HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 18: Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March 18, 2026 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Luka Dončić’s trip to Spain has brought with it a lack of clarity. With no real precedent of a player going there during the season and no firm idea on a timetable for a return, there isn’t much known about what’s going on and when he could be back.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that there were some conflicting reports initially on Monday about him coming back to America. According to longtime NBA reporter — and someone who is well-connected with Luka and his camp — Marc Stein, Luka is expected back in LA on Friday, a day before the Lakers open the playoffs at home against the Rockets.
That report was later backed up by Dan Woike of The Athletic.
The Lakers’ Luka Dončić, I’m told, is scheduled to rejoin the team in Los Angeles on Friday in advance of the Lakers’ first-round series against Houston after his recent trip to Madrid for treatment of his Grade 2 hamstring strain.
This came after Shams Charania of ESPN provided a bit more insight into what Luka has been doing in Europe, but also initially reported he would be back on Tuesday. Later in the day, he said he would be back on Friday, which seems to be the consensus at this point.
Shams on Luka:
"He spent the last week in Spain from my understanding, the majority of time in Spain, he underwent multiple injection treatments in that hamstring. My understanding is he'll be back in the states on Tuesday and they're gonna reevaluate him"
The “majority of his time in Spain” line does stick out, but it’s because Luka was allowed to travel back to Slovenia while in Europe to see his kids. According to the Slovenian outlet Ekipa, after completing his first set of injections, Luka traveled to Slovenia with the Lakers’ approval.
Here is a section of the article, translated from Slovenian:
It is clear that Dončić also received the blessing of the Los Angeles Lakers, who of course support Luka in every decision he makes. From going to Madrid for treatment, to traveling to Slovenia for a short time in between two series of therapies.
The Lakers are aware that the mental well-being of their first star is just as important as the physical. And it is clear that Dončić’s association with his two children will fill his soul and heart and have a beneficial effect on his mental state.
After the brief trip to Slovenia, Luka returned to Madrid for a second set of injections and will now head back to Los Angeles this week.
Austin Reaves is not close to return
In the initial Shams tweet above during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” he also provided an update on Austin Reaves, and not really an encouraging one.
Austin Reaves, he’s out for [the] majority of this first round series. Most likely, probably, the earliest for him is going to be the first week of May.
This doesn’t rule him out entirely for the first round necessarily, but it leaves a pretty tight window that he could return. Looking back on previous first round series for the Lakers, last year’s Game 1 against the Wolves came on April 19 and the series ended on April 30. In 2023-24, Game 1 against the Nuggets was on April 20 and Game 5 was on April 29.
This year, Game 1 against the Rockets will be on April 18. While the full schedule is not yet out, to even give Austin a shot of returning for the first round, the Lakers will need to go at least six games and even then, that’s would only be the very beginning of the first week of May.
Realistically, Austin’s only chance of returning this year is if the Lakers make the second round, which would be a tall task.
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Kraken forward Jared McCann will miss the team's final three regular-season games with a lower-body injury.
The Kraken (34-34-11) were already eliminated from playoff contention ahead of Saturday's 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames. McCann can now get a head start on preparing for the 2026-27 season.
McCann, 29, has appeared in 52 games and scored 20 goals, tied with Matty Beniers for second-most on the team. The regular in Seattle's top six has scored at least 20 goals in each of his five seasons with the Kraken, who acquired McCann in the 2021 NHL expansion draft when Seattle started as a franchise.
McCann was a particularly impactful player for the Kraken in the 2022-23 season, which was the only year Seattle has made the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Kraken advanced to the second round, losing to the Dallas Stars in seven games, and McCann scored a career-high 40 goals during the regular season.
McCann, a first round pick in the 2014 NHL entry draft, is entering the final season of a five-year, $25 million contract.
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This story corrects the Kraken record to 34-34-11, and the date of the win over the Flames to Saturday.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 10: Michael Harris II #23 of the Atlanta Braves hits a single during the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Truist Park on April 10, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It was a win-win for Michael Harris as he was on paternity leave to be with his family, and the Atlanta Braves were able to score a large number of runs while he was out. The Braves’ offense now averages 5.62 runs per game behind only three other teams after the massive 13-1 blowout yesterday.
With the announcement of Harris coming back we could assume already that he would be back in the lineup, which means that Mauricio Dubón’s stint at CF is done for the moment. The Dubón trade may go down as the best offseason addition by Alex Anthopoulos in a landslide not only for the offensive upgrade, but the versatility he has already brought this team.
The 5.62 runs per game has been impressive, especially considering the Braves are down Sean Murphy, and Ha-Seong Kim, plus Ronald Acuña and Austin Riley have had slow starts.
Today the offense will be facing Eury Pérez who is a righty, and Weiss has been pretty consistent in his lineups when facing them, at least in terms of who is drawing the start. No Braves player has faced Pérez in more than six at-bats, but Dominic Smith, who typically only starts against righties is one of two players to do so with Matt Olson being the other. Smith has been successful in those at-bats with an .833 OPS.
Drake Baldwin has two HRs in only four at-bats against Pérez, and Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña both have a HR against him as well. Considering the Braves are second behind only the mighty Dodgers in HRs this season, we may be in store for a HR happy evening.
In his return, Harris will be batting eighth. Maybe with his time out, his luck has flipped. His BABIP has been terrible at .256 and his xwOBA is on the top 9.0 of MLB. He has a wOBA of .287, yet his xwOBA is .401. He has arguably been the unluckiest hitter in the sport. Dubón will no be back at SS, and batting ninth.
The Miami Marlins only have five players who have faced Grant Holmes before, and three have struggled in limited action. Xavier Edwards has a .393 OPS in seven at-bats, while Connor Norby and Agustín Ramírez are both hitless so far in four and three at-bats respectively. Otto Lopez and Liam Hicks both have a hit in their two at-bats.
Surprisingly, the Marlins offense is scoring 4.38 runs per game which is in the top half of MLB. Grant Holmes is not going to have a walk in the park so to speak as some may assume.
Lamine Yamal is taking inspiration from NBA legend LeBron James ahead of Barcelona's Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday, April 14.
Yamal changed his Instagram profile picture to James before the match at Camp Nou, which Barcelona must win by at least two goals after dropping the first leg 2-0 in Madrid last week.
The Barcelona star didn't just use any image of James, but a picture of him holding the championship trophy after the 2016 NBA Finals.
In that series, James helped the Cleveland Cavaliers overturn a 3-1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors, winning the final three games to be crowned NBA champions.
In a news conference on Monday, April 13, Yamal said he was hoping to emulate the comeback that James and the Cavs pulled off a decade ago.
“[James] is one of my references that can inspire me for tomorrow’s game,” Yamal said. “I’ll think about how he did the comeback [in 2016] and I hope it unfolds the same way for me.
"We have plenty of leaders in the team. I consider myself one of them, but not the only one.”
Lamine Yamal has changed his profile picture to LeBron James holding the NBA championship trophy after making a 3-1 comeback in the finals.
Barca needs to make a 2-0 comeback this week vs. Atlético in the Champions League 👀 pic.twitter.com/m4h7YpVuze
Barcelona fell 2-0 in the first leg, as a first-half red card for defender Pau Cubarsí proved costly. Julián Alvarez and Alexander Sørloth scored on either side of halftime to give Atlético a huge win at home.
Yamal, who has 22 goals and 18 assists this season, said his team would give everything to overturn the deficit against Diego Simeone's team.
“What I can promise for tomorrow is that if we get knocked out, it will be with us fighting until the end,” Yamal said. “We won’t stop running for one minute and give everything for this badge. I think the comeback is possible.”
LAKELAND, FL - MARCH 12: Cade Winquest #80 of the New York Yankees pitches during the spring training game against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 12, 2026 in Lakeland, Florida. The Yankees defeated the Tigers 4-3. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Completing his strange trek from St. Louis to New York and back, Cade Winquest has been returned to the Cardinals after the Yankees designated him for assignment last week. The Yankees selected Winquest in the Rule 5 Draft last December, but the right-hander ultimately never made an appearance for the team.
It was a surprise to see the Yankees take Winquest in the Rule 5, the club’s first Rule 5 selection in over a decade. By rule, Rule 5 draftees must be added to the active roster and stay there for an entire season or else be exposed to waivers, indicating the Yankees saw at least some potential for Winquest to upgrade their bullpen.
But the fit proved awkward from the start. The Yankees saw potential, but they don’t have the luxury of letting long-term projects develop on the active roster while trying to win a pennant. Brian Cashman said as much when asked of Winquest’s DFA, telling reporters “It would have been nice to be able to find room to get him into games to develop, but it’s hard when you’re trying to compete to develop at the same time.”
The Cardinals assigned Winquest to their Triple-A affiliate, where he’ll continue to work in an effort to actually make his major league debut. It was a tough draw for Winquest in New York, getting warm a couple times in comfortable wins at the start of the season, only to not make it into the game. Hopefully, the call comes soon enough for him in St. Louis.
Luka Doncic, who went to Spain to receive treatment on his injured hamstring, will return to the United States on Friday, sources told the California Post.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic drives past Cleveland Cavaliers guard Max Strus. AP
The Lakers’ star guard suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain in a 134-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2. The Injury typically sidelines athletes around 30 days, but Doncic is hoping to expedite his return to the court.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic celebrates after scoring. AP
The fourth-seeded Lakers will host the fifth-seeded Rockets in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena at 5:30 pm.
Doncic was having an MVP-caliber season before suffering the injury with five games remaining in the regular season. He led the league in scoring (33.5 points), was third in assists (8.3) and sixth in steals (1.6).
Over the month of March, Doncic averaged a league-leading 37.5 points on 49.2% shooting, 8 rebounds and 7.4 assists. He led the Lakers to a 15-2 record over that period.
The Montreal Canadiens have had an exceptional season, whichever way you look at it. Getting 106 points, so early in a rebuilding process, and qualifying for the playoffs two years in a row is nothing short of exceptional. While Martin St-Louis and his staff accomplished tremendous work, there’s another factor that helped the Habs along the way: their core players remained healthy. Nick Suzuki didn’t miss a single game, just like Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, and Lane Hutson. Cole Caufield only missed one, Mike Matheson three, and Noah Dobson none, until Sunday.
Unfortunately, nobody is immune to the injury bug, and it finally caught up with the Habs at the worst of times. Just when the Canadiens managed to turn one of their weakness, their goaltending, into a position of strength by putting all their chips on Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler, their defense was attacked by the Injury Ninja. First, Alex Carrier went down to an upper-body injury, and the Habs announced he would be out for two to four weeks. Then, on Saturday, Dobson, who leads the NHL in blocked shots, appeared to block one with the inside of his hands, and unsurprisingly, also went down to an upper-body injury. At this stage, there is no set timetable for his return; the Canadiens only said that he will be reevaluated in two weeks. Thankfully, Kaiden Guhle was able to return to action on Sunday.
But that still leaves St-Louis in quite a pickle. Both injured blueliners are right shots, the Canadiens’ only two right-shot defensemen. As a result, Montreal called up David Reinbacher, who was thrown into the deep end with no safety vest for his NHL debut, with the team playing very high-stakes hockey, fighting for home-ice advantage in the playoffs. The youngster responded very well in the limited ice time he received; he played 11 minutes and change and even got his first point, but clearly, the coaching staff was shielding him and not putting him in the tougher situations.
The intensity is only going to go up from here, though, with the playoffs right around the corner, and while it looked like Carrier might have struggled to get his spot back on the roster when everyone was healthy, the Habs need him to return as soon as possible. Having three left-shot blueliners play on their off-side is not a winning formula.
As things stand, Guhle is playing alongside Mike Matheson, Hutson is playing on the right with Jayden Struble on the left, and Reinbacher is playing on the right alongside Arber Xhekaj. At least those were the combinations on Sunday, and they are likely to stick for the last game of the season since Carrier didn’t make the trip with the team.
When Carrier is ready to return, the coaching staff will need to reassess. Do you take out Reinbacher because of his lack of experience and pair Carrier with Xhekaj? That has not been a winning formula in the past. Do you keep the rookie in? Then you still need someone to play on their off-side, and you have to take for granted that Reinbacher is not ready for top-pairing duty. But Carrier shouldn’t be on the top pairing either, and nor should he play with Hutson, as that would make for one very undersized pairing.
For now, at least, Guhle seems to be the most suited to play alongside Matheson. Since Carrier with Hutson wouldn’t be a pairing cut out for the playoffs, that probably means Struble stays in the lineup, which would lead to Carrier playing on the third pairing with either Xhekaj, Adam Engstrom or Reinbacher. If it’s the latter, it means that one of the two defensemen must play on his off-side. Engstrom’s last three games haven’t been all that convincing…
Whichever way you look at it, this is quite a headache for St-Louis and his staff. Dobson has been playing such an important role for this team that he’s going to be incredibly hard to replace, especially if it turns out to be lengthy.
The Charlotte Hornets may be the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they sure aren't playing like it.
Charlotte has been one of the better sides since the All-Star break, finishing the home stretch of the regular season with an 18-9 record. That span included splitting two meetings with the Miami Heat, who the Hornets host in the Play-In Tournament.
Point guard LaMelo Ball dished out a ton of dimes in his most recent run-in with Miami, and our Heat vs. Hornets predictions see Ball at the wheel of that offense tonight.
My NBA picks love LaMelo to top his assist prop on April 14.
UPDATE: Added a prediction for who will win tonight.
Heat vs Hornets prediction
Who will win Heat vs Hornets?
Hornets: While the Hornets climbed the Eastern Conference standings, the Heat were going in the opposite direction. Miami has five wins in its last 15 games. The Heat have issues on defense and now face a Hornets attack that was the second-best offense in the back half of the season. Charlotte is 15-6 SU (14-7 ATS) as a home favorite this season.
Heat vs Hornets best bet: LaMelo Ball Over 7.5 assists (-120)
LaMelo Ball is at the center of the Charlotte Hornets’ surge. The polarizing point guard watched his playmaking prowess rise in the home stretch, dishing out more than seven assists per game.
His brightest passing performance was 13 assists in a 136-106 blowout of the Miami Heat on March 17.
Since then, Ball has recorded at least eight dimes in eight of 14 games and did so against defenses much stiffer than Miami. Charlotte took on the likes of Detroit, Boston (twice), New York (twice), Minnesota, and Phoenix — all Top 10 in defensive rating.
The Heat, on the other hand, are horrendous on D. Miami was 28th in defensive rating in the final 15 games while allowing 127.5 points against in that stretch. Foes racked up an average of 30 assists per contest — fifth most.
Charlotte cracked open the Heat’s zone defense like a piñata in that last meeting, thriving with off-ball movement and dribble-kick passing to spot-up shooters. Ball is excellent at creating opportunities from collapsing the defense as well as working out of guard-on-guard screen action.
Since scorching the Heat in mid-March, Ball has generated an average of 12 potential assists per game. In his three head-to-head battles with Miami, that advanced measurement leaps to 14.3 potential dimes for outputs of five, nine, and 13 assists.
Player projections for Tuesday’s tilt sit at 8+ assists from Ball.
Heat vs Hornets same-game parlay
The Hornets are excellent at home when catching points and come into the Play-In Tournament producing some of the best two-way basketball, boasting a net rating of +11.3 over the final 15 games.
Kon Knueppel gets his first taste of postseason play. The sharp-shooting rookie is the main beneficiary of Ball's playmaking and torched the Heat this season, scoring 19, 22, 27, and 30 points in four matchups. He was 18 for 40 from beyond the 3-point arc in those games.
Heat vs Hornets SGP
Hornets moneyline
LaMelo Ball Over 7.5 assists
Kon Knueppel Over 17.5 points
Our "from downtown" SGP: Ball's in your Court
LaMelo’s projections call for as many as 24 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. He cashed this same stat line when Charlotte smoked Miami back on March 17.
Heat vs Hornets SGP
Hornets -5.5
LaMelo Ball Over 22.5 points
LaMelo Ball Over 7.5 assists
LaMelo Ball Over 5.5 rebounds
Heat vs Hornets odds
Spread: Heat +5.5 | Hornets -5.5
Moneyline: Heat +185 | Hornets -225
Over/Under: Over 228 | Under 228
Heat vs Hornets betting trend to know
The Hornets are 12-4 SU and 11-5 ATS (69%) when laying more than three points as a home favorite this season. Find more NBA betting trends for Heat vs. Hornets.
How to watch Heat vs Hornets
Location
Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
Date
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Tip-off
7:30 p.m. ET
TV
Prime Video
Heat vs Hornets latest injuries
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Let’s enjoy the beauty of the NBA Play-In Tournament, the rare moment of single-elimination stress in the NBA, and the only welcome addition to the league calendar spurred by the pandemic.
My four-game NBA Play-In Tournament moneyline parlay tells you why Magic vs. 76ers may be the hardest game to pick from, and why Stephen Curry could uncork a vintage effort. Check out my NBA picks below, starting tonight.
What a world to live in, one where the Charlotte Hornets are the biggest favorites in a round of the NBA postseason.
The longest playoff drought in the NBA should come to an end this week, but that needs to start by holding serve against the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
Since New Year’s Day, Charlotte has a 33-16 record, a 55-win pace across a full season. Quick context: 55 wins would have given the Hornets the No. 3 seed in the East.
More impressively, Charlotte has the No. 1 net rating in the NBA in 2026, 8.9 points better per 100 possessions than Miami’s at No. 16.
This game should not be close.
Suns will rise
Defer to Devin Booker. He is one of the most pure scorers in the NBA, and that is always an asset to enjoy in a single-elimination tournament. Well, single elimination-ish.
The loser between the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trail Blazers will get a second chance at advancing to the playoffs on Friday, but that would be a path toward the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Both Phoenix and Portland should treat Tuesday night like a do-or-die moment, and in such a stressor, deferring to the best scorer on the court is a sound approach, especially with homecourt advantage in his favor.
While 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey may be the best player on the court, his long-range looks have gone awry since he returned from a pinky injury, shooting just 18 of 57 (31.6%) from beyond the arc in nine games.
And Maxey may need that shot against Orlando’s defense, one with a few different deterrents to driving to the rim. Lessening Maxey’s effectiveness should effectively neuter Philadelphia with Joel Embiid already sidelined by an appendectomy.
Curry pumps up the volume
Maybe this is the end of the Golden State Warriors' time in relevance. It could end not with a bang, but with a whimper.
But do you really want to bet against Stephen Curry in a single-elimination moment? You must be too young to remember the joy that was Davidson in 2008. But how could you have already forgotten the gold medal game against France in the 2024 Olympics?
Curry shot 15 of 36 (41.7%) from deep in his brief return to the Warriors’ lineup in the last week. Expect him to shoot at volume against the Los Angeles Clippers, and there are few things more dangerous in this basketball universe than Steph Curry shooting at volume.
When speaking with reporters Monday, April 13, Haliburton revealed that the medication he has been taking for the shingles diagnosis has led to weight gain and being out of shape, thus delaying his progress on the Achilles.
"This has sucked," Haliburton said. "My dad had it during the Finals on his stomach; a lot of people get it there, but mine has been on my face, so I couldn’t even go in front of a camera if I wanted to, earlier, because my eye was basically closed shut and it was all over my face."
Haliburton added that he didn’t feel itchiness for the first two weeks, but that he had a bad rash.
"But then when the rash went away, the itching came," he continued. "It’s been miserable."
Haliburton was speaking to reporters for his final interview before the team departed for the offseason. Indiana struggled significantly without Haliburton and also faced several other key injuries early in the season.
The Pacers finished the season with a 19-63 record, which was second-worst in the NBA. The Pacers had good reason to underperform, as a midseason trade with the Los Angeles Clippers that brought Ivica Zubac resulted in Indiana’s 2026 first-round draft pick being protected for picks No. 1-4 and 10-30. That means that if the Pacers fall in that 5-9 range in the lottery, the selection will go to the Clippers.
"I lost part of my eyebrow, my eye is always swollen from itching it," Haliburton continued. "I have good days and bad days, but for the most part, it’s bad days. It has not been any fun.
"I’ve been taking unbelievable amounts of medication to try to get rid of it. It hasn’t worked. It has obviously caused me to gain weight and look a little bigger, so that has been a topic of conversation through social media and stuff, but what can you do?"
Despite all that, Haliburton remained optimistic that the treatment would solve the issue and said he expects his training over the offseason will lead to a return to playing shape.
"I feel great," he said. "My body feels great. I feel like I’m in a great spot in terms of my leg."
In 73 games last season, Haliburton averaged 18.6 points, 9.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. He hit several massive shots late in games throughout the regular season and playoffs, posting one of the most prolific stretches of clutch performances in NBA history.
The Anaheim Ducks entered Sunday’s matchup against the Vancouver Canucks with a chance to clinch a playoff berth and end their eight-year playoff drought. They controlled their destiny and needed two points to clinch, but only got one, as they lost in overtime.
On the positive side, the Ducks saw the return of their top goalscorer, Cutter Gauthier, who had been sidelined for the previous five games with an upper-body injury. Gauthier (22) entered with 65 points (38-27=65) in 73 games for the Ducks this season.
He notched his 39th of the year early in Sunday’s game and added his 40th on the power play, in the third period, to bring the Ducks within one goal, as they mounted their comeback effort.
Gauthier’s 40th goal marked the 11th time an Anaheim Ducks player has reached that achievement, and he was the fourth player in franchise history to get there, joining Teemu Selanne (five times), Paul Kariya (three times), and Corey Perry (twice). Perry was the last to reach that milestone in the 2013-14 season, where he scored 43 in 81 games.
Gauthier is the second-youngest of the bunch (Paul Kariya) to score 40 goals in a season, and he now has 17 goals in his last 21 games, heading into the final two of the regular season.
“It’s a huge milestone and something I’m very proud of,” Gauthier said after Sunday’s overtime loss. “I couldn’t have done it without all my linemates and teammates. It was fun to get that, but that’s not why I’m playing hockey. I’m playing hockey to win games and eventually win a Stanley Cup.”
Gauthier has solidified himself as one of the Ducks’ cornerstone pieces to build around. The Philadelphia Flyers selected him (5th overall in 2022) four years ago, and he was acquired by the Ducks in Jan. 2024 in exchange for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick (Jack Murtagh).
Gauthier signed his ELC after his sophomore season at Boston College and played one game to finish out the 2023-24 season, notching his first career point, an assist. He scored 44 points (20-24=44) in 82 games during his rookie season, and upon the addition of a new head coach, Joel Quenneville, in the 2025-26 season (his second full season in the NHL), he gained experience, comfort, and confidence in the NHL. Gauthier is becoming everything that had been hoped for when he was brought to Anaheim.
He’s found and continues to find new ways to unleash his shot on the rush, on the cycle, in movement, at a standstill, through traffic, from distance, and off either leg. He’s found ways to utilize his speed, streaking down the wing, forechecking, and finding soft ice to present himself as a passing option.
Gauthier has a rare ability to beat NHL goaltenders from distance and provide instant offense in any scenario throughout any game. At his size (6-foot-2, 205 pounds), he can protect pucks in open ice and along the walls, and his 200-foot game is rounding out as well. Ideally, his strengths project to amplify in the playoffs, when games tighten up and matter most.
“We’ve never played in the playoffs before, so we don’t know what to exactly expect,” Gauthier said of looking forward to his first potential playoff experience this season. “We’ve played in some big games growing up, and the things I’ve learned from those games is to keep your emotions even keeled and not get too high or too low.
“It’s a very emotional stage, with the fans and everyone playing their hearts out, trying to win the Stanley Cup. The more we can stay even keeled and go with our game plan that Q has set, all of our coaches have set, and what we believe in the locker room, it’s going to benefit us.”
The Ducks will hope to either have clinched or clinch a playoff spot by the time their game against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday evening concludes in St. Paul. Gauthier will look to provide a substantial impact when it comes to making any kind of noise beyond the 82-game regular season and moving forward into future playoff appearances for his Ducks team.
His ELC expires on July 1, and he’s currently eligible to sign an extension. Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek now has a track record of taking his RFAs coming off ELCs into training camp with negotiations. However, ideally, he has his young 40-goal scorer locked up to a long-term deal well before then.
Being first in the NHL is all fun for most of the season. Goal scoring, good defense, stable goaltending, all things clicking all at the same time, that shows that this team really can make a deep run into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, that's, until you win the Presidents' Trophy.
Despite your hard work all season, the collective of fans and media online now hit you with “since you won the Presidents Cup, you're not going to win, you have the curse”, but is it really a curse? What is the stipulation that, for so long as the best regular-season team doesn't win the trophy because of some “curse”?
The Originations Of The Curse
You can say the curse really “started” in the 2013 playoffs, where the last team that won the Presidents' Trophy was the Chicago Blackhawks, who ended up beating the Boston Bruins in the finals. Since then, no team that has won the trophy has gone on to win the Stanley Cup, especially notable teams that looked destined to win it all but lost in the finals or earlier rounds.
The 2010-2011 Vancouver Cancucks, league high 54 wins, but ended up losing in Game seven of the finals, and is known for what happened after the loss. The 2018-2019 Tampa Bay Lightning tied the NHL record for wins (62) but were swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets. More recently, the 2022-2023 Boston Bruins broke the NHL records for wins and points in a season, but lost in the first round to the eventual champions, the Florida Panthers.
Nick Blankenburg was worried for his coach after Loss To The Vegas Golden Knights
In the 2022 post-season, where the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers won the Presidents' Trophy but lost in the first round to the Washington Capitals in six games.
The season before that, when the Avalanche won the Presidents' Trophy, they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round in six games. All these accumulated losses just fuel the fire that regular-season success doesn't translate into playoff success.
Best Opportunity In A Long Time
It's safe to say that, compared to the last three Colorado Avalanche teams we have seen enter the playoffs, this is by far the best. Forward depth, defensive depth, and a strong goaltending tandem give flashes of the 2022 championship team, with how stacked their lines are.
Though it raises certainty that this team's window is now, management knows it and is capitalizing on it. All the trades made by the deadline, how the teams' caps look for the next three to four seasons, people don't get younger, and chances with how well everyone is playing need to be capitalized on. With three games remaining, they could match their 2021-2022 season total of 119 points or even beat it.
An Ace Up Their Sleeve?
If there is a “cancellation”, “divert”, or even a “dispel” on this President's Trophy curse, is that the Colorado Avalanche won a Stanley Cup the same season they won the Presidents' Trophy, back in the 2000-2001 season.
Beating the New Jersey Devils in seven games, led by Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Milan Hejduk, they helped the Colorado Avalanche secure their second Stanley Cup in franchise history, while finishing the regular season with a league-best 52-16-10-4 record (118 points).
If there is anything that could negate this “curse,” it's the history of the Avalanche's past coming to help them, but that all depends on whether you believe what people say about this “curse”. Despite a strong start to the season, the Avalanche have shown flashes of weakness that they will need to either cover up or protect come the playoffs.
It has been an excellent season, with success coming from different players in every game. It should be one to be remembered, but like all sports, it's not a successful season if you don’t win the championship, and that's going to be a story to tell if they don’t win it all.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 12: Luke Raley #20 of the Seattle Mariners hoists the trident after beating the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park on April 12, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Mops are on the table, I repeat, mops are ON the table. The Seattle Mariners have won their first series of 2026, and have the mopportunity to send the reeling Houston Astros on their way in an ambulance. This is sadly literally true as much as figurative, as Houston is falling apart physically as much as performance-wise. Today launched another flurry of injury news for the browbeaten Texans.
On the bump today are a newcomer and and oldcomer to the AL West – RHP Mike Burrows for the Astros takes his first crack at the Mariners since coming over from the Pittsburgh Pirates this winter, while George Kirby will look to build on a trio of solid outings that showcased his trademark efficiency. Additionally, we got a little injury update from Dan Wilson on Bryce Miller:
Lineups
Sorry this is truly the least aesthetically pleasing but I am a-hustling. It’s a Mitch Garver day behind the plate, while Houston’s lineup continues to thin.
Game Info
First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. PDT TV: Mariners TV Radio: Old Reliable
I have found one more positive of a tanking season. The Brooklyn Nets hosted exit interviews on Monday morning, but thanks to the players that had already bid farewell to the season (largely due to season-ending injury), the festivities at HSS Training Center lasted only a couple hours instead of the the usual marathon.
General Manager Sean Marks and Head Coach Jordi Fernández shared the first podium, then Michael Porter Jr. joined on Zoom before Noah Clowney reflected on his season in person. And that was it. Clowney was particularly introspective about his season, at one point saying, “I think I progressed this year, maybe not as much as I wanted to or as much as I thought I would have.”
Clowney had a fascinating third season; his 1780 minutes were more than his first two years combined, and he morphed into a full-time wing who shot a ton of threes and drew plenty of fouls, driving the ball more than he ever has. He shot very well on corner threes but very poorly on above-the-break attempts, a fact that he discussed on Monday, but we’ll save Clowney’s self-analysis for a genuine, in-depth look at his growth another day.
Our Jordan Greene will have a full run-down of noteworthy quotes from Nets exits tomorrow, like Fernández admitting that the stress of losing took a toll on him, or Marks once again emphasizing high-minute counts for the rookies. But the main story of the day was, of course, what roster moves await Brooklyn this summer. Namely a potential Michael Porter Jr. extension, as well as team options looming for Josh Minott and Day’Ron Sharpe.
Porter Jr. is entering the final year of a five-year contract in 2026-27, which would pay him nearly $41 million. Thus, the 27-year-old (turning 28 in June) is up for an extension, and fortunately for him, it comes after the best individual season of his NBA career, where he averaged 24/7/3 as a true first option.
Marks admitted as much on Monday: “You look at his usage — it’s the highest it’s ever been. I don’t think anybody questioned whether he could shoot, but I think, could he be a number one option? And I think for us, he’s the number-one option. And I just enjoyed the person, I enjoyed being around him. I think he’s a fun-loving guy. He’s curious, as we all know.”
That’s a tremendous reference to MPJ’s high-octane podcasting career — Curious Mike is the name of his own pod. Still, when it came to a potential extension (or, in a different attempt to capitalize on MPJ’s resurgence, a trade), Marks didn’t give much away.
“I think in the summer there’s going to be a lot of those discussions” he said. “Whether it’s with Michael … there’s a variety of decisions we have to make with a variety of our players on the team. But in terms of a long-term build, short-term build, I think we’ve positioned ourselves over the last year or two to maintain flexibility and have optionality, which I’m really looking forward to.”
Porter Jr. was a bit more open about his contract situation, even admitting that “it hasn’t been on my mind enough until now.”
The team’s leading scorer clearly enjoyed his inaugural season in Brooklyn. He hopes it’s not his last: “If it was up to me I would love to sign an extension with this franchise.”
He continued: “I would love to spend many, many years in Brooklyn and make this my home and watch this franchise take off. Terance Mann actually just sent me a little breakdown of that stretch when we were winning … there were a lot of positives, and the front office has the ability to make some moves and make us even better.”
On the most recent episode of Locked On Nets with Erik Slater, I guessed that the Nets wouldn’t trade Porter Jr. this offseason, though I wasn’t too confident in my prediction. Simply put, it’s a tough sell to everybody — ownership, the coaching staff, the fans — to trade the best player on the team right when you’re trying to compete in earnest.
Marks even mentioned “competitiveness” as the first trait the team looks for in draft prospects: “You’ve heard us all talk about having a Brooklyn grit, being a connected guy, being part of something bigger than yourself, all the old clichés that every team uses in pro sports. But for us, you’ve got to be competitive. That’s going to be the number one thing here. Can we rely on you?”
Paying $40 million annually to a player with a rough injury history and a relative inability to create his offense may be tough to stomach. Brooklyn does have other routes to that roster flexibility and optionality Marks mentioned, though.
Day’Ron Sharpe has a $6 million team option for next season. Might the Nets try to trade Nic Claxton and ink Sharpe to a long-term extension instead, making him their starting center? It wouldn’t be so crazy. Sharpe has evolved into one of the best backup bigs in the league. This is pure speculation, but if the Nets signed him to a contract that pays $15 million annually, that’s only 9% of next year’s salary cap allocated to a starter. Not bad.
“If those talks happen and if it goes down that way, that’s probably a good problem to have,” said Marks. “And I give Day’Ron a lot of credit because he embraced the summer work last year. In his exit meeting this year — I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn — he said he wants to come back an even better, improved player. So when that’s what he wants to embark on and that’s how he’s motivated, I think that’s great.”
At his exit interview a couple weeks ago, Sharpe said he was proud of his growth this season, but that he hasn’t even thought about his contract situation moving forward: “Whatever the team has in plan for me, that’s what they got.”
Similarly, the team holds an option on Josh Minott’s $2.6 million contract for next season. Given how Minott performed after a mid-season trade from the Boston Celtics, it seems like a foregone conclusion he’ll be back as well…
Josh Minott's second 20+ point 3+ stock performance over his last 4 games, in that span averaging 17.3/2.8/1.3/3.3 on 76% TS in just 22 MPG
Immediate impact on both sides of the floor every game as the Nets continue to win his minutes, should be an extension priority in summer pic.twitter.com/Zi3e4J6P0V
Marks seemed to imply as much in his sole answer about the 23-year-old wing: “He’s really confident out there. I think the shooting is something that probably surprised me slightly, but I look forward to seeing him healthy. He was playing on one leg with us for most of the time here, so it’s nice to get that ankle taken care of, and then again, have another big summer for a young man like that.”
Minott already had the ankle injury when he arrived in Brooklyn, and even after his call-up from the G League, he missed nearly half of potential games in a Nets uniform. Some of that was due to the tank (for which he was occasionally too good), but clearly, it was also about a balky left ankle. As long as that ankle gets taken of, that’s pretty damn encouraging.
Another spit-ball here, but if Minott is extended rather than just picked up at, say, $8 million per year, Marks could lock in two real rotation players at a combined 14% of the cap. Trade Claxton, and now you’re rocking with some real flexibility no matter what happens with Porter Jr.
The rest of Brooklyn Nets’ exit day was not so eventful. Again, our Jordan Greene will have you covered with the rest of the important quotes, such as some rookie praise from both head coach and GM.
This team is still at the beginning of a rebuild, but it seems like the trend-arrow is pointing up. The Nets plan to be competitive next season, and they can improve without making splashy moves. Some lottery luck on May 12 will help, of course. No matter what happens, we’ll have full coverage on NetsDaily.
Again, thanks to all our readers for a great season. With lockers cleaned out and exit interviews over, may our offseason begin in earnest.
The Mets versus the Dodgers is about as star-studded a matchup as the National League can offer these days. That being said, the first pitching duel of this series doesn’t necessarily reflect that, and it provides the reigning back-to-back champs yet another opportunity to showcase their early prowess against left-handed pitching—Justin Wrobleski will square off against David Peterson at Dodger Stadium. As of April 13th, the Dodgers are tied with the Washington Nationals for the best wRC+ against southpaws, currently sitting at 146.
While the results haven’t been great, Peterson has managed to overcome the 19 runs allowed (15 of them earned) in 30.1 innings against the Dodgers to feature a 2-0 record against them throughout his career. The potential for an even more damaging outing is on the table, as this attack has been unforgiving when going up against a left-hander. It’ll be the first southpaw starter the Dodgers face since they had a surprisingly difficult time against Foster Griffin more than a week ago, seeing nothing but righties against the Blue Jays and Rangers.
A surprising factor in this early success against lefties—one unlikely to last—is that Max Muncy is already one home run away from tying his last season’s total versus southpaws, hitting half of his four homers this season against same-handed pitching. It’s not just him, though. Cornerstones of this offense have already proven themselves against lefties in the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, and you have Andy Pages leaving those postseason struggles behind to follow up on what was a very productive 2026 campaign.
Pitching-wise, Justin Wrobleski will look to follow up on a successful and very peculiar outing against the Blue Jays—not only due to the massive run support he received in making this a blowout early on, but also the four walks he conceded in five one-run innings.
