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NHL trade grades: Tyler Motte to the Rangers — the sequel

Published

2 years ago

February 19, 2023

Shayna Goldman: The Rangers continue with the same theme: correcting a slow offseason, which included letting Tyler Motte go as a free agent. After the Tarasenko-Mikkola trade, the next thing for New York to address was their fourth line. Last night’s game against Calgary only emphasized that, when two-thirds of that line saw their night end early in the second period. In Motte, management found one of the better, less expensive options on the market — and a player they can be pretty confident will mesh well with their team considering his experience from last postseason. This time it costs Julien Gauthier and a seventh, after moving a fourth for him last deadline.

In today’s NHL, a fourth line shouldn’t be composed of defense-only forwards. That’s a reactive way of playing the game when the idea should always be to push the pace of play. The best defense legitimately is a good offense, and Motte helps add that element to New York’s depth. He’s a speedy, disruptive winger who can help both at even strength and on the penalty kill.

Motte’s arrival likely would have knocked Julien Gauthier out of the lineup in New York, so him being a part of the return does make sense from that perspective. That’s a player the team should have tried to maximize a bit more because the skill set is there, and he was never a fit for their fourth line. It seems like management has recognized whom the coaches are and aren’t willing to lean on, and (regardless of whether the dynamic should be this way) are working within those bounds to better the team. The question now is whether the Rangers are done. They crossed off another need from their checklist, but fourth-line players keep getting moved to top-six right wing. The bright side is that management has time to figure out how to proceed after seeing how the lineup looks with Motte back in the fold.

Since the Senators aren’t destined for the playoffs, it makes sense to move out pending free agents to ensure a return. Instead of just loading up on picks, given where Ottawa is right now, it makes sense to want younger, NHL-caliber talent. Gauthier’s ceiling probably isn’t as high as it was thought to be when he was drafted, but he’s a speedy winger who can drive to the quality areas of the ice. He could use some help to reach his potential and should get the opportunity with his new team. That’s not a bad return for a pending UFA who slots into a playoff team’s fourth line.

Rangers grade: B+
Senators grade: B

Sean Gentille: My biggest question here is whether Tyler Motte was with the Rangers long enough last year to rent an apartment. Maybe he can get the same one for his second go-round. Fit-wise, he makes perfect sense, just like he did in 2022.

He’s a bottom-six stuff-disturber with a defined skill set — skating, penalty killing, penalty drawing — that every playoff team could use, and the Rangers specifically need more of on their fourth line. It’s not as big a move for Chris Drury as trading for Vladimir Tarasenko was, and it’s not as important, but there’s some shared DNA, too. This was a team that had clear and obvious needs — a top-six, goal-scoring right wing who would push other players back down to their spots of best fit, a bottom-pair option and a player who’d make the fourth line a little more relevant.

In Tarasenko, Niko Mikkola and Motte, they’ve checked all the boxes. By sending out Gauthier, a player Motte might have sent to the press box anyway, they also preserved some salary cap space. The Rangers aren’t quite in step with the tippy-top of the Eastern Conference, but their lineup makes as much sense as anybody’s. This is a dangerous team, and a more playoff-ready group of skaters than the one that worked in front of Igor Shesterkin last season. Look out. Based on fit and opportunity cost, this grades out well for New York.

As far as Ottawa is concerned, the return is fine. Gauthier doesn’t have a track record to get excited about, but he’s 6-foot-4 and a decent skater. That’s worth a roll of the dice, especially for a pending UFA. The fit is good, but … it’s still Tyler Motte. If the goal was to add a player, rather than, say, a fourth-rounder, mission accomplished. I’m not totally sure that should’ve been the goal, but hey, who knows. (We’d mention that Gauthier was a first-round pick as a reason to like this move a little more for the Senators, but that was nearly seven years and two teams ago. At some point it ceases to matter. While we’re on the topic of stuff that doesn’t matter, he played on a junior team with Thomas Chabot.)

Rangers grade: B
Senators grade: B-

(Photo of Tyler Motte during the second round of the 2023 playoffs: Jared Silber/ NHLI via Getty Images)

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

5 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

Published

5 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

Published

5 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.

It won’t be an easy assignment.

Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.

“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”

Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”

Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.

After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.

“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”

Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.

“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.

A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.

“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”

But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.

“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”

Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”

“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.

Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.

“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”

While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.

“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”

The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.

“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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