Chicago Sports

SOX 4, ROCKIES 2

First look at Velasquez

Right-hander Vince Velasquez, signed to a $3 million, one-year deal to provide back end rotation and long relief depth, made his first start in a Sox uniform and notched a pair of scoreless innings. Velasquez allowed three hard hits loading the bases with no outs in the second, then pitched out of the jam.

“Got a jam shot, got some groundballs, got some outs and got out of a tough jam,” said Velasquez, who admitted to pre-outing jitters. “That’s just the art of pitching and once I start to establish that confidence within my secondary pitches, that makes my fastball that much better to get out of jams.”

Rockie inning for Hendriks

Liam Hendriks needed 32 pitches to get through the third inning, walking three and leaving the bases loaded. He also took a comebacker off his right hamstring, scrambling to get an out at home and then waving off trainer James Kruk and pitching coach Ethan Katz, who checked the closer out anyway.

“But that wasn’t even the most painful thing in the outing. Walking three,” Hendriks said. “I got ahead fine and then couldn’t put them away. It’s a mentality thing that creeps up every now and then that we’re working to get back and get that little streak of confidence back, especially with two strikes.”

Highlights

Andrew Vaughn played right field, left field and first base and had two hits, Luis Robert (double) and Gavin Sheets (RBI) both hit to the opposite field producing a first-inning run, Luis Basabe homered, Danny Mendick stole second and third and scored on a Robert sacrifice fly, Garrett Crochet filled the strike zone in a perfect inning with one strikeout and lefty prospect Bennett Sousa struck out the side in the sixth on 13 pitches.

The Sox are 3-1 in Cactus League games.

On deck

Sox at Dodgers, 3:05 p.m., Glendale (NBCSCH, 1000-AM), Jason Bilous vs. TBD.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. – In the span of a week, the Cubs have gone from too few pitchers to carrying over a half-dozen camp additions on the staff. Now, the club has to figure out where they all fit.

“What we look like April 7 may be completely different two weeks into the season,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said Sunday.

The Cubs’ options for the back end of the starting rotation, specifically, have multiplied in the past couple days. The Cubs signed left-handers Drew Smyly and Daniel Norris on Saturday. They also added Adrian Sampson and Robert Gsellman on minor-league deals with spring training invitations.

“It’s very unique,” said Alec Mills, who started against the Dodgers on Sunday. “Obviously, everything happened really fast. But that’s baseball. We all want to win, and we’re going to get the best team [together] as possible. It’s a flurry of events, but we’ll take it as best we can, in stride.”

From last year’s rotation, Mills, Justin Steele and Keegan Thompson could all compete for one or two open spots in the rotation.

Cubs manager David Ross said last week that he was planning for Mills to be a starter. Steele is also building up to starter’s innings, but Ross added that the Cubs would evaluate whether they’d use that length in the rotation or as Triple-A depth.

“We’ve got a lot of those guys in that boat that have option [years],” Ross said, “so we’ll see where everybody’s at.”

The unsettled nature of the Cubs’ rotation picture was a draw for a free agent like Norris. A two-hour presentation from Hottovy and members of the front office sealed the deal for him.

“It was cool to be still be thought of as a starter,” said Norris, who moved to the Tigers bullpen in 2020. “Ultimately, that’s what I would love to do. But at the same time, I think I can do whatever [they ask me to].”

Coming out of a condensed spring training, the Cubs are expected to dedicate more roster spots to multi-inning pitchers than usual. Piggybacking starts at the beginning of the year is one way the Cubs could manage their starters’ workloads.

In terms of building up, veteran lefty Wade Miley, who is penciled into the rotation with Kyle Hendricks and Marcus Stroman, is behind his fellow starters and has yet to make a spring training start. Ross said he didn’t have any injury concerns.

“I think that’s the norm talking to him and what he’s used to,” Ross said of Miley.

Miley, 35, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Monday. In a recent 15-pitch bullpen, Hotovy said, Miley looked in mid-season form. But it was “hard to say” how many pitches Miley could realistically build up to over the course of spring training.

“You look at him in the past, there are springs where he’s thrown like 45 pitches in spring games, and then throws 75 as soon as the season starts. So, I think it’s more about just checking the boxes for him, which are: I feel good, I’m healthy, I’m ramping up.”

Take last season for example. In three spring training starts, Miley built up to four innings. Then, in his first regular season game he threw 78 pitches over six innings.

There’s also a chance that the Cubs get another roster spot to work with. Though the new collective bargaining agreement sets the roster limit at 13 pitchers, except in September, Major League Baseball has not ruled out expanded rosters to start the season, amid injury concerns.

“We’re trying to ramp everybody up the same, knowing that if you have extra guys, then we can back off some guys, from [a volume standpoint],” Hottovy said. “If we don’t, then we’re going to keep pushing the volume until we get to a point where we feel comfortable that our starters are in a good place.”

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For a lot of Blackhawks fans, the deal that sent Brandon Hagel to the Lightning for two first-round picks and forwards Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh was a painful reminder of how far the franchise has to go before competing again at the top of the league.

For Raddysh, it’s a fresh start.

“I’m excited,” Raddysh said before Sunday’s game against the Jets. “Tampa was kind of a tough situation with how good of a team they had and they had a lot of guys that I was behind and kind of lower on the minutes and in and out of the lineup. I’m excited to be here and to get a good opportunity to play and show myself and be able to prove myself out there.”

A Lightning second-round pick in the 2016 draft, Raddysh made his NHL debut earlier this season for Tampa Bay. But because of the Lightning’s deep roster, Raddysh struggled to make an impact, appearing in 53 games and scoring five goals while adding seven assists.

To put it mildly, the Hawks don’t have the same level of talent, which means Raddysh has a genuine opportunity to seize a prominent role for his new team.

“If I can fit in wherever I fit in, just to be able to get more minutes that’s obviously an exciting part,” Raddysh said. “You get to play more, more things happen, you get more confidence and you start playing better. That’s kind of my main reason I’m very excited to be here to get a full opportunity to play.”

The Hawks organization isn’t completely unfamiliar to Raddysh.

His brother Darren Raddysh spent two seasons with the AHL IceHogs and Taylor Raddysh was a teammate of Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome with the OHL Erie Otters. Raddysh also scored a goal in the Lightning’s March 6 6-3 win over the Hawks in Chicago.

An emotional moment
Interim Hawks coach Derek King said Hagel “looked shocked” and was “getting a “little choked up” when they discussed the blockbuster trade.

“I’ve got a little bit of history with him, obviously, coaching him down in the American League (with Rockford),” King said. “I just said, ‘Hey, you’ve done a great job. You’ve grown into a good hockey player and you’re going to continue to grow, and hopefully I’m still around the league to watch you do that.’ Just wished him good luck.”

Unless something truly surprising happens, Hagel won’t be the last Hawks player to depart before Monday’s trade deadline. But even if more key contributors are sent away, the Hawks will still have to finish the season in a professional manner.

King said he hasn’t heard any rumblings about players losing buy-in to what they have to do.

“We’ll see as this week goes on. … I’ll address them about it (after the deadline),” King said. “We have a job to do. The Wirtz family, the Chicago Blackhawks, the fans – I mean we owe them. This is what we’re here to do. We’re here to play hockey and play it to the best of our ability. I’m gonna make sure they know about that after Monday for sure.”

Briefly
Rookie defenseman Alex Vlasic remained in the lineup. Forward Henrik Borgstrom and defenseman Erik Gustafsson were scratched.

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Byron Pringle has spent his NFL career living a wide receiver’s dream — for four seasons in Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes was his quarterback.

Pringle’s new passer — Bears second-year player Justin Fields — isn’t Mahomes. No one is. But the team’s newest wide receiver thinks that Fields, like Mahomes before him, will enable him to get open.

“I see [Fields] as an elite quarterback,” Pringle said Sunday shortly after the Bears officially signed him. “He keeps his legs alive and he definitely knows how to extend plays. And that is something that I did in Kansas City — when the play broke down, I always tried to find, get in the quarterback’s vision.

“So with him being able to keep plays and drives alive, I know I fit perfectly in this offense, especially with a quarterback like Justin Fields.”

Ryan Poles — who spent a third of his life in the Chiefs front office before becoming the Bears’ general manager in January — thinks so. He gave Pringle a one-year, $4 million guaranteed deal worth up to $6 million overall with hopes he can capitalize off a career year. Pringle caught 42 passes for 568 yards during the regular season last year and starred in the playoffs, catching three touchdowns in three games.

“It’s speed over there, you know?” Pringle said.

The Bears, whose receiving corps has been woefully slow in recent years, are banking that Pringle can stretch the field. He ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine before the Chiefs signed him as an undrafted free agent.

Poles likes Pringle’s toughness and dependability. Asked what he thought his new boss saw in him during their time in Kansas City, the 6-1, 201-pounder was direct.

“Somebody that would come to work every day ready to compete at a high level and just have that mentality, that 1-0 mentality of coming to win,” he said. “I don’t care about no numbers. I want that letter at the end of the game, that W.”

Pringle wasn’t the only familiar face the Bears signed Sunday. They brought back safety and special teams stalwart DeAndre Houston-Carson on a one-year deal. Houston intercepted one pass, recovered two fumbles and started the first three games of his career on defense last year.

Two days after agreeing to a contract, the Bears also signed run-stopping defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad, who’d spent the last four years playing under Colts defensive coordinator — and now new Bears head coach — Matt Eberflus.

The Bears already have four former Colts defensive assistants on staff. Muhammad’s addition means that at least one player on the Bears roster will be able to teach Eberflus’ 4-3 defense and “H.I.T.S.” system to his teammates.

“The appreciation I have for Coach Eberflus is the love that he has for the game,” said Muhammad, who had a career-high six sacks and started every game last year. “He’s the same guy every day. High-energy guy. He brings the juice. Nobody wants to win more than Eberflus and I think a lot of people around here are going to see that. We’re all in this business to win. To win a Super Bowl. He’s going to give you his all.”

The Bears are nowhere near a Super Bowl. The fastest way to get there is for Fields to make a major leap. Pringle is ready to see it.

“I can’t speak for every man — but I come to play,” he said. “I’m pretty sure, like you’ve seen on film, Justin Fields comes to play.”

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Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams will return Monday night against the Toronto Raptors to play in his first game since having wrist surgery in October, the team said Sunday.

Williams, the No. 4 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, has not played since Oct. 28, when he tore ligaments in his left wrist during the fifth game of the season.

Although he began the season in the starting lineup, Williams is expected to return in a reserve role with a minutes restriction.

“He’s anxious to get back,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said Friday. “Physically, he feels good. He knows the timing part is going to take a little bit of time. But I think just how he feels and where he’s at mentally, he wants to come back and play.”

Williams, 20, had a promising rookie season as one of the youngest players in his draft class, but his second season didn’t get off to much of a start. He averaged 6.6 points on 56.5% shooting and 2.2 rebounds in five games before he tore his wrist ligaments falling on a flagrant foul by the New York Knicks‘ Mitchell Robinson.

While the Bulls were on a three-game West Coast road trip this past week, Williams remained in Chicago to practice with the Windy City Bulls, the team’s G League affiliate. Donovan said reports have been encouraging about Williams’ conditioning but that his timing was off after being sidelined for five months.

The Bulls are on a back-to-back Monday and Tuesday, and Donovan said it was possible that Williams could play in both games.

Williams’ return comes as the Bulls are on a three-game losing streak and have dropped eight of their past 10 games. They began Sunday fifth in the Eastern Conference.

“He makes our team better,” Donovan told reporters. “There’ll probably be some growing pains of him finding a rhythm. With Patrick, the biggest thing is going to be how he fits into a rotation and what a realistic number of minutes look like for him.”

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Tristan Thompson was definitely onto something a few weeks back.

Initially it sounded like the veteran big man was going through some sort of conspiracy theory moment, but there’s now a big enough sample size out there for the Bulls to at least say, “OK, now what?”

“Memphis showed it first with how they played us defensively, and it continued on with Miami,” Thompson said of a Feb. 26 loss to the Grizzlies. “And I think that film from Memphis has started to be sent from the video guys to those other playoff teams in the league, and they’re going to have the same game plan coming in defensively. So we’ve got to make those adjustments.”

Thompson never did detail what the Grizzlies’ blueprint was — for obvious reasons — but it’s been very easy to watch play-out.

Get the ball out of the hands of DeMar DeRozan by blitzing him with double-teams early and often in the possession, make sure a defender rotates to Zach LaVine, and have some other Bull – any Bull – beat the defense.

And then when coach Billy Donovan is staggering LaVine and DeRozan like he does throughout the game to get them each breathers, LaVine has been getting the same treatment.

“For sure. No question. Probably the most I’ve seen in my career, to be honest with you,” DeRozan, who is in Year 13 in the Association, replied when asked about the double-teaming he’s had thrown at him lately. “For me, it’s one of those things that we got to figure it out. It’s on me to help the guys figure it out as well.

“The best way to learn is to be knocked in the mouth like we doing. Now it’s a matter of us responding, letting it click. Once it clicks, we be fine.”

If it clicks.

With 12 regular-season games left, the Bulls are in a crawl to the finish line, going 2-8 since that Memphis loss. The “blueprint” not only seems to be working in the win-loss columns, but across the board. The Bulls have averaged close to 113 points per game throughout the year, but just 108 since the Grizzlies. DeRozan was averaging 28 points per game for the year, but was at 24.9 the past 10.

His assist numbers have gone up over that span, showing that he is at least a willing play-maker out of the double-team, but his field-goal percentage was just 41.1% since Memphis, showing that his shot-making has been made tougher.

DeRozan shot almost 51% from the field for the season before this recent rough patch.

Now, it’s important to note that eight of the 10 teams played in this offensive struggle for the Bulls – starting with the Grizzlies – are legitimate playoff teams, with six of them arguably threats to at least make their conference finals.

But that’s why DeRozan was concerned. Come playoff time, this is the competition and the defensive philosophy that the Bulls will see every night.

So what’s the counter?

There’s the problem.

Nikola Vucevic’s ability to pick-and-pop, especially from three, would make defenses think twice, but Vucevic is shooting just 30.2% from three – which is a five-year low for him. Javonte Green’s corner three has dried up a bit. LaVine is playing on a bad left knee, and is Jekyll and Hyde from game-to-game. And then there’s Lonzo Ball, who was arguably the most consistent knock-down three-point shooter on the team at 42.3%, still stalling out in his rehab program from knee surgery.

They have the players to beat the blueprint, but a lot of them are currently stuck in mud.

“We need to keep evolving and understanding how we can beat teams and use that against them,” DeRozan said. “Once that rhythm comes, we’re going to be alright.”

The clock is ticking.

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GUARDIANS 11, SOX 2

Top lineup silent

Manager Tony La Russa started most of his regulars, who produced two singles in two passes through the batting order, Leury Garcia’s line single to right and Tim Anderson’s infield single. The Guardians plated nine runs in the fourth against A-ball right-hander McKinley Moore and Double-A lefty Zach Muckenhirn. Center fielder Luis Robert tried helping with diving and sliding attempts that were unsuccessful.

Anderson made the play of the game, throwing out Luke Maile from the hole, getting an assist on Jose Abreu’s scoop.

Another homer for Cespedes

Playing in his first major league camp, Cuban outfield prospect Yoelqui Cespedes homered in the eighth inning, his second long ball in two games.

“I am so happy because I never thought I could play this year in spring training,” an elated Cespedes said. “And then I’m playing with the big leagues. Right now, I feel so good.”

Finnegan gets a look

Non-roster invitee Brandon Finnegan, 28, hoping to provide left-handed pitching depth to the 40-man roster, started and pitched two perfect innings with four groundouts. Finnegan, who pitched in the 2014 World Series four months after the Royals drafted him in the first round, owns a 4.11 career ERA but hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2018. He made 31 starts for the Reds in 2016, posting a 3.98 ERA.

First appearance for Velasquez

Vince Velasquez, searching for the success he enjoyed his first two seasons with the Astros and Phillies, is slated for his first start Sunday. Velasquez signed a $3 million, one-year deal this week.

“He’s going to be a big part of what we do,” pitching coach Ethan Katz said.

“The stuff, the ability has always been there from Day 1,” Katz said.

On deck

Sox at Rockies, Scottsdale, 3:05 p.m., Sunday, Vince Velasquez vs. Ryan Feltner

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MESA, Ariz. – In a rare quiet moment Friday afternoon, Seiya Suzuki lounged in the grass by Sloan Park’s third baseline, stretching with his new outfield teammates Jason Heyward, Ian Happ and Michael Hermosillo. Suzuki’s interpreter, Toy Matsushita, stood next to them, helping facilitate conversation.

Suzuki had just put on a show in his first Cubs batting practice, spraying home runs onto the empty berms beyond the wall. Next on the schedule was live pitching. In preparation, the team cleared the field of the droves of media members who had been following Suzuki around all day.

Suzuki and his teammates had time to just talk.

Suzuki, a five-time All-Star and gold glover in Japan’s central league, spent the past few months choosing a Major League Baseball team to join. Now that he has, signing a five-year, $85 million contract with the Cubs this week, the transition begins.

“It’s going to be a really short spring,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “He’s going to deal with aspects of assimilation that we probably can’t imagine. But that’s going to pass. We really believe once he gets used to major-league pitching, once he gets used to playing over here, he’s really going to flourish.”

Finding a landing spot that would ease the transition off the field was a priority for Suzuki. His agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, spoke highly of Cubs director of major league travel Vijay Tekchandani and Pacific rim liaison Nao Masamoto. Before signing the contract, Suzuki took a trip to Chicago, spending a night in town to make sure it was a good fit.

“I want my family to have a comfortable lifestyle off the field,” Suzuki said. “That way I can focus on my game.”

Cubs second baseman Nick Madrigal, who Wolfe also represents, promised he’d do what he could to help. And he seems to be keeping that promise.

Madrigal played a role in the recruiting process, drawing messages like “Seiya Suzuki + Cubs = World Series” on pieces of lined paper and sending Wolfe pictures of the signs to show Suzuki. Then Friday morning, Madrigal greeted Suzuki in the equipment room before the Japanese star was scheduled to make the rounds in the clubhouse and at a press conference.

“He said he was a little bit nervous, so I just try to be there for him,” Madrigal said. “I know this is all new to him. And I can’t imagine coming into this atmosphere with all the attention on him.”

Suzuki jumped into spring training workouts Friday afternoon, and Madrigal was never far, as the team ran the bases to kick things off.

Suzuki is expected to have an adjustment period on the field, too. He’ll be facing higher velocity pitching than he’s used to. He’ll have to get to know Wrigley Field’s right-field well. But the Cubs wouldn’t have offered the largest MLB deal for a Japanese position player to Suzuki if they weren’t confident that his skill set would play well stateside.

“Looking at his swing-and-miss rates, and looking at what he did in different areas of the zone, we felt like it would translate really well,” Hoyer said. “I certainly felt like the power will translate, the exit velocities are elite. He’s a good all around player.”

Cubs manager David Ross said he hasn’t set a date yet for Suzuki’s first spring training game. The Cubs will lean on Suzuki’s input to set a timeline for his next steps. Suzuki has run through outfield drills and taken live batting practice in his first two days of camp.

“This guy’s been all over, really the world, in the last few weeks,” Ross said, “and I want him to make sure he gets his feet under him.”

Even in the midst of a whirlwind transition, Suzuki’s personality has shown through. Take his press conference for example. Asked why he chose to wear No. 27, Suzuki turned to a camera and switched to English.

“Mike Trout, I love you,” he said, eliciting a wave of laughter from the crowd.

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It’s probably too early to say what the Fire are. Four games certainly isn’t enough time to make any learned judgments about this team’s potential.

However, Saturday’s 3-1win over Sporting Kansas City made it clear the Fire won’t be buried in the Eastern Conference race.

Led by two goals from Kacper Przybylko and another from Xherdan Shaqiri, the Fire (2-0-2, 8 points) extended their season-opening unbeaten streak to four. They’ve also picked up eight points in their opening four matches for the first time since 2009, the last year the Fire won a playoff game.

Thoughts of postseason success are still premature, though the Fire are showing signs 2022 could be different than the last few seasons.

The Fire took a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute when Przybylko’s shot snuck through Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia. Acquired over the offseason from the Philadelphia Union for $1,150,000 in allocation money, Przybylko had been relatively quiet to start the season but scored his first for the Fire after accepting a pass from Fabian Herbers. Shaqiri was also credited with an assist, his first with the Fire.

Shaqiri did more in the 50th. After Mauricio Pineda was fouled in the box by Sporting KC defender Kortne Ford, Shaqiri sent Melia the wrong way on the ensuing penalty kick to give the Fire a 2-0 advantage.

But the Fire’s hopes of a fourth straight shutout ended in the 50th minute when Roger Espinoza turned in a pass from Felipe Hernandez and got the ball past Gabriel Slonina. The goal was the first the Fire have allowed this season, snapping a streak of 326 minutes without conceding, and also ended Slonina’s hopes of becoming the first MLS goalie to begin a season with four straight shutouts.

Yet unlike past seasons when that goal might have been the start of a collapse, the Fire responded. The victory was clinched in the 82nd minute after Brian Gutierrez cut inside and found Przybylko.

NOTE: After picking up two yellow cards in 22 minutes over the Fire’s first two matches, forward Jhon Duran was not on the gameday roster. Duran, a hyped prospect who joined the Fire this season after signing in Jan. 2021, was an unused substitute last week at DC United.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Brandon Hagel trade Friday shook the Blackhawks’ locker room to its core.

But the earthquakes likely aren’t over.

With less than 48 hours remaining until Monday afternoon’s NHL trade deadline, the Hawks remain intensely involved in trade negotiations on many fronts, filling everyone in the organization with equal amounts of uncertainty and anxiety.

“The players are emotional about it,” interim coach Derek King said Saturday. “Especially a [losing a] player like that you don’t want to lose. But this is a business, and we have to move forward.”

“Hagel was an identity piece for us,” Seth Jones said. “He definitely had a hard-working mentality and did a lot of great things for us. It sucks to see him go… I hope he has a chance to win a Stanley Cup this year with Tampa.”

Even King himself, who’d openly argued in the past Hagel shouldn’t be traded, was blindsided by the move after practice Friday. The team was preparing to head to their flight when Hagel was pulled aside, as he later told Lightning reporters, and King was called up to a meeting with general manager Kyle Davidson.

“When they said his name, I was shocked,” he said “I stepped back and was like, ‘Hmm, this is interesting.’ It is a business. It’s part of the game. I’ve been a part of it; I’ve seen it.”

Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk, the two forwards acquired alongside two first-round picks in the Hagel trade, both joined the Hawks quickly and looked solid in their debuts Saturday against the Wild. Raddysh skated 15:13, delivering five hits and nearly tipping in a power-play goal in the first period. Katchouk skated 12:24 and produced a decent chance on a third-period breakaway.

King said he exchanged info with Lightning coach Jon Cooper and believes Katchouk projects as a bottom-six wing while Raddysh possesses some second-line potential.

“I’d like to see [Taylor] shoot a little bit more — I’ll have a little chat with him,” King said. “And then Boris brought some energy. He’s a little bit like [Sam] Lafferty, and I like the size. Once they get settled …and a couple more games under their belt, they’ll be fine.”

Now the attention turns to the many other names who could be on their way out of — or into — the Hawks’ roster.

The Hagel trade signaled Davidson will be aggressive with the tear-down part of the rebuild, which has understandably sparked speculation about Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat’s futures. It seems unlikely they’ll move at least during this first stage of the rebuild, though, with an important summer of solidifying the franchise’s long-term plan not too far away.

Marc-Andre Fleury obviously headlines the likely-to-be-traded list, although his possible outcomes remain as diverse and difficult to analyze as ever. As Kevin Lankinen said Saturday, after acknowledging their frequent conversations with each other, “what’s going on in his mind, I think only he knows.”

The Hawks and Maple Leafs previously discussed a mega-trade involving Hagel and Fleury for elite prospect Matthew Knies, goalie Petr Mrazek and first-round picks, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported. Although that particular deal is no longer possible with Hagel on the Lightning, the Leafs remain interested in Fleury and other Hawks as well, per sources, even with Fleury’s willingness to move to Toronto unclear.

The Wild — even after beating the Hawks — are also emerging as an active contender in the Fleury sweepstakes, per multiple reports. They’ve appeared to be a logical fit for months, considering Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen’s struggles, but haven’t engaged in the conversation until now.

Meanwhile, Dominik Kubalik, Calvin de Haan, Ryan Carpenter, Lankinen himself (in the case Fleury isn’t traded) and others could all be involved in simpler player-for-pick trades by Monday.

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