Lightning winger Brandon Hagel will have a player safety hearing today for his major interference penalty against Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in last night’s loss, the league announced.
Officials upheld the major for Hagel after reviewing the play, which occurred midway through the third period of Tampa’s eventual 2-0 loss in Game 2. While Hagel was forechecking on Barkov as the puck got dumped into the Tampa zone, he delivered a huge check as the two neared the corner. While there wasn’t a ton of head contact and the mechanics of the hit appeared rather clean, there was one problem – Barkov never had nor came close to having possession of the puck, resulting in a five-minute power play for the Cats (video via Sportsnet). Barkov didn’t return to the game after the collision, and the team has yet to issue an update on his status for Game 3 in Sunrise on Saturday.
Generally, supplemental discipline for interference doesn’t result in particularly long suspensions. That should hold true, especially considering the time of year, but Barkov leaving the game doesn’t bode well for Hagel’s case to walk away with just a fine. After scoring a career-high 35 goals in the regular season and setting the all-time record for goals in a season without a power-play marker, Hagel has no points and a minus-four rating through two games against Florida.
The 26-year-old isn’t the only one struggling to produce. Only Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point have scored for the Bolts thus far, and notable secondary names like Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul have yet to record a point. Still, potentially missing him for Game 3 as the series shifts to South Florida will certainly make life harder for the higher-seeded Lightning as they try to avoid going down 3-0 in the series against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
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The Hurricanes announced Thursday night that they’ve signed winger Jackson Blake to an eight-year, $45M extension that will kick in for the 2026-27. While that would normally mean an average annual value and cap hit of $5.625M, the actual cap hit of the contract will fall in the $5.1M range due to deferred compensation, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The contract buys out the extent of Blake’s RFA eligibility and will make him a UFA following the 2033-34 season. Blake’s stock has been on the rise since immediately after Carolina selected him in the fourth round in 2021. He was a USHL All-Star in his post-draft season with the Chicago Steel before making the jump to NCAA hockey with North Dakota, where he totaled 102 points in 79 games in two seasons — earning a Hobey Baker finalist nod in his sophomore year. He signed his entry-level contract with the Hurricanes in April 2024 and joined them for the brief remainder of the regular season. In his first full pro season, Blake hit the ground running. He made the Canes out of camp and had five points through his first nine games despite seeing less than 12 minutes of ice time per night. That offense didn’t quite hold up the rest of the way, though. While he ended up seeing significant deployment alongside Sebastian Aho at even strength, he ended up finishing the year with a 17-17–34 scoring line in 80 games, finishing ninth on the team in scoring and ninth in Calder Trophy voting as the league’s Rookie of the Year. That’s fine production, especially considering he averaged under 14 minutes per game on the year. He’ll need to build on it to justify that cap hit, though, especially with so much risk attached to a max-term deal. The good news is that Blake has another year left on his entry-level contract to continue his development before he’ll need to start justifying that cap hit. The son of former NHLer Jason Blake turns 22 next month, yet with this deal, he’s guaranteed to surpass his dad’s career earnings. The Hurricanes have historically opted to sign their young players for as long and as early as possible, a trend that continues here. Sometimes, it’s paid off — their eight-year, $59.4M commitment to Seth Jarvis last offseason looks like a steal after he put up a repeat 67-point performance in 2024-25. There’s also the glaring example of where that strategy has failed regarding center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, whose $4.82M cap hit looks more stomachable now with a rising ceiling but is still well above his market value four years into the deal. The jury is still out on newly acquired Logan Stankoven, who they inked to an eight-year, $48M extension at the beginning of the month. Blake’s deal will be one of the last of its kind. It contains two elements — deferred compensation and an eight-year term — that will be outlawed when the new CBA Memorandum of Understanding takes effect on Sep. 15, 2026. If he waited until reaching RFA status next summer to sign, a lengthy negotiation could have lost him that eighth year if the two sides didn’t come to terms until the beginning of training camp. With the salary cap’s upper limit projected to reach $104M in 2026-27, the Hurricanes have around $16M in projected space with Blake’s and Stankoven’s deals taken care of. While they’re projected to be Carolina’s 11th- and 12th-highest-paid forwards on their opening night roster this season, they’ll be their fifth- and sixth-highest-paid forwards in 2026-27.
The New York Mets are a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East ahead of Friday night's bout with the San Francisco Giants, but they are still one of the most vulnerable teams in baseball. New York has a laundry list of pitchers on the IL, including Tylor Megill (elbow), Griffin Canning (Achilles), and Max Kranick (flexor). However, it did acquire southpaw hurler Gregory Soto from the Baltimore Orioles on Friday. The veteran is 0-2 with a 3.96 ERA over 45 appearances this season, including 18 holds and one save. While the Mets could stand to add more healthy arms, they probably won't get a certain prominent hurler on the Miami Marlins, via The New York Post's Mike Puma. "The Mets are among the teams that have checked in on Sandy Alcantara," he reported on Friday. "The asking price is steep. The Mets haven’t ruled out adding a starting pitcher, but view it as a tough add given the market." Alcantara is 5-9 with a 6.66 ERA over 20 starts this season. The 29-year-old won the NL Cy Young Award in 2022 after going 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA in 32 starts. His current contract extension has a $21 million club option for 2027, and he's scheduled to make $17.3 million in both 2025 and 2026. Right-handed pitcher Clay Holmes (8-5, 3.48 ERA) will start for New York against San Francisco right-hander Logan Webb (9-7, 3.08 ERA) on Friday.
The Seattle Storm are looking to make things right after Tuesday’s 87-63 blowout loss to Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings. They get a chance to do so on Thursday when they return to action against the Chicago Sky in a road game at Wintrust Arena. The Storm got a big boost ahead of the Sky matchup, which comes in the form of seven-time All-Star Skylar Diggins returning to action after a one-game absence. After registering the first triple-double in WNBA All-Star Game history on Saturday, Diggins was unable to suit up against Dallas on Tuesday due to personal reasons. The 5-foot-9 guard was not listed on Seattle’s injury report for the Sky game, though, which means that Diggins should be back in the starting lineup come Thursday. This is a crucial development for the Storm, who will be looking to improve on their 14-10 record. In 23 games played this season, Diggins has produced averages of 17.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 triples per game. Chicago Sky List Angel Reese as Questionable to Play Against the Seattle Storm While the Storm got some good news ahead of Thursday’s clash, the same cannot be said for the Sky. This is after two-time All-Star forward Angel Reese was added to the injury report with a back problem. The silver lining is that Reese, who missed Chicago’s last game before the All-Star break with a leg injury, is listed as questionable to play, which means that there’s still a chance that she’s able to suit up against Seattle. Reese looked fine on Tuesday as Chicago suffered a 91-68 blowout loss to the Minnesota Lynx, posting an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double. It is unclear exactly when Reese sustained the injury, but it has now placed her status against Seattle in jeopardy. It is worth noting that Michaela Onyenwere (knee) and Ariel Atkins (leg) have also been ruled out for the Storm game, as they continue to recover from respective injuries. This only means that Chicago will be significantly shorthanded on Thursday, especially if Reese also ends up sitting out.
The Cincinnati Bengals have finally reached an agreement with first-round pick Shemar Stewart, putting an end to what became the story of the offseason for the team. Stewart, drafted 17th overall in this year's draft, has finally agreed to a four-year, fully guaranteed $18.97 million deal that includes a $10.4 million signing bonus, according to his agent Zac Hiller of LAA. Now with this deal done, every first-round pick is signed. The road to this deal was a bumpy ride. For months, negotiations between Stewart’s camp and the Bengals front office stalled due to disagreements over contract language, particularly around guarantees. The team pushed to include contract language that could void the deal under certain off-field circumstances, but since other Bengals first-round picks did not face similar terms, Stewart stood firm and refused to sign. Both sides remained firm throughout the offseason, leading to a long standoff and a lot of reports of frustration from both sides. Despite the frustration and disagreement, the Bengals and Stewart’s group continued to engage in conversations, trying to find a resolution to the issue. And finally, after weeks of back and forth and weeks of controversy surrounding what Stewart may be forced to do, both parties appear to have met in the middle and found common ground. For the Bengals, getting Stewart signed and ready for training camp is a major win. Stewart was viewed as a developmental prospect who needed plenty of on-field reps to reach his full potential. Stewart's absence from earlier camps had slowed a lot of his progress. With the contract dispute resolved, he can now focus entirely on gaining important reps and continuing his development over the coming weeks. Now with this contract done and over with, the team can put their full focus on Trey Hendrickson, who is also seeking a long term deal. If the Bengals can get a deal done with Trey before the season kicks off, they would secure their edge-rushing room for not only 2025, but for years beyond. For a team looking to go all in on making the playoffs, signing Stewart was long overdue. Now it will be vital for the team to get Stewart up to speed with the rest of the roster, and allow him to get as many reps as possible before the 2025 season begins.
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