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Why The NHL's 2 Richest Teams Rangers, Leafs Never Win Cups

Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Year after year, estimates of NHL franchise wealth place the Maple Leafs and Rangers virtually tied at the top of the list.

In The Hockey News' 2025 "Hockey Business Annual," Executive Chairman and Publisher W. Graeme Roustan of Roustan Media, Ltd., pegged the valuation of both franchises at $4 billion; ergo league-leaders in the NHL money market.

Yet the Torontonians haven't won The Stanley Cup since 1967 and the Rangers have  been Cup-less since 1994. Hard to believe, isn't it?

With that in mind, The Maven commissioned Toronto-based hockey fiscal expert Mark Nussbaum for capsule reasons why this uncanny non-Cup run continues despite vast riches for both clubs. Take it away Mark:

"Let’s start with the obvious: When you head into the Christmas break and you’re not in a playoff spot, the chances are you are not going to get in next April.

"That said, let’s take a deeper dive into why the Leafs and Rangers are not Stanley Cup contenders. Consider these factors:

1. Consistency: Both teams lack this vital trait. They can play a few good periods – here and there – to be sure. They can win a couple of games. But a consistent stretch of good hockey? It’s a tall task for them because they have not displayed the ability to play their game at a consistent level.

2. Belief In Their Core Players Is Lacking: Each team suffered issues with core players and their production this season. However, when Core players are at the top of their games, they inject life into the team. When they are not, the roster is like a failing house of cards. Breadman Panarin and William Nylander have enjoyed reasonably good seasons so far,  but other parts of both cores – such as Mika Zibanejad and Auston Matthews – have not been up to par.

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: Rangers Vs. NashvilleThe Good, The Bad And The Ugly: Rangers Vs. NashvilleThe Good, The Bad, And The Ugly; <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers">Rangers</a> vs. Nashville

3. Team Chemistry: It's missing on both sides of the border. Sure, sniffs of it can be inhaled once in a while  but there's hardly enough of it. Part of this issue can be blamed on the Leafs captain, Matthews, and his Rangers' counterpart, J.T. Miller."

In order for a team to make a deep playoff run – let alone raise Stanley – the above- mentioned ingredients must be available in large doses. 

Despite all the monetary assets that the Maple Leafs and Rangers have accumulated it cannot buy them a Stanley Cup!

It seems incredible when you think about it, but it's true.

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Why Jeff McNeil is eager to join Athletics' ‘great' young core after trade

Why Jeff McNeil is eager to join Athletics' ‘great' young core after trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It’s always good to have another adult in the room with a bunch of kids. 

The Athletics acquired veteran Jeff McNeil in a trade with the New York Mets on Monday. The 33-year-old utility player is expected to fill into the hole at second base, a big need for the A’s heading into the offseason. 

McNeil, who has played all eight of his MLB seasons with the Mets, is excited to join a promising young core. 

“It’s a super fun team to watch,” McNeil said Tuesday to reporters over a Zoom call (h/t Martín Gallegos). “I watched quite a bit of their games [from] New York. … Just a super fun, young team. They have a great young core. I just want to do my part to help them out. I’m super excited to be a part of it. I think we’re going to have a good squad.” 

The eight-year MLB veteran joins an infield that already boasts AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz at first base and runner-up Jacob Wilson at shortstop. 

The A’s had six different players make starts at second base in 2025. Having an established veteran to slot in at the position without much thought will make life easier for manager Mark Kotsay. 

“I feel like our middle infield this year is probably going to strike out the least amount in the league with Wilson,” McNeil noted. “He’s a free swinger. I love watching that guy hit. He’s so much fun. We’re both free swingers and like to put the ball in play quick and make things happen… I can’t wait to play with him.” 

McNeil, as of now, has the most MLB service among A’s position players, and the second-most on the overall roster behind starting pitcher Luis Severino’s 10 years. 

That helps the A’s front office meet an intangible need on top of their positional gaps. 

“I thought he was a really good fit in a lot of ways,” A’s general manager David Forst told MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos. “His overall experience — let’s be honest, we still have a generally young roster without a ton of experience, particularly on the position-player side. I think he brings a lot to the table in terms of having played in that market, played in the postseason, and bringing a lot of experience to our clubhouse.” 

The addition of the two-time MLB All-Star also will help boost an already potent lineup that came into form particularly in the latter half of the season. The A’s offense hit for a .260 batting average in their 64 games after the break, the fifth-best in MLB during that span. 

McNeil, a Central Coast native, returns to his home state. He also has family ties near his new home ballpark, according to Gallegos. 

With the second base position seemingly locked down in Sacramento, Forst told Gallegos that the team likely will look at internal candidates at third base. Young prospects Max Muncy and Darell Hernáiz started 30 and 17 games, respectively, at the position and figure to be the leading candidates along with Brett Harris. 

Forst and the A’s now probably will their offseason focus on acquiring another piece for the starting pitching rotation.

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Why Jeff McNeil is eager to join Athletics' ‘great' young core after trade

Why Jeff McNeil is eager to join Athletics' ‘great' young core after trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It’s always good to have another adult in the room with a bunch of kids. 

The Athletics acquired veteran Jeff McNeil in a trade with the New York Mets on Monday. The 33-year-old utility player is expected to fill into the hole at second base, a big need for the A’s heading into the offseason. 

McNeil, who has played all eight of his MLB seasons with the Mets, is excited to join a promising young core. 

“It’s a super fun team to watch,” McNeil said Tuesday to reporters over a Zoom call (h/t Martín Gallegos). “I watched quite a bit of their games [from] New York. … Just a super fun, young team. They have a great young core. I just want to do my part to help them out. I’m super excited to be a part of it. I think we’re going to have a good squad.” 

The eight-year MLB veteran joins an infield that already boasts AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz at first base and runner-up Jacob Wilson at shortstop. 

The A’s had six different players make starts at second base in 2025. Having an established veteran to slot in at the position without much thought will make life easier for manager Mark Kotsay. 

“I feel like our middle infield this year is probably going to strike out the least amount in the league with Wilson,” McNeil noted. “He’s a free swinger. I love watching that guy hit. He’s so much fun. We’re both free swingers and like to put the ball in play quick and make things happen… I can’t wait to play with him.” 

McNeil, as of now, has the most MLB service among A’s position players, and the second-most on the overall roster behind starting pitcher Luis Severino’s 10 years. 

That helps the A’s front office meet an intangible need on top of their positional gaps. 

“I thought he was a really good fit in a lot of ways,” A’s general manager David Forst told MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos. “His overall experience — let’s be honest, we still have a generally young roster without a ton of experience, particularly on the position-player side. I think he brings a lot to the table in terms of having played in that market, played in the postseason, and bringing a lot of experience to our clubhouse.” 

The addition of the two-time MLB All-Star also will help boost an already potent lineup that came into form particularly in the latter half of the season. The A’s offense hit for a .260 batting average in their 64 games after the break, the fifth-best in MLB during that span. 

McNeil, a Central Coast native, returns to his home state. He also has family ties near his new home ballpark, according to Gallegos. 

With the second base position seemingly locked down in Sacramento, Forst told Gallegos that the team likely will look at internal candidates at third base. Young prospects Max Muncy and Darell Hernáiz started 30 and 17 games, respectively, at the position and figure to be the leading candidates along with Brett Harris. 

Forst and the A’s now probably will their offseason focus on acquiring another piece for the starting pitching rotation.

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Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson is The Associated Press men’s college basketball player of the week

The Associated Press national player of the week in men's college basketball for Week 7 of the season: Anderson scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half and hit two free throws with 3.4 seconds left to cap Texas Tech's rally from a 17-point deficit to beat No. Duke 82-81 Saturday at Madison Square Garden. The 6-foot-3 sophomore guard also converted a three-point play with 1:14 left to give the Red Raiders an 81-77 lead against the previously-undefeated Blue Devils.

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NBA reportedly brainstorming new ideas to discourage tanking

In the wake of the gambling scandal that rocked the league at the start of the season — where some gamblers allegedly used inside information about a team sitting key players late in the season to place bets — the NBA is again looking for ways to reduce tanking. The league wants to limit teams from "deliberately manipulating" their rosters or sitting players to improve their Draft Lottery odds.

That was a key topic at a Board of Governors meeting last Friday, with the league soliciting ideas from owners, general managers and others, reports Shams Charania of ESPN. He said the league presented several ideas seeking feedback, ones designed to keep non-playoff teams from tanking, including:

• Limiting pick protections to either top four or 14 and higher, which would eliminate the problematic mid-lottery protections.

• No longer allowing a team to draft in the top four two years in a row.

• Locking lottery positions after March 1.

No new regulations have yet been adopted, the league is still gathering information and floating ideas. Any changes would require approval from the Board of Governors (the owners).

Some of the teams tanking the hardest in recent seasons were when a team had a mid-lottery pick protection, and teams changed their rosters or sat players in order to retain those picks for a year. For example, Dallas had a top-10-protected pick in its 2023 and sat Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić in their final game; or, like the Jazz this season, who have a top-eight-protected pick, although they are not yet tanking hard (but other teams are watching their moves heading toward the trade deadline).

The third suggestion — locking lottery positions on March 1 (or another date) — would simply lead teams to tank earlier in the middle of the season.

The second proposal — not allowing a team to select in the top four in consecutive years — would have directly stopped two of the best young teams in the league from forming. San Antonio drafted Victor Wembanyama (2023), Stephon Castle (2024), and Dylan Harper (2025) with top-four picks in consecutive years and they form the core of the current No. 2 team in the West. Houston drafted Jalen Green (2021), Jabari Smith Jr. (2022), Amen Thompson (2023), and Reed Sheppard (2024) high in the lottery to form key parts of its young core as well.

The challenge for the NBA is that basketball is a sport where one player can literally change a franchise's prospects, and elite teams need a top-5-10 player and a couple more in the top-25-30 to contend. The best — and often only — way for most teams to get those players is through the draft. Teams have scouted the level of talent coming in for every class (and this coming June's draft is particularly deep at the top), which will always lead teams to look for ways to improve their chances of getting one of those picks.

The league last amended the draft rules to limit tanking in 2019, after "the process" 76ers became a story and the league was concerned about a race to the bottom by other teams. At that time, the league changed the odds so that the three worst regular-season teams each have a 14% chance of landing the No. 1 pick and a 52.1% chance of being in the top four. As a result, over the last three seasons, the team with the worst record in the NBA fell to fifth, while Atlanta (10th-worst record) and Dallas (11th) jumped up to land the No. 1 pick.

The NBA already introduced new injury reporting rules, which also were tied to the gambling scandal that hit the league. The league is forcing teams to update their injury reports on game days earlier and more often so that there is no inside information about a player or players sitting out (or coming back) that someone with inside information could profit from.

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Canadiens’ Montembeault Is Training In Brossard

After Sunday night’s defeat against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis was asked about why there was a change of plan with goaltender Samuel Montembeault.

The netminder was initially meant to be recalled from the Laval Rocket and join the team in Pittsburgh on Sunday, but that didn’t happen. According to the coach, the change of plans had nothing to do with Montembeault’s performance in his two games with the Rocket, but everything to do with what was best for the athlete.

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The Canadiens weren’t practicing in Pittsburgh on Sunday, and they weren’t going to practice in Boston on Monday, since they had just played in a back-to-back, meaning that the goalie wouldn’t have had any opportunities to work on his game. That being said, the Becancour native still hasn’t been officially called back up, according to the AHL’s transactions website.

Still, he was at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard on Monday morning, working with Rocket goalie coach Mario Marciano. There’s no denying that this course of action allows the player to log in a lot more ice time and work on his game, which is more likely to help than a day off in Boston.

St-Louis has already confirmed that Jacob Folwer will be handling the net on Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins, which will no doubt be a big moment for the young netminder who played his NCAA hockey with Boston College. Will that be his last game with the Habs this season? Will he be sent back down to the Rocket before the Canadiens continue their road trip on Saturday, December 28, against the Tampa Bay Lightning?

It remains to be seen. Some argue that the Canadiens cannot carry three goalies, especially with two of them rookies, and that makes sense. Fowler could still use some development time in Laval, but if he is sent back down and Montembeault hasn’t found his game yet, it would hardly be a good outcome. Personally, I’d stick with the three goalies on the roster, at least until the Quebecer has proven he can perform well in the NHL, again.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.  

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Wild Star Defenseman Featured In New NHL Ad

ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Tuesday, the National Hockey League (NHL) released the latest spot in its season-long campaign, “The Next Golden Era Is Now.”

Featuring four of the NHL’s brightest young stars – Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins, Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars and Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild.

The spot opens on the conclusion of a presentation about how AI will impact all professions. One by one, the players raise their hands, asking pointed questions that highlight the unique skills and instincts that artificial intelligence can never replicate – showing audiences the true irreplaceable human element at the heart of the game.

Hughes is featured by asking a question.

He says, "Can it preform under pressure?"

“AI Can’t NHL” is the third spot in this season’s campaign, following “Work From Home,” and “Day in the Life.”

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.

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Why Draymond Green reportedly is ‘frustrated' with his current Warriors role

Why Draymond Green reportedly is ‘frustrated' with his current Warriors role originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It’s been an eventful week for Draymond Green.

On Saturday, the star forward was ejected in the second quarter of the Warriors’ win over the Phoenix Suns. Two nights later, Green didn’t play for the majority of the second half in Golden State’s victory against the Orlando Magic after getting into a heated exchange with coach Steve Kerr on the Warriors’ bench.

Now, ESPN NBA insider Marc J. Spears reported Tuesday that Green is “frustrated” with his role in Golden State, which perhaps could explain why he and Kerr butted heads.

“I’m hearing too that Draymond is a little frustrated with having to guard centers and having to guard guys that are 40-to-50 pounds heavier than him on a nightly basis,” Spears said on “NBA Today” (h/t @ohnohedidnt24 on X/Twitter).

The Warriors signed veteran big man Al Horford this past offseason, in large part to allow the 6-foot-6 Green to play more as a power forward than a center. However, Horford has battled injuries to start the 2025-26 NBA season, playing in just 13 of Golden State’s 30 games and starting only once.

While young center Quinten Post has impressed in his second season, he’s averaging less than 19 minutes per game. As a result, Green frequently has to play significant minutes at center, serving as the primary defender against post players that often are over six inches taller than him.

Kerr said before Monday’s game that Horford could return from a back injury for the Warriors’ Christmas Day matchup with the Dallas Mavericks. Maybe that will help ease Green’s frustration as Golden State looks to get back on track for the new year.

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