Duddoo

Auston Matthews has waited more than eight years to don a Team USA sweater in an international tournament as a professional. He will get that honour in 2025 during at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The Senators have a history of going off the board to draft a player they like. 

That tradition hasn’t changed, it would seem, under new general manager Steve Staios. 

When five of the first six picks in Friday’s NHL draft were forwards (wait, wasn’t this supposed to be the Year of the D?), Ottawa had its absolute pick of defencemen. Only the talented Artyom Levshunov, to Chicago, had been taken off the board as far as defence. 

Senators fans were asking themselves — would the Sens go for slick Zayne Parekh, named the CHL’s top defenceman? Or perhaps the big kid from London who played against Parekh’s Saginaw Spirit in the Memorial Cup — Sam Dickinson. 

Instead, the Senators had their eye on a big, right-shot defenceman from the WHL, Carter Yakemchuk of the Calgary Hitmen. 

Though ranked several spots below Parekh and Dickinson on most pre-draft charts, Yakemchuk has so many features to his game that it isn’t hard to see why Staios and his staff were intrigued. 

Take your pick:

Size? He is six-foot-three and already weighs 202 pounds. He’s 18 and turns 19 in September.

Touch? Yakemchuk scored 30 goals (setting a franchise record for D-men) and had 71 points in 66 games for the Hitmen. 

Toughness? Yakemchuk had several fights this season and 120 minutes in penalties. 

Watch some highlights of Yakemchuk in action and you will see a kid who doesn’t back down in his own zone and has some terrific hands at the other end, using his height and reach to deceive defenders and goaltenders. 

To go with his obvious talent, Yakemchuk offers a lot of upside, the Senators believe. 

“He’s a six-foot-three defenceman who not only brings offence but has got some grit to his game,” Staios said from the draft floor in Las Vegas Friday night. 

“We still feel that there’s a lot of rawness to him as well. So we feel that the potential is really really high for Carter. Good character kid.”

That means that Yakemchuk may take a few years to get to the NHL, but could be an impact player when he does arrive. 

Though he is claimed by Calgary, Yakemchuk and his family are from Fort McMurray in Northern Alberta and moved to Calgary when he was six. He played major junior for Calgary at age 16 and blossomed into a point-producer in year two. 

Using one of the popular expressions among young hockey players, Yakemchuk said he “blacked out” when his name was called by Staios. Still, the prospect had an inkling he might be taken by Ottawa, as he explained to Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek during the draft broadcast.

“I met with them this week and I thought it went pretty well,” Yakemchuk said. “It was unbelievable to hear my name called.”

In an interview with reporters in Vegas, Yakemchuk said he was at a loss for words to express his feelings. Mostly, he wanted to thank his mother and father.

 “I just wanted to give both my parents big hugs,” Yakemchuk said. “I wouldn’t be here without them.”

 The fact he went ahead of some big names in the draft represented a vote of confidence from the Senators.  

“It’s everything,” Yakemchuk said. “I want to go to an organization that wants me, as a player I’m really excited to go there.”

Yakemchuk describes himself as a player who takes pride in an all-around game. 

“I’d say I’m a two-way defenceman that creates a lot offensively,” Yakemchuk said. “I play physical. I’m hard to play against in the D-zone.”

That physical side of his game has really emerged over the past couple of seasons. According to Yakemchuk, the WHL demands a certain heavy style and he has risen to the challenge.

To his betterment, the Hitmen have entrusted Yakemchuk as their top defenceman and he runs their power play as well as playing in all situations. 

In all likelihood, Yakemchuk will return to junior this fall to continue to work on his game. 

Don’t be surprised if he is playing a big role on the Canadian junior team when it participates in the world junior tournament in Ottawa this holiday season. 

“That would be awesome,” Yakemchuk said. “That’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. When it’s in Canada this year, in Ottawa, that would be awesome to be a part of it.”

As a sidebar to the main story, the Senators continue to stockpile their “Chuks.”

They now have captain Brady Tkachuk, forward Zack Ostapchuk and Yakemchuk in their organization. 

These next 4½ weeks ahead of the July 30 trade deadline are really about portfolio management for the Toronto Blue Jays, wins and losses as consequential to their strategic handling of assets as they are to their place in the standings. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will not be defending his Home Run Derby title this year in Texas.

The Toronto Blue Jays first baseman told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi ahead of the team’s game Friday against the New York Yankees that he has no intention of competing in the event this summer.

“He is satisfied with the fact that he got that Home Run Derby victory last year,” Davidi said pre-game. “It was something that he wanted to do. He wants to give other people a chance to try and win the Derby, as well.

“He wants to make sure he’s putting himself in the best position physically for the rest of the season. It’s a draining experience, as you can tell, and he doesn’t want to do anything above and beyond right now.”

Guerrero won the 2023 event at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, smashing 72 total homers over three rounds to knock off Mookie Betts, hometown favourite Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena.

The 25-year-old joined his dad, Vlad Sr., to become the first father-son duo to both win a Home Run Derby.

Guerrero Jr. also starred in the 2019 Derby, setting multiple records on his way to a defeat in the final against Pete Alonso.

On Thursday, it was revealed that Guerrero had been voted onto Phase 2 of All-Star voting as one of the top two vote-getters among American League first basemen and will go against Ryan Mountcastle for a starting spot in the Midsummer Classic.

In 2024, Guerrero is slashing .289/.370/.447 with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs and has gone on a power surge recently with four long balls in his last six games.

While it looks like he won’t be adding another Home Run Derby belt to his trophy case this season, Guerrero did leave the door open to competing again in the future.

“Maybe down the road sometime he’d consider doing another Home Run Derby, but for the moment, he’s good,” Davidi said.

Round 1 of the 2024 Draft is officially underway at the Sphere in Las Vegas, and 32 prospects will be welcomed to the NHL on Friday night. Follow along here for an updating list of draft picks as well some instant insight from those in and around the hockey world.

LAS VEGAS — Auston Matthews has waited more than eight years for this.

Donning a Team USA sweater in an international tournament as a professional.

Matthews is honoured to be one of the first six players named to represent his country at 2025’s 4 Nations Face-Off, the NHL’s midseason teaser tournament ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

All four countries — Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden — unveiled their top six players Friday.

“Best-on-best is something that guys have really been wanting for a while, and I think it’s just great for the game,” Matthews said, inside Las Vegas’s Encore hotel.

“It’s gonna be extremely competitive. And I think there’s a lot of pride in playing for your country.”

Matthews is getting the band back together, reuniting with fellow USA Hockey National Team Development Program alumni such as Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, Charlie McAvoy, and Quinn Hughes. That crew grew close and have stayed in touch as their pro careers whisked them in different directions.

“All five guys who were selected today I know pretty well… It’s kind of just putting the ego aside and doing what’s best for the team, and then coming together as quickly as possible,” said Matthews, who suited up for Team North America at the September 2016 World Cup.

The 69-goal sniper believes there is an advantage to holding the 4 Nations in February as opposed to the fall.

“It’s gonna be good that it’s kinda halfway through the year, not necessarily trying to get the cobwebs out like at the start of the season, how the World Cup was,” Matthews said. “That’s definitely a positive.”

With this being Matthews’ first meeting with reporters since the Toronto Maple Leafs cleaned out their lockers 53 days ago, a couple club-related questions were lobbed his way.

Matthews politely declined comment on the firing of coach Sheldon Keefe and the hiring of new bench boss Craig Berube (“Maybe we can revisit that in September,” he said), but he did offer a few words on the rumours swirling the uncertain future of his wingman, Mitch Marner.

“All I’m gonna say is, we love Mitch, obviously,” Matthews said.

“There’s a lot of noise rolling and all that, but we love Mitchy. He’s a great person, great teammate. I can’t speak highly enough about him.”

Matthews also gave his respect to the Stanley Cup championship run of Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers, who eliminated his Leafs in 2023.

“Well deserved,” Matthews said. “It’s always tough to watch, but there’s always learning lessons and stuff that you can take away as well.”

Calgary’s dream draft scenario was ruined by the Utah Hockey Club.

However, the Flames shifted their focus and were able to land one of the most skilled and dynamic defencemen available this year: Zayne Parekh.

TORONTO — These next 4½ weeks ahead of the July 30 trade deadline are really about portfolio management for the Toronto Blue Jays, wins and losses as consequential to their strategic handling of assets as they are to their place in the standings. 

To wit, the stock-watch days are on for their pending free agents, with Yusei Kikuchi’s five-plus innings of four-run, seven-strikeout ball in a 16-5 thrashing Friday from the playoff-bound New York Yankees the type of outing teams on the hunt for pitching will definitely dig into.

The 33-year-old lefty was perfect through the first three innings, watched Juan Soto score while Aaron Judge cleverly forced a rundown in his second time through and then coughed up a 3-1 lead on a blooper, a bleeder and a three-run Soto blast as the order turned over a third time. 

Still, Kikuchi had his fastball sitting at 96.4 m.p.h. and dialled it up to 98, got whiffs on 15 of the 38 swings against him, and generally showed off the type of stuff that plays in October. With better defensive execution on that rundown in the fourth and a touch of luck in the fateful sixth ahead of the Soto homer, or perhaps a few more runs from the Blue Jays during a not-fully-leveraged fifth, it’s a much happier ending for him, if not his under-the-gun club.

“I just hate to waste an outing like that,” lamented manager John Schneider. “He had a really good mix and wasn’t predictable and his stuff is good enough to get guys out when he is predictable. And I thought him and (Danny Jansen) had a great back-and-forth game, changeup was good, curveball was good, slider was good. He had really, really good stuff and it sucks that his night was cut short and then the game got out of hand.”

George Springer’s RBI single opened the scoring in the first, and after Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s run-scoring fielder’s choice in the fifth, a Springer hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded (which eventually forced the right-fielder from the game, X-Rays were negative) brought home another run. Guerrero was then tagged out at home trying to score on a wild pitch and Daulton Varsho struck out to end the inning, while subsequent solo shots by Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Guerrero weren’t enough to counter the Yankees’ relentless add-on runs before a crowd of 34,791.

“It’s obviously a rough stretch,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima. “All you can do is go game at a t

Considering the state of the Maple Leafs’ right side of the blueline, Brad Treliving and chief amateur scout Wes Clark targeted OHL defender Ben Danford — and felt confident they could get him with the 31st pick.

Round 1 of the 2024 Draft has officially wrapped at the Sphere in Las Vegas, and 32 prospects have found their NHL homes.

The last draft of it’s kind for the league before the switch to a decentralized formats, there was plenty of drama to keep fans entertained, including a surprise appearances by Celine Dion and Michael Buffer, who announced the Philadelphia Flyers’ first pick in a memorable fashion.

To recap the evening, we’ve got a complete list of all the first-round picks and instant analysis from those in and around the hockey world.

1. San Jose Sharks: Macklin Celebrini, C, Boston University

2. Chicago Blackhawks: Artyom Levshunov, D, Michigan State University

3. Anaheim Ducks: Beckett Sennecke, F, Oshawa Generals

4. Columbus Blue Jackets: Cayden Lindstrom, C, Medicine Hat Tigers

5. Montreal Canadiens: Ivan Demidov, F, KHL’s St. Petersburg SKA

6. Utah Hockey Club: Tij Iginla, F, Kelowna Rockets

7. Ottawa Senators: Carter Yakemchuk, RD, Calgary Hitmen

8. Seattle Kraken: Berkly Catton, F, Spokane Chiefs

9. Calgary Flames: Zayne Parekh, RD, Saginaw Spirit

10. New Jersey Devils: Anton Silayev, LD, KHL’s Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

11. San Jose Sharks: Sam Dickinson, LD, London Knights

12. Philadelphia Flyers Minnesota Wild: Zeev Buium, LD, Denver University

* The Flyers traded their 2024 12th overall pick for the Wild’s 2024 13th overall pick and 2025 third-rounder

13. Philadelphia Flyers: Jett Luchanko, C, Guelph Storm

14. Buffalo Sabres: Konsta Helenius, C, Liiga’s Tappara

15. Detroit Red Wings: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, F, SHL’s Skellefteå AIK

16. St. Louis Blues: Adam Jiricek, RD, HC Plzen

17. Washington Capitals: Terik Parascak, F, Prince George Cougars

18. Chicago Blackhawks: Sacha Boisvert, C, USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks