah, I mean, it’s Toronto. It kind of takes your breath away to be thought about as a head coach. So it definitely had my attention."
"After they first reached out, I took a couple of days to think about it," he said. "It’s a process you definitely want to go through and see how it really looks. I have so much respect for what these coaches do, and that’s one of the reasons you really have to look at it. You know the time they put into it and the care they put into it and everything that comes with it. "I definitely wanted to follow up on the process and see where it went."
Since retiring from the NHL in 2023-24 has found some time to coach. This past year, he led the Madison Capitols U-15 AAA team, coaching his son, Nate.
The Montreal Canadiens hired Martin St-Louis, who had only experience coaching his son at the youth level, too.
Since then, St-Louis has had success in Montreal as its bench boss, making the possible hire of Pavelski in Toronto all the more sensible.
Even Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour just led his team to the 2026 Stanley Cup. He also had a successful playing career and was able to transfer his knowledge to coaching and relate with his players.
"Even to have that opportunity (of interviewing with the Leafs), I probably owe Marty St-Louis a big thank you, or to Rod, for what those guys have done and what they’ve meant to their teams," he said. "Those guys have done a tremendous job. And you definitely see how it might benefit you in some ways."
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MONTREAL, CANADA - APRIL 05: Jacob Markstrom #25 of the New Jersey Devils falls during the third period against the Montréal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on April 5, 2026 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The New Jersey Devils defeated the Montréal Canadiens 3-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Here are your links for today:
Devils Links
“I can’t promise any fireworks for the Devils this week, but there is potential for some in the lead-up to the draft and at the draft on Friday and Saturday. Devils’ ownership hired Mehta to make some changes, and I expect we’ll see some as the week moves along.” [Devils on the Rush]
“Knies isn’t the player that most think he is, a sort of Brady Tkachuk-lite — he’s a lot closer to Mercer than he is to those upper-echelon power wingers. The Devils are much better off sending a premier package for a legitimately premier player, one who has the capability to impact the game positively without being carried by his linemates.” [Devils’ Advocates]
Hockey Links
Well that’s certainly one way to kick off the week:
THERE'S ANOTHER TKACHUK IN FLORIDA!! 😼
Brady Tkachuk is joining the @FlaPanthers with his brother, Matthew!
The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired defenceman Darren Raddysh from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for their fifth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the team announced.
“The Stanley Cup has been passed out, and the sprint toward NHL free agency begins. It’s no secret that the unrestricted free agent Class of 2026 is relatively underwhelming, but the news leading up to July 1 isn’t all bad for prospective shoppers.” [Daily Faceoff]
“The NHL’s skyrocketing salary cap has made it much easier for teams to trade away overpriced contracts — provided the remaining term isn’t too long — compared to the flat-cap era. Gone are the days when a team like Calgary paid Montreal a first-round pick in the summer of 2022 for taking on just the final year of Sean Monahan’s $6.375 million cap hit.” [The Athletic ($)]
“The Winnipeg Jets face a franchise-altering decision regarding Connor Hellebuyck. Do they keep their franchise goaltender, who is on the short list for best in the world? Or do they cash in on a potential bidding war that his sudden availability would create? There are cases to be made for both courses of action.” [The Athletic ($)]
“The Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee meets Monday to vote on the Class of 2026, with an announcement to follow in the afternoon. The list of candidates is long, led by a six-time Selke Trophy winner in his first year of eligibility, an Olympic gold-medal winning goalie in his second year of eligibility, and the fourth person to win the Stanley Cup as a captain and coach of the same franchise. So, who are the top candidates to become Hall of Famers next year?” [NHL.com]
Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 09: (L-R) Carson Carels and Chase Reid, speak with the media during the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft Top Prospects session prior to game four of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 09, 2026 in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Christopher Trim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Knowing what we know about Kyle Dubas draft tendencies, who could be some targets for the Pittsburgh Penguins with the 22nd pick at Friday night’s NHL draft?
It’s a loaded question to consider, since Dubas is always active in terms of desire to move up or down in the draft. His real target could be different from the pick that the Pens currently possess.
Assuming he stays in the neighborhood, who are some players in this pool that tend to fit the profile they like?
To determine that, we’ll stick with Corey Pronman’s player profiles and check in on the three first round picks from last year. As determined in the link above, Dubas frequently has selected forwards in the first round so for today we’ll narrow the focus to just that position.
On Kindel’s pre-draft report, Pronman wrote in part: “Kindel was one of the best forwards in the WHL this season. He’s small but checks every other box you want. He’s a very good skater with the first few steps and top speed to play at the higher levels. He’s a skilled, creative offensive player who sees the ice well and has scored in large numbers in junior”
Bill Zonnon was the second pick last year for Pittsburgh, from Pronman again: “Zonnon checks a lot of boxes NHL teams will be looking for. He’s a big, fast center with a skating stride that will easily translate to the NHL. He has good stick skills and can create offense on the move.”
Finally, Will Horcoff was the last first round pick for the Pens where last year Pronman wrote: “He left midseason to join Michigan where his game took off from that point, making a real difference for his team at the college level as a U18 player. He’s a very skilled big man who can make small-man-type plays in tight areas. He sees the ice at a high level and has a creative offensive mind.”
–
This doesn’t necessarily narrow things down, since many first rounders tend to carry similar traits, but the Pens ended up nabbing players with plus puck skills and who tended to be very productive players. That wasn’t a hard and fast rule since Horcoff was a projection pick, but in all three cases some similarities emerge for small-area players who excel in thinking the game and show skill at the lower levels.
It can be pointed out that the Penguins still selected three players with three different profiles. Kindel was an ultra-productive center/wing combo from the WHL that was seen as undersized. Zonnon was a big-body, high-motor type from Quebec and Horcoff was a massive player with offensive intrigue and a longer development curve. Other than all being forwards there wasn’t too much exact commonality on the styles.
Here’s some players that fit that type of general mold this time around.
Liam Ruck
Pronman says: “Ruck is a dangerous scoring winger. He’s a very slick and intelligent player who creates a lot with the puck. His pure athletic tools don’t jump out: he’s not that big, and he’s a below-average skater. He does work hard, though, and gets to the hard areas to generate offense, earning his coach’s trust consistently.”
In a lot of ways, Ruck sounds like Kindel in the pre-draft process, not that anyone would be expecting Ruck to play in the NHL next season. Ruck produced 104 points in the WHL last year, Kindel put up 99 points in that league in his draft year. There’s differences in position with Ruck being exclusively a winger and Kindel offering center ability but their frames (almost 6’ and 177 pounds for Ruck, 5’10 and 176 in the pre-draft process for Kindel) are the same. Kindel finished ranked 21st in Central Scouting’s NA skater ranking, Ruck checked in at 20th this year.
Kindel wasn’t expected to be selected 11th overall and taking Ruck 22nd would be slightly on the high-end of his most common projections, though he is generally seen as an expected late-first round pick. The main area to consider might be that Ruck is only going to project as a wing, and there are slight knocks on how his skating will translate. (Some might remember similar questions in the process with Kindel, which mostly looked unfounded from the get go).
JP Hulbert
Pronman: “Hurlbert is a very skilled scoring winger. He’s very creative and dynamic as a puck handler and passer while also having a good shot. With the puck, he looks like an NHL player, but his effort level and speed are average, and he can be pushed to the outside too easily”
A lot of the notes above about Ruck/Kindel apply equally to Hulbert. It’s another case of a creative, not large but talented forward (nearly 6’ and 183 pounds) from the WHL, who again was productive with 97 points in his draft year. Dobber Hockey said of Hulbert, “an offense-minded forward who is committed to playing at both ends of the ice with excellent puck-handling ability and a great wrist shot”, which again, sounds very much like Kindel’s reports coming out of the WHL.
Hulbert played on the same Kamloops team that Harrison Brunicke did – and sometimes as a center- he’ll be a player the Pens are well aware of. Hulbert, ranked 12th as NA skater by CSB, has a pre-draft expectation in most places to go in the 18-24 range, so if he’s even available at 22 that would be right in-line with where most are expecting that he comes off the board on draft night.
Nikita Klepov
Pronman: “Klepov is a highly skilled and intelligent winger. He has the ability to run a pro power play and make difficult plays consistently at the next level. He’s a solid skater who can generate chances with pace. His effort level is fine, although he’s not that physically imposing ”
Klepov (a league-high 97 points in the OHL) fits the mold of Ruck/Hulbert as well as an offensive winger. His puck skills and production are his calling cards that would be well within the norms of the type of player that Pittsburgh has targeted with high picks lately. There’s a chance Klepov, the eighth ranked NA skater, could be selected in the first 21 picks, which could become an issue for Pittsburgh sitting at 22, barring a move up the board via trade.
Jack Hextall
Pronman: “Hextall is a skilled center with excellent offensive sense. He’s a slick playmaker who executes difficult passes with consistency. He’s a diligent pivot who can play both ways and doesn’t shy away from going into traffic. His skating is solid, albeit not a standout trait”
Hextall, no relation to the former general manager, breaks the mold of the players listed above who could be seen as Kindel-esque types of profiles. Hextall is more along the lines of a Horcoff/Zonnon mashup as a center that hasn’t been a prolific scorer but one that will require more patience and development time. The Pens have prioritized boosting their centers, which might be the call again early in the draft. Unlike a prospect like Ruck or Klepov, Hextall isn’t seen as a prospect with a power play-type of future in the NHL at this point. Pronman listed a comparable as Peyton Krebs, who has at least made the NHL and scored 39 points last season. Hextall probably wouldn’t be a home run type of pick, but if the Pens are looking to make a solid choice that seems like a sturdy chance of becoming an NHL player of some sort, he could add value and depth to the center position down the line.
Casey Mutryn
Pronman: “Mutryn is a hardworking, physical 6-foot-3 winger. He’s a good skater who can play at an NHL tempo and carry pucks up ice competently at the top level. His offensive game has developed more than expected. He has some puck skills and scoring touch.”
Mutryn’s profile sounds a lot like a bigger version of Rutger McGroarty, a prospect the Pens didn’t draft but traded for early in his development cycle. Both Mutryn and McGroarty were Team USA captains at their respective U-18 WJC’s. Mutryn would break past tendencies since he is known more for size and rugged play a bit more than short area work but sounds like the type of player that would fit right into some of the desires Dubas has skated to create a big, aggressive team in the future. Mutryn isn’t always seen as a first round lock in mock drafts, but the Pens do have another pick high in the second round (39th overall) and may even look to trade down and move back a few spots from their first pick at 22. If they’re super sweet on Mutryn, moving down to get an extra pick might mean angling for taking him a little later on. Then again, the Pens had no problem ranking (and actually drafting) someone like Kindel 10-20 picks higher than a lot of his pre-draft expectations, so Mutryn shouldn’t be ruled out straight up at 22 if he is a player Pittsburgh wants that much.
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Of course, Dubas and the Pens could always easily decide to veer in another direction and target a defenseman with their first pick, later in the week we’ll take a look at yet more candidates that make sense as possibilities in their draft range. The need within the organization is certainly there for any way that want to go when it comes to identifying who the best pro available could be when they pick. The five names above would be fitting options but when a team picks deep in the first round there could be any number of ways they decide to go, with what happens before they pick sure to influence the night as well.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 21: Blaze Alexander #23 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates his two-run home run with Leody Taveras #30 during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello, friends.
The confusing Orioles have done it again. They wrapped up their weekend series against the MLB-best Los Angeles Dodgers, who also happen to be two-time defending champions, by putting a 12-1 thumping on their opponent. They head to a different part of the metro area to face the AL-worst Angels with a series victory under their belts. They blew Friday’s game while looking like a team that could surely lose 100 games and battled back from that, staving off another almost-morale-draining loss on Saturday before delivering the Sunday beatdown for the series win.
As I listened to the Orioles radio broadcast wrapping up the win, Brett Hollander commented that the Orioles have been on the verge of grasping momentum a number of times this season and they have never quite managed to actually do it. Here they are again, with a real chance to do it. They can feel good about themselves after what they did against the Dodgers overall, even if we still feel bad about them losing that Friday game, and they only have to keep their foot on the gas against the Angels to keep the momentum going.
One thing I keep coming back to is that they’ve yet to win more than three games in a row. Five different times this year, they’ve won three straight and failed to stack a fourth. Right now, they haven’t even won three in a row! They just won the last two against the Dodgers. Maybe they’ll play well tonight against the Angels – it’s another late night game, a 9:38 start, hopefully a better version of Kyle Bradish shows up. If they do that, maybe they’ll make it three in a row. Then they’d still have to win Tuesday to get four.
The Dodgers had not lost consecutive games in more than a month before the Orioles did this to them over the weekend! It is not a meaningless thing that the Orioles managed to win the last two games of the series over this weekend.
A frustrating thing about the 2026 Orioles is this never quite grasping momentum. Another way I’ve seen it put stands out to me from The Baltimore Banner’s Jon Meoli, who remarked that the team keeps getting back up after it gets knocked down, but they’d be a lot better off if they stopped getting knocked down in the first place. They sure would! They are just good enough and resilient enough to battle back after disappointment. They aren’t good enough to avoid the disappointment. This year, that keeps you in the AL Wild Card race, at least up til now.
I still think they need to find a strong run later to make it. The only thing stopping them from being in the middle of doing that right now is… them. Perhaps most likely the bullpen, though there are also questionable parts of the rotation, and the offense remains enigmatic in the aggregate. It is nice to see so many players surging who struggled early on. We are going to need to see a couple more guys join that club to really solidify the possibility of a strong stretch of play.
Dean Kremer and Cade Povich start rehab assignments (Baltimore Baseball) These guys have been out for long enough that they should probably get the full length allowed for rehab assignments. It’s easier to imagine Kremer reclaiming his spot than Povich right now.
Today in 2022, Austin Hays hit for the cycle against the Nationals, managing to do so in a game that was called off in the sixth inning due to rain. The most recent cycle for the Orioles came when Cedric Mullins got his on May 12, 2023.
One current Oriole has a birthday today. Happy 31st to Tyler O’Neill. There are also former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2018 infielder Engelb Vielma, 2001 outfielder Willie Harris, 1996 pitcher Brian Sackinsky, 1978 outfielder Mike Anderson, and 1961-67 outfielder Russ Snyder. Today is Snyder’s 92nd birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! Your birthday buddies for today include: explorer George Vancouver (1757), soldier and author Erich Maria Remarque (1898), author Octavia Butler (1947), actress Meryl Streep (1949), singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper (1953), basketball Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler (1962), and pro football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner (1971).
On this day in history…
In 1633, Galileo Galilei was forced by the Catholic Church to recant his accurate statement that the Earth orbits the sun, rather than the other way around.
In 1812, Napoleon’s France declared war on Russia. This did not turn out to be a good idea for him.
In 1941, Nazi Germany initiated Operation Barbarossa, a surprise attack and invasion against Russia, with whom it had a non-aggression pact. Over a longer timeframe than Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, this did not turn out to be a good idea for the invaders.
In 1969, a section of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire, with one factor being the amount of pollution in the water. This is one of the substantial stories that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 22. Have a safe Monday. Go O’s1
Jun 20, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt (12) reacts with catcher William Contreras (24) after scoring a run against the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Last Week’s Results
Tuesday: Brewers 2, Guardians 1
Wednesday: Brewers 9, Guardians 4
Thursday: Guardians 4, Brewers 2
Friday: Braves 3, Brewers 2
Saturday: Braves 4, Brewers 3
Sunday: Brewers 9, Braves 4
Division Standings
Brewers 46-29
Cardinals 41-34 (5.0 GB)
Cubs 40-37 (7.0 GB)
Pirates 39-39 (8.5 GB)
Reds 37-39 (9.5 GB)
Last Week
Brewers: 3-3
Cardinals: 3-3
Cubs: 3-3
Pirates: 3-3
Reds: 4-2
Top Pitching Performance of the Week
As usual, the Brewers got good starts this week from Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison. But I’m going to give the week’s Brew Crew Ball honor to Robert Gasser, the only starter who pitched twice this week. On Tuesday, Gasser went 5 2/3 innings, allowed only two hits, and didn’t allow a run in a game the Brewers won 2-1. On Sunday in Atlanta, Gasser was gifted an early lead and pitched to six solid innings in which he allowed two runs on four hits and matched a season high with seven strikeouts. In total, Bobby Gas had a 1.54 ERA with 12 strikeouts, allowing three walks and six hits in 11 2/3 innings.
Robert Gasser tied his career high for innings and strikeouts today in a 97-pitch outing: Six innings, four hits, two runs, one walk, seven strikeouts. Bidding for his first win since his second Major League start on May 15, 2024.
It wasn’t an especially explosive week for the Brewer offense, which scored three runs or fewer in four of six games. But there are a couple of people worth mentioning: William Contreras, on the back of a four-hit Sunday, hit .350 with a .935 OPS in 20 at-bats. Andrew Vaughn had a smaller workload but led the team in OPS after going 4-for-12 with two doubles and three walks. Sal Frelick, working on turning around a poor start to the season, went 4-for-11 (.364) with two doubles and four RBI.
But for the sake of the big picture, I’m going to give this week’s honor to the new guy, Cooper Pratt. Pratt will still encounter his struggles this year, surely, but given that he was expected to start as a low-offense, high-defense guy, he couldn’t have asked for a better start at the plate. Pratt is still looking for his first extra-base hit, but he went 7-for-19 (.368), knocked in a couple of runs, and walked twice. More importantly, he doesn’t really look overmatched.
The week’s biggest injury news was not good: it was determined that Quinn Priester, who has been dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome since spring training, will need season-ending surgery. He’ll be out 8-10 months, giving him a chance of being ready for spring training next season.
In happier injury news, Brandon Woodruff made a successful rehab appearance for High-A Wisconsin on Tuesday, and it was announced that his next appearance will come in the majors. He is expected to start against the Reds on Monday.
Before Tuesday’s game, last weekend’s news that Pratt was being promoted became official. To make space on the roster, Luis Rengifo was designated for assignment. If he goes unclaimed and the Brewers are unable to make a trade, he has accrued enough service time that he can refuse an assignment to Triple-A Nashville and become a free agent.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 17: Tyrone Taylor #28 of the New York Mets connects on his ninth inning game tying three run home run against the New York Yankees at Citi Field on May 17, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Fresh off his solid outing earlier in the week, Xavion Curry tossed another five respectable innings, allowing a pair of runs. Both runs came in the top of the fifth, giving the Tides a 2-1 lead, but Syracuse responded in the bottom of the fifth with two runs of their own, both on a Tyrone Taylor single into left. Heyden Senger and Nick Morabito both added insurance runs, the former on an RBI double and the latter on a solo homer, his eighth of the year.
Syracuse came into this one at an even 37-37, and because yesterday’s game was the conclusion of the first half of the International League season, Syracuse becomes the only minor league affiliate to end their respective first half above the .500 mark.
Through eight innings, Binghamton managed just a single hit- a Wyatt Young double- and four walks, failing to score. Luckily for them, for eight innings, New Hampshire had the same problem, logging a whopping four hits and three walks but failing to score. Eddie Micheletti Jr. changed that in the top of the ninth, leading off the inning with a grueling at-bat against Saul Garcia that went 10 pitches and ended with a solo home run into right-center. In the bottom of the ninth, Nick Lorusso singled sandwiched around outs by Jose Ramos and JT Schwartz, bringing the fiery-hot Vincent Perozo to the plate with a man on second. The backstop attacked the very first pitch he was and drove a line drive into right center to bring Lorusso home, tying the game up 1-1 down to their last out. After Wyatt Young popped out, into extra innings we went. From there, all hell broke loose. Both teams, who had trouble scoring for virtually the entire game, went crazy, with both teams scoring three runs apiece in the tenth. In the top of the eleventh, the Fisher Cats were able to score a run off of the erstwhile Wyatt Young, who switched in from shortstop to the mound, while Binghamton failed in the bottom of the inning; ballgame.
Neither team was able to do much for most of this contest, with both teams failing to score in the first five innings of the game and then both teams managing just a run each in the sixth. That pattern changed in the bottom of the eighth, when Gregori Louis and Bryce Jenkins combined to allow four runs, all charged to Louis. Suddenly down by a substantial margin with just three outs to play around with, Brooklyn went down meekly in the top of the ninth to end the game.
Happy birthday to Jason Motte, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1914 – The Giants shade the Reds, 3-2, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 9th off Red Ames. Christy Mathewson gives up seven hits and no walks as the Giants increase their lead over the National League to four games. For the second year in a row, Matty will end the season with fewer walks than victories, the only pitcher ever to accomplish that, and other stories as well.
1961 – Roger Maris leads the Yankees on an 8-3 thrashing of the A’s by belting his 27th homer of the year. Maris has now hit 20 homers in the past 30 days (May 24th to today), to tie the mark set by Ralph Kiner in 1947.
1962 – Stan Musial becomes the all-time total bases leader, raising his total to 5,864, in the first game against the Phillies.
2002 – The scheduled game between St. Louis and the Cubs is postponed after 33-year-old pitcher Darryl Kile is found dead in his Chicago hotel room of an apparent heart attack.
2022 – One day after setting a personal best as a hitter with eight RBIs, Shohei Ohtani sets another one on the mound as he racks up 13 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over Kansas City.
1934 – John Dillinger is informally named America’s first Public Enemy Number One.
1937 – Challenger Joe Louis KOs James J. Braddock in the eighth round at Chicago’s Comiskey Park for the world heavyweight boxing title.
1938 – Joe Louis scores a stunning 1st round KO of German Max Schmeling at Yankee Stadium, NYC to retain his world heavyweight boxing title.
1949 – Ezzard Charles beats Jersey Joe Walcott in 15 for National Boxing Association world heavyweight title, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois.
1961 – Beatles record “Ain’t She Sweet”, “Cry for a Shadow”, “When the Saints Go Marching In”, “Why”, “Nobody’s Child” & “My Bonnie”, in Hamburg, Germany.
1963 – “Little” Stevie Wonder, aged 13, releases his first single “Fingertips” (first live non-studio recording to go to No. 1 on Billboard).
1969 – Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River catches fire due to pollution.
1971 – Reprise Records releases “Blue”, Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell‘s 4th studio album.
For the third time this month, the Detroit Tigers have won a series against a first-place team — this time, a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park punctuated by a 5-4 walk-off victory in extra innings on Sunday afternoon. The win bumped AJ Hinch and Co.’s home record to a robust 21-16 overall and 11-6 in June.
There is still a way to go before the team is back in the wild card race, but at least they no longer inhabit the American League Central cellar, which is now occupied by the Kansas City Royals.
The Motor City Kitties look to continue their home-field magic this week when the New York Yankees come to town for a three-game series starting on Monday. With a series win, they can make it four over first-place teams as the Yanks have overcome the Tampa Bay Rays to hold the top spot in the AL East.
Opening things up on the mound for Detroit is left-hander Framber Valdez, who posted his eighth quality start of the season last time out on the road against the Houston Astros. The 32-year-old gave his team six frames of one-run ball — which was unearned — on six hits and three walks while striking out six in what turned out to be a 4-2 loss.
For the Yankees, right-hander Gerrit Cole will climb the hill looking to tame the Tigers in his sixth start of the year. The 35-year-old got a late start to the 2026 campaign as he worked back from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in March 2025. Three of Cole’s five appearances so far were quality starts, while both of his non-QS came against the Cleveland Guardians.
Here is how Valdez and Cole match up on Monday evening.
Detroit Tigers (33-44) vs. New York Yankees (46-30)
Time (ET): 6:10 p.m. Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan SB Nation Site:Pinstripe Alley Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 78: LHP Framber Valdez (3-5, 4.09 ERA) vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (2-1, 2.57 ERA)
Dodgers pitcher Eric Lauer delivers during a win over the Tampa Bay Rays on June 15. Lauer credits the Dodgers with aiding his development as a pitcher. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers won the World Series last year, and the year before that. Their lead is the largest in any division this year. That success, and the money that nourishes it, has battalions of fans beyond Los Angeles all but marching outside ballparks with picket signs reading “SALARY CAP NOW.”
It’s a reasonable thought: The Dodgers can’t possibly keep winning if they can’t keep outspending the competition.
Or can they?
“There are a lot of little things that happen behind the scenes that people don’t see,” pitcher Will Klein said. “I understand where people are coming from. It’s easy to be a fan of a smaller team and get mad at other teams outspending you.
“But I think there’s a level of care here, and wanting to win, that exceeds other groups.”
The obvious disclaimer: Any team would be better with Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, at a combined price of $1.6 billion. The counter argument: The Angels had Ohtani and Mike Trout and, well, you know.
It takes a roster. In Klein and pitcher Eric Lauer, the Dodgers have done something they do well besides spend: develop valuable contributors out of players discarded by other teams.
The Dodgers grabbed Lauer last month, desperate to fill a hole in their starting rotation. The Toronto Blue Jays had cut him, and he would be joining his seventh major league organization. The logical thought: The Dodgers had found a healthy arm to eat up some innings until they could find someone better.
That still might happen. But Lauer, who is scheduled to start Monday, has put up a 3.22 earned-run average in four starts with the Dodgers. Four starts is a small sample size, but in that time, Lauer is a career league-average pitcher performing 28% above league average.
“They got me immediately,” Lauer said. “They figured me out right away, and they knew exactly what was going to help me.”
For Lauer, the changes affected his delivery, but the specifics were not as important as finding a kindred spirit in Connor McGuiness, the Dodgers’ assistant pitching coach.
“I’ve always had a really hard time explaining myself and what I do, because I think a little differently,” Lauer said.
“When I was with the Brewers, it was running joke that it was ‘the language of Lauer,’ because I would describe things so differently and feel things so differently that, if you weren’t close to me and you didn’t know how I operate, it was very hard to understand what I was trying to do.
“Connor just immediately got it. It was like he’s been speaking it forever.”
At one point in his career, Lauer said, he struggled to explain the sensation of catching his heel on the mound as he completed his delivery toward home plate.
“I would describe it as, ‘I was falling backwards and I would catch myself,’ and it’s a really weird concept to think somebody was falling backwards when it doesn’t look like you’re falling at all,” he said. “It looks like you’re just moving forward.
“So they were like, ‘That’s not what you’re doing’ and I was like, ‘That’s what I’m feeling.’ We have to make the connection between the feel and the real so that we can understand each other.”
Klein, who joined his fourth organization when the Dodgers acquired him in a minor league trade last June, is in his first full major league season. He has a 2.37 ERA, and his 0.7 wins above replacement is better than any Dodgers reliever besides veteran closer Tanner Scott.
Klein said other teams had made suggestions on how to improve his game, and with the Dodgers, he has added a sweeper and dumped a slider. But what he needed to do most was throw more strikes, trusting that his lively fastball and curve were good enough to beat the best players in the world.
In the minors, Klein issued 6.9 walks per nine innings. This season, he has issued 3.6 walks per nine innings.
The credit, he said, should be shared with the Dodgers’ mental skills coaches.
“It’s easy to see the guys in the batter’s box, especially when you come up watching baseball and being fans of these guys,” Klein said. “It’s easy to see them being above yourself.
“But you’re on the mound with them, so you have to see that too. There’s a lot on the mental side that’s helped me here.”
Dodgers pitcher Will Klein delivers against the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium on June 16. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers did not include Klein on their postseason roster for the first three rounds last year, but he said coaches at all levels — in the majors, at triple-A and at the Arizona training complex — never stopped checking in on him, during the season and throughout October.
“When you’re down there, they don’t forget about you up here,” he said. “That kind of commitment and care was levels above what I had experienced.”
When the Dodgers added him to the World Series roster, Klein saved the season, with four scoreless innings to close out an 18-inning victory in Game 3.
Lauer called the communication in the Dodgers’ organization “miles ahead” of any other organization in which he has played.
“The training room, the weight room, the coaching staff, the players to each other,” he said. “Every form of communication is so seamless. Everybody knows what’s going on all the time. There’s no gray area.
“It’s all: ‘This is the plan, this is what we want to happen, this is how we’re going to make it happen,’ instead of: ‘This is the plan, this is what we want to happen, figure out a way to make it happen.’”
Klein raved about how the Dodgers treat player families, and about a high-tech pitching machine so lifelike that he could see what it would be like to bat against him. Lauer reflected on his experience as a first-round pick turned journeyman who went to South Korea to revive his career.
“I have a hard time saying anybody has done a better or faster job of helping me than the Dodgers,” Lauer said.
What Lauer and Klein say substantially echoes what Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said at last year’s World Series about turning the team into a preferred destination for players, and not just because the team wins and spends.
“Communication, being honest, having a really strong player development group in place at the major-league level, and how you treat families and treat the players,” Friedman said then, “I think matters a lot in that.”
To be clear: There is no indication the players’ union is willing to consider, let alone approve, a salary cap.
But, if that were to happen, Klein believes the Dodgers would be just fine.
“Our owners want to win, so they want to get the best product on the field, so they go and spend money,” he said, “and then everyone is mad that they want to win.
“I think they’ll find ways to win more if they can’t spend as much money. Friedman was with the Rays when they weren’t spending as much money and still had success there.
“I think they’re just better at wanting to win than some other people.”
Panthers Acquire Brady Tkachuk From Ottawa In Blockbuster Trade Florida weaponizes newfound draft capital to unite the Tkachuk brothers in Sunrise, fortifying a championship roster for another aggressive pursuit of NHL dominance.
