In today’s NHL rumors rundown, Mitch Marner was reportedly asked to waive his no-move clause by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a potential deal for Mikko Rantanen. Elsewhere, the New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello seemed disappointed in the outcome of the trade deadline for him and the team, and was hoping to get younger and better. Finally, Dylan Cozens is making a great first impression with the Ottawa Senators after being acquired in a heartbreaking trade for many players and fans.
When Marner signed his six-year deal back in 2019, he earned the right to have a no-move clause in it. With no contract for next season as of now, the Maple Leafs were looking at a way to get creative at the trade deadline. In yesterday’s column I wrote about the reported offer of Easton Cowen, Fraser Minten, and picks heading to the Carolina Hurricanes, as reported by Nick Kypreos, but yesterday, Elliotte Friedman dropped a bombshell.
Friedman reported that the Hurricanes asked for Marner in a deal that would send Rantanen to the Maple Leafs, and Toronto had gone as far as to ask Marner to waive his no-trade clause. He declined to waive, which is his right, and wants to finish the season with the Maple Leafs.
When asked about it after the 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Marner was visibly more upset than after a typical loss, according to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox.
Marner has mentioned a few times that negotiations are likely going to take place in the summer, before July 1. He was also asked about his contract in that scrum, but declined to give any information on that.
Marner has been the best player on the Maple Leafs this season. To ask him to waive his no-move clause in a swap for Rantanen may indicate that they don’t feel confident they will be able to sign him in the offseason. Only time will tell what happens between the Maple Leafs and Marner when it comes to a potential extension.
During the post-deadline media availability, Lamoriello was firm about one thing – the New York Islanders will not be heading into a full-on rebuild. He emphasized that a decade-long teardown and rebuild isn’t what he has in mind, but change will certainly be coming in the offseason.
He wants to see the Islanders get younger and better, rather than just receive draft picks. He spoke about Calum Ritchie, and was very excited about that acquisition, and wants to bring in more players like that. He mentioned that the plan was always to extend Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, but after hitting a stalemate and seeing the offers on Nelson, it made the most sense to trade him.
Veteran players, including Palmieri, J-G Pageau, and Anders Lee, could be part of the plan to make the team younger. With some high-end players like Mat Barzal and Noah Dobson, there is a good start to having a younger core, but moving some of those veterans may be the game plan.
The Senators acquired Cozens in a swap for Josh Norris, and Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, who was very emotional about seeing his long-time friend traded away, admitted that it isn’t fair to Cozens to be upset about the cost to acquire him. After all, the NHL is a business.
On the flip side, while he was still upset to see Norris shipped away, Drake Batherson has a pre-existing relationship with Cozens, and there was a lot of excitement to see him come.
Batherson and Cozens played together at the 2022 IIHF World Championship and Batherson said “I clicked with him pretty much the first night I met him, and he said to me, I think if we play on the same team, we’d be best friends.”.
Cozens texted Batherson right after the trade was announced saying “Lets go”. It is clear that he was excited to join the Senators and make an impact, and he did just that in his debut.
In his first game with the Senators, a 4-3 overtime win against the New York Rangers, Cozens recorded a career-best of nine hits, and added an assist on the Senators’ second goal. He was great in his debut, and will look to get back to the type of play he had in 2022-23 where he finished with 68 points on the season.
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Juraj Slafkovsky is one of the most promising players in the NHL, but now he has been called out by David Pastrnak, who stated he lacks humility. After being picked No. 1 overall in 2022 NHL Draft, expectations were high in Montreal for young star Juraj Slafkovsky, and thus far, he's shown glimpses of being the elite level player many expected when he entered the National Hockey League. However, there are still some major steps to go, and in a recent interview, Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak pointed out perhaps one area where the 21-year old may need to improve moving forward. When asked about Slafkovsky and his potential, Pastrnak gave nothing but a glowing review of the young Canadiens star, but he did note that he believes Slafkovsky needs more humility. 'He's still a young player who is gaining experience in the NHL every year. This season it was already clear that he gave the team more than before...He just needs a little more humility, he should set an example for the young ones.' On the ice, there's no doubting that Slafkovsky has the presence, the size and the talent to be a true star, posting 101 total points over the past two seasons, but for whatever reason, it appears as though Pastrnak believes he needs to improve off the ice before he can take a major leap in Montreal. Ultimately, the talent is still there for Slafkovsky, and at 21-years old, he'll continue to learn off the ice, and if he can go anywhere close to living up to the potential that he's shown in his first three years at the NHL level, there's no doubt that he can be a big time star and help lead the Canadiens to significant post-season success.
Throughout the season, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred visits all 30 team clubhouses in an attempt to strengthen his relationship with the players. But when Manfred visited the Philadelphia Phillies last week, he did anything but strengthen his relations, at least not with Phillies star Bryce Harper. As reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan, Harper wasn't a fan of a conversation that seemed to be heading toward the possibility of implementing a salary cap in the game. Harper stood nose to nose with Manfred, telling him, "If you want to speak about that, you can get the [expletive] out of our clubhouse." Passan's report says that Manfred reportedly responded that he was "not going to get the [expletive] out of here." Manfred's main source of argument comes from his view that it's an important issue to discuss and has a direct impact on the game of baseball. Nick Castellanos, who's been known to have a fiery side of personality himself, helped to mediate the situation by saying, "I have more questions" to Manfred. Because the meeting continued, things settled down, and eventually, Manfred and Harper shook hands. Though Harper did not answer phone calls from Manfred the next day. "It was pretty intense, definitely passionate. Both of 'em. The commissioner giving it back to Bryce and Bryce giving it back to the commissioner. That's Harp. He's been doing this since he was 15-years-old," Castellanos told ESPN. Both Harper and Manfred declined to comment to ESPN on the matter. Manfred is certainly in a difficult spot with players themselves against a salary cap, as well as the MLB Players Association, which is adamantly against it. But some team owners are for it, most notably Baltimore Orioles owner David Rubenstein, who purchased the club in August 2024. It's certainly worth noting that the 1994 players' strike was a result of the league's effort to move to a salary-cap system. That is the worst-case scenario for MLB. And it seems to stress out Manfred. "Rob seems to be in a pretty desperate place on how important it is to get this salary cap," Castellanos added in his comments to ESPN, "because he's floating the word lockout two years in advance of our collective bargaining agreement [expiration]. That's nothing to throw around. That's the same thing as me in a marriage saying, 'I think divorce is a possibility. It's probably going to happen.' You don't just say those things." It's also important to note that Harper is a client of baseball super agent Scott Boras, and Castellanos is a former Boras client who now represents himself. Boras is known for bargaining for a ton of money for his clients, so that may provide one explanation of many for why Harper would be so against the discussion. It seems the only thing all parties can agree on is that no one wants a work stoppage in Major League Baseball. But that might just be where the agreements end.
Caitlin Clark is expected to sit out for a fourth straight game on Sunday when the Indiana Fever take on the Chicago Sky in a much-awaited rivalry matchup. The 23-year-old is still dealing with a reaggravated groin strain and has no timetable to return. The rest of her Fever teammates have had to step up in her absence. There is, perhaps, no other player who has taken a bigger role on the offensive end amid Clark’s injury spell than three-time All-Star Kelsey Mitchell. Mitchell, however, struggled with her shot in Thursday’s win against the Las Vegas Aces. The 5-foot-8 guard shot the ball poorly in the first three quarters, going just 4-of-19 from the field for 12 points. Mitchell caught fire in the fourth, though. She went 4-of-5 in the final frame for nine points, finishing with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-24 shooting. This is exactly why head coach Stephanie White remains completely confident in Mitchell’s scoring ability. The veteran coach has made it clear that she has given Mitchell the green light to shoot the rock. “The biggest thing with Kelsey is just telling her, ‘Let it fly.’ It’s going to go,” White said after Thursday’s win against Las Vegas. "... Keep shooting it from outside. She made some big ones when we needed them.” Kelsey Mitchell Has Stepped up Amid Clark's Injury Mitchell has answered the call for the Fever of late. In the three games Clark has been sidelined, Mitchell has put up averages of 22.0 points on 42.9% shooting. She also knocked down 2.7 triples during that stretch on a 34.8% clip. The 29-year-old veteran will need to keep her foot on the gas on Sunday as the Fever try to take down the Sky at United Center. With Clark watching from the bench, the Fever will rely on Mitchell’s scoring against Chicago as they look to improve on their 13-12 record. The Fever and Sky meet at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on ABC.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have plenty of suitors for third baseman Eugenio Suarez. A new team has reportedly entered the market for his services. Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Phillies have reached out regarding Suarez. While Lauber did not provide any indication as to whether or not those talks have gained traction, the Phillies are an intriguing suitor for the Diamondbacks' third baseman. The Phillies' interest may be a recent development. Jon Heyman of the New York Post speculated on Friday that the Phillies could emerge as a suitor in the wake of third baseman Alec Bohm landing on the injured list with a fractured left rib. Suarez is in the midst of what is arguably his best season thus far. He has produced a .249/.321/.587 batting line in 421 plate appearances entering Saturday with 36 homers and a major league-leading 87 RBI. Suarez would be more than just another powerful bat in the lineup. Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and first baseman Bryce Harper are both left-handed hitters — adding Suarez would provide more balance in the batting order. He would also provide a counter against opposing managers bringing in a lefty reliever to face Schwarber and Harper. The biggest question would be how the Phillies would handle an eventual logjam on the roster. Bohm is expected to return from the IL in mid-August and would not have a clear path to regular at-bats if Suarez were acquired. Schwarber could theoretically return to left field to open up playing time at the DH spot, but his outfield defense is mediocre at best. However, as the Phillies are also looking to upgrade the outfield, where Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh have been disappointments, adding Suarez could solve several problems in one fell swoop.