According to a report, former Flyers goalie Carter Hart is nearing a return to the NHL, but that return isn't expected to be in Philadelphia.
On Friday, The Athletic NHL insider Chris Johnston reported that Hart, 27, is expected to agree to terms with a new NHL team on Oct. 1 before the contract is registered on Oct. 15 - the first day he's allowed to sign.
"Per league sources, Hart is expected to reach terms on a contract by Oct. 1, though the contract can’t officially be registered with the NHL until Oct. 15. His top priorities are finding a job with a clear chance to get a meaningful number of starts and playing for a team that can win," Johnston reported. "Hart is looking for a fresh start, which effectively rules out a return to Philadelphia."
So, the Flyers reunion that some fans were hoping for is all but dashed.
As Johnston noted, the Flyers don't offer Hart a fresh start, and they also can't provide him a meaningful number of starts on a team that can win.
Even before Hart took his leave of absence, the Flyers were an average team enjoying a hot streak, and now that they have Sam Ersson, Dan Vladar, Aleksei Kolosov, and Ivan Fedotov all under contract with NHL experience, there are just too many cooks in the kitchen for this to make sense.
"Once Hart chooses his next NHL destination, he’s expected to sign a two- or three-year contract, per league sources. The two-year term would open up the possibility of an extension as soon as the summer of 2026 if the player and team feel it’s a good match," added Johnston.
"In the meantime, Hart’s focus is on getting his game back up to an NHL level. The terms of the league’s reinstatement allow him a month to practice and get acclimated with his new team — from Oct. 15 to Nov. 15 — before he becomes eligible for an American Hockey League conditioning assignment."
The Flyers' former second-round pick has not played a competitive game of any kind since his last NHL appearance, which was a 7-4 blowout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 20. Hart allowed five goals on 15 shots before being relieved by Ersson.
It should also be noted that a team in the United States is preferable for Hart, according to Johnson, and that the Oilers, as widely speculated, are not going to be a fit.
All this information narrows a potential Hart landing spot down quite a bit, and the next two weeks will tell the full story.
Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations, spent $1.5 billion the past two offseasons. It paid off with a World Series title last year. (Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)
The “Dodgers are ruining baseball” discourse that dominated last winter included pleas for a salary cap from the owners of the Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Congratulations, gentlemen, your teams are in last place. For you, the Dodgers are a handy scapegoat.
But the discourse also included this take from the owner of the New York Yankees: “It's difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they're doing,” Hal Steinbrenner told the YES Network. “We'll see if it pays off.”
So far, it has not paid off.
The Dodgers will make the playoffs, but the collection of players they bought to fortify their World Series title defense has fallen far short of expectations.
What happens in October could determine whether the spending spree that so annoyed rival owners might instead be remembered as Andrew Friedman’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad winter.
Tanner Scott stood in front of his locker late Friday night, at the latest low point in a miserable season. He had just given up a game-winning grand slam to a good-fielding catcher who walked to the plate batting .217.
Scott, the Dodgers’ $72-million closer, has an earned-run average of 5.01. He has pitched half as many innings as Clayton Kershaw and given up four more home runs.
“It’s terrible,” Scott said. “I’m having the worst year of my life. I’ve got to be better.”
It’s not just him. As a whole, the Dodgers’ signing class of 2024-25 has to be better.
Of 11 key players that signed new contracts to stay with the Dodgers or free-agent contracts to join them, none have a WAR of even 2, according to Baseball-Reference.com. The Angels last winter signed two free agents with a higher WAR than any of those Dodgers signees: starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi and closer Kenley Jansen.
Dodgers closer Tanner Scott, foreground, watches a game-wining grand slam hit by the Giants' Patrick Bailey (background). (Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, respectfully declined to review his offseason.
“We’ll wait until after the season,” he said. “All we’re focused on is these next few games and October.”
The most valuable of the winter signees by WAR, according to Baseball-Reference.com: Hyeseong Kim, whom the Dodgers have bounced uneasily between the infield and the outfield, between the starting lineup and the bench, between the major leagues and minor leagues.
Then comes Kershaw, who should top 100 innings on Saturday. The only Dodgers pitcher to throw more innings: Yoshinobu Yamamato.
When Friedman said he believed in his players, it was not just an obligatory quote. He really did. He believed in them so much that the Dodgers’ only additions at the trade deadline were a backup outfielder and a setup man.
Beyond Kershaw, the Dodgers’ pitching signees last winter included Scott, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates. It is difficult to envision the Dodgers including them all on a postseason roster, and not just because Sasaki still is working his way back from injury.
“From a pitching standpoint, we have a very realistic chance to have the most talented 13-man pitching staff we’ve ever had,” Friedman said. “We felt that way in July, coupled with that we were most likely — well, hopefully — going to be in position to have tough conversations with guys who have a legitimate chance to make it, but wouldn’t.”
He wouldn’t say which 13 pitchers he had in mind, and in fairness that could change with the next injury.
“You could take any collection of them,” Friedman said. “I’m just saying that, when we submit our playoff roster, I think those 13 arms will be the most talented — stuff, execution, talent, differing looks, right-left. I just think it will be the deepest, best staff we’ve had.”
Beyond Kim, the Dodgers’ position player signees last winter included infielder-outfielders Tommy Edman and Kike’ Hernandez and outfielders Michael Conforto and Teoscar Hernandez.
Edman and Kike’ Hernandez spent much of the season on the injured list. Teoscar Hernandez fell from a 4 WAR player last year — when his one-year contract looked brilliant — to a 1 WAR player this year.
Conforto homered Friday for the Dodgers’ only run. However, of the 191 players with at least 400 plate appearances entering play Friday, he had the lowest WAR.
“On the position player side, our with and without [Max] Muncy numbers are crazy,” Friedman said. “He’s a huge part of our lineup. But, even with that, the level of our offensive performance for two months is something that I would have said would have been an impossibility, even with an injury here or an injury there. What I thought wasn’t possible has been very possible, and has played out.
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy reacts after being hit by a pitch during the eighth inning Friday. (Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
“Looking back, it has contributed to the situation we’re in right now, and the difficulties. I still look ahead and see the names in the lineup, and the depth, and feel really good about it. So we’re going to find out if that’s right or not.”
During Muncy’s first stint on the injured list this season, the Dodgers ranked last in the majors in runs. During his second stint, they ranked next-to-last in the National League.
It did not feel good for the Dodgers when Muncy was forced from Friday’s game after a pitch hit him on the forearm. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said X-rays were negative, and the team will see how he is Saturday.
Friedman assembled a championship roster last year, his second in five years, so maybe this past winter will count as an expensive blip.
Or, perhaps, not even that.
The Dodgers count October as part of their schedule. They have not missed the playoffs in 13 years. Under Friedman, they have advanced to the World Series with a 92-win team and failed to get out of the first round with a 111-win team.
October is what matters, no matter how poorly a player might have performed in the regular season.
Of the Dodgers that threw at least 60 innings last season, the one with the highest earned-run average made the final pitch of the year. Of all the things that Los Angeles remembers about Walker Buehler last year, his 5.38 ERA is not one of them.
South Africa thump New Zealand 43-10 in Wellington
Tourists score 36 unanswered points in second half
The All Blacks suffered their heaviest-ever Test defeat as South Africa beat New Zealand 43-10 in Wellington to revive their Rugby Championship campaign.
Cheslin Kolbe scored a try in each half and Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and André Esterhuizen also touched down at the end of ambitious and clinical attacks as South Africa ran in six tries to one.
There almost were too many incredible moments to count from the Giants’ thrilling 5-1 walk-off win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night at Oracle Park.
Here are the best stats from the Giants’ win that put them just .5 games back in the NL wild-card race:
Patrick Bailey’s Walk-Off Slam
Patrick Bailey is the first player in MLB history with a walk-off inside-the-park home run AND a walk-off grand slam in a season
(worth noting: Roberto Clemente had both in one on a walk-off inside-the-park grand slam 7/25/56, but not the separate Bailey has!) https://t.co/RroQBsER6S
Today Patrick Bailey 7/15/2022 Mike Yastrzemski 9/3/1973 Bobby Bonds 4/25/1969 Jack Hiatt 5/26/1959 Leon Wagner 6/16/1952 Bobby Thomson 5/8/1925 Billy Southworth https://t.co/XNApdEsz6Z
Not only was McCray’s outfield assist the fastest of the Statcast era in Giants history, but it ranks No. 9 all-time in MLB during that same span. The previous Giants record was held by Austin Slater, who had a 99.6 mph throw on July 24, 2018.
Justin Verlander’s Still Got It
This is the first time Justin Verlander has allowed 1 or 0 runs over a three-outing span since 2022, when he had two such spans
Only others age 42+ to do so in a 3-start span, last 125 seasons:
2022 Rich Hill 2015 Bartolo Colon 2008 Randy Johnson 2004 & ‘05 Roger Clemens 1982… https://t.co/7ksbAGdy5A
With his outing Friday, Verlander also became the first MLB pitcher age 42 or older to record at least two starts in the same season of at least seven innings with one or fewer runs allowed since Bartolo Colon in 2018.
After former Giants outfielder Michael Conforto hit a game-tying home run off Verlander in the seventh inning, the veteran pitcher saw his scoreless innings streak of 18 innings snapped. The streak began Aug. 26 and was Verlander’s longest since a 19-inning scoreless streak from May 10-21, 2022.
NHL Suspends Ex-Flyers Goalie Carter Hart Until DecemberAccording to a report, former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart and the four other players involved in the Hockey Canada trial will be suspended until Dec. 1.
Flyers Decline to Comment on Potential Carter Hart ReunionIn spite of recent reports, the Philadelphia Flyers are not prepared to comment on any potential reunion with or interest in former goalie Carter Hart.
