Sports
Senators pull off a blockbuster by acquiring Arizona defenceman Jakob Chychrun
With less than 48 hours until Friday’s NHL trade deadline, the Ottawa Senators acquired Arizona Coyotes defenceman Jakob Chychrun on Wednesday night and weren’t forced to give up any of the club’s top prospects.
The Senators acquired Chychrun from the Coyotes in exchange for a conditional first-round pick in 2023, a conditional second-round pick in 2024 and second-round selection in 2026. Talks between these two teams have been going on for several months.
Dorion was thrilled to bring Chychrun into the fold.
“A defenceman we’ve coveted, Jakob is big and plays imposing. He possesses a quality skill set; he defends hard and is highly skilled. He uses his heavy shot with accuracy and is effective at creating offence as a threat at the offensive blue line,” said Dorion.
And Chychrun couldn’t be happier to be here. His father, Jeff, a former NHLer, grew up in Ottawa and the family spends the summer in the area at their home on White Lake, 20 minutes west of Arnprior.
“He’s been professional throughout. For him to come back to a place where he has significant ties, to the Ottawa area, with a young and exciting team, is just a great fit for him as a player. I think he’ll be a tremendous asset to the team and to the community.”
The talks heated up late Tuesday night between the Senators and Coyotes. The Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers were both in heavy pursuit of Chychrun, but they opted to go elsewhere when they were unable to get a deal in place.
The two sides had several discussions throughout the past 15 months, but weren’t able to find common ground until Arizona GM Bill Armstrong dropped his demand for one of the club’s top prospects during discussions that continued Wednesday morning.
“Our aim more was to acquire draft capital,” said Armstrong. “We were able to walk out of the draft last year with three first-rounders and a host of other picks. We were looking to do the same here and this will give us the chance for two fairly high picks in the first round of the draft.
“You can really make some hay when you do that. This just helps us further stock our picks for future drafts.”
Coming off back-to-back wins over the Detroit Red Wings in a series the club completed Tuesday night, the Senators sit only five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wildcard spot in the East with 22 games left on the schedule.
Dorion wanted to see where the club stood March 1, and with the Senators back in the conversation for a playoff spot he wanted badly to be able to help this group. Getting Chychrun is a message to the dressing room that the organization believes in this group.
Anthony LeBlanc, the club’s president of business operations, is a former part-owner of the Coyotes and he can’t say enough good things about Chychrun.
“He’s a a great young man and a quality, great guy,” LeBlanc said in a text message to Postmedia on Wednesday night. “He’s also one hell of a hockey player, but someone who comes from strong hockey stock.
“I am not involved on the hockey operations side other than picking up Pierre’s dry cleaning, but I definitely hoped this could happen. Now I guess I have to pick up Pierre’s lunch as well.”
“We both work the phones pretty hard so whether you talk about that or not there’s still ongoing (discussions),” said Armstrong. “When you see a Zaitsev moved, you see an opportunity for us to have talks.
“We did that slowly, but surely, and then kind of gradually got into it.”
Sports
Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
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AP NBA:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Sports
Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Sports
Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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