Dodgers major leaguers are done with the Arizona portion of spring training, but there’s one more game at Camelback Ranch, with Dodgers prospects taking on White Sox prospects in the spring breakout game.
Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
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tRY IT NOWIn a way, it captured the breadth of experience the 23-year-old has collected after the Blueshirts selected him in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, but it also doubled as a glimpse at how complicated his path to the NHL has been.
With Igor Shesterkin entrenched as their $92 million goaltender and 40-year-old Jonathan Quick — the winningest American-born goaltender in hockey — entrenched as the backup for at least another three weeks, Garand’s chances have been limited.
Even when the Rangers needed a goalie to give Quick the occasional reprieve earlier this year with Shesterkin on injured reserve, they turned to Spencer Martin instead of their top goaltending prospect.
But this week, Garand could finally make his NHL debut. He could finally get a chance to show the Rangers that he could be their backup next season behind Shesterkin.
With Quick day to day due to an upper-body injury, head coach Mike Sullivan said that “depending on how this week plays out, I would anticipate Dylan playing.” The Blueshirts have five games in eight days starting with a back-to-back Sunday and Monday.
It would mark the latest instance of the Rangers testing their youth while in the middle of a public retool, and while Garand said he doesn’t want to think too far ahead, the debut would be a long time coming.
“A little bit,” Garand said after practice Saturday in Tarrytown, when asked if he’s thought about his debut. “… I think for me, especially over the last year or so, I’ve really gotten to know myself, and thinking about the future and stuff like that, I don’t tend to play my best. So just trying to stay in the present moment, and if I get an opportunity, then great. It’s just another game. I’ve played, including playoffs, over 160 American League games, so it’s just another game.
“But it would be really cool for sure.”
It hasn’t been a smooth regular season for Garand — his save percentage has dipped from a .913 last year to an .896 through 36 games — to this point, but Garand felt as if he had played “really well” over his last nine or 10 games with the Wolf Pack.
That marked a different tone from early January, when Martin was summoned after Shesterkin’s injury and Sullivan said Martin, the 30-year-old who’d appeared in just six games for Hartford at that point and was more than two years removed from his last NHL game, gave the Blueshirts the “best chance to win.” Garand had earned call-ups before, including earlier this season when Quick landed on injured reserve, but that never led to an appearance.
Since The Letter 2.0, the Rangers have given 2023 first-round pick Gabe Perreault an extended look on their first line. They’ve given 22-year-old Jaroslav Chmelar consistent reps on the fourth line. They’ve used time on the penalty kill as windows of opportunity to experiment with younger pieces such as Tye Kartye. Garand, then, would be another player to capitalize on the organization’s current strategy.
“There’s a lot of things that have gone into the decision to bring Dylan up,” Sullivan said. “The biggest point is that he’s played extremely well in Hartford. He’s given those guys a chance to win night in and night out, and he’s deserving.”
Until this point, the marquee start in Garand’s career occurred last May, when he logged a game for Team Canada in the IIHF Men’s World Championship and stopped all 11 shots against Slovenia.
He occupied a place on the goaltending depth chart alongside likely future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Binnington — gold medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, respectively. That allowed him to get a taste of NHL life, Garand said.
When he’s with the Rangers, he’s able to observe and learn from Quick, who he asked Saturday about what he remembered from his first game, and Shesterkin.
And finally, according to Sullivan’s tentative plan, Garand might get a chance to translate that knowledge, that experience from all those AHL games, into an NHL game.
“The thing about the American League, it’s the second-best league in the world but nobody really wants to play there in the sense that we all want to play in the NHL,” Garand said. “Like, we don’t take it for granted. We’re playing professional hockey for sure, but everyone’s dream is to play in the NHL.”
Among two games that won’t count, the more interesting contest pits top White Sox prospects at the top Dodgers prospects, held conveniently enough at Camelback Ranch. Ostensibly this roster represents the top players in every organization, and thus it stands to reason that the best at each position are starting in this game. See if you agree:
I mean, see if you agree with the White Sox; as of 100 minutes before game time, the Dodgers had not produced a lineup. Pro tip: It will be a really, really, really, really good one. Bonus pro tip: Some of these guys will be White Sox one day, given the habit the front office has had in trading with L.A. over the past decade or so.
No argument with anyone here, really. Interesting to see that Caleb Bonemer is already being pushed to third base, with Billy Carlson earning the start at short. Grant Magill gets the start at backstop somewhat by default; with the talent on the major league roster, the White Sox are top-heavy at catcher for sure.
Hagen Smith earning the start over, say, Tanner McDougal or Noah Schultz, is instructive — possibly. Coming off of a stellar (short) start on Sunday, Smith may be positioning himself as first man up when the inevitable injury hits the big-league rotation.
This originally was an afternoon game, but due to the scorching heat squatting on Arizona it’s now an 8:05 p.m. Central start. It’s listed as both a CHSN and MLB.TV game, but these days your guess is as good as ours.
With games that go on their permanent record looming (remember when adults threatened you about stuff going on your permanent record?) and a bunch of the NRIs playing in the Spring Breakout game, the White Sox are sporting a starting lineup that is at least very close to what they’ll feature in Milwaukee on Thursday, when things count.
Well, except for the pitcher. MLB listed Ryan Borucki, but he was cut yesterday. So, opening on the mound will be Rule 5 draftee Jedixson Paez, who appears to have made the team despite a lousy spring line (seven earned runs in 8 2/3 innings, but six came in one one-inning outing).
The Reds counter with 2025 All-Star lefty Andrew Abbott, who is set to be their Opening Day pitcher with Hunter Greene out for months. Abbott is having a horrific spring of 20 earned runs in 13 innings. Unfortunately for his spring stats, Abbott won’t be facing any minor-leaguers tonight:
Paez will also be facing most of the lineup the Reds are apt to use against the Red Sox come Thursday:
First pitch in Goodyear is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. Central, when the temp may have drifted below 100° for the first time since early morning. No TV or radio on the White Sox side of things, as the broadcast teams are at the prospects game; try Reds radio, if you can.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced that outfielder Mike Tauchman is set to undergo an MRI for a knee issue that he experienced in the team’s split-squad spring training game against the Astros this afternoon.
Tauchman collided with the right field fence early in the game and was visibly uncomfortable while continuing to play in the game before exiting before the top of the fifth inning got underway.
Signed to a minor league deal in mid-February, Tauchman seemed like a very shrewd acquisition and figured to earn a spot on the Mets’ Opening Day roster if healthy. If the results of the MRI don’t show a significant injury, perhaps that’ll still happen, but it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if he were to begin the season on the injured list, even if only for precautionary reasons.
Fellow outfielders Juan Soto and Luis Robert Jr. are locked into the starting gigs in left and center, of course, and Tyrone Taylor always looked like a near lock to make the roster despite his poor 2025 season. And both Tauchman and top prospect Carson Benge appeared likely to make the roster. If Tauchman were to miss any time, Benge would obviously be lined up to the take the vast majority of reps in right field during his absence.
After he went 2×4 with a 3-run HR today, Astros manager Joe Espada said he believes Christian Walker’s bat is coming around:
Espada raved about SP Mike Burrows, who has been better than advertised this spring:
Burrows also said the ball he took off the leg is of no consequence:
Did Espada hint that OF Zach Cole may need some more seasoning in Triple-A?
Cam Smith has made some adjustments to improve at the plate, both physically and mentally:
The Astros have decided to open the season in a 5 man rotation:
This may indicate that Tatsuya Imai will open up as the 3rd starter in the order based on the Astros schedule and off days. It will also lead to bullpen decisions that will likely include multiple relievers who can go multiple innings.
SS Jeremy Pena has swung a bat 2 days in a row as he tries to be ready for Opening Day:
Could Brice Matthews make the team as an outfielder?
Enjoy these short games while they last, because this one could have gone on for hours. The A’s and Dodgers ended their Saturday afternoon contest in a tie, finishing the game after nine innings of work and tying 5-5 uner the hot sun. Who wanted those extra innings anyway?
More to come…
We are down to the closest representations of real regular season baseball that Spring Training has to offer. In a televised night game, Seattle is running out a largely-accurate lineup for their big league club, with their starters likely to go as long as possible and George Kirby making his final tune-up start before the season begins.
Seattle gets to face a batch of big leaguers, but decidedly the B-team for the Cubbies. On the hill at least will be Colin Rea, a starter for Chicago’s main rotation who should provide a proper test against the M’s top lineup.
Roster Moves:
The Mariners optioned OF Rhylan Thomas to Triple-A Tacoma formally before today’s game, and functionally did the same with INF Colt Emerson. The latter move is at least a minor surprise, with J.P. Crawford still not entirely shipshape. Seattle had the option to see Emerson showcase his position while Crawford returned to health. Instead, Cole Young will get additional play, with the club’s approach seeming to be that of Young for shortstop, and a possible Ryan Bliss/Leo Rivas/Miles Mastrobuoni combination to take 2B reps until Crawford can return.
First Pitch: 6:10 pm PDT (sorry!)
TV: Mariners.TV or MLB.tv
Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, MLB.com
San Diego Padres Prospects at Chicago Cubs Prospects, March 21, 2026, 6:05 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Sloan Park – Mesa, AZ
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
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The journey is long from over for the Nashville Predators, but for the first time this season, they are in a Wild Card spot.
Saturday's 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights pushed Nashville ahead into the Wild Card 2 spot with 73 points. However, it needed some help to stay there.
Los Angeles needed to lose to Buffalo in any fashion, while Seattle needed to lose to Columbus in regulation in order for the Predators to maintain possession of the final playoff spot.
The Sabres scored three unanswered goals in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie and handing the Kings a 4-1 loss. That kept Los Angeles one point out of WC2 with 72 points.
Seattle fell into a 3-0 hole against Columbus and was unable to recover, losing 5-2 and trailing the Predators by two points with 71. If the Kraken were to win, they would've tied the Predators in points, but have the tiebreaker in regulation wins.
THE BOYS ARE BUZZIN' pic.twitter.com/BuMkhDsIDO
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) March 21, 2026
To add a cherry on top, San Jose (70 points) lost to Philadelphia, 4-1, and Winnipeg (68 points) lost to Pittsburgh in a shootout, 5-4.
The Predators were the worst team in the NHL for the first two months of the season before turning things around at Thanksgiving.
By New Year's Eve, following a 4-2 win over the Golden Knights, the Predators were just a point outside of Wild Card position, the first time they'd come within a game of a playoff spot.
However, for two and a half months, the Predators could not get past the threshold, coming within a point of WC2 multiple times. Saturday's win was the first time that Nashville has actually been in the playoff spot.
It's an exciting moment for Nashville, but there are still 13 games left in the regular season. There is still more than enough time for the Predators to clinch and lose the Wild Card.
Its biggest challenge will come in a six-game road trip from March 29 to April 9; it'll see Los Angeles twice, San Jose, along with Utah (WC1), Tampa (Atlantic 2), and Anaheim (Pacific 1).
The Sharks also come into town on Tuesday, trailing the Predators by three points for the final Wild Card spot.
Nashville has a quick turnaround from Saturday, playing the Blackhawks in Chicago at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
In November of 2023, Roby Jarventie had every reason to believe his Ottawa Senators' career was well on its way.
From November 4-24 that year, the Senators' 2020 second-round pick played in seven games, including their two Global Series games in Sweden that year. But after being returned to Belleville on Nov. 26, that when the injuries set in, and he hasn't been back in the NHL since.
29 months later, that will change on Saturday night.
After Leon Draisaitl's injury, Jarventie was recalled earlier this week and will skate on the Oilers' fourth line with Adam Henrique and Josh Samanski.
"Yeah, I always knew if I stayed healthy, I'd have a chance (to get back to the NHL)," Jarventie told the media. "So, yeah, just really happy to be here, just enjoying every day."
Jarventie was one of Pierre Dorion's top draft picks in 2020 (33rd overall), but a month after the big winger's seven-game run in Ottawa, Dorion was fired. Two months after that, Jarventie ended up having knee surgery to correct a problem that had been hampering him for several years.
"It's unfortunate for him," former Belleville head coach David Bell told the Belleville Sens Entertainment Network. "It's just a nagging knee that they've tried to band-aid along the last couple of years, and it just got to the point where he needed surgery to get this thing completely fixed.'
Five months later, new GM Steve Staios opted to package Jarventie up with a 2025 fourth-round pick (David Lewandowski) and sent him to Edmonton for forwards Xavier Bourgault and Jake Chiasson.
Jarventie was asked on Friday if he was given a fair shake in Ottawa, and trailed off a little as he tried to choose his words carefully.
"(My NHL debut) came pretty early in the year (2023), my first call-up," Jarventie said. "I remember I had a pretty good camp. I almost made a team out of camp and was probably the last one to get sent down. And then, yeah, pretty early, I got my call-up, so a couple of injuries, but, yeah..."
After the trade, in his first training camp with the Oilers in the fall of 2024, Jarventie's other knee began barking at him. As a result, he played all of two games in AHL Bakersfield last season.
So when this year rolled around, he was under strict load management orders. Early in the season, the. Condors treated him like a starting goalie, not allowing him to play back-to-back games. It seems to have worked out. He's had a career-high 36 points in 52 AHL games before his recall to Edmonton this week.
The Senators got Bourgault up to Ottawa for two games this season, so we're a long way from adding the Jarventie trade to the Sens' list of regrets.
But his draft selection is a different story, and it's not exactly a tale of hindsight either.
When Jarventie was picked 33rd overall, John Peterka was sitting right there, chosen by Buffalo with the very next pick at 34. The Sens had just chosen Peterka's German teammate, Tim Stutzle, third overall and fans figured Peterka was the obvious selection.
On Saturday, as Jarventie prepares to play his eighth career NHL game, now with another organization, Peterka, now in Utah, has 192 points in 308 career NHL games.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was originally published at The Hockey News. For more Senators news, analysis, and features, visit the Ottawa Senators site at The Hockey News.
More from The Hockey News:
The Buying and Selling Of Jakob Chychrun Never Quite Worked Out In Ottawa
One Year Later, The Fabian Zetterlund Trade Is Still Taking Shape
With Injuries To Sanderson And Jensen, Sens Top Up Depth At AHL Trade Deadline
The Buffalo Sabres picked up a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. With this, the Sabres have improved to a 44-20-6 record and have a six-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning for the top spot in the Atlantic Division standings.
New Sabres forward Sam Carrick played a big role in Buffalo's victory, as he scored the game-winning goal at the 11:12 mark of the third period.
Carrick's goal was a nice one, too, as he showed skill with the puck before beating Kings goalie Anton Forsberg with a sweet backhander. Sabres forward Zach Benson also deserves major props, as he took a big hit to set up Carrick.
With this clutch performance, Carrick now has five goals, six points, and a plus-4 rating in eight games for the Sabres so far. This is after he had four goals and 10 points in 60 games with the New York Rangers before the trade.
Clearly, Carrick is having an excellent start with the Sabres, and it will be fascinating to see how he builds on it from here.
LOOK AT THIS GUY GO! 🤩
— NHL (@NHL) March 21, 2026
Sam Carrick now has FIVE goals since joining the @BuffaloSabres! 🦬 pic.twitter.com/qJ2Ha4emBh
The downward slide continues for former top MLB prospect Jarred Kelenic.
Kelenic, who signed a minor league deal with the White Sox in December, was informed by the team on Friday that he would not be a part of the Opening Day roster, according to multiple reports.
The 26-year-old will remain in big league camp until Spring Training concludes, but will not be a part of the team’s 26-man roster.
This decision from the White Sox comes after the outfielder posted an abysmal Spring Training slash line of .179/.273/.359, which included striking out 12 times in 39 at-bats in 14 games.
Kelenic, who was selected by the Mets with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, was widely considered one of the league’s top talents during his early days in the minor leagues.
After spending less than one full season in the Mets’ organization, Kelenic was a part of the blockbuster trade for the Mets to acquire star closer Edwin Diaz and veteran second baseman Robinson Cano from the Mariners during the 2018 offseason.
Since being called up to the big leagues during the 2021 season, Kelenic has massively underperformed expectations, batting just .211 through 407 games across parts of five seasons.
Kelenic was with the Braves last season, hitting .167 and striking out 23 times in 60 at-bats.
In April 2025, he was shaded by Braves teammate Ronald Acuna Jr. for his lack of hustle during a game.
Kelenic jogged around first base and was thrown out at second after hitting a ball to the wall.
“If it were me, they would take me out of the game,” Acuna wrote in a since-deleted post on X.
As spring training winds down, the third annual MLB Spring Breakout is kicking off, featuring 16 matchups between rosters loaded with baseball’s up-and-coming stars. The Colorado Rockies’ prospects get their turn in a Saturday evening matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Rockies announced their 2026 roster earlier in the week. Among the group are familiar faces like Cole Carrigg (no. 4 PurP) and Zac Veen (no. 9 PuRP). Carrigg makes his third straight Spring Breakout appearance, while Veen rejoins the roster after being included in 2024 but not 2025 when he was busy battling for a spot on the Major League roster. The two headliners drumming up the most excitement, locally and nationally, are Charlie Condon (no. 1 PuRP) and Ethan Holliday (no. 2 PuRP).
You can get to know the roster here:
As for today’s pitching matchup, one of the last around the league in the current format before the league moves to a tournament in 2027, RHP Brody Brecht will kick things off against RHP Patrick Forbes, before the teams work through their stable of pitchers.
Brecht (No. 3 PuRP) was drafted 38th-overall by the Rockies in the 2024 MLB Draft out of the University of Iowa. He started 2025 in the ACL but was promoted to Low-A Fresno after just four games. In 16 games with the Grizzlies, he went 1-4 with a 2.60 ERA over 55.1 innings while giving up just two home runs. Some of that was due to a back injury that sidelined him twice — once in May and once in July — but he finished strong.
Brecht will face Dbacks’ right-hander Patrick Forbes. Forbes (MLB Pipeline #9) was drafted 29th overall in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Louisville.
First Pitch: 5:10 p.m. MDT
TV: MLB.com, MLB Network, MLB.TV, Rockies.TV
Radio: None
Lineups:
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Sometimes in an NHL fight, the person throwing the punches can feel it as much as the person receiving them.
That's what happened when San Jose Sharks tough guy Ryan Reaves and the Philadelphia Flyers' Garrett Wilson squared off less than two minutes into their game on Saturday, March 21.
After the two threw the requisite number of punches and were separated, Reaves showed his injured finger to the on-ice officials as he grimaced in pain.
Reaves pulled on his finger and went to the Sharks bench instead of immediately to the penalty box. A trainer appeared to try to get the forward's dislocated finger back in place.
Ryan Reaves dropped the gloves with Garrett Wilson and appeared to have DISLOCATED HIS FINGER in the scrap 😳
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 21, 2026
Hockey guy tough... 💪 pic.twitter.com/n5hXsoR49y
Reaves then skated to the penalty box to serve his five minutes, but went to the dressing room to get his finger examined.
He came out for one more shift, then didn't play in the second or third periods, though he stayed on the bench.
"Reavo's been doing that his entire career," Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow told reporters after the game. "He's a guy that brings it all, every night. Great friend."
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky didn't have an update on Reaves after the game.
The fight was Reaves' fifth of the season, according to hockeyfights.com. He has hit double figures in fights in two NHL seasons, plus three in more seasons in the American Hockey League.
Wilson was making his second appearance since being called up after seven years in the AHL.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ryan Reaves fights Garrett Wilson, appears to dislocate finger