What is the most suitable and exciting team in play for Alexis Lafreniere? — @alehtonen
The best story is the Montreal Canadiens getting to select Lafreniere, keeping the forward prospect in his home province. That’s the Hallmark story, and it would be an amazing consolation prize for the Canadiens if they lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers. Montreal has not had the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft since 1980, when it selected Doug Wickenheiser. The Canadiens could have had Quebec native Denis Savard or Paul Coffey, too. Either way, Lafreniere going to Montreal would be the biggest story of the 2020 NHL Draft. It’s too bad he’s not a center, because that’s where the Canadiens have a real need, but getting the chance to have a potential generational talent on the wing would be among the most significant developments for Montreal in a long time.
The Canadiens, who went 31-31-9 (.500 points percentage) before the NHL paused the season on March 12 due to concerns about the coronavirus, are the No. 12 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins (40-23-6, .623) are the No. 5 seed.
What if Lafreniere, who played for Rimouski in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, were to land with the Penguins and potentially get to play with center Sidney Crosby, who also played for Rimouski? The public explosion of opinions would be wild, but the options for Pittsburgh would be amazing. The Penguins could have Lafreniere play with center Evgeni Malkin, keeping forward Jake Guentzel with Crosby. Or what about a line that includes Crosby with Lafreniere and Guentzel? Intriguing. They could have all four plus defenseman Kris Letang on the power play, with Lafreniere potentially shooting from his off wing.
Another intriguing consideration is the Edmonton Oilers losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in the qualifiers and winning the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery. The Oilers (37-25-9, .585) are the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference; the Blackhawks (32-30-8, .514) are the No. 12 seed. A draft lottery win would be Edmonton’s fifth since 2010; it used the previous four No. 1 picks to select forward Taylor Hall (2010), center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011), forward Nail Yakupov (2012) and center Connor McDavid (2015). Similar to the Penguins, the Oilers would have great options, including using Lafreniere with either McDavid or center Leon Draisaitl. They could each be a part of the power-play unit.
The eight teams that are eliminated from the best-of-5 qualifiers each will have a chance to win the No. 1 pick based on the results of the first drawing for the draft lottery. A second drawing will be held after the qualifiers are completed and before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to determine who will receive the No. 1 pick. Each of the eliminated teams will have a 12.5 percent chance of winning.
Training camps, which are part of Phase 3 of the NHL Return to Play Plan, are expected to open July 10. When Phase 4 begins, at a date and in two hub cities to be determined, the qualifiers will be played.
If the Arizona Coyotes win the No. 1 pick, do you think a potential trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs for Auston Matthews is possible? Arizona would get a homegrown star while Toronto gets Alexis Lafreniere, NHL salary cap space to fill in the blue line, and potentially another piece. — @Rob_Oswald
Mind blown. Love it. But I think it’s a fantasy.
If the Coyotes get the No. 1 pick, they’d have to convince the Maple Leafs that Lafreniere has better upside than Matthews, because that’s the crux of the trade proposal you made. But that’s a hard thing to do based on what we know about Matthews and what we don’t know about Lafreniere.
Matthews is averaging 1.01 points per game (285 points in 282 games), including 0.56 goals per game (158 in 282 games) during his NHL career. He likely would have scored 50 goals this season (he had 47 in 70 games) if it hadn’t been paused. He’s 22, four years older than Lafreniere. He’s a center, and the Maple Leafs are in win-now mode with two of the best players in the game at the position: him and John Tavares.
Lafreniere has great upside, but we don’t know if he’s going to turn into a player as impactful as Matthews. He’s also a left wing, and my belief is teams are built through the middle, which is why Toronto is in a great position with Matthews.
I don’t think the Maple Leafs would do it. I think the Coyotes would love it.
Will the NHL have any hurdles to jump over with the lack of noise in the arena? Similar to the Major League Baseball game played in Baltimore with no fans, the players had to watch what they said. The microphones could hear them without a crowd. — @theashcity
It’s a great question and one I never really thought about before you asked it. My initial thought is that a hockey game lends itself to more noise than a baseball game, such as the one played without fans in attendance at Camden Yards between the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox on April 29, 2015. Baseball is clearly a slower, more methodical game that allows for lulls in action, leading to quiet on the field. With that, it’s easier to pick up a singular voice, which is what was happening that day in Baltimore.
Hockey isn’t like that. The skates, the sticks, the pucks, the boards, the posts and the pings, it all creates a soundtrack unique to the game, and I think some of that could drown out voices from players, coaches and referees. I’d be blind to the situation if I said it would drown all of it out, but there are other ways to make the sounds of the game suitable for a television broadcast, potentially including a 7-10 second delay that gives the producers the opportunity to hear something that shouldn’t reach the airwaves and hopefully quickly silence that part.
There is also the possibility of creating artificial crowd noise, such as what they’re doing for some soccer broadcasts. That’s a divisive issue publicly. I don’t think it’ll be perfect. How could it be without fans in the building? But I’d argue that the broadcasts aren’t perfect when there are fans screaming their heads off and noise is nearly blowing the roof off arenas. Mikes pick up voices. Lips are read. It happens. But I think players, coaches and referees will understand the weight of their voices and how they can carry, and will be mindful of it.
Nils Lundkvist is staying another year in Sweden. Do you think the New York Rangers maybe use him as a trading chip to get a top-four left-handed defenseman for Jacob Trouba given they already have a clog on the right side? — @1994_nyr
Lundkvist, one of the Rangers’ top defenseman prospects, was a first-round pick (No. 28) in the 2018 NHL Draft and is staying in Sweden for one more season to play for Lulea of the Swedish Hockey League. New York’s plans for the 19-year-old should not be afffected by his decision to stay in Sweden, and though your idea of using him as a trading chip to get a left-handed defenseman has merit, there’s still a lot to be determined.
A key factor is whether the Rangers plan to keep right-handed defenseman Tony DeAngelo on a long-term basis. DeAngelo is a pending restricted free agent and could sign another one-year contract if he’s not traded. New York also could give him a long-term contract, solidifying his place on the right side with Trouba and Adam Fox and opening the door to potentially move Lundkvist for help on the left side.
I’m still not sold on that, though, because the Rangers have organizational depth on the left side. They already know what they have in Ryan Lindgren, and they’re high on the potential of K’Andre Miller, a first-round pick (No. 22) in the 2018 draft who signed an entry-level contract March 16. Libor Hajek, another left-handed defenseman, has shown flashes of what he can be in 33 NHL games over the past two seasons.
I think decisions on DeAngelo’s future need to come before New York considers any trade possibilities regarding Lundkvist.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
Alabama’s Mark Sears and North Carolina‘s RJ Davis looked into the possibility of leaving for the NBA before deciding to return for another college season.
Their decisions helped their teams earn top-10 rankings in the AP Top 25 and earned both players some preseason honors, too.
Sears was a near-unanimous selection for The Associated Press preseason All-America men’s basketball team released Monday, earning all but one vote from a 55-person national media panel. Davis was right behind him, nabbing 51 votes.
They were joined by Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson, Auburn forward Johni Broome, Arizona guard Caleb Love and Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Love and Flagg tied for the final spot, creating a six-man team that includes only the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.
Alabama twin bill
Sears was a key cog in the Crimson Tide’s first trip to the Final Four a year ago, orchestrating one of college basketball’s highest-scoring teams.
The 6-foot-1 guard was named a second-team AP All-America after averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He was the first Division I player in 31 years to have 795 points, 150 rebounds, 145 assists and 95 three-pointers in a single season while breaking the Alabama single-season record with 26 games with at least 20 points.
Sears worked out for NBA scouts during the offseason before deciding to return to Alabama, earning the Crimson Tide a No. 2 ranking in the preseason AP Top 25.
“I saw the team that we had and I wanted to be a part of it, and bring home Alabama’s first national championship in basketball,” Sears said.
Across the state at rival Auburn, Broome made a quick decision about his future, announcing in April that he would be back for a fifth season.
The 6-10 forward was a third-team AP All-American last season after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting nearly 55% from the floor. With an eye on an NBA future, Broome worked hard on his perimeter shooting during the offseason and his return earned Auburn a No. 11 preseason ranking.
“My main goal is a team goal, which is to win the national championship, to make it as far as I can in March Madness,” Broome said. “When a team shines, everyone shines individually.”
Along Tobacco Road
Like Sears, Davis has similar aspirations after opting to return for his fifth season at North Carolina.
The 6-foot guard was an AP All-American last season and the ACC player of the year after averaging 21.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists on a team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Davis enters this year within reach of former North Carolina big man Tyler Hansbrough’s all-time ACC scoring record.
“I know there’s more work to be done,” Davis said. “I know my jersey’s not going up until I leave. So there’s some more records to break and some more work to be done. I’m satisfied but I’m not satisfied, if that makes sense.”
Up the road at Duke, Flagg was the only underclassman on the preseason All-America team after arriving with tons of hype. The 6-9 swingman was the No. 1-rated high school recruit out of Newport, Maine and has been projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft.
Flagg has the skills of a guard, but can also play inside and has worked hard on his perimeter shooting, giving him the potential to be one of college basketball’s most versatile players. He’s part of a stellar recruiting class that has No. 7 Duke eyeing a deep March run.
Big 12 duo
Dickinson was the biggest move in the transfer portal last spring after leaving Michigan for Kansas. The 7-2 center lived up to the billing, averaging 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds while leading the Jayhawks back to the NCAA Tournament.
Love’s decision to return for a second season at No. 10 Arizona has ratcheted up expectations in the desert for the Big 12 rival of Kansas.
The athletic 6-4 guard had a high-scoring career at North Carolina and continued it after transferring to Arizona last season. He was the Pac-12 player of the year and a third-team All-American after averaging 18 points per game and making 92 3-pointers.
Love tested the NBA waters this summer before deciding to return.
“He’s had a very successful college career thus far,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “He’s kind of this last generation of player that’s going to get better with this extra year, and so I just encourage him to take advantage of it.”
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CLEVELAND (AP) — Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will miss the rest of Cleveland‘s season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon on Sunday against Cincinnati, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday.
Watson will soon undergo surgery, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the results of imaging tests taken on his leg.
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year.
The 29-year-old Watson went down without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson collapsed to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
As he laid on the ground, there was cheering by some Cleveland fans, leading to some of Watson’s teammates criticizing that behavior during the team’s fifth straight loss.
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s divisive stay with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks to Houston and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million in 2022. The deal came amid Watson being accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions. He settled civil lawsuits in all but one of those cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games with the Browns and then made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
