Victoria to play Western Australia in Perth on 14 February next year
Last time a game was contested between state teams was in 1999
The AFL’s marquee State of Origin fixture will return next year to end a 27-year hiatus, with Western Australia to host Victoria in Perth on Valentine’s Day. After a clamour from fans and players for the state-based rivalry’s return, the 2026 game will be played at Optus Stadium.
The last time an Origin game was contested between state teams was in 1999, when Victoria beat South Australia by 54 points at the MCG, but South Australia was overlooked this time after strong lobbying from the Western Australian government.
Smith, 27, appeared in 58 games with New York over three seasons, after arriving in the deal that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks in January 2019. New York eventually dealt the guard to the Detroit Pistons ahead of the 2021 trade deadline in a deal that brought Derrick Rose to the Garden.
After the Pistons, he signed with Portland and Charlotte before landing in Brooklyn. He last played in Spain, appearing with Real Madrid.
The well-traveled veteran's most recent NBA experience came during the 2023-24 campaign with the Nets. In 56 games (two starts), he averaged 6.6 points on 43.5 percent shooting with 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 18.9 minutes.
The ninth overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft out of N.C. State, the 6-foot-3 guard had his best year in Dallas when he was fifth in Rookie of the Year voting.
In 326 career games (152 starts), he averaged 9.7 points on 40.7 percent shooting (29.8 percent from three) with 4.2 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 23.3 minutes. He has never played in the playoffs.
The Philadelphia Flyers are officially done with the Ivan Fedotov experiment, but Sunday's trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets comes with pros and cons.
For now, the Flyers are $3.275 million lighter on the salary cap, which, for all intents and purposes, was the main draw of the trade for Philadelphia.
Now, the Flyers won't have to concern themselves with balancing the salary cap when needing to call up injured players if necessary, which was prudent for Tyson Foerster and his situation earlier this summer, for example.
By extension, it's now a two-man net in Philadelphia.
The writing was on the wall for Fedotov once the Flyers brought in Dan Vladar from Calgary on July 1, thought it was unclear at the time if the hulking Russian was AHL-bound or a trade candidate because of his salary.
Clearly, based on Sunday's trade with the Blue Jackets, the Flyers weren't willing to risk losing Fedotov to waivers, and the Blue Jackets were willing to pay a minor cost to jump the line.
Flyers GM Danny Briere said previously that, over a full season, teams often need more than just their two goalies, and adding competition at the position was paramount in acting on that philosophy.
That competition now really only applies to incumbent starter Sam Ersson, who is going to have to fend off Vladar for starts all season long.
As for the AHL, the Flyers have only two serious options in Aleksei Kolosov, whom Keith Jones warned the public not to write off, and Carson Bjarnason - two top-100 picks who are the Flyers' homegrown talents at the position.
It should be telling that Kolosov is already in Philadelphia and participating in informal skates with his teammates.
As long as Kolosov and Bjarnason remain healthy, the Flyers are all-in on developing their youth in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season, which starts with the goalies and extends out to other prospects like Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey.
That's a philosophical shift even from just a year ago, when the Flyers had Eetu Makiniemi (a free agent addition) and Cal Petersen under contract with Kolosov and Fedotov in the fold.
Speaking of Bjarnason and the Phantoms, I didn't think Bjarnason had a bad rookie camp, but he wasn't great, either.
Fedotov was part of the Flyers up until Sunday, so it was plausible that Bjarnason could have been sent to the ECHL Reading Royals to play consistently while Fedotov and Kolosov platooned for the Phantoms.
Obviously, the Flyers didn't view that as something was necessary, and jettisoning Fedotov allows them to get Bjarnason in right away while benefitting the NHL roster at the same time.
I would still expect Kolosov to get the lion's share of starts in Allentown, but Bjarnason needs to and will play his portion of games, too.
All in all, the Fedotov deal was a rather clear slam dunk for the Flyers, who cleared a mammoth cap hit off their books and still got a positive asset in return.
Fedotov, of course, went through a lot to make his dream come true in the NHL with the Flyers, and I wish him all the best in Columbus going forward.
He's a talented player with a big personality that matches his size, and he's a nice guy by all accounts.
Now, he and the Flyers will move onto new chapters.
The Dodgers' Mookie Betts rounds third base to score on an RBI double from Freddie Freeman against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. (Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
This is the time to bring on the rivals. The Dodgers are used to taking on challengers down the pennant stretch: the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres — and, in a previous version of the National League West, the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds.
The final two weeks of the regular season are upon us. The Dodgers have one remaining head-to-head matchup that really matters — and that series starts Monday at Dodger Stadium, against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies?
The Phillies have not been realigned into the NL West. However, although the three division champions automatically qualify for the playoffs, the two with the best records earn a bye into the division series. The division champion with the third-best record — right now, that would be the Dodgers — must play in the first round.
The Milwaukee Brewers, the presumed champions of the NL Central, boast the best record in baseball. The Phillies, the presumed champions of the NL East, lead the Dodgers by 4 ½ games. The Dodgers have 13 games to play.
The Dodgers got a bye and lost in the division series in 2022. They got a bye and lost in the division series in 2023. They got a bye and came within one game of elimination in the division series in 2024. Would they be better off not getting a bye and playing in the first round?
“There is not a question in my mind that that does not make sense,” Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, told me last week. “It is better for your World Series odds to not play those three games.”
The five days off that come with a bye can disrupt the timing of hitters. They also can allow time for injured and weary players to recover — that could be critical for Dodgers catcher Will Smith, in particular — and for the Dodgers to arrange their starting rotation just the way they might like it. And, of course, you can’t be eliminated in the first round if you don’t play in it.
“We have made our life more difficult to this point,” Friedman said, “but I still think we have a really good run in us, and we’ll make it competitive. So obviously these three games against Philly are really important in that.”
What if the three games against the Phillies go poorly?
Even if they don’t, the Dodgers might not win the division. The Padres are closer to the Dodgers than the Dodgers are to the Phillies.
San Diego trails the Dodgers by 2½ games in the NL West.
If the Padres win the NL West, how much would that hurt the Dodgers’ chances of a lengthy postseason run?
Not much, if at all. Both teams almost certainly would end up in the wild-card round.
The NL West champion would play the last team into the NL field, most likely the Giants or New York Mets and maybe even the Reds or Arizona Diamondbacks, with the chance the opponent exhausted its pitching just to get into the playoffs. The other team would play the Chicago Cubs, and would avoid the possibility of facing the surging Phillies until the NLCS.
If the NL West comes down to the last day or two, the Dodgers would have to determine whether to use their best starters on that final weekend or line them up for the wild-card series.
In that scenario, what might be the decisive factor in the Dodgers’ calculus?
The NL West champion would play all three games of the wild-card round at home; the runner-up likely would play all three games on the road. The Dodgers are 48-26 at home, 36-39 on the road. (The Padres are 47-28 at home, 35-40 on the road.)
Would there be any precedent for the Dodgers not minding if the Padres won the NL West?
In 1996, the Dodgers and Padres were tied for the NL West lead heading into the final day of the regular season, with the two teams facing one another. Both teams were guaranteed a playoff spot.
The Padres won the game, and with it the division. The Dodgers started Martinez in their playoff opener three days later. They lost that game, and they were swept in the series by the Braves. The winning pitchers in that series, in order: John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.
In Friedman’s previous 10 seasons running the Dodgers, what is the fewest number of games they have won?
Ninety-one, in 2016.
How did the Dodgers do that October?
They earned a bye into the division series, in which they beat the Washington Nationals. They lost to the Chicago Cubs in the league championship series.
The Buffalo Sabres open training camp later this week, with only a few changes to the roster that finished second-last in the Eastern Conference and a dozen points out of the final wildcard spot. The club will have a healthy Josh Norris centering one of the top two lines, and added depth forwards Josh Doan, Justin Danforth, defensemen Michael Kesselring, Conor Timmins, and goalie Alex Lyon, but have unanswered questions about an injury to goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and no certain of who will replace the offense of departed winger JJ Peterka.
GM Kevyn Adams seems to be relying on the internal improvement of youngsters Zach Benson, Jack Quinn, and Jiri Kulich to pick up the slack for Peterka’s 68-point output, and as they have done the last few season, the club enters the season with a sizable chunk of unused salary cap room. This could once again be the Sabres operating under their own budget, or it could be that they are holding space in reserve to add players during the season before the March 6th trade deadline if they are in the playoff mix.
One bit of news that might be a factor in Adams making a move sooner is last week’s determination from the NHL that the five Hockey Canada players (Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, and Cal Foote) who were suspended indefinitely pending the results of their trial. The players are now eligible to sign an NHL contract on October 15 and play NHL games by December 1.
With the Sabres having six goaltenders on NHL contracts, it is unlikely that they would have interest in Hart or be a destination that the former Flyer would choose to go to, but Buffalo could have interest in either Dube and McLeod. The former Flames forward had consecutive 18-goal seasons in 2022 and 2023 before struggling prior to being suspended. McLeod (the older brother of the Sabres Ryan) played for Lindy Ruff his entire four-year stint in New Jersey and was enjoying his best offensive season (10 goals in 45 games) prior to be suspended by the league.
The Dodgers' Mookie Betts, center, celebrates with Kiké Hernández after scoring on Miguel Rojas' single during the sixth inning. (Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
The Dodgers have gotten back to the basics this week, preaching the importance of the little things in daily hitters’ meetings, in-game dugout conversations and even simulated drills in early batting practice sessions.
After a 2 ½ month slump over the second half of the season, they were searching for a more dependable style of offense. Like simplifying their approach at the plate. Shortening up swings and using the big part of the field with two strikes. Capitalizing on situational opportunities with runners on base. And making sure that, amid a resurgence from their rotation, they were finding ways to more consistently manufacture runs.
This weekend in San Francisco, they finally enjoyed the fruits of those labors, blowing out the Giants 10-2 on Sunday to win a three-game series and remain 2 ½ games up in the National League West standings.
“Quality of at-bat, winning pitches, using the whole field, not punching [out] — I think all those things, you know it’s in there,” manager Dave Roberts said, after the Dodgers racked up 18 hits, worked six walks and scored in six of their nine trips to the plate.
“We’ve seen it. Maybe not with the consistency we would’ve liked. But when you’re facing really good arms, to see us do what we did... it’s certainly encouraging.”
Indeed, coming off a 13-run outburst Saturday night, the Dodgers picked up right where they left off at Oracle Park on Sunday afternoon, slowly sucking the life out of a recently resurgent Giants team trying to sneak into the playoffs.
Teoscar Hernández continued a recent surge with a team-high four hits, making him 11 for his last 24. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Michael Conforto each had three knocks, with Conforto’s day getting his batting average back to .200. As a team, the Dodgers combined for a whopping 16 singles while forcing 207 pitches from the Giants’ staff of arms. And most amazing, they did it with Shohei Ohtani reaching base only once, and that didn’t even happen until his sixth at-bat in the top of the ninth.
“It's quality at-bats, quality outs, moving guys over, getting sac flies, bringing defenses in if you move them over,” Freeman said. “It creates more traffic, more things that are able to happen on the baseball field. Just think the quality of at-bats have been really good over the last week."
The onslaught started in the second inning, when two walks and a Freeman single loaded the bases, setting up Kiké Hernández for a sacrifice fly. It continued in the third, when a pair of productive outs (plus a bobbled ground ball from San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman) turned singles from Betts and Teoscar Hernández into another hard-earned run.
Then, in the fifth, it all culminated in a four-run rally, one that knocked Giants starter Robbie Ray out of the game, and turned a low-scoring affair into a series rubber-match rout.
Freeman lined a double to right field, after Betts walked and Teoscar Hernández again singled. Conforto came off the bench for a two-run, pinch-hit, bases-loaded single that he managed to slap past a drawn-in infield. A run-scoring balk from reliever Joel Peguero added to the deluge, which included a pair of walks from Tommy Edman and Ben Rortvedt.
In the sixth, what was already a 6-1 lead was stretched a little further, with Miguel Rojas’ two-run single — with the bases loaded once more — putting the Dodgers’ sixth win in seven on ice. The Dodgers nonetheless added more runs in both the eighth and ninth, giving them their first back-to-back double-digit run totals since all the way back at the end of April.
The Dodgers' Tyler Glasnow pitched into the seventh inning on Sunday to pick up his second win in as many starts. (Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
“It's definitely the kind of baseball we want to be playing down the stretch and for the rest of the season,” Conforto said. “I think we're doing a lot of the little things right. That's kind of been the theme as we finish up here.”
It all represented a new look from the Dodgers’ star-studded offense, with only one of their 23 runs the last two days requiring a ball to go over the fence.
For much of the year, the team has been overly reliant on home runs, scoring via the long ball at the fifth-highest percentage in the majors (45%) at the end of play Friday. During their second-half slide, that dynamic had prevented them from working around injuries and mechanical flaws from much of the lineup, or finding alternative ways to build big innings and hang crooked numbers.
Hence, their recent re-emphasis on more dependable fundamentals — allowing them to paper-cut an opposing pitching staff to death in a way that is typically for success in October.
“When you can be able to do it, and know you can do it, as we're leading up to that point [of the playoffs], it definitely is a big confidence booster,” Freeman said. “We don't have to rely on the two-run, three-run home run all the time. I think that was just big. The last week, [this is] what we've been trying to do. And we've been able to actually do it in the games."
On the mound, Tyler Glasnow was able to settle down after looking frustrated with his command early, when he walked four batters (and hit another) in his first three innings. At a point he has so often spiraled in his up-and-down Dodgers tenure, the right-hander instead found a rhythm by retiring 10 in a row, managing to pitch into the seventh in a 6 ⅔ inning, one-run outing.
“It’s encouraging,” said Glasnow, who has a 3.06 ERA on the season and a 2.66 mark since returning from a shoulder injury in July “Since I got back from the IL, it’s been easier to kind of put [those kind of struggles] out of my head and go compete. If my stuff sucks, it’s kind of whatever. Just compete, try to get in the zone, get some weak contact. It’s helpful."
It led to the kind of performance the Dodgers are banking on from their rotation in the playoffs. This is still a team that, at its core, will have to be carried by its pitching.
The only way that strength will matter, however, is if the lineup can find some long-awaited consistency. This weekend, signs of it finally arrived. Everything the Dodgers had been preaching at last came to fruition.
“As we come down to the end [of the season, we’re] just kind of recognizing what it is that really puts us in the right spot to win games,” Conforto said. “It's go time now, and we got to do all those things if we want to get to where we want to get to."
The Buffalo Sabres are facing a massive amount of pressure as they try to end the team's 14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought. And every Sabres player will have to contribute something positive to the cause, or the lack of playoff games in Buffalo could continue.
In that regard, this is the latest file for THN.com's Sabres site's series projecting the expectations for each Buffalo player in 2025-26. In this file, we're focusing on second-year NHL center Jiri Kulich. The 21-year-old showed promise in his first year as a Sabre last year, but more will be expected of Kulich as he begins the year on Buffalo's third line.
But we're here to ask you -- what do you think expectations for Kulich should look like in '25-26? You can let us know with a comment below. And while you're doing that, you can always feel free to register as a Sabres community member on THN.com and heighten your connection to Buffalo with news and views on the Sabres every day. Your voice counts, and we want to hear it.
Toronto opted for an 11-forward and seven defensemen lineup for Sunday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. Easton Cowan was among the players not in the lineup for game two as he prepares for Maple Leafs training camp beginning next week.
Ryan Kirwan and Luke Haymes each found the back of the net for Toronto. Both had a goal in their first game against the Senators on Saturday. Ryan Tverberg scored the Maple Leafs’ third goal, off a pass from Jacob Quillan. Tverberg added an empty-netter, giving Toronto the 4-1 win.
Vyacheslav Peksa stopped 36 of 37 shots, giving the prospects something to be happy about as they head home.
Despite the split weekend, there were a bunch of players who stood out. Here are a few of my takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ second game of the Prospect Showdown:
Landon Sim brings the bang
The AHL-signed forward was quite engaged in Toronto’s first game against Ottawa, and upped the energy against Montreal.
Sim fought twice during the pair of games this weekend and was a part of a couple of extended shifts in Montreal’s zone. I didn’t have many expectations for the forward coming into the tournament as a Marlies-signed player, but he caught my eye a lot.
Landon Sim (42) puts in a strong shift for the Maple Leafs in Montreal's end. pic.twitter.com/rJ1krdeIsQ
He had a shift in the offensive zone midway through the second period, where he worked tirelessly for the puck. Sim threw his body around, too, which will obviously bode well for how his teammates see him ahead of his first pro season.
After 12 goals and 15 points in 17 games with the OHL’s London Knights during the playoffs in the spring, Sim appears to be an intriguing project for the Maple Leafs’ development staff entering the 2025-26 season.
Luke Haymes’ consistency
Haymes added more points to his total before heading back to Toronto for Maple Leafs training camp next week.
The 22-year-old tallied another two points (a goal, as mentioned) and an assist on Kirwan’s first-period goal. After he won the faceoff, Maple Leafs 2025 fifth-round pick Harry Nansi fed Kirwan the puck, and he wired a shot into the back of the net.
It feels as though Haymes’ play rose along with the competition. He did it in the AHL — scoring two goals and six points in his first nine games of pro — and he’s done it again at the prospect tournament.
Haymes finished with two goals and two assists, making him one of the top-producing Maple Leafs prospects, alongside Kirwan, at the Prospect Showdown this weekend.
The 23-year-old Russian-born goaltender had 12 wins and a .904 save percentage through 32 games with Cincinnati. He also had a cup of coffee in the AHL with the Marlies, registering an .878 save percentage in two AHL games.
Vyacheslav Peksa with a couple of nice saves as Montreal applies pressure late in the second period. pic.twitter.com/kf5WEJPLqM
There was excitement when the goaltender first came to Canada, following a career season with Bars Kazan of the VHL (Russia’s version of the AHL). A strong showing against the Canadiens’ prospects on Sunday, which included several great stops, should set him up to be confident heading into Maple Leafs training camp before likely heading back to the ECHL for his third season.
The other takeaways
- Harry Nansi utilized his size and playmaking ability in what was his only game of the Prospect Showdown. He, of course, had an assist on Kirwan’s goal, but also found Tyler Hopkins later in the game for a scoring chance. He appears to be a more confident player since watching him at development camp earlier this summer.
- Miroslav Holinka had another strong showing in game two. The forward was on the top line with Quillan and Tverberg, and had plenty of opportunity to showcase his hands and puck protection. He began the play on Quillan’s goal, keeping the puck away from Adam Engstrom, before dishing it up to the point. Holinka is a fascinating project for Toronto, and could be someone who sees the NHL in the future.
- Quillan and Kirwan had strong games again. Quillan, of course, had a strong back half of the year with the Marlies, which likely gave him confidence coming into prospect camp. The confidence definitely went up a notch after these two games, just in time for him to try and impress Toronto’s coaching staff at training camp. Kirwan, similar to a few of the other prospects mentioned, could be an interesting prospect to keep an eye on.
Ryan Kirwan gets on the board for the Maple Leafs, with an assist from Harry Nansi and Luke Haymes.
We’re about to kick off the NHL’s 2025-26 season, and here on THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site, we’re moving through our player-by-player series in which we analyze every Buffalo players’ expectations this coming season.
We began this series by looking at the Sabres’ goalies and defensemen, and their third line – including today’s focus: center Jiri Kulich – looks like a bit of a dog’s breakfast of up-and-coming talent (Kulich and left winger Jack Quinn) and gritty, low-scoring right winger Jordan Greenway. So the expectations on Kulich should be reasonable as to what he can accomplish. But here’s our best guess as to what is reasonable for Kulich in ‘25-26:
Player Name: Jiri Kulich
Position: Center
Age: 21
2024-25 Key Statistics: 62 games, 15 goals, 24 points, 14:48 average time on ice
2025-26 Expectations: Kulich is entering his sophomore NHL season, and while his first year wasn’t worthy of the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie-of-the-year, the 21-year-old Czechia native did get to the 15-goal mark – with all the goals coming at even-strength – in very limited minutes in only 62 games. That’s something to build on this coming season, but Kulich is going to be starting the year centering Buffalo’s third line.
We can see Kulich and Quinn having success on offense. Greenway – a tougher player who doesn’t contribute many goals or assists – is another story. So it’s going to be on Quinn and Kulich to generate offense for the Sabres and start to challenge upper-tier Sabres players for playing time on the line above them in Buffalo.
That said, Kulich has only dipped his toe in hockey’s top league. He’s nowhere close to his prime, but a season in which Kulich produced, say, 20-25 goals and 30-40-point next season would be considered an enormous success.
So long as he’s able to get near those areas, Kulich’s status as a Sabre isn’t going to be challenged no matter how Buffalo does in the standings. He’s young, he’s not making very much money (less than $867,000 per year), and he’s under team financial control for this year, next year and his RFA years after that.
Thus, Kulich will likely survive any change in Sabres coaching or administration. He needs to put forth at least as many points as he did last year, but he also needs to make Buffalo’s third line a legitimate danger. That’s what the Sabres are going to need to be a playoff team.
Unfortunately, making the third line an above-average group has been a tall task for many Sabres players before him, but Kulich can’t be properly judged until there’s a decent sample size to judge him by. And that means he deserves the benefit of the doubt entering his sophomore season. But make no mistake – there’s pressure there for Kulich to take a step forward in ‘25-26. If he reacts positively to it, the pressure on Buffalo’s top two lines will diminish, and it will take some of the heat off their defense as well.
Kulich could be a big-time member of a Sabres renaissance. By the end of last season, he was centering a line with Buffalo’s top scorer, star winger Tage Thompson. But Kulich’s two-way game is what’s most encouraging about his game, and if he’s effective at both ends of the ice, the Sabres are going to have a good shot at ending their playoff drought and giving Buffalonians a team to take pride in again.
Dennis Schroder has been in plenty of big moments before. He's played in NBA conference finals games with the Hawks and Lakers. He's played in the Olympics. He helped lift Germany to the last World Cup title.
With the EuroBasket championship in the balance, Schroder took over and scored the game's final six points, lifting Germany past Türkiye to the title.
"We never shy away from the big moments. ... Everybody is so confident," Schroder said postgame, via the Associated Press. "Just big-time plays from big-time character people."
Germany won the most recent World Cup behind the play of Schroder, and they finished fourth in the Paris Olympics. Germany is playing fantastic team basketball right now.
Schroder, who will suit up for Sacramento this season, finished this game with 16 points and 12 assists and was named EuroBasket MVP for his play. What makes Germany so formidable is their depth of talent: Orlando's Franz Wagner had 18 points with eight rebounds, his teammate Tristan Da Silva added 13, while former NBA player Isaac Bonga led the team with 20 points.
Türkiye was led by the Rockets' Alperen Sengun, who had 28 points in this game to cap off a breakout tournament. Former NBA players Cedi Osman (23 points) and Shane Larkin (13 points) had big roles for Türkiye as well.
Earlier in the day, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to spark Greece past Finland in the bronze medal game.
Antetokounmpo, Sengun, Schroder, Wagner and Slovenia's Luka Doncic were named to the All EuroBasket first team.
Nolan McLean just continues delivering quality innings for the Mets down the stretch in the playoff push.
With the team looking to end their dreadful eight-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon, the rookie stepped up and put together six shutout innings in what ended as a walk-off victory over the Texas Rangers.
McLean did endure some early command issues, falling behind in the count to each of the game’s first five hitters, but that proved to be no issue as he struck out four and limited Texas to one baserunner over the first three innings.
He then allowed singles to Joc Pederson and Rowdy Tellez in the top of the fourth, but used a double play ball and his fourth punchout of the afternoon to escape the threat.
The Rangers were able to put two more runners on with two outs in the fifth thanks to a double and walk, but the youngster set down Wyatt Langford for his third strikeout of the afternoon to again dance out of danger.
McLean faced another threat in the sixth after a hit by pitch and a bloop single, but he used his second clutch double play of the afternoon to end his outing on a huge note.
Overall, he allowed just five hits and two walks while striking out seven across six frames.
“Nolan was impressive again,” Carlos Mendoza said. “It looks like they had a good game plan against his sweeper where they took some pitches early in counts, and they were aggressive on that pitch, and he recognized that and he started using the sinker and changeup to lefties.
“That's what makes this guy who he is -- not only does he have the stuff, but his ability to recognize what hitters are trying to do against him, he has a lot of weapons that he can go to at different times and in different counts, man it’s just super impressive.”
McLean is now the first Mets pitcher to not allow a run in their first three Citi Field starts.
His 1.19 ERA is the lowest mark in franchise history through ones first six big-league outings.
He's also tied with Dwight Gooden for the third-most strikeouts through six career starts (40).
Certainly, some prestigious company and impressive addition to the resume, though, McLean isn't focused on that.
“I’m not a huge stat guy,” he admitted. “I just try to go out and give my team the best chance to win every time.”
The Dallas Stars have been one of the NHL’s better teams in the past three regular seasons, finishing either first or second in the highly competitive Central Division. But ultimate playoff success has eluded the Stars in the past three years, as they’ve lost in the Stanley Cup playoffs’ Western Conference final for three years running.
Still, it was a notable shock the way veteran Dallas coach Peter DeBoer handled his public relations with the media, as he made particular criticism of Stars No. 1 goalie Jake Oettinger after he pulled Oettinger in the deciding game of the Western final in favor of backup Casey DeSmith. DeBoer’s criticism of Oettinger may have accelerated DeBoer’s eventual parting of ways with the Stars by a handful of weeks, because the bottom line is that DeBoer’s teams haven’t been able to get over the competitive hump. So, unless DeBoer got to the Stanley Cup, his job security in Dallas could’ve been and probably was going to be jeopardized.
DeBoer did damage control Sunday in an NHL.com interview in which he took accountability for the way he went after Oettinger. And he defended his relationship with Oettinger in his first public comments since the Stars fired him just one week after his Game 5 comments.
“I know the stories immediately came out that I’m hard on goalies,” DeBoer told Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com. “But the fact is, I only pulled (Oettinger) once in 57 games in the regular season. That’s a fact.
“The first 30 seconds of that (Game 5) timeout was me blasting our team and, if I could have, I would have blasted myself and our coaches too. I mean, you're mad and disappointed in that moment, at everything, at the team, at the start, at the goalie, at yourself, at everybody. Why are we in this spot? You know, we have this opportunity and we're in this spot. So, it's a scattergun of anger, of bitterness.
“And it was made out to be about Jake Oettinger. But that wasn't the case. I love Jake Oettinger, and Jake and I met after the season ended. He knows how much respect I have for him as a goalie and even more as a person and a family man. And you know, I've said repeatedly throughout our playoff run, we would have never even gotten that far without Jake.”
DeBoer’s words aside, it’s his reputation as a solid coach with a lot of regular-season success that is going to make him a frontrunner option for teams that fire their bench boss either during the 2025-26 season, or next summer. The coaching wheel spins faster than ever, and teams will look at DeBoer’s 1,261 games of NHL coaching experience – and the 662 wins and 814 games in which he got the game to overtime and beyond – and see a viable choice to hire him for what would be his sixth NHL team.
DeBoer does still have hockey responsibilities, as he’s an assistant coach for Team Canada’s team at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics. Not having an NHL job leaves DeBoer more time to focus on those responsibilities, but it won’t be long before DeBoer is a candidate for an NHL job opening. And when he does get hired again, the only test he has left is to find a way to win a conference final and earn his first Cup.
If he can’t do that, DeBoer is likely to bounce around between jobs again. But as the 2025-26 season looms large on the horizon, DeBoer has time to reset his focus and find a team that will give him a good shot at making it to the Cup final and winning it all once they get there. You never know when your next shot may be your last shot, but DeBoer is almost certain to get another shot sooner or later, and he’s got to make the most of the opportunity or face future job insecurity with his next gig.
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SAN FRANCISCO — With an MLB playoff spot on the line, the Giants are hoping their top prospect can help get them over the finish line.
First baseman Bryce Eldridge will join the team in Phoenix, a source confirmed to NBC Sports Bay Area on Sunday night. It’s the final step in a meteoric rise for the 2023 first-round draft pick, who will debut a few weeks before his 21st birthday. The promotion first was reported by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser.
Eldridge has an .836 OPS in Triple-A this season, with 18 homers in 66 games. He has 25 homers in 100 games across two levels this season, consistently showing the kind of power that has made him one of the top prospects in the minor leagues.
The Giants had hoped all along that Eldridge could spend the entire season in Triple-A and then compete for a big league job next spring, but the math changed over the weekend when Dominic Smith strained his hamstring and went on the IL. They struggled offensively in back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers, failing to make up ground in the Wild Card race.
It’s unclear how the Giants will use Eldridge initially. Long term, they anticipate him splitting time at first base and DH with Rafael Devers, but for now, the lineup could use a boost.
The Giants likely will face five right-handed starters in seven days on this upcoming road trip, providing a nice landing spot for Eldridge, who has said since the spring that he wanted to debut in 2025.
SAN FRANCISCO — With an MLB playoff spot on the line, the Giants are hoping their top prospect can help get them over the finish line.
First baseman Bryce Eldridge officially has been called up by the Giants, the team announced Monday.
The 20-year-old Eldridge is batting fifth and will serve as the designated hitter in his MLB debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday at Chase Field.
A source confirmed the news of Eldridge’s promotion to NBC Sports Bay Area on Sunday night. It’s the final step in a meteoric rise for the 2023 first-round draft pick, who will debut a few weeks before his 21st birthday. The move first was reported by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser.
To make room for Eldridge on the roster, outfielder Luis Matos was optioned to Triple-A and infielder Brett Wiseley was designated for assignment.
Eldridge has an .836 OPS in Triple-A this season, with 18 homers in 66 games. He has 25 homers in 100 games across two levels this season, consistently showing the kind of power that has made him one of the top prospects in the minor leagues.
The Giants had hoped all along that Eldridge could spend the entire season in Triple-A and then compete for a big league job next spring, but the math changed over the weekend when Dominic Smith strained his hamstring and went on the IL. They struggled offensively in back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers, failing to make up ground in the Wild Card race.
It’s unclear how the Giants will use Eldridge initially. Long term, they anticipate him splitting time at first base and DH with Rafael Devers, but for now, the lineup could use a boost.
The Giants likely will face five right-handed starters in seven days on this upcoming road trip, providing a nice landing spot for Eldridge, who has said since the spring that he wanted to debut in 2025.
