San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama missed the team's most recent game with a left calf injury, and he will reportedly miss additional time. On Monday, the team announced that the 7-foot-4 center has been diagnosed with a left calf strain and is expected to be re-evaluated in two to three weeks.
To say that this is a critical blow to the Spurs and to fantasy basketball teams would be an understatement. From a value standpoint, only Denver's Nikola Jokić has been better thus far, with Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander next in line. Where will the Spurs turn to fill the resulting void? And where else can fantasy managers look for reliable value? Let's look at the impact of Wembanyama's absence on fantasy basketball.
Who will replace Wembanyama in the starting lineup?
The answer to this question is straightforward: Luke Kornet (nine percent rostered, Yahoo!). Signed as a free agent this past summer, the 7-foot-2 center started Sunday's win over the Kings and finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and three blocked shots. Kornet won't provide the three-point or assist value that Wemby brings to the table, but he's worth a look for managers needing a high field-goal percentage, rebounds and blocked shots.
Kelly Olynyk (one percent) played 18 minutes off the bench on Sunday but is only worth a look in the off chance the Spurs were to lose Kornet. Bismack Biyombo (less than one percent) is a non-starter in fantasy; he played the final two minutes of Sunday's game due to the result no longer in question.
Who else will Wembanyama’s absence impact?
The entire Spurs rotation will be impacted, albeit to varying degrees. De'Aaron Fox, who made his season debut on November 8 after missing the start of the season with a hamstring injury, is the player who may see his fantasy value increase the most. Over his last two games, Fox has totaled 52 points and 21 assists, shooting 21-of-42 from the field. In his first three appearances, the point guard attempted 14 shots in each.
The key for fantasy managers who have Fox rostered is that his efficiency remains the same as it has been in the last two games. After totaling 10 assists and 12 turnovers in the two games prior, he only committed six turnovers in the next two.
The efficiency is also key for Stephon Castle, who began the season as the starting point guard and continued to serve as a primary playmaker once Fox was cleared to play. However, the reigning Rookie of the Year exited Sunday's game before halftime with a hip injury and did not return. As long as he isn't out for an extended period, Castle (70 percent) stands to receive a bump to his fantasy value with Wembanyama out.
Suppose Castle were to join Wembanyama on the sideline for an extended period. In that case, Julian Champagnie (three percent) is the most likely replacement, as he filled the resulting void to begin the second half on Sunday. Also, he started the season as a starter due to Fox's absence, averaging 10.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.0 three-pointers in that role.
Devin Vassell, who has started all 14 games for the Spurs, is another player who could have the ball in his hands a bit more while the team looks to compensate for Wembanyama's absence. He dished out seven assists in Sunday's victory, but the wing's start to the season has been underwhelming from a fantasy standpoint. Injuries are never good, but Vassell's role becoming more critical could serve as a catalyst for him.
Ukrainian gives up undisputed heavyweight title status
Fabio Wardley becomes sixth Briton to hold WBO crown
Fabio Wardley has been upgraded to WBO heavyweight champion after Oleksandr Usyk elected to relinquish the title – and his undisputed status – rather than defend it against the unbeaten Briton.
Wardley wrested the interim title from Joseph Parker via a dramatic 11th-round stoppage last month and was mandated to face the Ukrainian before the end of September.
After starting the season injured, Pittsburgh Penguins top prospect Rutger McGroarty kicked off his 2025-26 campaign with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Nov. 15 against the Springfield Thunderbirds. McGroarty certainly started the year off in a solid way, as he scored a goal in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 3-1 win.
With McGroarty being one of the Penguins' most promising youngsters, seeing him start the year off with a goal is certainly encouraging. They are expecting the 2022 first-round pick to become a big part of their roster in the future, so he is undoubtedly a player to keep a very close eye on now that he is back to being healthy.
If McGroarty can continue to produce offense for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, it very well could lead to him getting called up to Pittsburgh's NHL roster in the near future. Thus, the 21-year-old forward will be looking to stand out down in the AHL from here.
McGroarty completed his first professional season in 2024-25, where he primarily played with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In 60 games with the AHL squad this past campaign, he recorded 14 goals and 39 points. He also had one goal and three points in eight NHL games with Pittsburgh during the 2024-25 season.
Overall, McGroarty has shown promise, and it will be interesting to see what he can do during his second pro season from here.
Two players will be making their Vancouver Canucks debuts on Monday against the Florida Panthers. David Kämpf will draw into the lineup while Jiří Patera will start in goal. Kämpf will replace Conor Garland for Vancouver, who is listed as day-to-day after leaving Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Kämpf was signed to a one-year contract on Saturday after the Toronto Maple Leafs terminated his contract. The 30-year-old has plenty of NHL experience with 143 points in 536 games. Kämpf is known as a defensive center who should help the Canucks both on the penalty kill and in the faceoff dot.
As for Patera, Monday will be his first NHL start since March 26, 2024. Over his NHL career, the 26-year-old has posted a 3-3-1 record with a .902 save percentage. As for this season, Patera has played five games in the AHL, posting a 1-2-2 record with the Abbotsford Canucks.
Vancouver will look to earn another two points tomorrow as they take on the Panthers. Last season, the Canucks picked up wins in both meetings, including a 3-2 overtime win in Florida. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 pm PT.
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On Sunday night, Scott Morrow made his New York Rangers debut after being called up from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League earlier that day.
The Rangers acquired Morrow over the summer as part of the sign-and-trade deal with the Carolina Hurricanes centered around K’Andre Miller.
During training camp, Morrow was given an opportunity to make the opening-night roster, as he played in multiple preseason games while practicing on the second power-play unit.
He was one of the last players to be sent down to the AHL before the start of the 2025-26 season. In 11 games for the Wolf Pack, Morrow recorded one goal, one assist, and two points.
With Will Borgen out with an upper-body injury, the Rangers called up Morrow, and he was immediately slotted into the lineup in place of Urho Vaakanainen.
The 23-year-old defenseman played 9:56 minutes in his NHL season debut, the fewest amongst all Rangers blueliners.
However, Rangers assistant coach David Quinn praised Morrow for his performance.
“I liked his game. I thought Scotty did a good job,” Quinn said. “I thought he kept it simple. He moves the puck well, gets us out of our end when we needed to get out of our end when the chances presented themselves. I thought he defended well.”
Borgen’s injury status remains a mystery, so it’s possible Morrow could find himself back in the lineup on Tuesday night when the Rangers go up against the Vegas Golden Knights.
When Mason Appleton of the Detroit Red Wings shot the puck into the New York Rangers' empty net at the buzzer Sunday, Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick was having none of it.
He jumped onto the ice, along with his teammates, to spark a 'brawl' that resulted in a two-minute minor and a couple of misconducts.
Quick said the Red Wings shouldn't have been surprised. Well, they were, at his overreaction. There was considerable criticism for Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, who did nothing in response. Perhaps that's because nothing happened. They had lost the game and, well, maybe Zibanejad and Panarin are a little more mature at accepting that than Quick is.
For guys who always go on about how tough and resilient they are, NHL players are sure easily offended, eh? You can't hit our player. You can't show us up by shooting into an empty net after we just spent the past 60 minutes getting outplayed and losing on home ice again.
Watch the video column up above for more.
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Led by Tyrese Maxey’s 39 points, the Sixers battled back to snag a nervy win Monday night over the Clippers.
In Paul George’s season debut, the Sixers earned a 110-108 victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
James Harden had two cracks at a go-ahead three-pointer on the game’s final possession, but he missed both.
George had nine points on 2-for-9 shooting, seven rebounds and three assists in his return from offseason arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Quentin Grimes scored 19 points. Andre Drummond posted 14 points and 18 rebounds.
Harden tallied 28 points. Ivica Zubac had a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double.
The Clippers were missing four players, including Kawhi Leonard (right ankle sprain) and Bradley Beal (left hip fracture).
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame that Embiid remains day to day and he doesn’t think the star big man is far away from returning, although Embiid is “not quite pain-free,” According to Nurse, Oubre had a meeting with doctors set for Monday night.
The 8-5 Sixers will face the Raptors on Wednesday night in Philadelphia. Here are observations on their win over the Clippers:
George’s 1st action
George scored the first hoop of the game, sinking a catch-and-shoot three-pointer on the right wing off of a Maxey feed. He then drew a foul on a jumper beyond the arc and made 2 of 3 free throws to give the Sixers a 5-0 lead.
The Clippers followed with a 14-0 run. After George missed a jumper, Harden walked into a pull-up three and Nurse called timeout.
The Sixers’ offense was cold in the early going. Maxey started 0 for 3 from the floor and the Sixers began 2 for 11 as a team. George subbed out with 6:21 to go in the first quarter and the Sixers trailing by nine points.
Nurse had expressed the reasonable hope that George would improve the Sixers’ defense right away. He certainly did not make an immediate positive impact. The Sixers had a poor start in transition and Los Angeles scored the night’s first nine fast-break points.
George finished with 21 minutes and seemed to have no trouble with conditioning. His movement appeared fine and George looked to be unbothered by contact, although the 35-year-old forward didn’t have many forceful moments as a driver. He and the Sixers will expect better nights ahead in his 16th NBA season.
Harden starts hot, Sixers adjust
In addition to George, the Sixers started Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Dominick Barlow and Drummond.
They used five men off the bench, including Jabari Walker in backup center minutes. Jared McCain checked in to open the second quarter alongside George.
Justin Edwards guarded Harden late in the first and had a tough time. Harden crossed over Edwards and waltzed in for an easy layup that extended the Clippers’ lead to 33-20. He racked up 17 points in the first quarter.
Edwards and the Sixers effectively contained Harden in the second quarter. They shaded help more strongly toward the 11-time All-Star when he surveyed the defense from the top of the floor. The Sixers also hedged pick-and-rolls and sent the occasional double team.
Still, with their offense light on any sustained success, the Sixers entered halftime down double digits. Brook Lopez’s long-range jumper with 2.3 seconds left in the second quarter put the Clippers up 56-46.
Sixers capitalize on Clippers’ fatigue
For the second straight game, Nurse tweaked his starting lineup to begin the third quarter. Grimes replaced Barlow. When Barlow subbed in, he took over as the Sixers’ backup center.
The team’s new lineup put together a promising stretch. George sealed a stop with a block on John Collins and the Sixers scored on their ensuing possession with a Grimes three. Maxey knocked down a mid-range jumper to cut the Clippers’ lead to 64-61.
The Sixers were unable to maintain momentum in the third quarter. Harden’s and-one layup with 1.1 seconds remaining in the third built L.A.’s advantage to 83-73.
Eventually, the Sixers made the Clippers look like a fatigued team playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road.
Harden’s jumpers kept coming up short and he couldn’t create much against Grimes, who defended him very well. Maxey spearheaded a Sixers run. He nailed a three off of beautiful ball movement, converted an and-one bucket and knifed through the defense for a layup that gave the Sixers a 95-94 edge.
Once the Sixers grabbed the lead, the Clippers’ chances seemed slim. Edgecombe, Maxey and Grimes all drained clutch threes.
The Sixers couldn’t cement a win in convincing fashion. With his team up four points, Edgecombe missed a pair of free throws. And with the Clippers down two and pressuring the Sixers in the backcourt, Maxey turned the ball over.
The initial call on the floor was a foul, but Los Angeles won its challenge and got the ball with 11.7 seconds left. Harden’s misses meant the Sixers avoided what would have been a stinging loss.
The Memphis Grizzlies announced Monday that All-Star point guard Ja Morant will be sidelined for the next two weeks with a Grade 1 calf strain.
Morant suffered the injury in the first quarter of Saturday night's road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had scored seven points in six minutes before being subbed out of the game at the 6:01 mark with Memphis up 18-14 and not re-entering. The team will re-evaluate him in two weeks to determine how quickly he can return to the court.
Grizzlies say star guard Ja Morant will be re-evaluated in two weeks due to a Grade 1 right calf strain.
The injury is another roadblock in what has been a tough start to the season for Morant and the Grizzlies.
Memphis is sitting at 4-10 on the season and has been without forward Brandon Clarke, guard Ty Jerome, guard Scotty Pippen Jr., and center Zach Edey for the entirety of the season up until this weekend. Edey returned for the first time this season in that same Cavaliers game in which Morant got hurt. Morant himself also missed one game with an ankle injury and was suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the teamafter a loss to the Lakers on Halloween.
On one hand, this injury is another misstep in a season that is seeing the two-time All-Star post career lows in field goal percentage (35.9%), three-point shooting percentage (16.7%), effective field goal rate (38.5%), three-pointers made per game (0.8), and rebounds (3.0). He's also posting the lowest scoring mark since his rookie season at just 17.9 points per game.
However, on the other hand, this continues a concerning injury track record for the 26-year-old. He has never played 70 games or more in any of his six NBA seasons coming into this year. Last year, he was limited to 50 games, and the year before that, he played in just nine, in part due to a suspension for gun-related gestures and off-field behavior.
Despite Memphis insisting that they have no interest in trading Morant, the suspension and mounting injuries may force it to behave otherwise. Of course, a mounting injury toll for a player in the third year of a five-year, $197.2 million contract also could dampen any value on the trade market.
For now, the Grizzlies will move forward without Morant for the next two weeks. That should mean additional playing time for Vince Williams Jr., who started for Morant when he was forced to sit last week against the Celtics with an ankle injury. Williams had 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists in that game, and the 25-year-old is averaging 8.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on 39.7% from the field in 19.3 minutes per game this season. We should also see a minutes increase for Cam Spencer off the bench and perhaps more of a scoring burden placed on starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and starting small forward Cedric Coward, who has been a lone bright spot for the Grizzlies in his rookie season.
We'll get out first look at how the Grizzlies approach these next two weeks without Morant when they face off against the Spurs on Tuesday at 8 pm ET on NBC and Peacock.
Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff provided an update of some on the club’s lengthy list of injured players, a list which had a familiar name added to it. Defenseman Michael Kesselring, who returned to the lineup on October 28 after missing nearly a month with an unspecified injury, left the Sabres 5-4 overtime victory over Detroit early in the third period.
"He's gonna be further evaluated today, but obviously it's going to be a little bit of time for him. I don't have a time frame yet." Ruff said after the morning skate at KeyBank Center.
The Sabres recalled defenseman Zach Metsa from AHL Rochester on Monday, but based on the morning skate, Jacob Bryson will take Kesselring’s spot in the lineup against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.
Ruff also provided some optimistic news on winger Jason Zucker and center Josh Norris. Zucker has been out with a viral illness since November 1 and according to the Sabres head coach the veteran winger had not had solid food for nine days, Norris was injured on a faceoff in the season opener on October 9. Both were on the ice before practice.
"I think the soonest we could see (Zucker) is by this coming weekend. It's the first time they've been on the ice, haven't practiced. This is just the early stages," Ruff said. “(Norris) has done better, which is encouraging for sure. I think we originally thought a little bit longer, but he's feeling real good."
In other Sabres related news, former blueliner Dennis Gilbert was traded from Philadelphia back to Ottawa for defenseman Max Guenette. The Buffalo native was traded by the Sabres to the Sens last March in Dylan Cozens / Josh Norris deal and signed with the Flyers as an unrestricted free agent in July. Gilbert will report to the Sens AHL affiliate in Belleville.
Shohei Ohtani, left, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki have won a World Series together with the Dodgers. But will they attempt to win another World Baseball Classic next March while representing Japan, which won the 2023 tournament? (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Just weeks into the offseason, the Dodgers are already thinking 11 months ahead.
Having just finished yet another grueling October campaign, they are bracing for the long road required to get back.
The team’s central focus right now, of course, is on bolstering its roster and supplementing its star-studded core coming out of last week’s annual MLB general managers’ meetings in Las Vegas.
But as they go for a World Series three-peat in 2026, one of their primary challenges will be managing the returning talent — and ensuring the burdensome toll from their previous two title treks doesn’t become a roadblock in their pursuit of another ring.
That thinking was present last week, when general manager Brandon Gomes announced that utilityman Tommy Edman will undergo surgery to address an ankle injury that nagged him for the second half of this past season.
When asked about Edman’s recovery timeline, Gomes said the “goal” is to have him ready for spring training — but that the team was also “gonna be smart” about making sure he isn’t rushed back.
“Obviously, he hasn’t had [the surgery] yet. So we’ll look into that as we get into the rehab process,” Gomes said. “And like we do with everything, let’s keep the big picture in mind, with the goal of playing through October.”
Taking such a long view has become an annual practice for the Dodgers. Their collection of star talent and organizational depth means they are almost always in position to make the playoffs. It has afforded them leeway to manage players’ regular-season workloads and recovery from injuries with an eye toward having them at full strength come the fall.
It was a balance the team struck well this past season, navigating a wave of regular-season pitching injuries to have their rotation fully healthy to spearhead their postseason run.
Next season, however, the difficulty of that task could be significantly amplified.
Their already aging roster will be another year older. The after-effects of playing 33 extra games the past two Octobers will be acutely felt. And while it’s a price the Dodgers have been happy to pay, it will make next year an ultimate test of endurance that the club is already accounting for now.
“That's an extra month to a month and a half that you don't get to rest and recover, and that you're pushing beyond what you normally do,” third baseman Max Muncy said during this year’s playoffs about the challenges that come with deep October runs. “One postseason game is the equivalent of playing three extra-inning games, all at one time. The stress — both mental, physical, emotional — it's just on a whole ‘nother level.”
The big question in 2026 will be how the Dodgers’ pitching bounces back from this October’s heavy workload. All four of their top starters (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani) threw more than 20 postseason innings and worked either out of the bullpen and/or on short rest. Yamamoto logged a whopping 37 ⅓ innings between his two complete games and heroic back-to-back performances in Games 6 and 7 of the World Series.
Typically, that kind of mileage can have adverse effects the following season.
The good news is that the Dodgers have depth. They could run a six-man rotation of Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Ohtani, Roki Sasaki (who will return to starting pitching duties after his stint as a reliever at the end of last year) and Emmet Sheehan. They have other young arms capable of providing innings as well, from Ben Casparius and Justin Wrobleski to the return of Gavin Stone and River Ryan from injury.
“Playing this deep, guys did things that most people don’t do in the World Series, so it’s just making sure we’re being prudent on the front end and saying, ‘If we need extra rest here, we can do it,’” Gomes said. “We have ways to navigate it.”
Still, complications loom — starting with the triennial World Baseball Classic scheduled for next March.
Nine current Dodgers participated in the event’s 2023 edition, and several more could be candidates for next spring’s tournament. The most intriguing names on that list are the club’s Japanese trio of Yamamoto, Ohtani and Sasaki, who will be expected to star for their home country as it tries to defend its 2023 title in the international event.
Some pitchers in their situations might sit out the WBC, or pitch with strict workload limitations coming off the kind of strenuous stretch they experienced in the playoffs — not to mention the shoulder injury that sidelined Sasaki for much of the year. But the tournament’s significance in Japan (where it is held in even higher standing than the World Series) would make any sort of limitations on their availability a culturally controversial development — and leave the Dodgers in a potentially tricky position if they were to try to push for any of them to prioritize extra rest.
“We haven’t gotten into WBC stuff yet,” Gomes said. “I’m sure we’ll be getting those asks in soon.”
Ohtani himself presents another question for next regular season, as he embarks on what will be his first full-time season as a two-way player since 2023.
Though Gomes said Ohtani’s pitching plan will “probably look more like a normal schedule than last year” — when he slowly built up in his return from a second career Tommy John surgery, and didn’t make full-length starts until the end of the season — he also said Ohtani’s usage could be somewhat “fluid,” leaving the door open to some flexibility with his schedule as he also balances his designated hitting duties.
“Everything we’ll do is with a big-picture mindset,” Gomes reiterated. “So those are conversations we’ll have as we get closer [to next season].”
There could be similar conversations with some of the club’s older stars. By the end of next October, Freddie Freeman will be 37, Muncy will be 36, Teoscar Hernández and Mookie Betts both 34, Ohtani 32, and Will Smith and Edman 31. Most of them have nursed injuries over the past couple of seasons. Keeping them healthy and fresh for the long haul next year could require some more strategic load management — and insurance from a wide range of other options in the organization (plus whoever they add this offseason) to provide steady depth.
“I feel like our guys take really good care of themselves, so they might not be quite the same aging curve as everyone just with their level of hunger and their commitment in the offseason,” Gomes said. “But I think there's the give and take of … making sure we maintain a good group of young guys that are ready to come up and fill holes when necessary. [It’s] also balancing, as we get into the season, are we making sure we're having conversations with our guys of, ‘Maybe a day [off] here and there isn't the worst thing,’ and trying to work those in more.”
It all underscores the difficult road ahead for the Dodgers in their push for three straight titles: inevitable speed bumps that will only further complicate their quest.
“It's a balancing act,” Gomes said.
One that the team is already factoring in as the winter progresses.
Nineteen games into the 2025-26 season, things are going pretty well for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They are tied for third in the league in regulation wins with 10 as well as goal differential at plus-12. They sit third in the Metropolitan Division at 10-5-4 with 24 points, which puts them in a playoff position. They are also third in team goaltending and save percentage at .917.
There are a lot of things going right for this team up to this point. But perhaps the biggest early factor in their success is their special teams units.
As of Monday, the Pittsburgh's power play sits atop the NHL at 34.1 percent, while their penalty kill is now top-four at 85.7 percent. The penalty kill has killed off eight consecutive penalties and 24 of its last 25, and the power play has converted on seven of its last 16 opportunities - including three times against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 6.
Overall, they are the best special teams unit in the NHL.
Both units seem to have found new life under the Penguins' new coaching staff, and - in addition to the work that power play coach Todd Nelson and penalty kill coach Mike Stothers have put in - there is simply a lot of buy-in from players this season.
"Those guys have done a great job just in terms of outlining the plan, communicating the plan, working with the players there on the special teams," head coach Dan Muse said. "I think the nice thing about both of them - and this is a credit to them and the work that they've put in is just the growth that you've been able to see since the beginning of the year. I think that's been pretty consistent, and that's what you want to have there with your special teams.
At the moment, Pens' PK now up to #5 in NHL at 85.7%. Pens are only team in NHL with both special teams ranked top-5 in the league (PP is #1).
"It's such a big part of the game. But both guys have done an amazing job there just in terms of that preparation that goes into it for our side, looking at the opponent - the game-to-game, it always changes a bit based on your opponent - and just making sure that the players are in a position to go out there and execute."
After a few abysmal seasons on the man advantage - which, arguably, cost them two consecutive playoff berths - the Penguins finally began to turn things around last season under former assistant coach David Quinn, now with ex-Penguins' head coach Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers. Last season, the power play operated at pretty high efficiency as well, clicking at a 25.8 percent rate and finishing sixth in league rankings.
"Todd's been awesome," Rust said. "He's given us a blueprint on what to do, and I think he's also given us the leeway to kind of play with a little bit of a creativity. Which, I think there's obviously a fine line of getting too out of control. But I think we're in a good spot right now, and we're trying to continue to keep getting better and keep on building."
Even if the power play trending in the right direction has been a continuation from last season, the same can not be said about the penalty kill. The unit started off well last season under longtime former assistant Mike Velucci, and it fell into the bottom half of the league during the latter part of the season. This year, it seems as though Stothers has the team playing a little more aggressively man-to-man, and he's been deploying some power play guys like Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, and Rickard Rakell due to their familiarity with power play reads.
Whatever the reasoning behind the success of both units this season, the early work is paying dividends for a team that not many expected would be anything more than a bottom-10 squad this season.
"I think it has changed a little bit just based on injuries, so I think it's about everybody being on the same page, being organized, and executing," Sidney Crosby said. "For the most part, you don't want to change your game plan night-to-night, so I think that we're pretty consistent in how we want to approach it. And there are always little tweaks depending on who you play, but I think it's been pretty clear as far as the mindset of the group.
"That has a lot to do with the way [Nelson and Stothers] are structuring it and organizing it, and it's up to the guys to go out there and execute."
Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat was nothing short of snakebitten for the first several games of the centennial campaign, as he wasn't able to find the back of the net despite multiple glorious opportunities that either rang the iron or were denied thanks to a miraculous save.
That's since changed, as DeBrincat is back to his usual scoring ways. As has been the case throughout his career, when the puck starts going in for him, it tends to in bunches.
DeBrincat has scored five goals in his last three games, including back-to-back contests in which he tallied twice.
He also scored Detroit's opening goal on Sunday evening against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in what would ultimately be a 2-1 Red Wings win.
DeBrincat's two goals against the Ducks on Nov. 13 were part of a scoring barrage for the Red Wings, who broke out of an offensive slump that saw them tally only twice in their previous three games combined.
“It’s huge," DeBrincat said afterward. "Past couple of games, we struggled to put it in the net. We’ve had our chances, but just wasn’t going in. It’s just nice to put a few in the net, hopefully keep that going and get that confidence that we know we can play with good teams.”
DeBrincat, who is playing in his third season with the Red Wings, is currently on pace to match his goal total of 39 from the 2024-25 campaign.
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The Chicago Blackhawks returned to practice on Monday morning. After a big win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, the 9-5-4 Blackhawks are looking to keep the good vibes rolling. We all know the facts about being in a playoff position on American Thanksgiving, and the Blackhawks are so close to reaching that checkpoint.
Ahead of practice on Monday, there was a sight to behold. Laurent Brossoit was out there skating in full goalie gear. Since signing with the Blackhawks in the summer of 2024, Brossoit has not played a single game with the Blackhawks due to a knee injury.
The plan for Brossoit from here, according to head coach Jeff Blashill, is for him to keep slowly working his way back to a full practice. It is almost certain that his first game action, if he ever gets to that point, will come in the AHL first before giving it a go in the NHL.
Once practice started, Jason Dickinson was there, but Tyler Bertuzzi was not. Despite this, it is Bertuzzi who is a game-time decision, while Dickinson is not expected to play against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.
Although they declared Bertuzzi a game-time decision, it sounds like he will sit out for another game. That means it will be an 11/7 situation for the Blackhawks once again. Same Rinzel would draw back into the lineup in that case. With Dickinson participating, the lines looked as follows:
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Teravainen-Nazar-Moore
Dach-Donato-Mikheyev
Slaggert-Dickinson-Lafferty
Vlasic-Crevier
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Although Dickinson is close, he doesn’t want to play in any games until he knows for a fact that he’s at 100 percent. He made it clear that he doesn’t want to keep coming in and out of the lineup by aggravating the same injury over and over.
Nick Foligno is also missing from the lineup. He blocked a shot in the Maple Leafs game on Saturday, and Jeff Blashill announced that the timeline looked like four weeks with a broken hand. Later in the day on Monday, the Blackhawks put him on Injured Reserve, retroactive to November 15th.
Chicago’s going to feel the effects of losing Foligno in the leadership category. With him and Jason Dickinson both out of the lineup, two of their players who wear letters on their sweaters will be out. That leadership will have to come from elsewhere for the time being. Lately, the young guys have been showing they can handle that role both on and off the ice.
Against the Flames on Tuesday, they may need some of that. When they met in Calgary earlier in the month, it was a physical game. Frank Nazar missed a few games because of a play that occurred during that contest, so there could be some fireworks in this meeting as well.
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Morton, 26, earns his first call-up of the season after posting 12 points (4g, 8a) in 16 games with the Wranglers. He is in his third season with the Wranglers, and made his NHL debut late last season, scoring in his first game against the Los Angeles Kings. He signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Calgary Flames on July 9, 2025. The deal carries an AAV of $775,000.
Raphielle Johnson
