How to watch Blue Jackets at Penguins in Friday's only NHL action
The Columbus Blue Jackets visit the Pittsburgh Penguins in Friday's lone NHL action. Neither team seems headed for a playoff spot, but the reasons to watch this matchup are many, with Columbus already outperforming expectations and Pittsburgh home to one of the sport's brightest lights in Sidney Crosby.
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A string of recent losses put the Blue Jackets out of a playoff spot, with teams including the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers jumping ahead in the tight Eastern Conference wild-card race. While the playoffs look unlikely for Columbus now, its performance this season defied odds and expectations, and despite its middle-of-the-pack standing, the future looks bright. Credit to coach Dean Evason, who's getting quite a bit of love in the Jack Adams race from The Athletic staff.
Defenseman Zach Werenski leads the Blue Jackets in points, and our most recent NHL staff predictions have him second in Norris Trophy contention behind superstar Cale Makar. Scott Wheeler has a nice feature here on Blue Jackets prospect Luca Marrelli.
Speaking of superstars, the Penguins are led by who other than captain Sidney Crosby with 74 points in 68 games. While all eyes are on Alex Ovechkin's chase toward Wayne Gretzky's goal record, let's not forget Crosby is also close to making one of The Great One's records his own. No. 87 is tied with No. 99 for 19 seasons with a point-per-game average and is on track to claim his record-setting 20th.
Pittsburgh has been well out of a playoff spot for a while and is on track to miss the postseason for a third straight year. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan recently spoke about just how grueling the season has been. But if you think it's time the team starts tanking, not so fast, says Penguins beat writer Josh Yohe.
In exciting news, the NHL announced earlier this week that the Penguins and Nashville Predators will be heading to Stockholm for the 2025 NHL Global Series. As Penguins beat writer Rob Rossi wrote, Swedes Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson are eager to show off their country's food, arts and culture and entertain family and friends. Rakell called the opportunity to showcase Crosby in his home country 'hardcore.'
(Photo of Sidney Crosby: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
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New York Times
18 minutes ago
- New York Times
After Kreider trade, what comes next for core-shuffling Rangers? Analyzing the possible moves
Chris Drury kicked off another transitional offseason in New York on Thursday, moving Chris Kreider and the two years and $13 million remaining on the veteran forward's contract. Unlike last June, the Rangers general manager did so without ruffling too many feathers. The first of Drury's core-shuffling moves came 12 months ago when he put Barclay Goodrow on waivers to get around Goodrow's no-trade list, which produced a rather negative effect on the Rangers. They limped through a miserable 2024-25 season while Drury continued to alter the roster, though not to any satisfactory completion with the team missing the playoffs. Advertisement So moving out the longest-tenured Ranger in Kreider was a necessary start to an important summer. The NHL draft looms in two weeks and Drury will have to decide before June 25 whether to send the No. 12 pick to the Penguins to complete the J.T. Miller trade with Vancouver — the later Canucks flipped that conditional first-rounder to the Penguins for Marcus Pettersson — or keep it and risk losing an unprotected first-rounder to division-rival Pittsburgh in 2026. Still a lot to do for the Rangers GM, who by all accounts is still aggressively working to change as much as possible and give himself the most cap flexibility ahead of the start of free agency on July 1. With Kreider's contract off the books, the Rangers have just under $15-million in cap space but only 16 skaters signed for next season, including five defensemen. That's still nowhere near enough to make the sort of changes Drury is seeking, whether that's trying to offer-sheet a young player or acquire a high-level talent. Let's see which players could be next on the way out, who might be looked at to replace them, and how each move would impact the cap and the roster: The Rangers are seemingly wary of giving the 25-year-old restricted free agent any term on a new deal, so if Miller stays it would be a two-year contract that walks him right up to unrestricted free agency in 2027. That's not ideal for the Rangers either, though it would allow new coach Mike Sullivan and old coach/new defense assistant coach David Quinn a chance to see if Miller can return to the upward trajectory he had after 2022-23, when he was one of the top 50 defensemen in the league. And the problem with trading Miller is that he's unsigned at the moment, so no matter who the Rangers get back — young defensemen like the Sabres' Bown Byram or the Kings' Jordan Spence — cap space will still be subtracted, even with Spence's modest $1.5-million salary for 2025-26. (Like Miller, Byram is an RFA due for a decent raise from the $3.85-million he made last season). Signing Miller to a bridge deal for, say, two years at $5 million annually eats into the cap space. But so does trading like for like. Advertisement If the Rangers allow Miller to sign an offer sheet and take the draft-pick compensation — most likely either a first- and third-rounder if the offer sheet AAV is between $4.68-7 million, or a first, second and third if it's between $7-9.3 million — that might work out cap-wise, but not roster-wise, since the Rangers would have Carson Soucy, Urho Vaakanainen and RFAs Zac Jones and Matthew Robertson on the left side. You're not winning anything with that group. The Rangers have interest in unrestricted free agent Vladislav Gavrikov if he hits the market on July 1, and he's looking for seven years at around $7-million. Trading Miller opens up a spot for Gavrikov but not the requisite cap space. His name has been out there before but the 2020 No. 1 pick signed a seven-year, $7.45-million-per-year deal in October, meaning another team would have to be fully sold on Lafrenière consistently becoming a player the Rangers have only sporadically seen. Getting back fair value for that sort of inconsistent top talent, even he is still only 23, will be extremely difficult. As with Miller, the best course of action may be waiting to see whether Sullivan (Lafreniere's fourth new coach in six years) can unlock his skill. Kreider's departure means there's an opening on the top power-play unit and on the left side, Lafrenière's preferred wing. Maybe that's the right way to go. The catch is that moving Lafrenière's cap hit could be the only way Drury has to create serious cap space heading into the draft and free agency. It's a gamble to give up on highly touted young players — if Laf thrives elsewhere, that deal could become incredibly team-friendly as the cap goes up. There's a chance that Drury has already worked it out with Zibanejad, who has five year at a $8.5 million average annual value remaining plus a full no-move clause, that moving on would be best. They'd still need to find a fit —the Leafs might have some interest and some space to fill — but trading Kreider's BFF soon after dealing Kreider would produce the impact on cap flexibility and team culture Drury so badly wants. Advertisement Zibanejad holds the cards, though, and he gave no indication before the season ended that he was interested in leaving. Of the headline-making moves Drury could still pull off in the coming weeks, this one helps the Rangers the most, especially since J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck have two of the center spots nailed down. The Rangers would be able to replace Zibanejad via the wing UFA market, which would yield far more bargains than finding a top-six center. This one is a no-brainer. Soucy has a full no-trade until July 1 but getting his $3.25-million off the books so the Rangers can upgrade on the left side of the defense feels like a must if the changes are still coming. This season's deadline-day move for Soucy seemed like a decent shot at a reclamation project, but not going forward with all the Rangers want to do. Drury still has to sign RFAs Matt Rempe and Adam Edström, which eats up about $2-million more of their cap space. Will Cuylle likely comes in around $3.5-million. Trading K'Andre Miller for futures and signing Gavrikov leaves around $3-million to replace Kreider in the top nine, plus there are still holes everywhere. Something more is coming soon. Drury knows he can't stop now. The Rangers came into this offseason more worried about an offer sheet poaching either K'Andre Miller or, far worse, Cuylle, who has a lot of value and upside here and elsewhere. Now, it appears the Rangers want to be the aggressors on the little-used offer sheet market. Sabres forward J.J. Peterka seems to be one of the offer-sheet options, as it's clear he wants out of Buffalo. The problem for the Rangers is that the sort of offer that would give the Sabres pause isn't possible — the Rangers do not own their 2026 second-rounder for an offer between $7-9.3 million per, which would require them to surrender surrendering their 2026 first, second and third-round picks. (Using another team's picks to complete an offer sheet isn't allowed.) The Rangers could get their second-rounder back from Utah — it went to Arizona in the Patrik Nemeth salary dump three years ago — and then make their move. Or they could hope that an offer sheet in the $4.86-7-million range with enough difficult bonuses would scare Buffalo away. Advertisement Peterka and the Rangers were connected via the rumor mill at the March trade deadline, but a Rangers source swatted that one down. The team's interest now in Peterka could be legit but it's hard to see Buffalo accepting a first and a third to walk away from a 23-year-old who just put up 68 points. If the Sabres badly wanted Lafrenière this might work, but the straight offer-sheet route looks awfully difficult at the moment. An offer sheet would also mean that Drury gives up this year's No. 12 pick to the Penguins and an unprotected first-rounder next season. Better be right doing that. (Top photo of Miller: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
"The question here is what would the Mavericks do?" - Windhorst says the Knicks asking permission to interview J-Kidd is a mere formality
"The question here is what would the Mavericks do?" - Windhorst says the Knicks asking permission to interview J-Kidd is a mere formality originally appeared on Basketball Network. The New York Knicks shocked everyone when they fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after he led them to their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2000. Since giving Thibs the pink slip, several names have floated in the rumor mill as his possible replacement, including former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone and current Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd. Advertisement According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the issue is moot and academic because the Knicks want Kidd to be their next head coach. "The question is whether the Dallas Mavericks will allow them," said Windhorst. "And that's really where this is. It will be in the Mavericks' court here. The asking of permission is a formality. If the Mavericks would agree to send Jason Kidd to the Knicks, I believe he would be with the Knicks. There's not gonna be an interview. The question here is 'What would the Mavericks do?'" The ball is on the Mavs' court According to Windhorst, the Mavericks have three choices. First, they could say no, which basically ends this storyline. This happened last year when the Phoenix Suns asked permission to interview Chauncey Billups, but the Portland Trail Blazers declined. Dallas could also negotiate a new contract with Kidd so that he won't think about leaving in the first place. Third, which is what the Knicks want, they could trade Jason to New York. Advertisement Windorst pointed out that the third option has happened to Kidd before. He went 44-38 in his only season as the Brooklyn Nets head coach, and during the summer, the Nets permitted him to interview with the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee ended up giving up their 2015 and 2019 second-round picks so that Brooklyn would release Jason to them. However, the difference between 2014 and now is that back then, it was widely known that J-Kidd wanted to coach Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee before the Bucks asked the Nets if they could interview him, so there was a motive. It's unclear right now if Jason even wants to coach the Knicks unless, of course, there have been private conversations between the parties that we do not know of. Related: "I would feel very sorry for someone in today's NBA who had to guard him as a power forward or center" - Rick Carlisle says he would play Larry Bird as a big in today's era Patrick has a theory about why the Knicks want Kidd Popular podcaster Dan Patrick talked about the possibility of the Hall-of-Fame point guard going to New York with guest Ray Allen on a recent episode of "The Dan Patrick Show." DP makes an interesting hypothesis about why the Knicks are interestingly zeroing in on J-Kidd. Advertisement "The only thing I thought of is, 'I'm bringing in Jason Kidd if he can get Giannis.' If Giannis says, 'Alright, I want to play for Jason Kidd in New York,'" said Patrick on his show. Giannis has been another name linked to the Knicks since their playoff exit, although it's unclear if he will even be available on the market. However, given the connection between Kidd and Antetokounmpo, who knows if there is mutual interest here that none are privy to? But considering the Mavs will pick first overall in the upcoming NBA Draft, Jason is in a good spot in the "Big D" right now, although Kyrie Irving will be out to start next season, so that's something to think about as well. Related: "He knows, and feels, and vibes New York" - Stephen A. makes a case for Mark Jackson as the next Knicks head coach This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
"Where the hell are they going?" - P.J. Carlesimo doesn't see the logic of firing Thibs without a ready replacement
"Where the hell are they going?" - P.J. Carlesimo doesn't see the logic of firing Thibs without a ready replacement originally appeared on Basketball Network. Former Seton Hall head coach P.J. Carlesimo is not feeling the New York Knicks for firing head coach Tom Thibodeau. According to Carlesimo, Thibodeau did a great job leading the Knicks to the playoffs in each of the last three years, including taking them to the Conference finals this year, their first appearance in the ECF since 2000. Advertisement But while he thinks it was unfair, P.J. said that he is not surprised by their actions because, for years, the Knicks have been held back by foolish moves and self-destructing decisions. "That's the Knicks. They don't know what they're doing there. They're their own worst enemy. They've been their worst enemy. The last two years have been the best excitement…I just think he did a great job," he said. One of the best coaches in the NBA Last season, Thibodeau led the Knicks to their first 50-win season since the 2012-13 campaign. However, they let big man Isaiah Hartenstein leave in free agency. New York also traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for Karl-Anthony Towns in a move that Carlesimo said diminished the Knicks' toughness and defense. Advertisement With new additions in KAT and Mikal Bridges, NY won 51 games this season and finished as the third seed in the Eastern Conference. However, they were upset by the Indiana Pacers in the ECF. Still, the Knicks showed progression every year under Thibs, and they had started to bring the fans back to MSG. "The excitement in New York was great," Carlesimo added. "And now I say, 'Where are they going?' I don't understand. I don't know who made the decision. Leon's made a lot of good decisions. I don't buy that it's the players. They didn't do it without the players, but it's not that there's a mutiny because it happened. But I don't think the players were that unhappy." "Thibodeau's still one of the best coaches in the NBA, and he gets and he gets awfully lot out of a roster," he asserted. "You don't win a game because you outcoached him or anything like that. I'm really disappointed, plus I still come back to, 'Where the hell are they going?' If you're gonna do a thing like that, you would've thought that they had a deal in the drawer or something." Related: "I would feel very sorry for someone in today's NBA who had to guard him as a power forward or center" - Rick Carlisle says he would play Larry Bird as a big in today's era The Knicks think they are smarter Carlesimo said that the Knicks seem to be seriously targeting Jason Kidd as Thibs' replacement. However, it's even unclear if the Dallas Mavericks are willing to let them interview their head coach. With no sure replacement, Carelsimo said New York is better off sticking with Thibodeau. But then again, the Knickerbockers will always be the Knickerbockers. Advertisement "The Knicks always think they're smarter than everybody else. That's the Knick philosophy. They think they're different and smarter than all these other teams. 'We know what we're doing,' but I would say, they're normally the opposite. They're oftentimes their own enemy," he continued. As Carlesimo said, it's crazy how they fired Thibodeau when they aren't even sure yet whether their preferred replacement will come to New York. This offseason will be a huge one for the Knicks. Hopefully, they'll get the head coach that they want. Otherwise, the decision to fire Thibs after making the ECF could haunt them. Related: "The question here is what would the Mavericks do?" - Windhorst says the Knicks asking permission to interview J-Kidd is a mere formality This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
