Detroit Red Wings GM Steve
Yzerman made several moves during the off-season to bolster his
roster for the coming season.
Yzerman's most notable deal was
acquiring goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks. He also shed
the remaining year of Vladimir Tarasenko's contract, shipping him and
his $4.75 million average annual value to the Minnesota Wild.
The Wings GM also re-signed right winger
Patrick Kane and turned to the UFA market for veteran depth, signing
James van Riemsdyk, Travis Hamonic, Mason Appleton, Ian Mitchell and
Jacob Bernard-Docker.
However, a significant move to add a top-four
defenseman or a top-six forward failed to materialize.
Max Bultman of The Athletic was asked
if Yzerman might address one or both needs before the regular season
begins. He suggested that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik
Karlsson and a Penguins winger, such as Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell, might be the best options.
Karlsson, Rust and Rakell regularly
surfaced in this summer's trade rumors. However, Bultman's not
expecting any of them to don the Winged Wheel jersey, citing
Karlsson's expensive contract and the Penguins' asking price of a
first-round pick for Rust or Rakell.
Earlier this summer, the Red Wings were
linked to Ducks center Mason McTavish in the rumor mill. Some
observers suggested the close ties between Yzerman and Ducks GM Pat
Verbeek could make Detroit a landing spot for the 22-year-old RFA
center, but Bultman doubted Verbeek would part with McTavish.
Bultman also suggested that the Wings
monitor high-scoring winger Kyle Connor's contract status with the
Winnipeg Jets. The 28-year-old Michigan native is UFA-eligible next
summer. Bultman doubted the Jets would move him this early in the
season if he remains unsigned, but suggested the Wings should be
ready to inquire just in case.
Turning to the Chicago Blackhawks,
Frank Seravalli of Bleacher Report noted they still haven't
signed RFA defenseman Wyatt Kaiser.
Seravalli indicated that the Blackhawks
have nine or 10 young NHL-ready defensemen on their blueline. They
could end up shopping one of them, but he doesn't anticipate Kaiser
will be a trade candidate.
Four of the Blackhawks' young
rearguards – Artyom Levshunov, Kevin Korchinski, Sam Linzel and Nolan Allen – are waiver-exempt, so they could demote one or two if
necessary. They could also attempt to trade Connor Murphy, who is
UFA-eligible next July, though that move would take away their most
experienced blueliner.
For
action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue,
subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.
Get the latest news and trending stories by
subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on
THN.com.
Felix Auger-Aliassime saw off Alex de Minaur and Amanda Anisimova avenged her Wimbledon thrashing by Iga Swiatek, to reach the semi-finals
Now an easy hold for Demon, and though it’s possible one of these takes three tight sets, the sense is that we’re settling in for a good few hours. Let’s hope so: we’ve had too many one-sided matches these last 10 days and we’re due a classic. That said, I really enjoyed the beating Osaka put on Gauff, with Muchova v Kostyuk probably my most enjoyed match so far. Meantime, Felix nails an ace for 40-30, then spanks a forehand into the corner. But De Minaur hoists a moon-ball of a lob and the overhead goes into the net; at 1-1 deuce, here comes pressure … quickly alleviated with a monstrous serve and follow-up overhead. That’s a really good sign, given what happened in the previous point, and when the Demon nets, he leads 2-1 in the first, on serve.
Auger-Aliassime holds to 15, looking pretty good while doing it. He’s into the match and looks good and businesslike. And for extra points, he’s got Daffy Duck on his shirt.
“Yeah, he’s going to the IL. He has an oblique strain,” Cora said on WEEI.
Cora added the Red Sox “don’t know” the exact recovery timeline but “it usually takes from four to six weeks.”
Four weeks from Tuesday is Sept. 30, which is the first day of the postseason, with the Wild Card series running through Oct. 2. Six weeks from Tuesday is Oct. 14, which will be after the completion of the ALDS.
“He’s one of our best offensive players,” Cora said. “It sounds harsh, but we have to move on. We’ve got to put that uniform on today and try to win a game. And we’ve been through this before, right? [Triston] Casas and we traded [Rafael Devers]. There’s been a lot of stuff with this team, and we’ve been able to keep going. So I expect the group to do the same thing.”
The 21-year-old Anthony has been exceptional since earning his call-up to the majors in early June.
In 71 games, he’s batted .292 with an .859 OPS, recording 18 doubles, a triple and eight home runs while driving in 32 runs. After being moved into the leadoff spot of Boston’s lineup, Anthony has in late July, he has hit .320 and reached base at a .411 clip, posting a .931 OPS.
While Anthony alone hasn’t been responsible, his call-up represents a pretty stark turnaround for the Red Sox. They were 32-35 when Anthony was elevated from Triple-A Worcester, and they’ve gone 46-27 since he made his debut.
The Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández singles off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler, driving in a run, during the third inning of Tuesday's game. (Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)
It was not quite a benching. But it served as a reminder nonetheless.
Last year, in many ways, Teoscar Hernández was the heart and soul of the Dodgers. Not their best player. Nor their biggest star. But someone who provided effervescent vibes in the clubhouse, veteran leadership in the dugout and clutch hits in several of the season’s biggest moments at the plate.
"Teo is a guy that we counted on a lot last year,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He's a guy that I really admire, because he can balance the fun part of baseball but also have that edge.”
This year, however, frustration has doused much of the fun. Struggles have dulled his usual edge.
Between injuries, slumps, defensive miscues and mechanical swing flaws, Hernández has endured one of his worst career seasons. He is batting just .247, his lowest since 2019. He has a .734 OPS, the lowest of his career and just a smidge above league-average. His limited range in right field has led to a flurry of dropped balls and some of the poorest defensive metrics of any big leaguer at the position. And going back to the last week of June, no other Dodger player (not even Michael Conforto) has been worth fewer wins above replacement than Hernández’s negative-0.5 mark, according to Fangraphs.
“For me, not being the same as last year is a little frustrating,” Hernández said. “I don't want to be like that. I want to be better than last year. But it's baseball. It's life. You just have to keep working, keep trusting in yourself and the things that you can do to help the team."
Last weekend, however, Roberts had a different idea. In the midst of Hernández’s latest cold spell, the outfielder was unexpectedly benched for Sunday’s series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“He's an every-day guy,” Roberts said that day. “But I do think that where we're at, you've got to perform, too, to warrant being out there every single day.”
The move wasn’t punitive, with Roberts also accounting for Monday’s off day in hopes “a two-day reset could help” the two-time All-Star.
But still, with the stretch run of the season nearing, the manager was dropping a hint to his star slugger as well.
“I think we've lost a little bit of that edge over the last couple months,” Roberts said Tuesday of Hernández, having had “numerous conversations” to communicate the same message with him personally.
“For me, I want to see that edge, that fight, that fire, and I'll bet on any result. I just want to see that. We're past the mechanical part of [his struggles with his swing]. Let's just get into the fight. I've seen it. And I believe that's what's to come in the next month and beyond."
This is not the position the Dodgers expected to be in when they re-signed Hernández to a three-year, $66 million contract this offseason — a move Roberts described as a “no-brainer” at the time after pushing for the front office to bring the free-agent back to Los Angeles.
He trusted Hernández’s bat, which mashed 33 home runs and 99 RBIs in his debut Dodgers season in 2024. He appreciated Hernández’s heartbeat, and how he delivered one of the season’s biggest swings in the fifth inning of Game 5 of the World Series.
In bringing Hernández back, the Dodgers hoped that his mere presence would elevate the rest of the roster for this year’s championship defense.
“He knows his value for our ballclub,” Roberts said. “He knows my expectations of him individually.”
Only, to this point, Hernández has struggled to replicate that same intangible magic.
After a blistering start to the season (.315 average, nine home runs, and an MLB-most 34 RBIs through his first 33 games), the outfielder suffered a groin/adductor strain while stretching for a line drive in Miami, landing him on the injured list for two weeks. When he returned, he looked far from 100%, struggling to rediscover his swing or cover much ground in right. Before long, a slump took hold. And as it stretched on through the summer — compounded by foot contusion on a foul ball he suffered in July — frustration began to mount.
“It's tough when you feel good and then something happens and you have to miss … whatever the amount of games might be,” Hernández said. “It was one of those for me this year. I got injured, then I came back. I fouled it off my foot and then missed games [again].”
He later added: “For me, being hurt is more frustrating than having a bad year. I'd rather be on the field having a bad year, than not being on the field and just fighting back and forth.”
Staying on the field, of course, hasn’t alleviated Hernández’s problems. After the All-Star break, he said his body finally started feeling better. On Tuesday, he proclaimed his groin and foot to be back to full health.
And yet, over his previous eight games, he had batted only three-for-27 leading up to Sunday’s removal from the lineup. Worse than that, he had fallen back into a habit of chasing too much, leading to non-competitive at-bats at a time Roberts had been trying to emphasize the opposite.
“[I want to see] Teo getting back to having that edge,” Roberts reiterated.
In Hernández’s return to the lineup Tuesday, some positive signs finally presented themselves. He fought off a pair of two-strike pitches before lining a second-inning single. He did the same thing in the third inning to drive in a run. Defensively, there was another awkward moment, when Hernández failed to make a sliding catch on a shallow fly ball down the right-field line in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ four-run first inning. But even on that play, Roberts argued postgame, Hernández got a good jump and covered a lot of ground — breaking into the kind of hard-charging sprint that hadn’t always been there earlier this season.
“If I see a good jump getting off the ball, good effort, I’ve got no problem with it,” Roberts said.
Really, that’s all Roberts is hoping for from Hernández moving forward now.
To have the kind of consistent intensity level that has wavered at times this season. To rekindle that balance of having fun and playing with an edge down the stretch run of the season.
“We're going to see that,” Roberts said. “I have no doubt.”
“You just leave everything on the field,” Hernández echoed. “I'm going to keep working, keep doing my routine, keep doing the stuff that I normally do to get back on track. And hopefully I get the results that I want to help the team."
Framber Valdez gave up a grand slam to the Yankees during Tuesday’s defeat. Photograph: Ashley Landis/AP
Houston starter Framber Valdez said he apologized to his catcher César Salazar after hitting him in the chest with a pitch on Tuesday night, but he insisted that he didn’t hit his teammate on purpose.
Salazar appeared to ask Valdez to step off the mound when the bases were loaded in the fifth inning of the Astros’ loss to the New York Yankees. But Valdez declined to do so, and then gave up a grand slam to Trent Grisham in a game Houston lost 7-1. Two pitches later, Valdez hit Salazar in the chest. Salazar appeared surprised by the pitch and started hard at Valdez, who quickly turned his back on his teammate. That led to speculation the Valdez was upset with his catcher about Grisham’s at bat.
“What happened with us, we just got crossed up,” Valdez said. “I called for that pitch, I threw it and we got crossed up. We went down to the dugout and I excused myself with him and I said sorry to him and I take full responsibility for that.”
Valdez was then asked directly if he hit Salazar on purpose. “No,” he said. “It was not intentional.”
There’s speculation that Astros pitcher Framber Valdez purposely crossed up his catcher Cesar Salazar and hit him with this pitch after Salazar told him to step off before allowing a grand slam pic.twitter.com/ds3c9MzQV6
Valdez and Salazar were talking when reporters entered the clubhouse after the game and Valdez said they had resolved the issues between themselves.
“We were able to talk through it,” he said. “We spoke after the game … at his locker and everything’s good between us. It’s just stuff that happens in baseball. But yeah, we talked through it and we’re good.”
Salazar was asked about what happened on the pitch where he was hit. “The stadium was loud,” he said. “I thought I pressed the button, but I pressed the wrong button. I was expecting another pitch, but it wasn’t it.”
Salazar said Valdez didn’t hit him on purpose. “No, me and Framber we actually have a really good relationship,” he said.
Olympic boxing body stands firm over new testing rules
Gold medalist has appealed to Cas over eligibility bar
Imane Khelif has the right to appeal against World Boxing’s decision barring her from events unless she undergoes genetic sex testing but the Algerian has not entered the world championships in Liverpool, the World Boxing president, Boris van der Vorst, has said.
World Boxing, which will oversee the tournaments at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, introduced mandatory sex testing for all boxers in its competitions in May, less than a year after Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting won gold in Paris amid a gender-eligibility row.
Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...
Mets Notes
Juan Soto is hitting .303/.466/.730 with 12 home runs, 28 RBI, 29 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases in 118 plate appearances over his last 25 games dating back to Aug. 6
Ryne Stanekhas tossed four consecutive scoreless outings
Clay Holmes allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits while walking one and striking out two in 5.0 innings during his last start
METS
TIGERS
Francisco Lindor, SS
Colt Keith, 3B
Juan Soto, RF
Gleyber Torres, 2B
Pete Alonso, 1B
Kerry Carpenter, DH
Brandon Nimmo, LF
Riley Greene, LF
Mark Vientos, 3B
Spencer Torkelson, 1B
Jeff McNeil, CF
Wenceel Perez, RF
Starling Marte, DH
Zach McKinstry, SS
Brett Baty, 2B
Javier Baez, CF
Hayden Senger, C
Jake Rogers, C
What channel is SNY?
Check your TV or streaming provider's website or channel finder to find your local listings.
How can I stream the game?
The new way to stream SNY games is via the MLB App or MLB.tv. Streaming on the SNY App has been discontinued.
Open “MLB” and tap on “Subscriber Login” for Apple Devices or “Sign in with MLB.com” for Android Devices.
Type in your MLB.com credentials and tap “Log In.”
To access live or on-demand content, tap on the "Watch" tab from the bottom navigation bar. Select the "Games" sub-tab to see a listing of available games. You can scroll to previous dates using the left and right arrows. Tap on a game to select from the game feeds available.
For more information on how to stream Mets games on SNY, please click here.
From winning the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery to a general manager change, a move that brought even more internal changes outside of just roster construction, things have fundamentally shifted within the New York Islanders organization.
The focus, and rightfully so, is on the on-ice product for the Islanders, who missed the playoffs last season. While not at the forefront, the amount of change that has occurred for the Bridgeport Islanders, their AHL affiliate, cannot be overlooked and should come with just as much excitement.
Following a horrid 15-50-4-3 season, the organization elected to fire Rick Kowalsky and his assistants, holding on to only goaltender coach Sergei Naumov, after the team won just four games at home the entire season.
Enter Rocky Thompson, the newest head coach for Bridgeport and one who previously lifted hardware in the OHL, leading the Windsor Spitfires to the Memorial Cup as their head coach back in 2017.
In his introductory press conference, Thompson said all the right things, discussing how hard the team will work and how much he’s learned serving as an assistant coach under John Tortorella and new Islanders assistant coach Bob Boughner.
What sticks out the most still today is his tagline from that day: “We’re not going to be the punching bags anymore.”
For all the many flaws the Bridgeport team had last year, confidence likely became the biggest. No longer will the Islanders roll over. The entire identity has flipped.
That’s per the Bridgeport prospects who spoke at development camp about their excitement to play for Thompson and showcase that the organization’s future is brighter after the light dimmed following some tough seasons.
Beyond the coaching change, the roster adjustments will be quite enticing for fans as well. The franchise struck a balance between retaining former star veterans and overhauling the vast majority of the team’s leadership.
Defensively, the team underwent a massive makeover. The headliner of the additions is Ethan Bear, one of the best defensemen in the AHL over the last couple of seasons.
The Regina, SK native led the division-winning Hershey Bears in points (46) and assists (36) last season and represented Hershey at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic. He was also named to the AHL’s Second All-Star Team, one of the highest honors in the league. He has a chip on his shoulder as he tries to fight for another chance in the NHL. He’ll be a great leader within that younger room.
Other defensive additions include Cole McWard, Luke Rowe, and Sean Day. It’s very possible that Day, more than any other signing, could prove to be the coup of the lot. One of the best skaters around, Day received exceptional status back in his junior hockey days, and there are believers there’s still an NHL player within the 27-year-old still.
The offense will look different, too. Franchise record-holder Chris Terry returns to lead this group into its next era. Julien Gauthier returns following missing all but nine AHL and one NHL game last year due to a season-ending upper-body injury. Iis offense is something Bridgeport desperately could’ve used.
Matthew Maggio and Alex Jefferies are both looking to take that next step forward. Maggio has always been a leader, with that skillset heavily on display during development camp this past July.
External addition Matthew Highmore will be a key presence for the team at the center position.
Most significantly, the team will have its late-season college free agent signings playing for the entire season. Cam Berg, a 2021 fourth-round pick, will play the full season with Bridgeport, along with Gleb Veremyev, who looks like a player who may not only be a hulking presence for Bridgeport but a dark horse candidate for a potential NHL call-up at some point throughout the upcoming season.
There will also be an exciting local flavor to the team.
Laurel Hollow’s Marshall Warren returns and only looks better with every passing game he plays. Warren’s close friend and Copaigue native Ross Mitton returns after signing as a college free agent.
Mitton will quickly become a fan favorite behind his hard-nose, high-energy game, which he brings as a self-described power forward. While Max Dorrington is from Massachussets, he played his final college season down the road from Bridgeport with Sacred Heart. Veremyev is from New Jersey. These local pieces only enhance the bond that the team looks to grow with the fanbase.
The final part of this roster reconstruction and one of the most important upgrades comes in the goaltending department.
David Rittich’s addition to the NHL squad as Ilya Sorokin’s backup, if Semyon Varlamov isn’t ready to go once the season begins, bumps Marcus Hogberg further down the depth chart, guaranteeing the Swedish netminder will open as a key figure for Bridgeport.
Parker Garhagen, an AHL veteran, joined the room as well. Tristan Lennox and Henrik Tikkanen return, too, but they seem more likely to start in the ECHL. Hogberg and Garhagen, on paper, look to be one of Bridgeport’s best tandems in a long time.
If Varlamov is ready to go, there’s a chance that Rittich plays in Bridgeport, that is, if he passes through waivers. That’s not likely, especially given his $1 million cap hit and his NHL backup track record.
While all of these reasons are compelling for excitement, there’s one player who has generated more excitement and buzz this summer than any other. Calum Ritchie.
The centerpiece of the Brock Nelson trade and now a top prospect for the Islanders, Ritchie will attend New York’s NHL training camp with the hopes of making the roster. If he does not do so, and currently Stefen Rosner’s roster projection has him missing the cut, Ritchie immediately becomes the headliner for this entire Bridgeport team.
The 20-year-old posted 70 points (15 goals, 55 assists) in 47 OHL regular-season games last season with the Oshawa Generals, then added another 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in 21 playoff games.
The level of excitement surrounding Ritchie is very high, and if he starts in the AHL, he will be at the top of their lineup and consistently one of the most exciting players not just for Bridgeport, but in the entirety of the AHL this upcoming season.
Bridgeport opens its season on Saturday, October 11, against the Providence Bruins at Total Mortgage Arena. To get tickets and learn more about game-night promotions and events, click HERE
Stay updated with the most interesting Islanders stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
Sportsnet’s Eric Engels is at the GM meeting in Detroit, and he had the opportunity to speak to Tampa Bay Lightning and Team Canada coach John Cooper. The bench boss had very nice things to say about the Montreal Canadiens captain, Nick Suzuki.
The one thing I didn’t know about him was his personality. I made a point to spend time with him in Calgary, and I learned he’s a phenomenal kid. He’s pretty quiet, reads the room, but very engaging when you sit with him one-on-one. I had a great time with him, so that’s just another box checked in the cosmic trajectory of Nick Suzuki.
That statement doesn’t guarantee Suzuki a roster spot on the Canadian team for the upcoming Olympic Games, but it’s a step in the right direction. Cracking the roster won’t be easy, after all, following Canada's win in the 4 Nations Face-Off, the coach likened the Canadian brass’ job to fine-tuning a Ferrari.
The Canadiens captain certainly performed like a Ferrari after the international break last season; he put up the fourth most points in the league after the tournament, carrying his side to the playoffs. The Olympic roster is expected to include 25 players, and traditionally, teams take three goalies, meaning there are only 22 spots left for skaters. Suzuki’s body of work indeed suggests that he has what it takes to make the selection.
The Canadian team is in good hands with GM Doug Armstrong and Cooper behind the bench. The Lightning pilot has plenty of experience and knows how to get a team to become a winning one. He has a 572-306-83 record in 961 NHL games, two Stanley Cup Rings, and two more conference championships.
Furthermore, the Lightning coach is a good and generous man. For several years, a group of fans has gathered in Montreal to attend an event called the Habs Summit. They all catch a game together, but they also hold a fundraiser for the Montreal Canadiens’ Children Foundation. One year, the game the group attended was against Cooper and the Bolts. When he heard about the fundraiser, the coach not only donated one of his sticks to help raise funds, but he also got one of his alternate captains, Victor Hedman, to provide a stick as well.
While some believe Cooper is biased and favors his own players when it comes to roster composition, I think he tends to go with the players he knows will help him win. This season, when the Canadiens take on the Lightning on December 9, you can be sure Cooper will be keeping close track of what the Habs captain does on the ice. The final rosters are due on December 31, 2025, and the Canadian brass will be taking notes until then.
Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have 40 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today we look at the history of jersey #40.
Let's take a look.
Bill Bowler - 2000-01 - Bowler was undrafted out of Toronto, CA.
Bowler played a total of 9 games for the Jackets during their inaugural season and had two points. He spent most of that year with the Syracuse Crunch and totaled 79 points in 72 games. In 2002, he spent one season in Germany before retiring.
Bowler has worked for the Windsor Spitfires as the VP. of Hockey Operations and General Manager since 2019.
Brad Moran - 2001-04 - Moran was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 7th round of the 1998 NHL Draft.
The Jackets signed Moran as a free agent in 2000. He only played in 5 games as a Blue Jacket and had 2 points. He spent most of his time playing for the AHL Syracuse Crunch. In his final year with the Crunch in 2004-05, he played in 80 games and had 72 points.
Moran left for a second stint in Europe in 2011 and played the last six years of his career there. He would retire after playing two seasons in the EIHL in 2017.
Moran would be the GM and HC of the Calgary Canucks in the Alberta Junior Hockey League from 2018 to 2025. For the 25-26 season, Moran is signed on to be the Asst. Coach of the WHL's Calgary Hitmen.
Duvie Westcott - 2001-08 - Westcott was undrafted and signed by the CBJ in 2001.
Wescott played in 201 games for the Blue Jackets from 2001 to 2008. He scored 11 goals and totaled 56 points. Wescott was described as "a gritty defenseman with a solid all-around game. Has good passing ability and powerplay skills."
After playing for Columbus, Wescott went to Europe and played the next seven seasons in the KHL, DEL, and Swiss National League. He retired in 2015.
Fred Brathwaite - 2003-04 - Brathwaite was undrafted out of Ottawa, Canada.
Brathwaite played in 21 games for the Jackets in the 2003-04 season. He went 4-11-1 with an .897 SV %. After his year in Columbus, he bounced back and forth between North America and Europe. He didn't play from 2012 to 2020. He was hired by the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights as their goaltending coach in 2020, where he remains. At age 48, he dressed as a backup for Henderson when Logan Thompson was unavailable.
Jaroslav Balaštík - 2005-07 - Balaštík was drafted in the 6th round of the 2002 NHL Draft by Columbus.
Jaroslav Balaštík played in 74 career games for the CBJ. He scored 13 goals and totaled 24 points during his tenure. After his time with Columbus, he returned to his home country of Czechia, where he would play until 2015.
Jared Boll - 2007-16 - Boll was drafted in the 4th round of the 2005 NHL Draft.
Boll played in 518 games for the CBJ and totaled 62 points. He is #1 all-time in CBJ history with 1,195 and has 154 fights to his name.
Jared Boll was a big man in his playing days. Standing 6-foot-3 and 206 pounds, there weren’t too many who would willingly step up to Boll. He was an old-school enforcer who would not hesitate to stand up for his teammates and take one on the chin if necessary. In his career, he fought the St Louis Blues more than any other team. He had four seasons where he had fight totals over 20 and there were a few seasons that were 15+. His most common opponent was Krys Bach (5), and he fought the likes of Paul Bissonnette (4), George Parros (4), and Clayton Stoner. Boll is the best enforcer the CBJ has ever had.
After retiring from the Anaheim Ducks, Boll returned to Columbus, where he is now an assistant coach.
Daniil Tarasov - 2021-25 - Tarasov was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
Tarasov started 61 games for Columbus during his tenure, going 19-34-6 with a SV% of .898. Used primarily as a backup, Tarasov's time is Columbus in generally looked at as a failure, but it's mainly due to injuries.
Unfortunately for Tarasov, he was stuck behind Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzļikins for a few years. While Merzļikins was struggling, he had every opportunity to grab the bull by the horns and take off, but he did not do that.
Last season, everything kind of came unglued for the young Russian. He was benched in favor of Jet Greaves on several occasions and even had to be sent to Cleveland on a conditioning assignment. Things were not going well. He ended last season with a SV% of .881.
On 26 June 2025, Tarasov was traded to the Florida Panthers, in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft. The book on Daniil Tarasov in Columbus was finally over.
There are 40 days to go until opening night at NWA. Who was your favorite #40?
Let us know what you think below.
Stay updated with the most interesting Blue Jackets stories, analysis, breaking news, and more!
Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News and never miss a story.
Earlier this summer, the NHL and NHLPA agreed to a four-year extension of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The deal included a number of amendments. With the current CBA terms expiring at the end of the 2025-26 season, there was a question as to which changes would apply immediately and which would go into effect a year from now when the extension officially kicks in.
Now we have our answer.
As listed by Puckpedia.com, the rule changes now in place as part of the CBA include:
New Playoff Salary Cap
Limits/changes to LTIR, reducing the benefits a team receives on LTIR
No Deferred Compensation (effective Oct 7, 2025)
Restriction on Paper Loans
Restriction on a second retention on a traded contract
Four Recall rule
New Playoff Salary Cap
The new playoff salary cap is the most significant change and will go into effect for the upcoming playoffs. Under the new rule, there is now a 'playoff salary cap compliance requirement'. This means teams must submit a playoff roster where the aggregate cap hit of all active players cannot exceed the upper salary cap limit. The upper limit for the 2025-26 season is $95.5 million.
This effectively closes a loophole that the Leafs have used in the past, where they could load up on players without any restriction once the playoffs began and bolster their lineup. The Leafs, of course, were not the only team to do this, nor were they the team that exploited this rule the most. Previous Stanley Cup champions like the Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and Vegas Golden Knights were teams that used the mechanism regularly.
There are also some daily cap accumulation accounting changes that may prohibit teams from acquiring a dead contract, for example. If a team does acquire Carey Price’s cap hit, that contract may still count for the playoff roster, even though he didn’t play. Dead caps, buyouts, and overagers would hit the playoff cap on a pro-rated basis.
Limits/changes to LTIR, reducing the benefits a team receives on LTIR
In the past, when a player was placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), a team could maximize the player's full salary cap hit. Now, that number will not be allowed to exceed the lower of the player’s cap hit or the average salary from the previous season. The average salary last year, according to Puckpedia, was $3,817,293. There is still a provision where the team could get more in cap relief, but the player has to be determined to be medically unfit for both the remainder of the regular season and Stanley Cup playoffs to be eligible.
No Deferred Compensation (effective Oct 7, 2025)
A contract that consists of money paid out after the end of the contract is no longer permitted as of Oct. 7. This is the first day that the NHL starts calculating the salary cap for the 2025-26 season. If the Leafs want to extend a player with that type of provision, they have until Oct. 6. The Maple Leafs used the provision twice last season. The Leafs re-signed defenseman Jake McCabe and used deferred money to bring his salary cap hit down to $4.51 million. Toronto did that again this summer when they signed John Tavares to a four-year extension with a salary cap hit of $4.38 million.
Restriction on Paper Loans
When a player is sent down to the minors, they must report every time and play in at least one AHL game before being permitted to be recalled. This effectively eliminates situations where teams would game daily cap accrual or save money by paying players at their AHL level of compensation on days off instead of at the NHL level. This was particularly in place with a player like Nick Robertson two seasons ago, when he was bouncing up and down.
Restriction on a second retention on a traded contract
When the salary cap was flat in 2021, NHL teams began to get creative when it came to trying to get a player’s cap down. Teams like the Leafs would use a third team as a broker to get a player’s cap hit reduced to as much as 25 percent. They first did this when they acquired forward Nick Foligno from the Columbus Blue Jackets. They required the help of the San Jose Sharks to retain an additional 25 percent of Foligno’s $5.5 million cap hit.
Four Recall Amendment
The NHL only allows four non-emergency recalls from the NHL trade deadline to the end of the AHL season. That number will now be modified to five for this season, but only four of those recalls can be on the NHL roster at any time. This has generally not been anything the Leafs were too affected by as most of their recalls toward the end of a season have been emergency recalls. There is also word that pending an agreement with the Canadian Hockey League, an AHL loan of a 19-year-old player will be permitted for one person per team. The Leafs would have likely utilized that last year when prospect Easton Cowan was returned to the London Knights.
A Shift in the Maple Leafs Strategy?
With all the changes the Maple Leafs have undergone this year, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Leafs keep their roster the way it is to start the season. With all the restrictions in LTIR, being a salary-cap accrual team will still help when it comes to roster flexibility. We wrote about this and with many of the LTIR rule changes now going into effect this season, it is by far the most prudent strategy as Toronto navigates under some new accounting rules.
The Athletics now have won back-to-back AL Player of the Month honors, with rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz capturing the award in July.
Langeliers took home the latest honor by slashing .284/.307/.661 with 31 hits, eight doubles, 11 homers and 22 RBI in 25 August games.
The highlight of Langeliers’ banner month came on Aug. 5, when he went 5-for-6 with a double and three solo homers in a 16-7 win over the Washington Nationals.
In addition to the two AL Player of the Month awards, the Athletics also have three AL Rookie of the Month honors this season (shortstop Jacob Wilson in May and Kurtz in June and July).
Amid all the off-the-field turmoil surrounding the Athletics, Langeliers has been a steady force, as he leads the team with 29 homers entering Wednesday’s game in St. Louis.
The Athletics are building a young core around Kurtz, Wilson and outfielders Lawrence Butler and Tyler Soderstrom. But Langeliers’ first-career AL Player of the Month honor shows that he’s still an important part of what the A’s are trying to accomplish.
The Philadelphia Flyers have had a leadership opening since the NHL trade deadline, and Travis Sanheim is a prime candidate to step in and step up.
Captain Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny, who wears the 'A' for the Flyers, remain from last season's leadership group, but Scott Laughton and his 'A' were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the NHL trade deadline last year.
That leaves new Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet with a decision to make ahead of opening night, though it's a fairly obvious choice at this juncture.
Sanheim, 29, is the best choice to join the Flyers' leaders going forward, cementing his rise from trade candidate to acting No. 1 defenseman for the team that drafted him in 2014.
Sanheim, along with Couturier, was on hand for the Flyers for the official unveiling of Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday, which says a lot about him and how the Flyers see him.
Drafted 17th overall by the Flyers just over a decade ago, Sanheim has seen the playoffs and missed the playoffs, had great seasons and had bad seasons, but still managed to continue to work every day, every season, and improve to where he is today.
Regardless of how good you think Sanheim truly is, he's represented Canada, and he's the backbone of the Flyers.
He, Couturier, and Konecny all have this in common: they were all first-round picks of the Flyers, became NHL regulars early in their careers, and have been through the highs and lows of the NHL to become the leaders they are today.
This is exactly the kind of message the Flyers want to convey to their rising young players, like Tyson Foerster, Cam York, and Matvei Michkov.
The Flyers have other candidates for assistant captaincy, too, like Nick Seeler and Noah Cates, but Sanheim has been in Philadelphia the longest and has undergone the ascent reflective of a long-term leader.
Expect the smooth-skating defender to tack on even more responsibility under Tocchet with the Flyers in the 2025-26 season.
