4:03 PM ET ESPN News Services Columbus Blue Jackets All-Star defenseman Seth Jones will be sidelined four to six weeks with a sprained knee, the team announced Wednesday. The 23-year-old was injured in the second period of Tuesday’s preseason game against the Sabres. He underwent an MRI on Wednesday that revealed a second-degree sprain of
NHL
11:21 AM ET Sean Allen Close Special to ESPN.com Sean Allen is a fantasy analyst for ESPN.com. He was the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hockey Writer of the Year. You can tweet him @seanard. Victoria Matiash Close Fantasy Hockey ESPN.com Fantasy Contributor since 2010 Part-time anchor at NEWSTALK1010 The NHL season is
7:00 AM ET Ben ArledgeESPN.com Close Editor for fantasy, chalk and NHL, as well as a contributing hockey writer. Previously with ESPN The Magazine. Joined ESPN in 2012 after graduating from Colgate University. When regulation ends, all bets are pretty much off. It could all be over in just one wide shot in OT resulting
3:47 PM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN There are game-changers in popular culture. Like when “The Matrix” altered the course of science fiction films, or Dr. Dre featured Snoop Doggy Dogg for the first time, or “The Sopranos” aired on HBO. Or on Monday, when the Philadelphia Flyers unleashed “Gritty” on an unsuspecting populace. Gritty is the
10:00 AM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN Evaluating the success of goaltenders can be a tricky thing. In hockey culture, we all agree that “wins” are basically the “plus/minus” of goalie stats, as the totals can look glamorous but not tell us anything about overall performance. Goals against average is, like wins, a team metric. It can
8:46 AM ET ESPN News Services The Chicago Blackhawks could go into their season opener without their longtime goaltender in net, as Corey Crawford continues to recover from a concussion. Coach Joel Quenneville said Monday that it “might be stretching it” for Crawford to play in the Oct. 4 opener against the Ottawa Senators. Crawford
11:59 PM ET Associated Press PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Flyers have introduced an odd-looking new team mascot — a 7-foot fuzzy creature named Gritty, with a wild, orange beard. The character’s debut triggered an outpouring of comments online, including “Good luck sleeping tonight, Flyers fans” and comparisons to ZZ Top and the Muppets. Twitter users
10:59 PM ET Associated Press ARLINGTON, Va. — First-round draft pick Alexander Alexeyev has signed a three-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals. The team announced the deal with the defenseman on Monday. It has an average annual value of $925,000. The 18-year-old from Russia was taken with the 31st overall pick in
8:17 PM ET Associated Press SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council unanimously approved plans for a privately funded $700 million renovation of KeyArena on Monday, clearing one of the last major hurdles in the city’s bid to land an expansion NHL franchise. The 8-0 vote was the final step needed to strengthen Seattle’s expansion application,
7:34 AM ET Sachin Chandan Typically, you want to roster players who score on the power play, especially if your league counts PPP as a category. But drafting players who are overly reliant on power play can be dangerous for your roster. If a player taken later in the draft achieves a high percentage of