Since being traded to the New York Rangers, Carson Soucy hasn’t exactly found a consistent role.
The Rangers acquired Soucy from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2025-third round pick just one day before the NHL Trade Deadline.
With Soucy also under contract for next season, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury had high hopes for what the 30-year-old could provide not just this season, but into the future.
He envisioned Soucy being a staple on the Rangers’ blue line.
“We think there's a lot of possibilities with Carson, whether it's with Schneids or Foxy or Will (Borgen), or even having him on the right side at some point,” Drury said. “We'll see how it plays out. I'm glad we were able to get him. I was excited about the term, excited about the number. He's not a rental.
“He’s someone we could have in for the rest of the year and next year. I just like the overall game – the size, the skating, the sense, how he defends. We were able to do some homework on him the last couple weeks and we’re excited to get him with a piece we got in the Reilly Smith trade.”
Drury’s vision has not come into fruition whatsoever thus far.
Soucy has been scratched out of the lineup for the past two games and will be benched once again on Tuesday night against the Calgary Flames.
The emergence of Zac Jones on top of Adam Fox’s return have a lot to do with why Soucy finds himself in the doghouse.
While Peter Laviolette isn’t necessarily discouraged with what he’s seen from the veteran defenseman, he feels that Rangers’ defense has been strong over the past couple games and isn’t looking to shake things up as of right now.
“He’s been good,” Laviolette said of Soucy. “I don’t have an issue with the players that aren’t playing. Again, there are six spots on defense and we have eight defensemen here. I like the six in the way they are playing right now, so we didn’t make a change tonight, but we are happy to have both him and de Hann here. I know it is tough sitting out. Nobody likes to sit out, but I like the way our defense is playing right now.”
This dosn’t mean Soucy will be benched permanently. Things could change on a game-to-game basis depending on how well the Rangers are playing.
In all likelihood, Soucy will be back in the lineup sooner rather than later.
Based on Drury’s comments though, you would think Soucy would instantly jump into a prominent role and that just hasn’t happened.
The Mets break camp in less than a week, before traveling to Houston to begin the regular season against the Astros on March 27.
The expectations they had entering spring training remain the same with them about to wrap spring training: compete for the NL East title, make the playoffs, and be a legitimate threat to win the World Series.
New York will be challenged early, though, with a handful of key injuries. And those injuries have altered how their roster will look from the jump.
Here is our 26-man roster prediction 3.0 for Opening Day...
REGULAR LINEUP
Luis Torrens: C Pete Alonso: 1B Brett Baty: 2B Francisco Lindor: SS Mark Vientos: 3B Brandon Nimmo: LF Jose Siri: CF Juan Soto: RF Jesse Winker: DH
In Alvarez's place as the starter will be Torrens, who knows the pitching staff and should be able to hold things together.
New York Mets second baseman Brett Baty (7) fields a ground ball during the ninth inning against the Houston Astros at Clover Park. / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
The other injury is to Jeff McNeil, who was having a strong spring before going down with a mild oblique issue.
McNeil is only expected to be out until the second or third week of the season, but the Mets will need a regular starter at second base in his stead. And that will be Baty.
Even before McNeil went down, the Mets were getting Baty exposure at second base in addition to third base -- in preparation for him potentially landing a role on the bench.
And Baty has excelled -- adeptly handling second base while looking very good at the plate. He has earned this shot.
Everything else is as expected as it pertains to the regular position players, including Winkeras the designated hitter and Siri as the initial choice to get the bulk of the starts in center field.
New York will begin the season without Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, though Manaea has already resumed throwing and should return at some point in April.
The prognosis isn't as promising for Montas, who could be back in May but whose next time on a big league mound will likely come in June.
That means added stress on a unit that was already the Mets' one big question mark when it still had a fully healthy Manaea and Montas.
New York Mets pitcher Clay Holmes (35) pitches against the Houston Astros in the third inning at Clover Park / Jim Rassol - Imagn Images
Holmes, who will start on Opening Day, has been mostly dominant in spring training. So there shouldn't be much concern about his stuff translating to a starting role. But it's still fair to wonder about his stamina and how many innings he'll be able to provide.
Peterson will be looking to build off his strong 2024, while Senga -- who has been proceeding deliberately this spring -- is attempting to shake off a year mostly lost to injury.
The back end of the rotation will feature Canning (who seems to be benefiting from the Mets' pitching lab) and Megill (who has yet to find consistency, but has good stuff and some upside).
BULLPEN
Edwin Diaz: CLS A.J. Minter: LHP Reed Garrett: RHP Ryne Stanek:RHP Jose Butto: RHP Max Kranick: RHP Danny Young: LHP Paul Blackburn: RHP
The Mets' bullpen should be a strength this season, and it has a chance to be one of the best in baseball if things break right.
Diaz, Minter, Stanek, and Garrett are legitimate late-inning weapons, while Butto and Kranick -- who are expected to be able to provide multiple innings at a clip -- could be X-factors.
Since Kranick has a minor league option remaining, New York could theoretically have him begin the season in the minors. But with his stuff playing up as he transitions to a full-time relief role and Kranick having been one of the Mets' most dominant pitchers this spring, it makes no sense to not carry him right away.
New York Mets pitcher Max Kranick (32) throws during the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Clover Park / Reinhold Matay - Imagn Images
Dedniel Núñez will be a huge part of the relief corps this year after missing the end of last season due to injury, but his first game action of the spring didn't come until March 17. And while Núñez was dominant in that appearance, the guess here is that he'll need a bit longer to get ready.
That would open the door for the Mets to carry Young, who is out of options and will give New York a second left-hander to go along with Minter.
The final spot in the bullpen will go to Blackburn, who is also out of options and can provide serious length if needed.
BENCH
Tyrone Taylor: OF Hayden Senger: C Donovan Walton: INF Starling Marte: DH/OF
The most interesting thing to watch here is the backup infielder role, though this one seems easy to call.
Luisangel Acuñahas been in competition for a bench spot and (recently) the regular second base job with McNeil down for a bit. But unless the Mets think it will benefit them and Acuña for him to be part of a platoon with Baty at second and a bench player the rest of the time, it doesn't make much sense to carry him.
The better plan is to have Acuña begin the year with Triple-A Syracuse, where he can continue to work on his offense. That would mean a spot on the bench for Walton, who has five years of big league experience as a defense-first backup capable of playing third base, shortstop, second base, and corner outfield.
The rest of the bench will be Taylor or Siri (whoever isn't starting in center field that day), Senger (who will be the backup in place of Torrens until Alvarez returns), and Marte.
Marte's inclusion was a bit of a question until recently, with him continuing to deal with a lingering knee issue.
But with Marte's main role as the short end of a DH platoon, it's easy to have him on the roster despite his limited mobility.
Turns out hiring a new coach can lead to quick turnarounds, even in this day and age of the transfer portal and NIL money. Programs just have to make the right decision. Louisville and Kentucky sure look like they did just that.
Steve Diamond says bailout won’t keep Falcons alive
Ealing and Coventry fail to meet promotion criteria
The survival of Newcastle Falcons as a professional rugby team will require more than just a one-off £4m bailout from the remaining nine Premiership clubs, according to a senior Falcons employee. Steve Diamond, their director of rugby, has confirmed Newcastle may have to negotiate a potential short-term loan to participate in next season’s Premiership, raising fresh doubts about the club’s longer-term viability.
Diamond has already been forced to put a freeze on player recruitment for next season following confirmation the Falcons have been discussing a possible central loan if they fail to secure fresh investment between now and mid-June. Their longtime backer Semore Kurdi has been actively seeking a buyer for the club since last year.
Jake Allen may not be a member of the Montreal Canadiens anymore, but last night, the netminder gave his former team a hand when he backstopped the New Jersey Devils to a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. This is no small feat since the Devils are without Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, and the Ohio outfit is desperate to book its ticket to the playoffs.
Allen stopped 45 of the 46 shots sent his way and was named the game's first star. Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils, while Mathieu Olivier was the sole goal scorer for the Jackets.
The loss leaves Columbus in 11th place in the East with 70 points in 67 games. Dean Evason’s team still trails the Canadiens by one point, but Martin St-Louis’ men now have a game in hand.
The Buffalo Sabres, who are dead last in the East, also gave Montreal a hand by beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime thanks to an Alex Tuch goal. Even if the Bruins collected a point, they now have 69 points in 69 games and have played more than all the other teams involved in the playoff race.
The Canadiens are still only one point behind the New York Rangers, but the Habs have two games in hand. The Blueshirts will battle it out with the Calgary Flames, who are also involved in a tight race to the finish in the Western Conference. The Alberta team is two points out of the last wild card spot after a defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs and should be playing with a desperation that will match the Rangers’.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Red Wings, trailing the Canadiens by one point, will take on the Washington Capitals, just two points out of the top spot in the league. Detroit has also played one more game than Montreal.
The Canadiens are the masters of their destiny but wins by the Flames and the Capitals and a triumph over the Ottawa Senators would put them in an even better position—the second wild-card spot in the East.
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The expanded SEC landed a record 14 teams in the 68-team bracket, populating it with the overall No. 1 seed (Auburn), another No. 1 seed (Florida) and four more among the top four seeds in their respective regions.
New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin is set to start his 51st game of the 2024-25 season against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In doing so, Sorokin will be the first goalie to appear in at least 51 games four times in Islanders history.
This milestone will come two days after the netminder became the first goalie in team history to win at least 25 games in four straight seasons, per Eric Hornick’s The Skinny.
Sorokin's play this season has kept the Islanders in the playoff race, as the netminder holds a 25-20-5 record, a 2.73 GAA, a .907 SV%, and 14.7 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck.
In his career, Sorokin is 120-85-35 in 242 career games with a .917 SV%, 2.58 GAA, and 21 shutouts.
With over seven seasons remaining on his eight-year, $66 million contract, the 30-year-old can continue re-writing the record books.
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Zakai Zeigler has one overriding goal for his final season with the Tennessee Volunteers, and that is making sure they accomplish something this program has never done. Reach their first Final Four.
Private equity firm Sixth Street has invested in the San Francisco Giants in a deal that includes both the MLB team and its real estate efforts in the city’s downtown waterfront.
That project, a public-private partnership called Mission Rock that sits on land right outside Oracle Park, has been years in the making. The first phase, a reported $1.5 billion series of office and residential buildings, opened in 2023 with three more phases yet to come. Sportico values the team, and its team-related holdings, at $4.2 billion, the fourth highest in MLB.
Sixth Street’s stake will be about 10%, and it is not buying its equity from an existing minority partner, according to a source familiar with the details, who was granted anonymity because the details are private. A rep for Sixth Street declined to comment on the financial terms. Reps for the Giants and Raine Group, which was retained to handle the sale, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Real estate has become a primary way that sports teams leverage their popularity, with mixed-use developments serving as year-round income and ancillary revenue streams. Across town in San Francisco, for example, the Golden State Warriors’ privately financed Chase Center includes two office buildings, 100,000 square feet of mixed-use retail and underground parking. Its development played a critical role in the NBA team’s rapid rise to becoming the league’s most valuable team at $9.14 billion.
In baseball, the example most often cited is The Battery Atlanta, a mixed-use development around the Braves stadium that includes a hotel, residential housing, office space, retail shops and other entertainment spaces. By the Braves’ own accounting, the development has been significantly more profitable than the team itself. In 2024, the Battery reported $45 million in adjusted OIBDA, as opposed to $6.6 million for the baseball team, per the Braves financials.
These real estate opportunities have been particularly attractive to the private equity firms that are investing heavily in sports team ownership. Arctos Partners, the most aggressive firm over the last few years, has bought into the Cubs, Red Sox and Dodgers—all of which have significant real estate holdings. Arctos also previously invested in the Giants.
The 28-acre Mission Rock development is located in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, a rapidly changing area that’s home to a slew of biotech and AI startups. That’s a rare success in a city where retail spaces have struggled to stay viable—the San Francisco Chronicle recently called it one of the city’s “most successful redevelopment experiments.” The Giants partnered with real estate developer Tishman Speyer on the project, which broke ground in 2020 and was estimated at the time to take more than a decade to complete.
Giants CEO Larry Baer recently told the Chronicle that no money from the MLB team is diverted to the real estate project, and vice versa.
“We’re 50-50, so it’s not like we can say, ‘Oh, Tishman, sorry, we’ve got an infielder to sign for $25 million,’” he told the newspaper. “I think there’s some confusion, because you see all this stuff going up. It’s like, ‘Oh, the Giants are just rolling in it.’ Well, hopefully one day this will be a really strong asset for this organization. It’s a 50% [ownership] of it. But for now, we’re focused on whatever comes in, goes back into the next phase and into improvements and into retail and the [tenant improvements] and all the different things you have to do to make the project work.”
The Giants won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014, but have made just two playoff appearances since, and total attendance has fallen from its highs a decade ago. In September the team hired former star catcher Buster Posey as its president of baseball operations.
Sixth Street’s other sports holdings include Legends and NWSL club Bay FC, plus minority investments in the San Antonio Spurs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
PJT Partners advised Sixth Street on the deal, and Latham & Watkins LLP served as its legal counsel.
Wade Taylor IV has garnered so much respect in his four years in College Station that the school raised his No. 4 jersey into the rafters following his last home game.
The Nuggets surprisingly withstood the absence of Jokić, and the Milwaukee Bucks will test the Warriors without Curry. Coverage on NBC Sports Bay Area begins at 6 p.m. PT with Warriors Pregame Live, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Bucks (38-29, third in the East) have their own two-time MVP in forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who means as much to them as Jokić does to the Nuggets and Curry to the Warriors. The “Greek Freak” is averaging 30.4 points per game, second in the NBA behind only Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 33.0.
How will the Warriors (39-29, sixth in the West) try to contain Giannis? The first step is crowding his space with more than one defender. The second is keeping him out of transition, where the 6-foot-11 veteran is the league’s most devastating force.
That task falls into the lap of Draymond Green because, well, despite being only 6-foot-6 he always gets the most threatening big man. He will be assisted by double-teams and occasional blitzes, which could include anyone from Jimmy Butler III and Jonathan Kuminga to Gary Payton II and Gui Santos.
The goal with Antetokounmpo is to force him into shots outside the restricted area, where he takes 59 percent of his shots and is making 73.8 percent. Ideally, the Warriors would like to push him out beyond the arc, where he is shooting 18.2 percent, the lowest since his second season in the league.
Antetokounmpo’s other exploitable weakness on offense is his propensity for turnovers. He’s fifth in that category, ahead of such turnover-prone guards as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards and Washington’s Jordan Poole. Giannis has committed at least six turnovers in eight games, with a season-high eight.
Though Antetokounmpo is Golden State’s biggest challenge, the Bucks have six-time All-Star Damian Lillard (averaging 25.1 ppg) to keep defenses honest. Their combined scoring average of 55.5 points per game is the highest of any duo in the NBA.
With their season-high seven-game win streak snapped against the Nuggets, the Warriors are trying to avoid losing a back-to-back set at home for the first time since Nov. 12, 2023. There is a change they could be rejoined by guard Brandin Podziemski, who has missed the last five games with a low back strain and is listed as questionable.
Getting back to their winning ways against Milwaukee is hard enough for the Warriors, and trying to do without Curry is exponentially more difficult.
