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Sharapova enters tennis Hall of Fame with surprise cameo by Serena Williams

  • Williams surprises Sharapova at induction

  • 23-time major winner hails fierce rivalry

  • Bryan brothers, Sharapova join 2025 class

Serena Williams made a a surprise – and early – appearance at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, emerging from behind the stage to introduce “former rival, former fan and forever friend” Maria Sharapova for her induction on Saturday night.

Williams, a 23-time grand slam champion who will be eligible for her own enshrinement in 2027, drew gasps and shrieks from the crowd at the Newport shrine.

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Mets smash six home runs, Clay Holmes solid in 9-2 win over Braves

The Mets smashed six more home runs on Saturday and Clay Holmes pitched six innings for the first time in more than two months as New York defeated the Braves, 9-2, in Atlanta.

New York has hit 29 home runs in their last 11 games, including Saturday. Four Mets pitchers held the Braves to two runs on just five hits.

Here are the takeaways...

-After a 21-hit barrage on Friday, the Mets' lineup wouldn't go that nuclear on Saturday, but they continued to get knocks against Cal Quantrill. Francisco Lindor extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a third-inning single to lead off. After a Juan Soto walk, they executed a double-steal to put runners on second and third and no outs. Pete Alonso grounded to the left side for the first out before Mark Vientos struck out swinging. The Mets were in danger of not getting a run, but Jeff McNeil, starting for the first time in three games, launched a towering three-run blast just inside the right field foul pole. 

-The Braves almost answered the Mets' three-run third with a big inning of their own in the bottom half of the inning. After Holmes couldn't come down with the toss from Alonso, putting runners on first and third with one out, Starling Marte -- making just his sixth start in the outfield this season -- caught a fly ball in left before throwing a seed to Hayden Senger and getting Nacho Alvarez Jr. at home.

It wouldn't get easier for Holmes in the fourth. He walked back-to-back batters to start the inning and got Michael Harris II to hit a grounder to McNeil, who turned to try and get Ronald Acuña Jr. at second, but the former NL MVP slid in safely before the ball got there -- after it was overturned by replay. With the bases loaded and no outs, Marcell Ozuna got a sac fly to give the Braves their first run of the game. Drake Baldwin hit a slow chopper to Holmes to drive in another on the groundout. Holmes got Ozzie Albies to fly out to end the threat, but Atlanta picked up two runs without getting a hit in the fourth.

A 1-2-3 fifth and some stellar defense by Lindor and Tyrone Taylor in the sixth helped Holmes get through six innings for the first time since June 7. Coincidentally, the Mets had gone 62 games before a starter other than David Peterson went six-plus innings when Nolan McLean broke that on Friday. And now Mets starters have done so in back-to-back games. 

Holmes had retired 10 straight batters before a one-out single in the seventh and left after a quality start. The right-hander tossed 94 pitches (54 strikes) through 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits, two walks and striking out four.

-After that three-run shot by McNeil, the Mets' offense was kept at bay by Quantrill and Braves relievers until the seventh, when Alonso hit a towering blast just inside the right field foul pole with Soto on first base to give the Mets a 5-2 lead. Vientos followed with a no-doubt homer to left field to put the Mets on top, 6-2. 

It's Alonso's first home run (43 ABs) since the two-homer night when he broke Darryl Strawberry's franchise record. The Mets weren't done in the seventh as Marte hit a solo shot to give New York a four-spot in the inning. Marte was removed from left field in the seventh for Cedric Mullins, who played center and Taylor shifted to left. Vientos and McNeil would cap off the Mets' scoring with ninth-inning solo shots, the second of both slugger's games.

-In relief of Holmes, Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers and Edwin Diaz -- who hadn't pitched in a week -- picked up the final eight outs. Here how it broke down:

  • Soto: 0.2 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
  • Rogers: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K
  • Diaz: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K

-The 6-9 hitters went a combined 12-for-20 with six RBI in Friday's game, but didn't have the same success on Saturday. That part of the lineup went 4-for-17 with one RBI. Three of those hits came from Marte. Brett Baty, who had four hits, went hitless, while Taylor picked up just one hit after picking up three on Friday.

-Mets stole four bases on Quantrill, Marte having two of them. It's the first time they stole four bases in a game this season.

Game MVP: Starling Marte

The veteran outfielder not only went 3-for-3 with a homer, two stolen bases, but that assist in the outfield changed the tenor of the whole game.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets and Braves finish their three-game set with an afternoon game in Atlanta. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. on WPIX.

David Peterson (8-5, 3.18 ERA) will take on Bryce Elder (5-9, 6.29 ERA)

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Sabres 2025-26 Expectations: Can Newcomer Goalie Lyon Help Buffalo End Playoff Drought?

Alex Lyon (Lon Horwedel, USA TODAY Images)

The  Buffalo Sabres will need all hands on deck this season if they're to end their Stanley Cup playoff drought at 14 years. And this is why THN.com's Sabres site is beginning a new series in which we analyze every player on the roster and what we should expect from them in the 2025-26 NHL regular-season.

We began the series Friday with a look at veteran goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and in the latest file, we turned our attention to first-year Sabres goalie Alex Lyon. The former Detroit Red Wings goalie signed a low-cost, two-year contract, and  he's essentially netminding insurance for Luukkonen. 

But we want to hear from you -- what should the expectations be for Lyon next year? Weigh in through the comment section below. And feel free to register as a community member.

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Have Your Say: Can Dylan Larkin Get Red Wings Over The Hump?

There is no player on the Detroit Red Wings who more badly wants postseason hockey to return to the Motor City than Dylan Larkin, the longest-tenured member of the team.

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

Larkin also is the only Red Wings player left from the 2015-16 roster that most recently played beyond the 82nd game of the regular season; it was also his rookie campaign. 

Larkin was recently challenged by NHL Network Insider Mike Rupp, who said that he needed to essentially put the club on his back and "drag them" to the playoffs.

Will this be the season that the Stanley Cup Playoffs come to Little Caesars Arena for the first time in the venue's existence? 

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From the Archives: Give Credit To Detroit's Foot Soldiers

The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.

Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here

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Give Credit To Detroit's Foot Soldiers - May 5, 2000 - Volume 53, Issue 34 - Chuck Carlton

All the Detroit Red Wings understand is everybody plays and everybody contributes and that’s why they win. Stars know their roles and role players can become stars.

Consider the first round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings and how the stats turned upside down.

Martin Lapointe scored as many goals as Sergei Fedorov. Kris Draper finished with more goals than Brendan Shanahan. And Tomas Holmstrom got one more than Steve Yzerman.

“Whoever wins in the playoffs gets goals from everybody,” Yzerman said. “You don’t rely on one line or one individual. When we won the two (Stanley) Cups, everybody was successful. If you want to go far, you have to have the depth.”

The Kings concur. They shut down all the marquee names and got burned by the supporting actors. In Game 1, Darren McCarty returned from missing 16 games with a groin pull to register a game-high 10 hits and set the early tone by plastering Garry Galley against the end boards.

Game 2 saw Lapointe net his first playoff hat trick. Draper, with just nine goals in his past 141 games counting the playoffs, added two more.

Holmstrom personally decided Game 3 in less than seven minutes of ice time. He drew Kings’ captain Rob Blake into a penalty with the Kings already down a man to set up the first goal and deflected a Nicklas Lidstrom shot past Stephane Fiset for the winner in a 2-1 victory.

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

“I look at this team and say openly, ‘What team in the NHL can match them with skill, scoring, grittiness and tenacity up front?’ And I can’t come up with a team,” said ESPN analyst Darren Pang. “Depth-wise, I think this team is as confident and as good as ever. When you have a fourth line consisting of a Draper, a Lapointe and a (Kirk) Maltby, that’s just remarkable.”

As expected as the contributions have become for the Red Wings, they relied more than usual on the top scoring line of Yzerman, Shanahan and Pat Verbeek in the regular season as injuries and slumps ate away at the depth.

McCarty missed 24 games this season because of groin problems and managed just six goals. A contract holdout saw him miss training camp and the death of his father, Craig, made for a trying regular season.

“Everything that has happened, no matter what, is rubbed clean; this is like a new season, a fresh start,” McCarty said. “Everything is behind me. I’ve come to grips with everything and accepted everything. Now it’s time.”

The challenge was different for Lapointe.

He weighed 234 pounds after last season on a 5-foot-11 frame. He joked that he would “look at a bag of potato chips and gain five pounds.” Room service wasn’t a convenience, it was a way of life.

Now he’s down to a chiseled 210, still as physical and strong, but quicker. He looks more like the guy who scored nine playoff goals in 1998.

Draper might be the best fourth line center in hockey, but was worried about his position just before the playoffs, especially after a broken wrist earlier this season.

Then there’s Holmstrom, who doesn’t enjoy the pain that comes with assuming personal residence in front of the opposing goalie, as much he accepts it. He not only takes one for the team, he takes two or three or four.

Like early in the season against Vancouver, when a Donald Brashear check left him with a sprained knee. Or March 29 against Vancouver, when Holmstrom got cross-checked in the mouth and took a puck in the cheek, suffering a concussion. Or Game 1 of the playoffs, when Blake played target practice with his head. Or Game 3, when Blake cross-checked him in head instead. Holmstrom’s smile looks like the grill of a Plymouth Fury after a demolition derby.

“He’s a beauty, isn’t he?” McCarty said. “How can you not love that guy? Everybody thinks he’s Swedish, but he’s actually Canadian, he’s up from the Arctic or somewhere like that. He’s got a heart the size of Sweden. He’s a valuable guy on our team. You talk about unsung heroes, he’s definitely one of them with the abuse that he takes.”

But he’s not alone.

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Sabres 2025-26 Player Expectations: Newcomer Lyon Signed To Serve In Supporting Role In Net

Alex Lyon (Lon Horwedel, USA TODAY Images)

The NHL’s 2025-26 season is just around the corner, and here at THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site, we’ve committed to analyzing every Sabres player and the expectations on them next season. Every Buffalo player has the pressure to get this Sabres team into the playoffs for the first time in a decade-and-a-half, but every player’s outlook is at least a little bit different. 

We began the series with this look at Sabres presumptive starting goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen,and today, we’re moving along to the veteran netminder signed by the Sabres this summer – Alex Lyon.

Player Name: Alex Lyon

Position: Goaltender

Age: 32

2024-25 Key Statistics: 30 appearances, 14-9-1 record, .896 save percentage, 2.81 goals-against average

2025-26 Salary: $1.5 million

2025-26 Expectations: Lyon has spent the past two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, but he failed to make the starter’s job his own each year. Still, Lyon did enough this past season to merit a $600,000 raise from the $900,000 he earned last year.

But Lyon – who has never made more than 44 appearances in a single season – may be called into action for significantly longer if Luukkonen spirals and fails in the starter’s role for a second straight year. And if Lyon does struggle along with Luukkonen, the Sabres may turn to 23-year-old Devon Levi, who will almost assuredly begin the season with Buffalo’s American League affiliate. 

Sabres 2025-26 Player Expectations: What's In Store For Goalie Luukkonen Sabres 2025-26 Player Expectations: What's In Store For Goalie Luukkonen The NHL’s 2025-26 season is now only a handful of weeks away, so it’s as good a time as any for THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site to break down expectations for every Sabres player next year.

In the past two years with the Detroit Red Wings, Lyon did show more promise in the first year, posting a .904 SP and 3.05 G.A.A. But consistency has been a problem for him – and if the Sabres are turning to Lyon in any meaningful way, it’s because the defense corps in front of Luukkonen is also under-performing. So Lyon may be on an island unto himself depending on how the year unfolds.

Lyon’s contract runs through the 2026-27 campaign, and the investment the Sabres have made in him limits their moves if things don’t turn out particularly well. Buffalo doesn’t want to pay anyone other than Jeff Skinner to not play for them multiple years from now. So, for better or worse, Lyon is likely to be a fixture for Buffalo. And buying out the final year of his deal just doesn't make sense for the Sabres.

Still, we’ve already said we like the Lyon signing for the Sabres. They’re not breaking the bank for Lyon, nor are they committing two or three more years to him. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams needed to bring in goalie insurance, and at a cost that wouldn’t harm the Sabres’ chances to improve the roster in other areas. He did that with Lyon.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Pacific Edition: Will Improved Golden Knights Be Too Hard To Handle For Sabres?Know Your Enemy, Sabres Pacific Edition: Will Improved Golden Knights Be Too Hard To Handle For Sabres?The Buffalo Sabres know when and where every game they'll play in the 2025-26 season will take place. And as part of THN.com's Sabres site's "Know Your Enemy" series, we've been focusing on every one of Buffalo's 31 opponents next year.

Lyon isn’t being asked to be a world-beater. He’s there to provide support to Luukkonen and perhaps Levi, and be a professional whose consistency is something on which the team can rely. 

And if he can do those relatively modest things, Lyon will be considered a successful Sabres signing.

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Jonah Tong strikes out eight in second Triple-A start as Mets reportedly consider 2025 promotion

Mets pitching prospect Jonah Tong made his second Triple-A start Saturday night and continued to impress, tossing six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts for Syracuse against Indianapolis.

The 22-year-old let up back-to-back singles to open the game, but got a double play and a strikeout to avoid early damage. He allowed a double and a walk in the second before retiring the next 12 batters, cruising through the fifth inning. Tong was tested in the sixth inning, finding himself in a jam with runners on second and third base. The righty maintained his composure after a mound visit and struck out Rafael Flores to end the frame and keep it a 3-0 game.

Overall, Tong allowed five hits and walked one over 88 pitches (63 strikes) with 21 swing-and-misses. His fastball topped out at 97.6 mph.

The top prospect dazzled in his first outing with Syracuse on Aug. 16, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. He allowed just three hits and two walks. Over two Triple-A starts, Tong has tossed 11.2 scoreless innings with 17 strikeouts and 39 swing-and-misses (h/t Joe DeMayo).

While New York has been hesitant to promote prospects to the majors too early, Tong may be up sooner than later, according to the NY Post's Mike Puma.

"The wind has shifted in the Mets organization in recent days regarding Jonah Tong," Puma wrote Saturday evening. "His name is entering the conversation for this season."

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has also said he'd prefer to have a spot in the rotation open up for multiple starts, instead of a spot-start and the prospect being sent back down to the minors.

Fellow top pitching prospect Nolan McLean has impressed over his first two major league starts and it's been expected that Brandon Sproatwould be the next starter to be promoted. The Mets' rotation currently consists of Clay Holmes (pitching Saturday night), David Peterson, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, and McLean. To make room for Sproat or potentially even Tong, New York could move Holmes to the bullpen and then would have to make a decision on other bullpen pitchers like Ryne Stanek, Reed Garrett, or Huascar Brazoban, who was recalled on Saturday.

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Handré Pollard scowls at the uprights as if he owns them. Australia could do with a ruthless winner like him

It would be simplistic to say South Africa won this slugfest solely because of Pollard. But he did kick all six of his shots at goal

Handré Pollard doesn’t simply point to the poles. The South African metronome, his face stuck in a perpetual scowl, thrusts a meaty finger towards the uprights as if he owns them. “You’re mine,” he growls, with the promise that in just a few short seconds an oval ball will be spiralling through them courtesy of his swinging right boot.

If there’s such a thing as a Test match animal then it is Pollard, the only fly-half present at the final whistle of two victorious World Cup campaigns. And Test match animals win Test matches. Whatever transpires across 80 minutes is almost immaterial. All that matters is the result.

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Nola, Duran bounce back as Phillies even up series with Nationals

Nola, Duran bounce back as Phillies even up series with Nationals originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Staking starting pitcher Aaron Nola to a big lead hasn’t been a problem for the Phillies’ offense in his two starts against the Nationals since coming back from injury.

Saturday, Nola was able to hold it as his strong performance and another big showing by the offense helped the Phillies to a 6-4 win to improve to 75-54 on the season.

Last Sunday, in Nola’s first start after being sidelined for three months with ankle and rib injuries, the Phillies climbed out to a 6-0 lead before Nola gave up six to the Nationals in what eventually became an 11-9 Phillies win.

Saturday was different, as Nola maintained good control with his four-seam fastball and knuckle-curve and kept the Nationals off balance through his six innings of work. He allowed five hits, two earned runs, walked one and struck out six in his 97-pitch night.

“I felt good, body felt good, ankle and rib were normal today,” said Nola, who picked up his second win of the season. “The ball felt like it was coming out better than it has been. It felt good to get a win for the guys and go for the series win tomorrow.

“I feel like when the velocity is up a little bit like that I’m on top of it a little bit more and I get a little jump before it gets to the plate and you get away with a little bit more. The fastball felt really good and I felt like it set up some other stuff, especially my curve ball.”

After failing to get a hit in the first three innings off Washington’s starter Mitchell Parker, the Phillies erupted for five in the fourth on five hits — including RBI doubles from J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm and a three-run home run from Edmundo Sosa, who got the start at second base against the left-handed Parker. Trea Turner slugged his 14th homer of the season, and just his second at Citizens Bank Park, in the fifth to close out the scoring for the Phillies.

Nola pretty much breezed through his first five innings in which he allowed just one unearned run. After giving up a dribbler of an infield single to Dylan Crews, Drew Millas hit a hard grounder to Weston Wilson at first. Wilson bobbled it, and instead of taking the sure out at first, tried to fire to second to get Crews. The ball hit off his hand and both runners advanced. Crews scored on a groundout by Brady House before Nola struck out Robert Hassell III to end the inning.

Nola gave up solo home runs to CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia, Jr. in the sixth before calling it a night with a 6-3 lead.

“He looked really good tonight,” said Rob Thomson. “He touched 94 (MPH). The command on his fastball was really good. Curve ball was sharp. He mixed in his changeup late. He had some rollovers on that. Great job in the fifth inning getting out of that little jam he had after we scored five. No fault of his own. I thought he was great.”

A strong performance from Nola was just what the organization craved on the day it was announced that ace Zack Wheeler would miss the rest of the season and need surgery for venous thoracic outlet syndrome. The timeline for recovery from surgery is six-to-eight months.

While Thomson will have to develop a new master plan with his ace starter now sidelined, his job is made a lot easier when the offense continues to perform as they have scored 50 runs over their last six games.

“I saw that and it’s tough to lose him,” said Nola of Wheeler. “Especially of his caliber and this part of the season, too. It’s tough for the team and the city and the organization, but we’re going to do our best to pick him up and go win as many more baseball games as possible and try to win the division.”

This past week, Sosa said he has been putting time in with hitting coach Kevin Long to try to get back to a more comfortable spot in his stance. It paid off as he clubbed his seventh home run of the season.

“During the last five days I’ve been working with the coaches and they told me something they noticed something that I was staying back on my body,” said Sosa. “We were working on that. We’re just focused on staying in a more athletic position to hit with my body. We were working every day on that adjustment. I feel stronger with my legs and I feel like now I’m in a good position to hit.”

After blowing his first save as a Phillie on Friday, closer Jhoan Duran stood in front of the media and said he’d be ready to go the next day if the team needed him. They did, and he was. Kind of. Duran preserved the Phillies sixth win in their last eight games, but it didn’t come without a little angst. After getting Millas to ground out, Duran gave up a double to House and then a single to Hassell III to put runners at first and third. But Duran struck out leadoff hitter James Wood and got Abrams to fly out to left to finish off the Nationals.

It was the type of inning Duran needed after Friday. It was the kind of day the organization had to have as they move forward without Wheeler.

Painter’s time coming?

With the news Saturday of Wheeler being out for the season, it would seem almost inevitable that top prospect Andrew Painter would be called up at some point soon. The question of Painter’s promotion has been one manager Rob Thomson has been asked just about all season.

And just a couple of weeks ago, it seemed as though Painter wasn’t going to be an option, even when Thomson professed his desire to use a six-man rotation. That’s because Taijuan Walker had been pitching so well that the spot appeared to be his. Now, with Wheeler being out, the Painter questions once again arise.

Friday, Painter pitched five innings and allowed four hits, one run and struck out five. He also issued four walks. His command has been the biggest concern this season while at Lehigh Valley.

“Very good,” said Thomson on Painter’s outing. “I watched the game. I thought he was much better yesterday. I know he walked four guys, but he didn’t miss by much. The fastball command was much better. Stuff is still really good and velocity is really, really good. It was encouraging.”

Asked if Painter was approaching a time where he may be shut down, Thomson was adamant. “Nope. We planned it out so that he could go the rest of the season and just be a normal pitcher.”

Whether that is in Philadelphia or the Lehigh Valley remains to be seen.

“I think we just have to go day to day right now,” said Thomson.

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Should The Panthers Acquire A Rental Player In Wake Of Tkachuk's Injury?

The back-to-back Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers got some unfortunate news on the injury front with the revelation that star left winger Matthew Tkachuk will be sidelined for approximately the next six months with an adductor injury. Tkachuk is an integral component of Florida’s well-oiled machine, and while the Panthers have the type of depth other teams strive to match, Florida clearly will be a lesser team without him.

In addition, what happens if Tkachuk’s absence leads to a significant drop in the Panthers’ performance next year? We all know teams can’t win a playoff spot in November or December, but they sure can lose a playoff spot with terrible showings in the early months. That brings up an intriguing angle to this discussion: namely, forget about clearing cap space right now – should the Panthers add a rental player with the cap space Tkachuk’s injury frees up? And what could happen if they don’t do that and Florida stumbles out of the gate?

According to David Pagnotta, Tkachuk is sidelined until January, so that’s basically half the season that Florida will be without him. But seeing that Panthers GM Bill Zito has shown repeatedly he’s willing to double down on his players, why not help the players out and get back into the trade market to make the team better right away? Even if the player you acquire is a rental under contract for only the 2025-26 year, you’ve protected your long-term picture while still managing to add talent. Thus, it makes sense for the Panthers to bring in another proven commodity, and worry about the cap situation that will come to a head when Tkachuk is ready to play.

Florida is currently $4.5 million over the salary cap, according to PuckPedia. If the Panthers were to place Tkachuk on the long-term injured reserve list, they'd have $5 million in cap space to work with.

When Tkachuk does become healthy, Zito is going to have to move out some bodies. But that shouldn’t scare away Zito from making moves like the one he made last season with the mid-season addition of star defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks. 

Since Jones' arrival from the Blackhawks, he recorded two goals and nine points, while averaging 24:55 of ice time in 21 regular-season appearances for the Panthers. Jones played a huge role when D-man Aaron Ekblad faced a 20-game suspension for violating the NHL's performance-enhancing drug policy.

Remember, the addition of Jones caused some to speculate that Ekblad wouldn’t get a decent new contract from Florida and wind up playing elsewhere next season. But lo and behold, Zito found a way to not only re-sign Ekblad, as well as fellow UFAs Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett.

They found a way to make it work with everyone they wanted to, and as a result, the Panthers are once again the odds-on favorite to win their third straight Cup. Sportsbook BetMGM has the Panthers at 7.00 odds (+600), the highest odds in the NHL. 

This is why the Panthers should be adding talent with their soon-to-be-freed-up cap space when they likely place Tkachuk on LTIR. Because if they slip down the Atlantic Division ranks and wind up fighting for a wild-card spot all season long, they may have other injuries and/or sub-par play that could combine to result in them finishing ninth or worse in the Eastern Conference next year.

That's not a far-fetched potential situation. As we saw with the New York Rangers' disastrous season last year, a once-productive team can go from winning the Presidents’ Trophy and a conference final appearance one year to falling out of the playoffs completely the next year. Even the best teams can be in trouble if they're not firing on all pistons, and while it may be a long shot that Florida misses the playoffs, they wouldn’t be the first team to fall so far so fast. 

We’re not suggesting the Panthers are definitely going to falter significantly next season. But there’s every reason to capitalize on the cap space freed up by Tkachuk’s absence. Florida already has an embarrassment of riches that can still be made better by bringing in another proven veteran, and though Tkachuk will be a key player once again when he returns next year, Zito can figure out how to get out of cap trouble once the 27-year-old is ready to play again.

Really, anything can happen between the start of the season and the midpoint of the year. Some Panthers players might get injured, and other Panthers players may make themselves expendable. Zito has got a lot of time to figure that part out, but right now is the time for him to take advantage of an opportunity and acquire someone else the team can lean on.

Stars And Slugs: How NHL Teams Copied The Florida Panthers This SummerStars And Slugs: How NHL Teams Copied The Florida Panthers This SummerFielding questions from the media in the aftermath of his second consecutive Stanley Cup, Florida coach Paul Maurice had praise for all of his Panthers in their six-game victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

The Panthers are fallible like every other team, so Zito has every reason to strengthen his roster as soon as he can. When you’re a GM who takes big swings, you instill confidence in your group. And the misfortune of Tkachuk’s injury can be converted into more talent in the room. Indeed, no Panthers player will be complaining about having another skilled player on board.

Zito can seize the moment and take control of the opportunity birthed by Tkachuk’s injury by landing another above-average player between now and the point Tkachuk returns. Given their druthers, the Panthers would want Tkachuk in the lineup from opening night through the last game of the year. But they have no choice in that matter, and Zito would do well to turn the issue in his favor by swinging for the fences on the trade front.

It’s easy for Florida to panic because of cap concerns and start trading players they’d otherwise want to retain, but Panthers management isn’t going to be that knee-jerk about it. Better to breathe, exhale, and see how things develop in the time between now and the time they’d be forced to make a decision.

If you do that, you just might make your team a championship-calibre squad once again.

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Blackhawks Star Ranked Among Best NHL Players Born In 2000s

The NHL Network recently ranked the top 25 players born during the 2000s. Without any surprise, Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard made the cut.

Bedard landed the No. 8 spot on the NHL Network's list, where he ranked ahead of other notable young stars like Adam Fantilli, Matt Boldy, Lucas Raymond, and Cole Caufield. A few players who were ranked higher than Bedard on the NHL Network's list were Wyatt Johnston, Thomas Harley, Macklin Celebrini, and Jake Sanderson.

With Bedard being one of the NHL's most exciting young stars, it is certainly understandable that he has made the NHL Network's list. The 20-year-old center has played very well early on in his career, recording 45 goals, 83 assists, and 128 points in 150 games over his first two seasons. This includes setting new career highs with 23 goals, 44 assists, and 67 points in 82 games this past season.

Overall, Bedard has shown plenty of promise early on his career, and there is no question that he should only continue to get better as he gains more experience. It is going to be very fascinating to see what kind of season he can put together in 2025-26, but it would not be surprising in the slightest if he puts together a big breakout year for Chicago.

Blackhawks Keep or Trade: Dickinson, Mikheyev, Murphy, Foligno, MoreBlackhawks Keep or Trade: Dickinson, Mikheyev, Murphy, Foligno, MoreThe Chicago Blackhawks should still be considered rebuilders as they haven't proven otherwise yet. They are going to come out of the rebuild, but just not yet. Their core is either very young and inexperienced or pieces haven't even arrived in the NHL.
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Yankees react to another 'unacceptable' series loss to Red Sox

It was another deflating loss for the Yankees on Saturday afternoon.

Having already dropped the first two games of their crucial four-game set, Garrett Crochet kept the Yankees offense at bay and New York couldn't keep the Red Sox bats quiet in their 12-1 loss.

The loss clinched another series win for the Red Sox, who are now 7-1 against the Yankees this season. The win also pushed their lead in the wild card standings to 1.5 games. 

"It sucks. It feels real crappy," manager Aaron Boone said after the loss. "We gotta get past it. We can sit here and dwell on it, [but] we gotta play better. We gotta play better against these quality opponents in our division, but we can't go erase what's been a really crappy weekend so far for us, other than putting our best foot forward tomorrow and going and salvaging one and being in control of what we have in the pen and getting to write the story the rest of the way, but we gotta go do it."

Crochet dominated the Yankees again, allowing just one run on five hits and striking out 11 batters across seven innings. But the Yankees skipper doesn't put it on just the pitching they've faced in this series. For him, it's his own offense and pitching that is the story of the three losses.

"We haven’t generated much here in this series. They shut us down…we have to find a way to scratch out some runs," he said. "The story is getting shut down. Not generating much offensively and struggling to keep them down."

Young right-hander Will Warren is the latest Yankees pitcher to struggle in this series. He allowed five runs across four innings before recently-acquired pitcher Paul Blackburn gave up seven runs in the ninth inning to make Saturday's loss a laugher.

"We've got to beat them," Warren said after the game. "We're capable of beating them, we're just not playing like we should."

"It's not ideal," Giancarlo Stanton said of the loss. "Unacceptable. We all know that. We just got to get tomorrow."

"It’s baseball, but it comes down to we got to play better," Aaron Judge said of his team's play against the Red Sox this season. "Doesn’t matter who we’re facing, whether it’s the Rays, Red Sox, Tigers, whoever. We gotta go out there with our best and we didn’t do that today or the last couple of days."

Judge went 1-for-4 with a double, only the second extra-base hit the Yankees got on Saturday -- the other being Stanton's solo shot off of Crochet. But in the three-game series, he's only 2-for-11 with a walk and four strikeouts.

It was brought to Judge's attention that he's said this team has "got to play better" a lot recently, and the reigning AL MVP said he feels like he's been saying it since Opening Day because he always feels the team can be better and that it's on the players to make it happen.

"Coaches can’t fix that, fans can’t fix that, media can’t fix that. It’s the players in this room," he said. "We have to step up. That’s what it comes down to."

He later added, "It’s baseball, it’s a tough game, we just have to keep stepping up. We have to get dirty, do the little things to put ourselves in the best position. Can’t give teams extra outs, if teams are going to give us a chance to score, we got to capitalize. We didn’t do that, especially these last three games. That’s what it comes down to. We have to show up tomorrow and start doing our thing."

In the three losses, the Red Sox have scored 19 runs while the Yankees have pushed across just four. That's less than the five errors they've committed in the first three games of this series.

After Sunday's series finale, the Yankees have three more games against the Red Sox, but this time in Boston. But that's too forward-thinking, as Judge said; they need to figure out how to get a win on Sunday. 

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Why Flyers' Rick Tocchet Still Has Everything to Prove

(Photo: James Carey Lauder, Imagn Images)

Undoubtedly, the person who will have the greatest impact on the 2025-26 Philadelphia Flyers will be new head coach Rick Tocchet.

Tocchet, 61, is heading into his 10th season as an NHL head coach having only made the playoffs twice, and that's the level the Flyers are aspiring to reach.

But the Flyers are aspiring to reach that level as a step, not the endgame or ultimate goal. That's winning the Stanley Cup, which Tocchet has done twice as an assistant coach and once as a player.

The former Flyers forward returns to Philadelphia on the heels of a successful but volatile and tumultuous tenure with the Vancouver Canucks, which was, at the end, marred by injuries, locker room issues between star players, and an overarching failure to meet greater expectations.

For better or for worse, right or wrong, it was under Tocchet's guise that the feud between Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller blew up, which led to the former suffering a career-worst 45-point season.

Franchise defenseman and Canucks captain Quinn Hughes is now on the verge of leaving if the team doesn't start winning soon, too.

Again, fairly or unfairly, the team reached this condition under Tocchet, even after an exhilarating 50-win, 100-point campaign only a year ago in 2023-24.

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In his official return to Philadelphia with the Flyers, the affable bench boss will be tasked with developing players and winning games, of which Tocchet's history is questionable.

In Vancouver, players like Pettersson, Hughes, and Miller flourished, but the two forwards later crashed and burned at the hands of each other.

Ex-Flyers forward Andrei Kuzmenko was amazing at first, but flamed out under Tocchet. Top prospects like Vasily Podkolzin and Vitali Kravtsov didn't experience much success under Tocchet, either, and ended up leaving the Canucks.

Tocchet's time with the Arizona Coyotes might be his greatest success story in terms of winning and developing simultaneously, but how you take that depends on your own view.

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For example, Clayton Keller had a 65-point age-19 season under Tocchet, but failed to crack 50 points in the three following seasons. Then, under Andre Tourigny, Keller has had no fewer than 63 points in each of the last four seasons, including a stellar 30-goal, 90-point campaign with the Utah Hockey Club last season.

Keller developed under Tocchet, but he didn't become a star under Tocchet. There's a difference. Just like how Matvei Michkov developed under John Tortorella, but won't become a star under the now-fired Tortorella.

And we can extrapolate this example for many such cases under Tocchet, for names like Jakob Chychrun, Dylan Strome, Lawson Crouse, and Nick Schmaltz.

With the Flyers, Tocchet is tasked with proving he's the guy who can get young players like Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Cam York, and more over the hump, rather than just showing them where the hump is.

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On top of that is the general expectation of winning games and being better than the fourth-worst team in the NHL, which the Flyers were last season.

The bar starts very low, yes, but to which height is the extent of which the bar can be raised?

Viewed as a long-term solution behind the bench by GM Danny Briere and the Flyers, Tocchet must show that he can win, even though extended success historically been far and few between for the 61-year-old when leading the coaching staff himself.

Even with his age, experience, and playing pedigree, Rick Tocchet is effectively starting over and needing to prove himself all over again as the new Flyers head coach.