The Chicago Cubs are hoping that they have found a solution at third base so all of their attention at the trade deadline this summer can go toward pitching. Matt Shaw had an impressive series to begin the week in Miami after being called up from Triple-A. The organization’s top prospect began the campaign as Chicago’s third baseman, but got sent down to Iowa after struggling at the plate in his first 18 games at the big league level.

Fans instantly began to to worry that the front office would need to address the hot corner well before the trade deadline, but Shaw is hoping that won’t be necessary. If he can stay somewhat consistent moving forward, there is a good chance that management won’t need to make any significant changes from a position player standpoint, barring any injuries.

If this can hold true for the Cubs, all of their focus can be locked in on improving their pitching staff with the resources that they are alright cutting ties with. They have dealt with some injuries in the rotation already this spring, and the bullpen hasn’t held up their end of the bargain on select nights. If an AL Central squad falls off in the standings and decides to sell at the deadline, one of their big time arms could be a fit for the Cubs.

Joe Ryan is exactly what the Chicago Cubs need

Joe Ryan has been a key cog in the Minnesota Twins rotation over the past few years. The right-hander has pitched in 10 games and has made nine starts in 2025. Ryan has posted a 2.68 ERA with an eye-popping 0.81 WHIP in 57.0 innings tossed. The 28-year-old has a 4-2 record and is striking out 8.4 batters per nine innings, which is a huge improvement from the 6.4 mark he posted in 2024.

Ryan would help Chicago as a front-of-the-rotation arm after it was announced in April that Justin Steele would miss the rest of the season due to an elbow injury. Shota Imanaga hitting the IL until June with a hamstring strain doesn’t help either, but the current staff has been able to piece things together for the time being. The current veterans that have shouldered the load will need help soon enough, which is where someone like Ryan would come into play.

It would take a lot for the Chicago Cubs to land Joe Ryan

If Minnesota is even in a position to move off players toward the end of the summer, Ryan will not come cheap. It’s worth noting that the right-hander has two more years of club control before hitting the open market, which will only drive up his price more. Chicago has the resources to facilitate a deal for someone of Ryan’s caliber, but it all depends on how much Jed Hoyer is willing to give up in certain trades. Ryan has spent his entire career with the Twins and will be seen as a big trade chip next to fellow starter Pablo Lopez at the deadline if they plan to sell.

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It will be interesting to see where the Chicago Blackhawks will spend their money this offseason in free agency once the draft concludes at the end of June. Holding the third overall pick in the draft will be huge for the organization in terms of adding another key cog to their talented and deep prospect pool. The franchise also holds the 25th overall selection in the first round of June’s draft, originally of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Even though the team had a surprisingly stronger finish down the stretch than many would have thought, they still need more goal-scoring help for the upcoming campaign. Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar will hopefully take steps forward, but having more successful veterans around them would not hurt. There are a few big time options that the Blackhawks’ front office could pursue in the forward market, and one of them won the Stanley Cup a season ago in Florida.

Why Sam Bennett would be a great fit for the Chicago Blackhawks

Sam Bennett was the fourth overall pick in the 2014 draft to the Calgary Flames. He spent the first seven years of his NHL career in Calgary before being traded to the Florida Panthers ahead of the 2020-21 season, where he missed most of his first year with the organization and only logged 10 games on the ice. Bennett has missed a handful of games in each of his seasons with the Panthers, but he is coming off his best regular season yet.

The 28-year-old scored 25 goals and picked up 26 assists in 76 games, the most he has played in the regular season in his time with Florida. The Panthers are still in the playoffs this year, as they have the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Bennett has seven goals and three assists so far in 13 games this postseason after he found the back of the net seven times in last year’s Stanley Cup run.

Bennett is a premier talent that has playoff success and he will come at a much cheaper price on the open market compared to a guy like Mitch Marner. The Blackhawks should be in on both Bennett and Marner, but it will depend on what they are going to prioritize more in attempting to sign a star forward.

What’s keeping the Chicago Blackhawks from getting Sam Bennett

If Chicago waits too long to approach Bennett in free agency while waiting for someone like Marner, another team could swoop in with a solid offer to claim his services. With Bennett coming at a cheaper price, there is no saying that the Panthers won’t try to move some money around if they are really interested in keeping him in the fold moving forward.

Another issue the Blackhawks could run into with Bennett applies to all major free agents this offseason. Even though they have the money, Bennett might not want to wait around to win again. He is used to making deep runs in the playoffs and while Chicago hopes to be in that position at some point down the road, it will be at least a few years until they are near that status again.

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Ever since Luke Richardson was relieved of his duties as the Chicago Blackhawks’ head coach in December, the fanbase has not stopped talking about who would come in the take over the next phase of the rebuild. The young core on the current roster showed plenty of promise at the end of the season and everyone around the organization is hoping that they can take steps forward this fall.

For the longest time, it was known that David Carle was the top candidate on Chicago’s big board. When the young coach decided to return to Denver University, the Blackhawks’ brass turned their attention to guys with NHL experience. After many rumblings over the past few days, they made their decision official on Thursday.

Chicago Blackhawks officially hire Jeff Blashill as their next head coach

General manager Kyle Davidson officially released a statement on the hiring of Blashill and what it means for the future direction of the franchise.

“Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage,” Davidson said. “He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction.”

It was also announced that Michael Peca and Anders Sorensen would be joining Blashill’s staff as assistants. Sorensen staying aboard is important to note, as he very well could have gone back to Rockford after this past season. Instead, he has earned his role as a key developer in the young talent on this roster moving forward.

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The Chicago Cubs have a solid blend of veterans and younger talent on their roster this season, which is something they have not had in a while. The team has shown promise at making a playoff run in each of the last two seasons, but those efforts fell flat due to poor performances in September. Both groups finished with 83-79 records while being just out of the Wild Card race, which is something Craig Counsell’s staff is looking to avoid in 2025.

The pitching staff is already giving the fanbase something to worry about, despite the team being 30-20 through their first 50 games. Injuries have been the man story for the unit, and while the current group of arms have weathered the storm just fine, there will need to be reinforcements brought in at some point down the road.

Depth is the most important thing to have in all areas of this roster, and one of the veterans that Jed Hoyer signed to a one-year deal this offseason is beginning to make a real difference in the clubhouse.

Chicago Cubs’ veteran Justin Turner praised by Nico Hoerner

Justin Turner inked a one-year deal worth $6 million with the Cubs this past offseason. His original purpose was to serve as the right-handed hitting option at first base for Michael Busch, but he has already become way more than that to the guys in the locker room. Nico Hoerner spoke on Turner’s impact on the team and what he has done for them so far this season.

“He’s been a really, really big part of what we’re doing here,” Hoerner said. 

Turner has produced more of the last couple of weeks after having a slow start to the campaign. His clutch walk-off knock against Miami last week was exactly what he needed to get him going. Turner even enjoyed a three-hit game on Tuesday in Chicago’s 14-1 rout of the Marlins on the road.

Justin Turner can be an important piece for the Chicago Cubs this year

Turner is currently slashing .203/.310/.232 for an .541 OPS in 29 games this season. The veteran has driven in 10 runs in his 69 at-bats and has yet to collect his first home run in a Cub uniform. Like Hoerner mentioned, Turner’s impact moving forward goes well beyond what he can do on the field. A big reason why he is with this team is to help the younger hitters throughout the season and be an older voice in the clubhouse that is desperately needed.

Turner knows what it takes to win a World Series, as he was with the Dodgers when they won it all in 2020. He has been a part of many teams that have taken deep runs into the postseason, which is exactly what this group is looking to do. Kyle Tucker and Dansby Swanson are two other key everyday guys that have a World Series title under their belts and are hoping to add more to their total with Chicago.

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The Chicago Blackhawks are putting plenty of faith in Connor Bedard to be their next franchise icon as the team hopes to turn the corner in their rebuild this upcoming season. The organization finished this past season 31st in the league standings, but their record and point total don’t tell the entire story. Just like the year prior, the Blackhawks got off to a slow start in the fall. They won two of their first nine games, and never looked comfortable in the offensive zone.

Luke Richardson was relieved of his duties as head coach in December after spending two and a half seasons behind Chicago’s bench. Anders Sorensen was inserted into the role as the organization’s interim head coach after leading the Rockford IceHogs and their young crop of players at the AHL level. Bedard will have to deal with his third different head coach already in his young career, with the rumor being that Jeff Blashill could be given the job as early as Thursday.

Bedard has logged 150 career games in his first two seasons and is in similar company to that of a Blackhawks’ legend who led the team to three Stanley Cups.

Connor Bedard is similar to Jonathan Toews

Bedard has 45 goals and 83 assists for 128 career points in 150 games through his first two professional seasons. The phenom played all 82 games this past year after missing 14 games in his Calder Trophy campaign as a rookie due to a fractured jaw. Bedard has collected over 20 goals and more than 60 points in each of his first two seasons in the league, and the hope is that he can take a massive step forward in the fall.

Johnathan Toews is one of the most decorated Blackhawks in franchise history. He served as the captain for over a decade and was a driving force in their three Stanley Cups that the organization won in the 2010s. In his first 150 career games, Toews had 60 goals and 68 assists, totaling 128 points. Despite Bedard having way more assists and less goals, the two having the exact same amount of points in their first 150 games is very promising to say the least for fans.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Connor Bedard could turn things around

Bedard mentioned in his end-of-the-season media availability that he knows exactly what he needs to work on this offseason. He wants to get quicker, and he knows that always trying to improve his shot is never a bad thing. The 19-year-old elected to not play for Team Canada in the IIHF World Championships so he could focus more on his training, and Chicago’s front office is hoping that this is something that pays off for them in the fall.

Bedard has all the makings of a great NHL player, and the organization will continue to do what they can to get help around him. This is a talented free agent class, and the front office will have the resources to potentially snag an elite player. With Chicago also holding the third pick in the draft and two selections in the first round again this season, the prospect pool is only going to get stronger.

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The Chicago Blackhawks have plenty of resources entering the offseason to make big swings at adding to the roster through free agency or the trade market. They had a strong end to this past season, with plenty of draft picks from recent years signing their entry-level contracts and making their debuts with the organization. Despite their promising conclusion to the campaign, Chicago finished 31st in the league standings as they did a year ago. They will be selecting third overall in next month’s draft and will have a handful of forward prospects to choose from to add to their growing prospect pool.

While free agency and the draft will be huge for the Blackhawks, the trade market has not been talked about enough early on in the offseason. It will definitely be harder to get deals done, but Chicago has the ammo to make a play at any young player that could be available. One option they could try to pursue was former top draft pick just a few years ago.

Why the Chicago Blackhawks should pursue Shane Wright

Shane Wright was the fourth overall pick in the 2022 draft by the Seattle Kraken, and hasn’t exactly lived up to the hype of the former top prospect he once was. Long before the draft took place, Wright was seen as the “can’t miss” guy in his class. That quickly turned right around draft time, as he dropped out of the top three altogether. He has been a player rumored to be on Seattle’s moving list for a couple of years now, as it took him a while to stay put at the NHL level.

The 2024-25 campaign was Wright’s first full season with Seattle, and he posted 19 goals to pair with his 25 assists for 44 total points in 79 games. He showed plenty of promise throughout the year, and the Blackhawks could look at that alone as a reason to go after Wright if he is brought up in trade talks this summer. The 21-year-old made his NHL debut during the 2022-23 season, where he played eight games

Why it would be hard to get Shane Wright on the Chicago Blackhawks

Because Wright showed some flashes this past year, it might be too early for the Kraken to completely give up on him. This could keep teams like Chicago from landing him this offseason, and it would be totally understandable if Seattle feels the need to see how he does in the fall before determining his long term future with the franchise.

Wright has two more years under contract before becoming a restricted free agent, which would make his cost very high in a trade. The Blackhawks certainly have the assets to get any type of deal done, but it all depends on how much they are willing to give for a guy who only has one full NHL season under his belt.

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Most of the attention on the Chicago Cubs farm system has gone to the the Triple-A, but there are plenty of solid prospects that aren’t on that team in their pool. The Iowa Cubs have a handful of the organization’s top prospects, and three of them have even made their big league debuts in 2025.

Matt Shaw began the campaign as the team’s starting third baseman, but only last 18 games before being sent back to Iowa to work on his swing. He is back with the Cubs now and is already thriving at the plate in the team’s road series against the Marlins.

Cade Horton and Moises Ballesteros have had brief stints with Chicago to begin their big league careers as well. Horton has taken the rotation spot of an injured Shota Imanaga, and Ballesteros was up for a week while Ian Happ was dealing with an oblique issue that required him to head on the IL. A highly regarded hitting prospect in High-A has been tearing the cover off the baseball so far this season, and plenty of people have taken notice.

Chicago Cubs’ prospect Jefferson Rojas has been red-hot in May

Jefferson Rojas has logged just over 900 career minor league at-bats since joining the Cubs’ system in 2022. The shortstop spent all of 2024 in High-A South Bend, which is where has has begun his 2025 campaign. Rojas is slashing .284/.388/.477  for a .865 OPS in 29 games and 109 at-bats. He has also driven in 15 runs while hitting four homers this season.

The month of May has been kind to Rojas, as he has been unreal in 16 games. In his 60 at-bats this month, Rojas is slashing .350/.437/.617 for a 1.054 OPS in the Midwest League. Three of his four home runs this year have come in May, and he has driven in 12 as well in this stretch.

Jefferson Rojas could be a big part of the Chicago Cubs’ future

Rojas has improved each year in the Cubs’ system at the plate, and his defense is must-see TV at all times. The 20-year-old still has a little ways to go before he is near the big league level, but his consistent success in High-A should put him on the radar to be apart of the organization’s long term plans. While the franchise is in win-now mode, Rojas might want to be a guy they consider keeping for the long haul, along with Ballesteros and others.

Even though Dansby Swanson still has four more years under contract after 2025, there is no saying that Rojas can’t be the next man up at the shortstop position when Swanson’s time with the team comes to a close. Rojas has the makings of a really good pro, and the front office might look to keep him around down the road.

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The Chicago Blackhawks head coaching search this offseason was seen as the biggest thing to nail down, even though the draft and free agency will be vital as well. Luke Richardson was the organization’s bench boss for two and a half years before being let go in December.

Anders Sorensen stepped up to take over Richardson’s role on an interim basis, and was seen as a real option to take the full time gig not too long ago. Chicago had seen five other coaching vacancies be filled before theirs, but it appears that they are ready to make their decision official on the next leader of the franchise.

REPORT: Chicago Blackhawks to name Jeff Blashill as their head coach

Reports have surfaced that Blashill could be named the Blackhawks’ next head coach as soon as Thursday. The former Red Wings bench boss had met with general manager Kyle Davidson least week, and it looks like everything will be made official by the end of the week.

Blashill spent seven seasons as the lead man in Detroit, and he posted a 204-261-72 record in 537 games. He got a tough draw with his first head coaching job in the NHL, as the Red Wings were rebuilding for a handful of years while he was at the helm. All eyes will be on who Blashill has join his staff, as those hires will be equally as important moving forward.

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After a strong end to the 2024-25 season, the Chicago Blackhawks have the ability to capitalize on their momentum this summer. The front office has plenty of resources to work with through free agency, the trade market and the draft as general manager Kyle Davidson has set them up well for success moving forward. The team holds the 3rd overall pick in the draft, after losing out to the Islanders and Sharks in the lottery a couple of weeks ago.

Many people in the hockey world believe it is time for the Blackhawks to at least take a step forward in their rebuild with some of their young pieces beginning to get comfortable at the NHL level. There will be some really intriguing free agents on the open market this summer, and one could be a perfect fit for Chicago.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to go all-in on Mitch Marner

Mitch Marner is expected to demand a lot of money as a free agent this summer. Things have not gone Toronto’s way in the playoffs in the last handful of years, and he could be looking for a change of scenery because of that. In a column from The Athletic written by Chris Johnston that came out during the Maple Leaf’s series with the Panthers, it was revealed that Marner could want out of Toronto.

“Everything is lining up for him (Marner) to walk free,” Johnston wrote. There’s been a growing sense that the 28-year-old winger wants a fresh start after enduring an avalanche of criticism for his team’s repeated playoff shortcomings. That’s about to be released again here with serious force after Marner and linemate Auston Matthews have been completely shut down in the offensive zone by the defending Stanley Cup champions in Round 2.”

Marner has been with the Maple Leafs since he was drafted by the organization with the fourth overall pick in 2015. He is expected to command as much as $14 million per year on a new deal, and the Maple Leafs might not be able to bring him back, especially after all of their playoff struggles.

Mitch Marner would be an instant star in Chicago

Marner is the best shot Chicago has at adding a big time playmaker in the open market during their rebuild. Players like the 28-year-old winger don’t make it to free agency often, so the front office needs to capitalize on this opportunity.

Marner is coming off a 100 point campaign, where he scored 27 goals and collected 75 assists for 102 points in the regular season. A player of his calibar would work wonders for guys like Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, who are looking to take big steps forward this fall.

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Following a brutal series opening loss against the Marlins on Monday night, the Chicago Cubs needed to bounce back in a big way on Tuesday. They had a golden opportunity to take the opener with a one-run lead entering the ninth inning, but Daniel Palencia could not slam the door shut, as the Marlins walked it off with two outs in the frame.

The Cubs took two of three from the Marlins a week ago at home, with them not being able to secure the sweep by dropping the finale, 3-1. Following a tough schedule to begin the campaign, Chicago has been given a nice end to the month of May. When the month concludes, they will have played the White Sox, Marlins (twice), Reds (twice) and Rockies. They currently hold a two-game lead of first place in the NL Central over the Cardinals, with a 29-20 record to show for it.

The bats came alive for the Cubs big time in Tuesday’s 14-1 victory. They accomplished something as a group that they have already done three times this season in their first 49 games at the plate.

The Chicago Cubs collected 21 hits for the third time this season

In Chicago’s 14-1 win over the Marlins on Tuesday, they collected exactly 21 hits as a team for the third time this season. Everyone in the order picked up a knock, and it was quite the response to their disappointing loss against the fish on Monday. The contest was tied at one entering the top of the sixth, where the Cubs exploded for eight runs in the inning. Seiya Suzuki capped of the frame with a two-run homer, his 12th of the season. The fourth-year Cub is now tied with Aaron Judge for the most runs driven in throughout the league with 43.

Chicago added five more runs for good measure in the ninth off Miami infielder, Javier Sanoja. Jameson Taillon looked sharp on the mound yesterday, as he was able to get through seven innings of work while allowing just one run. The veteran right-hander gave up his eighth solo homer in his last three starts, but he settled in just fine on his way to his third win of the season.

Kyle Tucker might have snapped out of his slump on Tuesday

Tucker had been struggling over the past couple of weeks, but had the game he desperately needed on Tuesday. He got the scoring started for Chicago in the first frame with his 11th home run of the season. Tucker finished the game going 3-4 with two runs scored, improving his season average to .268 in the process. He served as the designated hitter on Tuesday after some fans were questioning why he did not come up with the grab in the ninth inning of Monday’s contest that would have given Chicago the victory.

Fans shouldn’t worry about Tucker’s recent skid in the box. Even the game’s best bats will go cold on occasion, and that’s what has happened with him over the past couple of weeks. Luckily, the rest of the lineup around him has been able to make up for his shortcomings and hopefully he will begin to hit his stride again.

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The Chicago Bulls had plenty of positive takeaways from this past season despite it ending in a rather sour way in the play-in tournament. They finished with a 39-43 record and lost in their lone game in the play-in tournament at home against the Miami Heat in blowout fashion. The front office have moved off key veterans in the past 12 months like Alex Caruso, Zach LaVine and Demar Derozan, hoping to find some sort of direction.

The results in the standings show that not much has changed with the franchise, but a few younger pieces on the roster off upside for years to come. Their top pick in last summer’s draft was recognized for his play among his peers on Tuesday after playing a much larger role than fans thought he was going to this past season.

Chicago Bulls’ wing Matas Buzelis makes All-Rookie Second Team

Buzelis was officially selected to the All-Rookie Second Team on Tuesday after being the 11th overall pick of the franchise in last summer’s draft. The local product averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in his first NBA season on 45.4% shooting from the field. Buzelis shot 36.1% from beyond the arc and started in 31 of the 80 games that he played in for Chicago.

Buzelis should have an increased role with the Bulls this upcoming season. He rose the occasion when called upon most of the time as a rookie against some of the league’s best players, and his upside is still tremendous. Buzelis will be involved with the team’s future plans along with Coby White and Josh Giddey, who will be in contract negotiations with the front office this summer.

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The Chicago Cubs front office will be busy this upcoming offseason trying to keep some of their best bats around for the long haul. General manager Jed Hoyer made a big swing in acquiring Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros back in December, and the trade has worked out well for the organization so far. Even though the right fielder has struggled over the last couple of weeks, he has made everyone around him in the order significantly better this season and his overall numbers have been impressive.

In 186 at-bats this season, Tucker is slashing .258/.371/.511 for an .882 OPS in 48 games. The 28-year-old has 10 homers and is one of four players on the team with 10 or more long balls this year. Tucker has also driven in 33 runs, which is third on the Cubs.

The front office has more than just Tucker to worry about paying this offseason. A budding star in the outfield has made a name for himself in his first full season at the big league level, and he isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Chicago Cubs GM confirms push at extending Pete Crow-Armstrong

Hoyer made it known during his on-air appearance with 670 The Score on Tuesday that the organization did what they could to extend Crow-Armstrong, but the task at hand right now is the 2025 season for the 23-year-old outfielder.

“I’m sure at some point, we will revisit,” Hoyer said. “Right now, we’re letting him focus on the season.

Crow-Armstrong has exploded at the plate this season and has been a true game changer in the Cubs lineup. The former first-round draft pick has 12 home runs and has driven in 38 runs this year while slashing .282/.317/.569 for a .886 OPS in 48 games. PCA’s bat has come a long way this season, as the power aspect of his game was really the only thing that he was missing entering the offseason.

Crow-Armstrong’s ability to play strong defense, run well on the bases and throw runners out was never in question. His bat was the real difference between him being a good or a great player, and it appears that he has figured to have figured it out at the plate.

Pete Crow-Armstrong could be a superstar for the Chicago Cubs

The city of Chicago loves Pete Crow-Armstrong and he has taken on the role as a fan favorite this year. He has the personality to be a superstar in a major market, and his play has lived up to that so far in 2025. PCA played in 123 big league games a season ago and hit under .240 in 372 at-bats. He has more home runs so far this season than he did a year ago, and pitchers have yet to adjust to his power surge.

Crow-Armstrong has thrived in the leadoff left vacant by Ian Happ, who is returning from the IL for Tuesday night’s tilt against the Marlins. PCA will head back to the middle of the order, where he has also done well for himself this year.

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The Chicago Cubs have dealt with a couple of injuries so far this season, which has allowed for some of the organization’s top prospects to make their big league debuts. Matt Shaw began the season with the team before being sent down to Triple-A after 18 rough games at the plate. He returned to the big leagues on Monday night against the Marlins and collected a two-hit game, proving that his time in Iowa was much needed.

With Shota Imanaga going down with a hamstring strain, Cade Horton was promoted to take his spot in the rotation. The right-hander gave up three runs in 5.0 innings of work in his first career start against the White Sox last Friday, and the hope is that he can find a way to stick around for a long time.

The Cubs announced Tuesday morning that an everyday bat will be returning to the lineup for the second game of the Marlins’ series, with another young prospect being sent back to Iowa in the corresponding move.

Chicago Cubs activate Ian Happ off the IL

Happ will be back in action Tuesday night after being out with a left oblique strain. The former first-round draft choice of the organization is slashing .269/.364/.381 with a .745 OPS in 39 games this season as the team’s leadoff man. He has also clubbed out three homers and driven in 16 runs so far in 2025. While the power numbers haven’t been there as much for Happ so far this season, he was still the tone-setter in Chicago’s order and he has been missed over the past week.

Moises Ballesteros will head down to Triple-A as the corresponding move. The 21-year-old made his bug league debut last week and collected three hits in 16 at-bats in his short stay with the team. Ballesteros looked more comfortable in the box as each game went along, and there is no doubt he will be back soon enough.

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The Chicago Cubs couldn’t seal the deal in Monday night’s series opener in Miami after taking a one-run lead into the ninth frame. The back and forth tilt against the Marlins ended with a two-out walk off double from Jesus Sanchez off Daniel Palencia, who got the nod to try and close out the ball game. The flamethrower ended up tossing in the ninth because of Porter Hodge dealing with an oblique injury that is set to land him on the IL. 

Chicago’s bullpen has been in flux all season after it was the weakest aspect of their team a season ago. Ryan Pressly began the campaign as the club’s closer, but veteran’s shaky beginning to the year in that role gave way for Hodge to take over ninth inning duties. While the front office will need to address the stable near the trade deadline with at least two arms, they will need to figure out how to piece things together in the meantime.

With Hodge set to hit the IL, the organization will need to call up an arm from Triple-A. Gavin Hollowell has already been promoted twice from the Iowa Cubs this season, but management could look to give an opportunity to a left-hander who has pitched well in Triple-A this season.

Chicago Cubs could call up Luke Little from Triple-A

Luke Little has pitched in 10 games with the I-Cubs this season and has been fantastic for them. The southpaw has a 1.17 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched out of their bullpen and has an eye-popping 0.58 WHIP as well. Little was a fourth-round pick of Chicago in the shortened 2020 draft out of San Jacinto JC. The now 24-year-old went viral before that draft for throwing 105 mph off the mound, and the Cubs were the team to take a chance on his upside.

Little has pitched in one game at the the big league level this season, which came against San Diego on the road on April 16. He tossed 0.2 frames, walked four batters and allowed an earned run. Little didn’t show much promise in that contest, which led to him being immediately sent back down to Iowa.

Luke Little has been inconsistent at the big league level in his career

Little’s season numbers in 2024 were pretty solid overall, but he still struggled to find the strike zone on occasion. He finished the campaign with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP in 26.0 innings pitched after making his big league debt in 2023. Little pitched in 30 games last year and had a 1-3 record to show for it.

One thing that might prevent the front office from calling up Little to fill Hodge’s roster spot is that they have two lefties on the roster already. Caleb Thielbar and Drew Pomeranz have been excellent so far this season, filling a need in the bullpen that Chicago has had for multiple years.

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Injuries have hit the Chicago Cubs’ pitching staff hard so far this season after the front office did their best to bolster it in the offseason. Shota Imanaga is currently on the IL with a hamstring strain, and he won’t be back on the hill until June. Justin Steele was ruled out for the season in April and underwent elbow surgery, leaving the team without their two best starters for a decent period.

Following Monday’s tough series-opening loss to the Miami Marlins, manager Craig Counsell revealed that another important arm for this Cubs team will miss some time moving forward.

Chicago Cubs closer Porter Hodge to hit the IL

Counsell told the media after Monday’s loss that Hodge will head to the IL with an oblique injury. The right-hander was not able to work the ninth frame in the series opener that Chicago did not close out. They held a 7-6 lead entering the ninth, and Daniel Palencia couldn’t slam the door shut.

Hodge has worked in 21 games for the Cubs this season and has a 5.12 ERA in 19.1 innings tossed. He was promoted to the closer role after Ryan Pressly struggled mightily in the position to begin the campaign. Hodge has a 2-1 record and a 1.50 WHIP so far in 2025.

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The Chicago Cubs’ bench has looked much different in 2025 compared to previous seasons after the front office completely changed things up this offseason. Guys who were with the team for multiple seasons, like Patrick Wisdom, were let go this past winter to shake up the reserve unit for the 2025 campaign. The most notable addition to the bench at the time in free agency was the signing of Justin Turner. The veteran received a one-year deal worth $6 million to work in as the right-handed hitting option for Chicago at first base.

Vidal Brujan was acquired in a deal around the New Year for Matt Mervis, and Jon Berti was signed to a one-year deal as well to offer more depth to the squad. Carson Kelly has been the been the overall biggest contributor of all the veterans added this past offseason, as him and Miguel Amaya make up one of the best catching tandems in MLB.

Despite the team having some bench success this season, there are still ways the unit could be improved. A long time member of the Dodgers was let go after spending parts of 10 seasons with the organization, and he could be on the Cubs’ radar in the open market.

Why the Chicago Cubs should look to bring in Chris Taylor

After being with the Dodgers since 2016, the organization officially DFA’d Chris Taylor over the weekend. The now 34-year-old was staple for the team in their playoff runs over the past decade, being a swiss army knife for manager Dave Roberts. Taylor has played in nearly 1,100 career MLB names, and spent the first couple of years in the big leagues with Seattle before being traded to Los Angeles.

Taylor would be an immediate upgrade over a guy like Berti on the bench. The veteran can play multiple positions well and would be a good piece to have in a pinch if certain everyday bats need a game off from time to time. The last season Taylor played a decent amount of games in came back in 2023 where he saw action in 117 contests.

Why Chris Taylor would not fit the Chicago Cubs

Taylor struggled to stay on the field in 2024 and didn’t play well when he got healthy. He slashed .202/.298/.300 for an .598 OPS in just 87 games. Things haven’t gotten much better for Taylor this year, as he is batting .200 in 28 games. The Dodgers have younger faces in their farm system that were ready for the show, and Taylor wasn’t getting it done anymore, so this decision seemed easy for their front office.

While the Cubs could try to get anything that Taylor has left out of him, his numbers of the past 100-plus games of big league action has not been good. If the organization is at all worried about his recent numbers, that could be enough of a red flag to keep him off their radar.

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The Chicago Cubs are hoping that their issues at third base in 2025 will be resolved following an important roster move they made on Monday morning. It was announced that Matt Shaw would be joining the team for their three-game series that begins in Miami on Monday night. The top prospect began the campaign as the club’s third baseman, but lasted just 18 games before being sent down to Triple-A to work on his swing.

Shaw has been crushing the ball with the Iowa Cubs in his stint there, and has earned his promotion ahead of the six-game road trip this week. It was unknown over the weekend who the odd man out would be from the group rotating in at third base during Shaw’s absence, but that was made official as well early-Monday afternoon.

Chicago Cubs designate Nicky Lopez for assignment

The early report Monday morning was that Lopez didn’t make the trip with the team to Miami and they were looking to trade him after the news of Shaw being called up broke. After the front office could not find a trade partner, Lopez was officially designated for assignment. 

Lopez was with the Cubs in Spring Training before asking for his release once it was known he wasn’t on the traveling roster to Japan for the Tokyo series. The veteran was brought back during the regular season after the Gage Workman experiment didn’t go according to plan, and has been with the team team for the past few weeks. Lopez appeared in 14 games and collected just one hit in 18 at-bats in his second stint with the Cubs organization in 2025.

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In their last homestand, the Chicago Cubs got consistently strong outings from their starting rotation against the Marlins and White Sox. Their 5-1 record on the week speaks volumes to how well the staff did, as their one loss came in the series finale against Miami last Wednesday. The 3-1 defeat saw veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon give up three solo home runs, but still getting through six frames of work.

Last year’s rotation was by far the strongest part of the team, as the bullpen had their fair share of implosions and the offense fell flat pretty frequently. It was unreasonable to put this much pressure on the rotation again in 2025, so Jed Hoyer went out and made moves to try and make the rest of the roster stronger. The team’s offense is now one of the best in baseball, but the bullpen still needs some work done to it.

One of the front office’s free agent signings this offseason has been massive as a member of the rotation. He has needed to step up with injuries being prevalent in the staff so far.

Matthew Boyd is putting himself in Chicago Cubs history

Boyd went six innings and allowed three runs on four hits in the Cubs’ 7-3 win over the White Sox on Saturday. The veteran now has four consecutive appearances on the hill at Wrigley Field with a victory, which puts him in second all-time in franchise history in that category. Boyd sits behind Rick Sutcliffe, who had eight straight home outings with a victory.

The southpaw has been overpowering batters so far in his three starts in May. Boyd punched out eight against the White Sox on Saturday, and did the same thing on May 11 on the road when the team took on the Mets. His first start of the month came against San Francisco at home on May 5, where he struck out seven in the 9-2 win.

The Chicago Cubs investment in Matthew Boyd has paid off so far

Boyd was given a two-year deal in December worth just under $30 million total following a strong 2024 campaign with the Guardians where he tossed under 40.0 innings in the regular season while working back from injury. The signing was a pure upside decision from the front office, and it has paid off big time so far. Boyd has been an anchor in the Cubs’ rotation, and has answered the bell while Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele have been on the shelf.

Fortunately, Imanaga should be back at some point in June, where Steele will miss the rest of the campaign. Boyd has a 4-2 record in nine starts in this season. The lefty has a 2.98 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in 51.1 innings tossed in an important role with the club’s starting group. He is slated to throw again in the series opener against the Reds on Friday.

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The Chicago Cubs head to Miami following a sweep of the White Sox at Wrigley Field over the weekend with an opportunity to pad their lead in the NL Central. The bats came alive earlier for the Cubs in their Rivalry Weekend series, as they put up 13 runs in game one. Pete Crow-Armstrong was the star of the series, as he hit over .500 in the three games. The Cubs’ top trade return at the 2021 deadline is making an early push into the NL MVP conversation, and is seen as the front-runner to start in center field at the All-Star game in July.

The club will see the Marlins for the second time in as many weeks beginning Monday night. Chicago took two of three from fish at home last Monday through Wednesday, as the Marlins avoided the sweep in the series finale. Another Cub veteran made noise at the plate over the weekend, and joined a solid group of shortstops in MLB history in the process.

Dansby Swanson puts himself in elite company once again

Swanson clubbed out his 150th career home run in Saturday’s 7-3 win. The solo blast came in the fifth frame and made it 5-3 Cubs at the time and was the former number one overall pick’s 10th long ball of the campaign. With this homer, Swanson became just the 10th shortstop in MLB history to have 150 career homers and two Gold Glove awards.

Swanson has turned a corner after being in a slump throughout most of April. He is slashing .253/.315/.472, giving him a .787 OPS in 47 games. His average dipped below .185 at one point during his slump, and his new spot in the bottom third of the team’s order has worked wonders. Along with his 10 homers, Swanson has driven in 26 runs so far in 2025.

The Chicago Cubs need to take care of business to finish May

The Cubs have an opportunity to build a stronger lead in the NL Central with how their slate is shaping up to finish the month. They had one of the harder schedules in baseball to begin the campaign, and their opponents to end May could set them up in a great position entering the summer months.

Following their three-game set on the road against the Marlins, Chicago will remain away from Wrigley Field over the weekend when they square off against the Reds in a crucial divisional series. They return home to take on the Colorado Rockies, the worst team in baseball, to begin next week before they host the Reds for another three-game series.

Based on how the Cubs did against the NL West gauntlet they faced to begin the season, they have proven that they can be a legit threat in the National League playoff picture this season. They have done their job so far in taking care of the easier part of their schedule, it’s just about keeping the foot on the pedal for the rest of May.

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There have been more reports on the Chicago Blackhawks misses in the head coaching cycle this offseason than traction on who the front office has spoken to. Five coaching vacancies across the NHL have been filled, with Chicago’s opening being one of the four left in this cycle. This is the biggest hire that the organization has had to make in quite some time, with the rebuild looking to take a sharp turn for the better this fall.

The team finished this past season strong, with a bunch a young faces make their way up to the NHL level and signing their entry-level deals toward the end of the campaign. The front office is fully aware that they need to being in a guy that can command the dressing room while establishing a winning culture right away. While the Blackhawks haven’t been able to land some of the bigger names on the market so far, there are still some solid options available to them.

A recent report shows that Chicago attempted at making a swing at another big name collegiate head coach next to their efforts at bringing in David Carle.  

The Chicago Blackhawks were interested in Adam Nightingale

Per insider Elliotte Freidman, the Blackhawks reportedly had interest in Michigan State head coach, Adam Nightingale earlier on this offseason. The report later detailed the fact that Nightingale doesn’t have any intention of leaving the college ranks right now, similar to what happened with Carle at Denver University.

Nightingale has been the head coach at Michigan State for the past three seasons, and has posted a 65-39-9 record in his time leading the program so far. He was the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2024, and has led the Spartans to the NCAA tournament in each of the last two seasons. Nightingale has done a nice job taking over the MSU program and has turned it around in a strong way, and their place at the top of the Big Ten conference should be locked in for years to come.

Adam Nightingale would have fit the Chicago Blackhawks well

The vision for the Blackhawks have interest in Nightingale makes a ton of sense. Similar to Carle, he is younger and has had success at the collegiate level while working with future NHL talent. The 45-year-old coached Chicago’s number two overall draft choice last summer, Artyom Levshunov, in his lone season in East Lansing. Nightingale is growing something special at Michigan State, so him wanting to stay there shouldn’t been seen as a shot taken at the Blackhawks or any other NHL organization that might have had interest in him taking over behind their bench.

General manager Kyle Davidson reportedly met with former Red Wings head coach, Jeff Blashill, regarding the teams opening. Many believe he is the front-runner for the position at the moment, but nothing is set in stone. The decision could be made by the front office to fill the vacancy as soon as next week.

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The young players on the Chicago Blackhawks’ roster have benefitted greatly from playing in the IIHF World Championships so far. Frank Nazar had a fantastic showing for Team USA on Sunday in their 6-0 victory over Hungary. The forward scored two first period goals and added an assist in the win, earning Player of the Game honors in the process. Alex Vlasic is a member of the USA squad alongside Nazar, and is using the experience as an opportunity to grow on the blue-line next to some of the league’s other young, bright defensemen.

Lukas Reichel was off to a solid start with Germany before being ruled out for the rest of the tournament due to injury on Wednesday. The 2020 first-round draft choice had a goal and three assists for four total points in three games before going down.

The lone veteran from Chicago in the IIHF World Championships this year is Teuvo Teravainen. The 30-year-old is with the Finish team just as he was in the Four Nations Faceoff back in February. Teravainen put himself into elite company in the tournament’s history thanks to his performance on Thursday.

Chicago Blackhawks’ winger Teuvo Teravainen makes history

Teravainen collected six assists in Team Finland’s 9-1 win against Slovenia on Thursday, tying the record for most assists in a single game in the history of the IIHF World Championships. The veteran returned to Chicago this past offseason on a three-year deal worth $5.4 million per season. To begin his professional career, Teravainen was the 18th overall pick of the franchise in the 2012 draft.  He was a member of the last Chicago team to hoist a Stanley Cup back in 2015 and was an underrated part of the team’s championship run that year.

Teuvo Teravainen will be counted on heavily moving forward

Teravainen was the definition of consistent this past year. He played in all 82 games and was a top-six forward for most of them. He quietly put up a great scoring season, as he finished third on the team in points with 58, and second in assists with 43. The veteran trailed only Connor Bedard in the assist department, who completed the season with 44 helpers. It is good to see Teravanien not miss a beat while playing for Finland in this tournament. His play speaks volumes to how reliable he can be down the road for a franchise desperately looking to compete again.

It will be up to Teravanien and other veterans on the roster like Tyler Bertuzzi to continually help the young players on this roster grow into their own in the NHL. The team only got younger as this past season came to a close, and the on-ice product looked much better while the transition was occurring. The goal this summer is for the front office to capitalize on this momentum and bring in any pieces needed to take this rebuild to the next level this fall.

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There hasn’t been much noise from the Chicago Blackhawks’ front office regarding their search for the team’s next head coach this offseason. Five openings have been filled across the league, making Chicago one of just four jobs left on the market in this hiring cycle. Fans have been on edge with the front office not jumping on any of the candidates who have been hired so far, but this now appears to be the second wave of this off-season’s hiring cycle.

While it might be frustrating to some that the Blackhawks haven’t been able to land a coach so far, others could view this process as the front office being patient. If there isn’t a candidate they are totally sold on yet, they shouldn’t just hire someone because everybody else is. Management wants to make sure they have the right guy for the job and their process should be trusted more than anything.

With the exception of David Carle, there haven’t been many names directly linked to the Chicago opening. However, a report came out on Thursday about general manager Kyle Davidson meeting with a potential option to take over as the Blackhawks’ bench boss this season.

Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson met with Jeff Blashill

Davidson meeting with Jeff Blashill got the attention of Chicago fans online on Thursday. Similar to a few other strong candidates available right now, the 51-year-old has plenty of head coaching experience at the NHL level. Blashill spent seven seasons as the lead man in Detroit, and he posted a 204-261-72 record in 537 games. He got a tough draw with his first head coaching job in the NHL, as the Red Wings were rebuilding for a handful of years while he was at the helm.

Blashill is also well-known for his success in the AHL prior to getting the Detroit job. He led the Grand Rapids Griffins to their first Calder Cup in 2013, and was named the AHL’s most outstanding coach in the 2013-14 campaign. Blashill’s best season at the NHL level was in his first year with the Red Wings, where he went 41-30-11 leading that group in 2015-16.

Jeff Blashill might be one of the better coaching options left

Blashill and Jay Woodcroft could very well be the best two options remaining for the Blackhawks in this hiring cycle. Unless they want to stay in-house and remove the interim tag from Anders Sorensen, one of these two coaches has a decent shot to be the organization’s next bench boss. Woodcroft has spent parts of three seasons as the head coach of the Oilers and had a stellar 2022-23 campaign. It was his only full year at the helm in Edmonton, and it he made it count with his 50-23-9 record and 109 points.

Both Blashill and Woodcroft have NHL experience, which bodes well for the Blackhawks’ front office. If they truly want to decide between those two, they will have to determine whether they value long or short term success more in their resumes.

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Plenty of eyes have remained on the Iowa Cubs early this season despite the Chicago Cubs getting out to a hot start in their pursuit of the NL Central crown. The team’s highly-rated farm system is what has helped them take steps forward so far this season, and having an eye on the multiple top prospects in Triple-A makes sense for depth purposes. The front office has already had to call up two big time young players from the I-Cubs in Cade Horton and Moises Ballesteros.

The organization’s top prospect started the season at the big league level, but didn’t stick around for too long. Since returning to Triple-A, he has been on a tear and could be making his way back to Chicago very soon.

Matt Shaw is making his case to return to the Chicago Cubs

Shaw led the charge in the I-Cubs’ comeback victory in game two of their doubleheader yesterday. The 2023 first-round draft choice led the game off with a homer and delivered a walk-off long ball to seal the deal. No MLB player has accomplished this feat since 2010, and Shaw did so while trying to prove that he belongs in the show.

In his 22 games with Iowa this year, Shaw is slashing .284/.408/.519, giving him a .927 OPS in 98 at-bats. The two homers he clubbed out yesterday make up half of the round-trippers he has in Triple-A, and he has driven in 11 runs as well.

The 23-year-old has struggled mightily at the plate to begin his big league career as he has hit .172 with a .535 OPS in 18 games this season. He has one homer and three runs driven in and has struck out 18 times in 58 at-bats.

The Chicago Cubs need Matt Shaw to step-up for multiple reasons

With how poorly the third base position has been handled since Shaw’s demotion, the Cubs could use any help they can get at the hot corner. Shaw has always been the long term plan at third base, and the front office didn’t want him to lose any more confidence at the dish early on in his big league career. The bat was his primary issue in his first 18 MLB games, and it appears he has worked on some things in his short stint with Iowa.

If the Cubs can have Shaw be a consistent regular option at third base, it would help them massively at the trade deadline. This would allow for the organization to focus on acquiring pitching only at the end of the summer, to help them pick up the depth that they have lost in the rotation and bullpen early on in 2025.

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The Chicago Cubs front office has been hard at work trying to figure out their pitching staff before summer is in full swing this season. Last month, the organization suffered a tough blow when Justin Steele was lost for the entire season due to an elbow injury. The left-hander had looked off in Spring Training, but the team has missed his top-of-the-rotation presence over the past month. Shota Imanaga straining his hamstring against the Brewers a couple of weeks ago only made matters worse, but he should be back at some point in June.

Between the rotation injuries and the struggling bullpen, the front office is willing to try any combination possible for their staff before they determine what they need to add at the trade deadline. They went out and brought in a veteran arm off the open market prior to Friday’s series opener at Wrigley Field against the White Sox.

Chicago Cubs sign Kenta Maeda to a minor league deal

Per reports, the Cubs officially signed Maeda to a minor league deal on Thursday. The veteran appeared in seven games and possessed a 7.88 ERA to pair with his 1.88 WHIP in 8.0 innings tossed. Maeda signed a two-year deal with the Tigers prior to last season, and he pitched in 29 games for the club in 2024. Out of the 29 appearances he made, 17 of them were starts, and he logged 112.1 innings on the hill.

Maeda finished last year with a 6.09 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP along with his 3-7 record. The now 37-year-old had a rough go at it in Detroit, and he might not have much left in the tank in his big league career. However, the Cubs have been able to revive a few careers on the mound in recent seasons, so Maeda is worth taking a chance on to help their depth issues.

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The Chicago Blackhawks’ roster will be a harder one to make out of camp this fall compared to the previous few seasons. General manager Kyle Davidson had the right idea in mind last summer when he brought in a handful of veterans in free agency to have more NHL-level talent ready to roll on opening night. This didn’t change where the team finished in the league standings from the previous year, as the Blackhawks ended the most recent campaign 31st in points.

One difference in the last two seasons is how this most recent one came to a close. More young talent in the organization’s prospect pool signed their entry-level contracts within the final five weeks of the season, and the energy immediately shifted on the ice. The pace in which the group played with the end the year was much different to what fans have been used to seeing over the past few years.

All of these entry-level deals will create for interesting optional battles in certain spots at camp this fall. A few young players could be on the cusp of making the roster to begin the season, and one of those guys was a 2020 third-round draft pick.

Landon Slaggert could start next season in Rockford

Landon Slaggert signed his entry-level contract toward the end of last season and played in 16 games at the NHL level. The forward collected his first career goal in that stretch to pair with three assists before entering his first full offseason as a professional. Slaggert began the fall in Rockford and spent most of the season down there. The Notre Dame product played in just 33 games with the Blackhawks this past season, and posted two goals to pair with his four assists.

Slaggert spent most of his NHL ice time this past year as a bottom-six forward, which is likely his ceiling as a pro. He didn’t contribute much in the scoring department, and even had a drought of over 20 games where he did not register a point. With the organization potentially bringing in more free agents to add to the team’s forward depth this summer, Slaggert will be in a tough position to make the opening night roster.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to figure out a role for Landon Slaggert

Slaggert played fine at the AHL level last season, and that might be the vision that the front office has for him down the road. He would serve as good depth in Rockford for the organization, and they would know what to expect from him if he is needed to come up in a pinch.

The 22-year-old is under contract with the Blackhawks through the 2026-27 season, so they still have a couple of years to come to a consensus of what they think he can do for them long term. Slaggert had 10 goals and 15 assists in 39 games for the Rockford IceHogs this past season.

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The Chicago Blackhawks will have plenty to celebrate when looking back at all the franchise has accomplished ahead of its’ 100th season. Winning six Stanley Cups is an incredible accomplishment, and having a stretch like they did in the 2010s still has fans reminiscing of the good old days while the front office is in the middle of a full-scale rebuild. While many are hoping Connor Bedard can be the next Patrick Kane and that this current rebuild can get off the ground floor this season, it will be equally important to celebrate the rich history of Blackhawks hockey this year.

The organization announced on Thursday that there will be a special addition for the franchise this season, that will forever celebrate the legacies of some of the best players to ever wear the Blackhawk sweater.

Chicago Blackhawks announce franchise’s Hall of Fame

Beginning this season, the Blackhawks Hall of Fame will become a staple of the team on a yearly basis. The exhibit will be on full display inside Fifth Third Arena, the team’s practice facility. This will allow the franchise to recognize legendary former players without retiring too many jerseys at the United Center moving forward.

While there are still a few more jerseys that need to be put up in the rafters (Kane, Toews, Keith) in the coming years, this exhibit will allow for legends of the past and the recent dynasty to be recognized among the all-time greats to ever put on the uniform.

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Third base has been the only everyday spot that the Chicago Cubs have not gotten right so far this season after trading Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker deal. This was a move that the organization wouldn’t hesitate to do again, as Tucker has been one of the best hitters in the National League so far this season. The team’s new right fielder being on an expiring contract has made the fanbase uneasy about his future with the franchise, but there is hope that both sides can come to terms on a new deal.

The Cubs have had one of the hottest offenses in all of baseball this season, as they have three players with 10 or more home runs. Pete Crow-Armstrong’s surge at the plate has been the highlight of Chicago’s season so far, as the center fielder has 11 long balls on the campaign with 30 runs driven in and a .266 batting average.

Chicago currently has a one-game lead in the NL Central on the St. Louis Cardinals, who just had their eight-game winning streak snapped. With division title aspirations set in stone for this group, it is not crazy to already look ahead at the trade deadline. Adding more arms will be a top priority for the front office, but looking at another option at third base wouldn’t be a horrible idea either.

A recent mock trade has the Cubs connected to one of the best pure hitters in baseball. Even though the deal seems far-fetched, it’s worth looking into based on how badly they need help at the hot corner.

Chicago Cubs linked to Rafael Devers in mock trade

Matt Shaw’s big league career did not start out how the organization would have liked it to, and the top prospect is down in Triple-A right now to work on his bat. The position has not been pieced together all that well since Shaw was sent down, but the Cubs haven’t had much of a choice in getting another big league caliber third baseman on the fly.

In a mock trade that FanDuel recently posted on X, the Cubs would be acquiring superstar third baseman Rafael Devers and left-handed pitcher Sean Newcomb from the Red Sox in exchange for Shaw, Moises Ballesteros, pitching prospect Nazier Mule, and Jon Berti.

Rafael Devers and the Red Sox are at odds.

The Cubs have a MAJOR hole at 3B.

Should Chicago & Boston link up on a MASSIVE trade for the 3x All-Star? #BeHereForIt | #DirtyWater pic.twitter.com/FFDNJUjJ0f

— FanDuel (@FanDuel) May 9, 2025

Devers was frustrated with his role this season in Boston out of Spring Training after the team signed Alex Bregman to play third base. The slugger was moved to designated hitter on a full-time basis for the Red Sox, and told the team he wouldn’t play first base after Tristan Casas suffered a season-ending injury earlier this month.

Rafael Devers would impact the Cubs’ ability to re-sign Tucker

Devers would be a game changer in Chicago’s lineup and would solve their issues at third base for the long haul. Some question his ability to play a solid third base, but his bat would make up for any fielding blunders. The biggest piece that Cub fans would have to worry about in this deal is Ballesteros. Berti and Shaw wouldn’t be around if Devers was in Chicago anyways, and even though Mule has promise, he is still far away from the big league level.

The biggest issue from both sides in a deal like this is Devers’ contract. He is in the third season of a ten-year, $313 million dollar deal. Boston would have to eat a good chunk of his salary to have a deal in place anywhere, but a team like Chicago would have other problems if a deal like this is on their books. With the goal being to bring back Tucker this offseason along with giving PCA an extension, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish these things with Devers on the team. If the front office were to choose who they would rather have down the road, Tucker should be the choice every single time.

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The Chicago Blackhawks front office is continually watching other organization’s hiring their next head coach this offseason. The franchise has a few important matters to attend to this summer, but getting the right guy behind the bench is arguably the most important decision they need to make. Luke Richardson was relieved of his duties as the Blackhawks’ head coach in December after spending nearly two and a half seasons in the role.

Anders Sorensen was brought up from Rockford to serve as Chicago’s interim head coach for the rest of the campaign, and he could now be a prime candidate to keep the job for this upcoming season. Fans are growing frustrated that the Blackhawks front office doesn’t seem to have a sense of urgency in hiring for their most important coaching job in recent memory. It appears that they aren’t the only ones that are asking questions about the organization’s process in this coaching cycle.

Nobody knows what the Chicago Blackhawks are going to do

Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman didn’t have an extremely positive update on Chicago’s coaching search on the latest installment of, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. 

“I’ll freely admit, I don’t have a great handle of where Chicago is right now,” Friedman said.

When the top NHL insider can’t firmly put his finger on the direction of an organization’s head coaching search, there is reason for concern. Five vacancies have now been filled in this cycle, making Chicago just one of four openings left across the league. The latest two positions that were filled on Wednesday, with former Vancouver bench boss Rick Tocchet taking the Flyers job, and top Canuck assistant, Adam Foote, been promoted as the lead man in Vancouver.

Jay Woodcroft might be the Chicago Blackhawks’ best option left

If Chicago doesn’t want to stay in-house with Sorensen, Woodcroft would be a logical candidate to pursue with what little is left on the market. The 48-year-old has spent parts of three seasons as the head coach of the Oilers and had a stellar 2022-23 campaign. It was Woodcroft’s only full year at the helm in Edmonton, and it he made it count with his 50-23-9 record and 109 points. The Toronto native took over after the Oilers had a rough start to the 2021-22 season and turned the ship around by posting a 26-9-3 record in 38 games.

Woodcroft has worked with stars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, so the Blackhawks front office knows they can trust him with the development of young guys like Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. At the end of the day, it would be good for Chicago to bring in a head coach who has had any type of success at the NHL level. Woodcroft certainly fits that description, despite having a short stay in Edmonton.

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The Chicago Cubs did not complete the sweep against Miami at home on Wednesday night, but still claimed another series at Wrigley Field this season. They put together a comeback in game two of the set where Justin Turner walked it off with a two-run double in the ninth inning. Even though the Cubs claimed this series thanks to those late-inning heroics, their bats fell quiet against a relatively poor pitching staff.

Miami has a couple of solid arms in their bullpen like Anthony Bender, but Chicago has done better against much strong units so far this season. They scored just one run on four hits in their 3-1 to conclude the series on Wednesday, with Seiya Suzuki launching his 11th home run of the season in the fourth frame to give the Cubs their lone run.

Jameson Taillon got the ball for the Cubs on Wednesday and he has been solid so far in his third season with the organization. The veteran right-hander has stacked together quality starts to begin the campaign, but one thing has held him back in his last two outings.

Jameson Taillon has allowed seven homers in his last two starts

Despite giving the Cubs a chance to win in his last two times on the hill, Taillon has allowed seven home runs in that stretch. The veteran gave up four solo shots against the Mets last Friday at Citi Field, and followed it up by having three more solo homers hit against him on Wednesday. Taillon hasn’t had the strongest May, as he has allowed 10 earned runs in three starts. However, none of the two losses that he has picked up were out of hand when he was taken out of the game.

Taillon was extremely sharp in April across five starts. The right-hander finished the month with a 2.76 ERA in 29.1 innings tossed, but the Cubs only won two of his five starts that month. Dating back to Chicago’s 10-4 loss on the road against San Diego where Taillon got the nod, they have only won one of his last six starts.

The Chicago Cubs still have a reliable starter in Jameson Taillon

Even though things haven’t been in Taillon’s favor as of late, Chicago still has a quality starter in the 33-year-old. He has a 2-3 record so far this season in nine starts and he has a 4.53 ERA. His 1.11 WHIP is 30th among all starters in baseball, and he looks much more like he did in a solid 2024 campaign with the Cubs rather than his hard-to-watch 2023 season with the club.

With Chicago’s pitching staff losing it’s depth due to injuries to Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele, they will need to lean on veterans like Taillon and Matthew Boyd to carry them until the trade deadline. Taillon will get another shot at the Marlins when the Cubs travel to Miami to begin a three-game series next Monday.

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The Chicago Blackhawks’ front office will have plenty of options to pursue in the open market this summer if they want to be aggressive buyers. General manager Kyle Davidson made plenty of moves last summer in free agency to have more NHL-level talent ready to roll on opening night. The 2023-24 squad featured way too many AHL quality players and that showed with the team finishing 31st in the league in points.

Unfortunately for the organization, adding more depth ahead of this past season didn’t change their position in the standings. The Blackhawks finished 31st once again this past year, and landed the third overall pick in the draft that they will use to add another major piece to their rebuild.

Chicago still has some money to spend this summer, and their rebuild taking an extremely positive turn at the end of the most recent campaign could attract free agents to the Windy City. However, an original big time target for the franchise could be off the table after the offer sheet comp levels were officially announced for restricted free agents this offseason.

Why the Chicago Blackhawks won’t sign Matthew Knies

With how well Matthew Knies has performed in the regular season and playoffs over the past couple of years, he has earned himself a nice payday this summer. The left winger is a restricted free agent this offseason, and any team other than Toronto will need to cough up a lot of assets for his services.

Knies likely falls under the category of receiving a yearly salary ranging between $7.02 and $9.36 million this offseason. According to the offer sheet comp levels that were released earlier this week, that would require a team to give up a first, second, and third round draft pick to sign him as a restricted free agent. A team like the Blackhawks are not in a position to make a move this big, even though their prospect pool is already loaded with talent.

The Blackhawks will not be good enough next year to sacrifice a pick that at the very worst will be in the top-10 of what is already shaping up to be a stacked draft class next summer. There are other extremely strong players on the open market this summer that Chicago could make a push for without having to give up this much draft capital in the process.

Matthew Knies would be a game changer for the Chicago Blackhawks

In a world where the Blackhawks’ front office gets crazy aggressive and brings in Knies despite the price tag that comes with him, it would send a message to the league that Chicago is ready to kick things into a new gear. Knies would be a guy that could get the best out of young players like Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar for a long time.

Knies just wrapped up his second full season at the NHL level, and he put the hockey world on notice with his play. The 22-year-old had 29 goals and 29 assists for 58 total regular season points in 78 games. The Maple Leafs are still in the playoffs, and Knies has been a major contributor in 10 games. He has five goals and two assists to go with his +1 plus/minus rating.

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For as many games as their bullpen has blown this year, the Chicago Cubs have fought back in contests that they had no business winning to begin with. Relief pitching has been a major issue for the franchise over the past two seasons, and 2025 hasn’t seen much positive change in that department of their group. The circle of trust for Cub relievers changes on a daily basis, and it is already a forgone conclusion that at least two new arms will join the stable at the trade deadline.

The one difference between this year’s team compared to the previous few years is the fight that they show. They have come from behind on multiple occasions, and have played the part of the “Cardiac Cubs” well to begin the season. While the bullpen and pitching staff as a whole can’t always bank on the offense to bail them out late in games, it’s good to know that this team can battle adversity and win the close games late. Playoff teams know how to come from behind and how to close games out, which is what this group has done well for the most part through their first 43 games of the campaign.

Justin Turner’s walk-off two-run double on Tuesday against the Marlins had the Wrigley Field crowd rocking once again, and it was just one of a handful of walk-off hits across baseball on Tuesday night.

The Chicago Cubs contributed to one of five walk offs on Tuesday

Tucker’s walk-off double was one of five walk-off knocks in the league on Tuesday. Per Jesse Rogers and @ESPNStatsInfo on X, There were 5 walk-off wins on Tuesday which is tied for the most on a single day this season. For the year so far, there have been 62 walk-offs, the most through May 13 since 2011.

Two other notable walk-offs on Tuesday came from former Cubs that now play in the American League. Javier Baez blasted a three-run homer that led to the Tigers beating the Red Sox, 10-9 in 11 innings. It was the second home run of the game for Baez, who is enjoying a career-changing year as the center fielder in Detroit.

After spending less than half a season in his second stint in the Cubs organization, Isaac Paredes is doing well in Houston. Just like Baez, he launched a walk-off homer in the Astros’ 2-1 victory over the Royals. Paredes was one of the three players dealt in the Kyle Tucker trade, which both franchises seem to be benefitting from right now.

Justin Turner needed a big knock in a Chicago Cubs uniform

Turner has struggled mightily so far in his time with the Cubs. The 40-year-old is hitting just .169 in 59 at-bats after signing a one-year deal with the organization this past offseason. Turner has now driven in nine runs in 2025, and has been a stable veteran presence for the young guys in the clubhouse. He is a true professional hitter and will settle into whatever role that manager Craig Counsell has in mind for him as summer nears, as it is still too early to pull the plug on him being with the team for a potential playoff push.

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The Chicago Blackhawks had a few players selected to play in the IIHF World Championships this offseason, and it has been extremely beneficial for the guys in the tournament. Frank Nazar had a big game on Sunday for Team USA, as he scored two first period goals and picked up an assist in their 6-0 victory over Hungary. The young forward collected Player of the Game honors for his play as he continues to pick up steam in a very important offseason for his development.

Alex Vlasic is on Team USA alongside Nazar, as the 23-year-old blue liner is looking to take big strides ahead of the fall as well. He is currently the top left-shot defenseman on the Blackhawks’ roster, and many people are hoping that he can take on a leadership role as he enters his third full season in the NHL.

Just like he did in the Four Nations Faceoff, Teuvo Teravainen is representing Finland at the IIHF World Championships. The veteran finished second on the Blackhawks in assists this past season in his return to the organization after spending the past eight seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The last Blackhawk to note that appeared in this tournament was off to a strong start, but an injury has ended his time with Team Germany this year.

Chicago Blackhawks’ Lukas Reichel is done at the IIHF tournament

Reichel will miss the rest of the IIHF World Championships this year due to injury. He logged just 8:07 of ice time against Norway on Tuesday, and this appears to be why. Reichel had a goal and four total points in three games prior to getting hurt. The 22-year-old was the Blackhawks’ first round draft choice in 2020 and has spent most of the last two seasons at the NHL level.

Reichel played in 70 games this past season and scored eight goals. He added 14 assists to give him 22 total points in the most games he has played in a single-season in his career so far. The winger played in 65 games during the 2023-24 season and had a brief stint in the AHL. Reichel scored five goals and picked up 11 assists in that campaign where many were expecting him to breakout.

Lukas Reichel is running out of chances with the Chicago Blackhawks

There was a widespread belief that Reichel’s last real shot wit the Blackhawks was in this most recent season. He spent most of the year on the fourth line with veterans Craig Smith and Pat Maroon before Smith was dealt to the Red Wings at the deadline. Reichel did not really fit the role that the Blackhawks’ coaching staff gave him, and there is a real possibility that he could be traded away this summer for a proper change of scenery. It will be tough to make the opening night roster as a bottom-six forward in the fall, and Reichel might not have what it takes to stick around for the next stage of this rebuild.

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The Chicago Blackhawks head coaching vacancy has plenty of positives to it, but the front office has taken their time so far this offseason in their search for the right guy. David Carle was Chicago’s top candidate for quite some time, before he withdrew his name from the running for the position at the end of April. The young guru decided to return to Denver University on a multi-year deal where he has been the top college coaching in the country for the past few years.

Mike Sullivan was snagged by the Rangers, as the fellow Original Six franchise made the former Pittsburgh Penguins bench boss the highest paid head coach in NHL history. The third coaching vacancy filled this offseason was taken by Blackhawks’ legendary head coach, Joel Quenneville, who was reinstated by the league last summer.

Another team is on the verge of hiring a new head coach as early as Wednesday, and it would take another excellent option for the Blackhawks off the board.

Chicago Blackhawks lose out on Rick Tocchet

Per reports, the Philadelphia Flyers are closing in on hiring Rick Tocchet as their next head coach. The 61-year-old spent the last three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s best head coach a season ago. Tocchet finished his tenure in Vancouver with a 108-65-27 record in 200 games coaches.

Philadelphia will be the fourth franchise that Tocchet has served as the head coach for, and many believed he would be their guy all along as he played the first eight seasons of his NHL career with the Flyers. It’s back to the drawing board for the Blackhawks in their search, as their options continue to dwindle in what is a huge offseason for the organization.

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Injuries have hit the Chicago Cubs hard so far this season, yet they remain in first place entering the series finale against the Marlins on Wednesday night. Teams looking to chase after the pennant every year deal with injuries to some degree, and the Cubs have been prepared for those early on in 2025. Chicago had a handful of their top prospects at Triple-A entering the season, and the front office has even had to bring up a couple of them to help the club out over the last week.

Justin Steele was the first major domino in the Cubs’ early-season injury chain a month ago. The left-hander was ruled out for the season and underwent left elbow surgery in hopes to return at some point toward the beginning of the 2026 campaign.

Shota Imanaga and Ian Happ are the two important players on the IL for Chicago right now. Imanaga left his start in Milwaukee on May 4 and is expected to miss the rest of the month due to a strained hamstring. Happ tweaked his oblique over the weekend in the opening game of the Mets’ series. He missed the final two games of the set and was placed on the IL following Monday’s win over the Marlins.

Ian Happ is “ramping up activity” after being placed on the IL

Craig Counsell told the media before Monday’s series opener that Happ starting “ramping up activity”, but the organization is being cautious with his rehab. Oblique injuries are nothing to mess around with, as a poor rehab of the issue could lead to a longer IL stint for Happ later on in the season. The club called up highly regarded prospect Moises Ballesteros with Happ being out for the next week or so.

The plan is for Ballesteros to continue to be the team’s designated hitter, and for Seiya Suzuki to play left field until their lead off man returns. Happ is slashing .269/.364/.381 with a .745 OPS in 39 games. He has also collected three homers and has driven in 16 runs so far this year.

The Chicago Cubs had Shota Imanaga play catch on Monday

Similar to Happ getting going to an extent on Monday, Imanaga played catch in the outfield upon the team’s first game back at Wrigley Field after being away for the weekend. The southpaw’s hamstring issue is similar to what Steele dealt with at the beginning of the 2024 season, so not expecting him to be back on a big league mound until June is completely reasonable.

Veterans like Colin Rea have stepped up in Imanaga’s absence. The organization’s top pitching prospect, Cade Horton could be making his first career start this weekend against the White Sox in Imanaga’s turn in the rotation. Imanaga has been dealing so far this season, as he currently holds a 2.82 ERA to pair with his 1.10 WHIP in eight starts. The lefty has tossed in 44.2 innings so far this season and has a 3-2 record.

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The Chicago Cubs have dealt with injuries to their pitching staff early on in the 2025 season, but their first major position player became official after Monday’s game against Miami. Ian Happ was dealing with an oblique issue during the opening game of last weekend’s series against the Mets, and missed the final two games of the set because of it. After Happ couldn’t draw into the lineup on Monday, the front office decided it was time to place the leadoff man on the 10-Day IL.

With Happ hitting the IL, the club called up one of their top prospects from Triple-A. Moises Ballesteros made his big league debut in Tuesday’s comeback victory against the Marlins as the designated hitter. The 21-year-old hit seventh in the order to begin his career, but he did not collect a hit in his debut. Regardless, Ballesteros will do everything he can to make it difficult on the Cubs’ front office to send him back to Triple-A once Happ returns from the IL.

The team might already be preparing for the possibility of Mo Baller sticking around longer than some originally thought. One of their everyday infielders took ground balls at a new spot prior to Tuesday night’s game at Wrigley Field.

Michael Busch was caught taking reps at third base

Video surfaced before Tuesday’s game of Michael Busch getting work in at third base, which immediately has Cubs fans thinking of what that may mean. When Chicago acquired Busch last offseason, they put him back to the position he spent the most time playing in college. While at North Carolina, Busch worked primarily at first base, and he has been great there so far with the Cubs.

Throughout his time with the Dodgers, Busch was all over the place. This is mainly because Los Angeles has so many moving parts and they just throw their young players wherever they need them on any given day. Busch mostly played third and second base with the Dodgers, which gives reason to believe that he could be comfortable playing the hot corner if the Cubs desperately need him to.

Ballesteros plays first base along with his catching duties, so some could argue that Busch getting reps over at third could be to prepare him for a longer stay for the youngster moving forward. Or, this could all be speculation and it might not mean anything at all. Either way, it’s important to keep this in mind down the road.

The Chicago Cubs need all the help they can get at third base

Whether it’s Busch or someone else, the Cubs’ still need help over at third base. Things have gotten better defensively at the hot corner over the past couple of weeks, but the rotation they have over there just is not a sustainable way to occupy the position throughout the summer.

Matt Shaw is the obvious choice to fill the void, as the organization’s top prospect is back in Iowa after struggling mightily at the plate in his first 18 big league games. The trade market is a very realistic option for Chicago as well, but they might want to use all of their resources to address their pitching issues later this summer.

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It has been over a week since the NHL draft lottery took place, and the Chicago Blackhawks are already being thrown in trade rumors across the league. The organization entered the lottery with the second-best odds to land the top pick in the draft this year, but ultimately fell to the third spot after the Islanders won the number one overall selection with a 3.5% chance to do so.

Even though the organization didn’t get the result they wanted out of the lottery, the third overall pick will still be a huge part of their current rebuild. Chicago has made eight first round selections in the last three years, and they will make two more in June to add to their talented crop of young players.

A trade proposal between the Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres was put out into the hockey world on Monday, and this hypothetical move would impact Chicago’s rebuild massively.

Chicago Blackhawks in wild rumor for Bowen Byram and JJ Peterka

The trade rumor floated out between the Blackhawks and Sabres includes swapping first round picks and multiple players.

• Chicago Blackhawks receive: Bowen Byram, JJ Peterka, 2025 first-round pick (9th overall)
• Buffalo Sabres receive: Lukas Reichel, Nolan Allan, Laurent Brossoit, 2025 first-round pick (3rd overall)

Byram was a first round pick of the Avalanche in 2019 and had a solid first season in Buffalo this past year. The defenseman played in all 82 games for the Sabres and scored seven goals to pair with his 31 assists. Byram had a +11 plus/minus rating, proving that he can be impactful in a prominent role as a two-way blue liner. Adding him to the mix in Chicago would instantly give the Blackhawks one of the best top-four defensemen pairings in the league.

Peterka was a potential trade target for the Blackhawks at the deadline this past season when Buffalo was rumored to be taking calls on the young forward. He had another fantastic season with the Sabres, as he scored 27 goals and collected 41 assists in 77 games. Peterka would elevate the Blackhawks top-six forward group and allow for some of their key veterans to work into middle-six roles next season.

In terms of the players that Chicago would give up in this deal, it is an absolute no-brainer. Reichel could use a change of scenery, and Allan is already getting squeezed out of ice time on the blue line as it is. Brossoit has yet to play a game with the organization, and the Spencer Knight acquisition at the trade deadline doesn’t necessarily give him a path to time in the cage next season.

Why the Chicago Blackhawks likely wouldn’t do this deal

There are two logical reasons why this deal wouldn’t make it across the finish line. One being that Buffalo would be unloading two great talents and not getting much back in return in terms of NHL-ready guys. Depending on how they view Reichel and Allan, Chicago would likely need to offer more, or other young players if they wanted a package of Peterka and Byram.

Another reason would be the swapping of draft picks. While that is the only way this specific package would make any sort of sense for Buffalo, it is uncertain how much general manager Kyle Davidson is willing to move off the third pick. While they would be getting fantastic young talent for the future and right now, the third pick could still be a piece to the puzzle that they might not want to miss out on.

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The Chicago Cubs’ starting rotation so far this season has already fought through multiple injuries, yet it remains one of the stronger units on their roster. Many believe that the main reason why the Cubs had a fighting chance to make the playoffs in an underwhelming 2024 campaign was because of their starting pitching, with their entire rotation stepping up when needed. The bullpen for last year’s squad was extremely inconsistent, as they have proven to be again so far in 2025. While the offense has seen an uptick in production so far this year, there were many times a season ago where they didn’t come through when it was needed the most.

Chicago getting slammed with injuries to their top two arms early on this season is certainly not ideal. Justin Steele was ruled out for the season in mid-April, which instantly put the organization behind the eight ball in terms of having top-end starters for a playoff push. Matters were made worse when Shota Imanaga was placed on the IL last week with a hamstring strain.

The Cubs rotation has remained strong despite losing Steele and Imanaga. One of their under-the-radar additions in the offseason has proven to be a reliable option after taking Steele’s spot in the starting five last month.

Colin Rea has been an incredible signing for the Chicago Cubs

The Cubs signed Colin Rea to a one-year deal in the winter worth $5 million that includes a $6 million option for the 2026 campaign. The right-hander made on appearance with Milwaukee in 2021 before missing the 2022 season and being a consistent start for Craig Counsell with the Brewers in 2023. Counsell has brought over a few coaches from his days with the Brewers, but Rea is the first player from his tenure in Milwaukee that has joined him in the Windy City.

The veteran’s start on Monday at home against the Marlins spoke volumes to the work that the front office did in finding Rea on the open market this offseason. Dansby Swanson spoke on how Rea has been such a positive addition to this group after Monday night’s victory.

"He's been huge for us … just a guy that's a true pro."

Dansby Swanson tips his cap to Colin Rea pic.twitter.com/5lzfYGeimJ

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 13, 2025

Rea went 6.2 frames on Monday and allowed two runs on six hits. The veteran struck out four and walked two in what was a huge bounce back start after he allowed four earned funs in 5.0 innings against the Giants last week.

The Chicago Cubs will need more help next to Colin Rea

Rea has been fantastic since joining the Cubs rotation when Steele got hurt. The 34-year-old has a 3-0 record in nine appearances this year and has a 2.48 ERA in 36.1 innings pitched. Six of Rea’s nine appearances have been starts, as he began the season in a swing role in the bullpen. Until it’s proven otherwise, Rea should remain in Chicago’s rotation for the long haul this summer.

Even though the current rotation has been stacking wins together, there will need to be another arm of two brought into the fold at the end of the summer. The Cubs should be active at the trade deadline, and arms like Sandy Alcantara and Mitch Keller will be available. Imanaga should return at some point in June, and there is a chance that Javier Assad returns to the staff at some point this year.

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Unlike a season ago, the Chicago Cubs have brought consistent pop to the table as a team to begin a 2025 campaign that has fans hoping for a playoff berth. Many signs pointed toward the bullpen being the ultimate downfall for the 2024 Cubs. While this certainly was a big part of their shortcomings, the offense fell flat plenty of times as well. Chicago lost way too many 1-0 ballgames a season ago, and people were worried during the offseason when nothing else major was added alongside Kyle Tucker. 

Even though Tucker was seen as a major upgrade from Cody Bellinger at the time of the trade, fans were concerned that the front office didn’t do enough to upgrade the roster in general. While there are still holes on this team, a handful of guys have outplayed their projections so far this season, which has given the Cubs an early NL Central division lead.

Three Chicago bats have something together that no other team has in the league so far this season, and it really shows off the power that the Cubs have displayed thus far in 2025.

The Chicago Cubs have 3 players with 10 home runs

Tucker, Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong all have 10 home runs this season, making the Cubs the first team in baseball with three players having 10 or more homers in the 2025 season. There was no doubt that Tucker was going to make an immediate impact on the Cubs order. Despite being hurt and missing a good portion of the 2024 season with Houston, Tucker was still viewed as one of the best bats in baseball when the Cubs acquired him in December.

Crow-Armstrong has been the biggest surprise story out of Chicago this season, and arguably in the entire league. The speedy center fielder has driven in 28 runs to go with his 10 long balls so far this year, when most outlets had him hitting around 12-14 homers over the course of 162 games. The way things sit right now, PCA could double that projected total from the winter, as long as he stays healthy.

Seiya Suzuki has benefitted big time from Kyle Tucker’s presence

Suzuki has come into his own in his fourth season at the big league level. He now mainly serves as the Cubs’ designated hitter, and that could be a major reason for his early-season success. Suzuki also slots in right behind Tucker in the order, and this has clearly benefited him. The 30-year-old has seen much more favorable pitches in the three-hole this year, as opposing pitching staffs have been so stressed on how to handle Tucker ahead of him.

Suzuki has two 20-homer seasons so far in the big leagues, as he clubbed out 20 long balls in 2023 and 21 of them coming a season ago. He is well on pace to have his most home runs in a single season in his big league career in 2025, as this Chicago offense doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

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The Chicago Cubs bullpen has continued to give the organization and fanbase headaches so far this season despite the team remaining in first place. This isn’t new to the organization, as some could make the argument that the relief pitching unit is what held the Cubs back of making the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. This especially came into effect in the the 2024 campaign after the franchise finished the year with an 83-79 record for the second straight season.

Even though the front office has struggled to bring in the right veterans for high-leverage situations over the past few years, the player development department down on the farm hasn’t helped with bringing in homegrown talent in the bullpen either. The best teams in baseball over the last handful of years have had stables with a blend of good veteran talent and homegrown arms. Chicago knows the recipe for success in their relief pitching unit, they just have not been able to execute on it.

One of the few in-house younger arms has pitched well so far for the team this season and might receive a bigger role moving forward.

Daniel Palencia could be an answer to the Chicago Cubs’ problems

Daniel Palencia has quietly been lights out so far in 2025. The right-hander didn’t start the season with the club, but the hope is that he won’t need to go back down to Triple-A with how well he is throwing the baseball this season. Palencia has pitched in 11 games this season and has a 1.38 ERA to pair with his 0.77 WHIP in 13.0 innings tossed.

The right-hander has a fastball that tops at 101 mph and can blow it by most hitters in the league. His main issue relies in his accuracy, but his walk numbers have been down drastically early into this season compared to the previous couple of years. Palencia pitched in 10 games with Chicago in 2024 and almost had as many walks (12) as strikeouts (16) in 14.2 innings of work. He relieved Colin Rea yesterday with two outs in the seventh inning and did not allow a run in 1.1 innings tossed. Palencia struck out two and walked one in the 5-2 victory.

The Chicago Cubs need Daniel Palencia to throw more breaking balls

Porter Hodge and Ryan Pressly were the eighth and ninth inning options for Chicago entering this season. Pressly has been a tough watch so far this season and Hodge has been mostly sharp with the exception of a couple of rough outings. There is no doubt that Chicago will need to add a couple of bullpen arms at the least when the deadline rolls around toward the end of the summer, but they’ll have to make it work in the meantime.

Palencia could be a guy that the coaching staff gives an opportunity to have a more prominent role in the stable. If he can be more consistent with locating his fastball and trust his splitter and slider more, the Cubs could utilize him big time down the stretch this summer. He has the arsenal to be an elite reliver, it’s just about putting everything together at the right time.

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Following a 2-4 record in their six-game stretch last week, the Chicago Cubs got a much needed victory at home on Monday to begin their series with the Miami Marlins. The team split their games last week at Wrigley and on the road, as they dropped sets with the Mets and Giants. Last week included a blown game by the bullpen and two separate lackluster performances at the dish.

Even though the occasion down games at the plate are disappointing from the group, they can’t be expected to score five or more runs every single games this season. Chicago has had one of the best offenses in all of baseball, but they can’t bail out the pitching staff everyday and the front office should recognize that. While the bullpen is getting figured out, most of the veterans in the lineup have stepped up continuously.

One of the bats in Chicago’s order that struggled toward the beginning of the season has been hitting his stride at the plate in the last couple of weeks. He homered again on Monday and has left the yard nine times this season.

 Dansby Swanson continues to swing the bat well

Dansby Swanson was moved down in the order before the Cubs’ series two weeks ago at PNC Park against the Pirates. He had been hitting fifth in the lineup for most of the season before his demotion, and he took it to heart. Swanson homered in the series opener and finale in that Pirates series and came through with a three-hit game in the second contest of the set.

Swanson is hitting .382 over his last ten games and has a pair of multi-hit games over the his last three contests. Following his two-hit game that included a two-run homer on Monday night, manager Craig Counsell was very complementary of what the veteran shortstop has done at the dish as of late.

“He’s swinging at the right pitches,” Counsell said. “He’s hitting mistakes really hard, just gotta keep it going.”

"He's swinging at the right pitches. He's hitting mistakes really hard, just gotta keep it going."

Dansby Swanson is hitting .382 over his last 10 games pic.twitter.com/nziYq4hVjX

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 13, 2025

The Chicago Cubs need Dansby Swanson to settle into this role nicely

Despite being paid like the best player of the club, Swanson is a much better piece to the puzzle when he doesn’t have to be “the guy” at all times. His leadership and Gold Glove defense is vital to this team’s success, but when the pressure is off him to be batting toward the top of the order, he thrives. He is the perfect guy to slot in the seven or eight spot moving forward, and he clearly is seeing the right pitches from opposing staffs in these positions.

Swanson is slashing .248/.303./.472 with a .775 OPS in 42 games this season. His average being near .250 at the moment is extremely impressive given that he was hitting below .185 at one point in his slump last month. The 31-year-old is on pace to crush his home run total from a season ago (16) with his nine long balls so far in 2025.

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The Chicago Cubs got their week off to a strong start with a 5-2 win at home against the Miami Marlins on Monday. All five runs for the club came in the fifth inning, where Seiya Suzuki and Dansby Swanson each left the yard to propel them to victory. This was the first contest of a six-game homestand where the Cubs will face the Marlins and the White Sox. These games will be crucial for Chicago to pad their current division lead in the NL Central.

Immediately after Monday night’s victory, the club announced that one of their key cogs in the order will be hitting the IL. In the corresponding move, one of the organization’s top prospects will be joining the team for Tuesday night’s showdown with the Marlins.

Chicago Cubs call up Moises Ballesteros, send Ian Happ to the IL

Per reports, Moises Ballesteros will be joining the Cubs and is set to make his big league debut Tuesday night. Ian Happ will hit the IL after he has missed the last three games with an oblique injury. Ballesteros has been on a tear so far this season in Triple-A, as he slashed .368/.420/.522 with a .942 OPS in 34 games. Known as “Mo Baller” , the slugger has crushed four homers so far this season and has driven in 18 runs.

Ballesteros hit 19 home runs in 2024 between Double-A and Triple-A, as he put himself on the map as the best power bat in the Cubs’ farm system. The 21-year-old catches and serves as a designated hitter, and it is a foregone conclusion that he will slot in as the designated hitter until Happ is back from injury. Happ is slashing .269/.364/.381 with a .745 OPS in 39 games as the leadoff man for Chicago this year. He also slugged out three homers and has driven in 16 runs so far in 2025.

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Despite having a stronger looking top-six forward group entering the upcoming season, the Chicago Blackhawks could still be big players in the open market this summer. There were plenty of veterans on the opening night roster this past October, but a few of those guys got phased out of the lineup as the season went along. This was due to poor performance and multiple young pieces of the team’s future signing their entry-level contracts toward the end of the campaign.

The goal for general manager Kyle Davidson last summer was to create competition in camp and have more NHL caliber players on the roster from the jump this past season to get the team out of the league’s basement. Unfortunately, that didn’t go according to plan, as Chicago finished 31st in points for a second consecutive season. The group is expected to be held to higher standards this fall, as the young roster won a handful of games at the end of this past season that gave fans hope for the future.

Davidson and the rest of the front office could use the end of the year as momentum to attract some high quality free agents this summer. One of the forwards they could look to was a former trade candidate in 2023 of the Canucks before having back-to-back strong seasons in Vancouver.

Why Brock Boeser fits the Chicago Blackhawks

Brock Boeser has posted 65 goals in his last two season with the Canucks. This includes a 40-goal effort from the right winger in the 2023-24 campaign, just a summer after it was rumored that Vancouver was considering moving on from him due to needing to shed some salary. Boeser followed up his 40-goal campaign by having 25 goals and 25 assists in 75 regular season games this past year.

There is no doubt that Boeser is a legitimate top-line winger in the NHL, especially after what he has done the past two seasons. Even though the Blackhawks have some solid veterans in their top-six right now, there is no saying that they can’t go out and add more fire power to help out Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar even more. Boeser is 28-years-old and fits Chicago’s timeline well with their contending window hopefully set to open up in the next couple of seasons. If they could land the veteran on a four-year deal, there is a chance he would appear in a couple of playoff runs before his contract would be up.

Why the Chicago Blackhawks might miss out on Brock Boeser

Because of how well Boeser has played the last two seasons, he will be a hot commodity on the open market this summer. This isn’t to say that the Blackhawks won’t get him due to the competition they might face, but he could want to end up with a franchise that has a quicker path to winning. Even though things are looking up in Chicago, they are still a couple of years out from making the playoffs, and Boeser might not want to wait that long.

There is also a very real possibility that Boeser remains in Vancouver. He has spent all nine years of his career with the Canucks, and he may have zero interest in leaving based on where they are at as a franchise right now. Chicago should 100% be in play for Boeser this summer, but the competition to snag him will be extremely fierce across the league.

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A handful of Chicago Blackhawks are starting their offseason playing in the IIHF World Championships, which started last Friday in Sweden. With the team’s young core getting more looks together on NHL ice at the end of this past season, fans are getting more excited about what the future of the franchise will look like. This rebuild has been a long and strenuous one, but Blackhawk fans have learned to be patient and trust the process.

While the front office could go ahead and speed up the rebuild to form a wild card contender this fall, they want to take their time with this. The goal in Chicago isn’t to just consistently make the playoffs, rather it’s to make as many runs at the Cup as possible with this group.

Certain young guys like Connor Bedard passed on the opportunity to be with Team Canada in this tournament. The franchise icon has a plan in place for how he wants this offseason to go ahead of his third NHL season, and nobody blames him one bit for wanting to focus on certain parts of his training rather than playing in more games. Bedard played in all 82 games for Chicago this past season, and he knows that his speed is something he wants to address this summer off the ice.

Some of the young players participating in the IIHF World Championships from the Blackhawks have made the most of their opportunities so far, including one of the organization’s 2022 first-round draft choices.

Frank Nazar took home Player of the Game honors on Sunday

Frank Nazar netted two first period goals in Team USA’s 6-0 victory over Hungary on Sunday. He was awarded with Player of the Game honors at the end of the contest, as he also picked up an assist in the victory. Nazar earned this selection to Team USA alongside Alex Vlasic, who also has an important offseason ahead of him.

Nazar collected a goal in each of the final three games this year and had a pair of two point games in that stretch as well. He finished the season playing in 53 NHL games where he scored 12 goals and 14 assists. His total numbers for the campaign don’t tell the entire story, as he had a strong end to the season with nine points in April.

The Chicago Blackhawks need Frank Nazar to take a step forward

Nazar displayed fantastic two-way play in his time with the Blackhawks this past season, and has earned his spot as a top-six forward heading into the fall. There were plenty of times where the 21-year-old was the best player on the ice for Chicago on a given night, and he gelled well with veterans Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen at the end of the year.

With expectations beginning to rise with this young core, Nazar is expected to be a guy that stands out this upcoming season. The biggest point of emphasis for the former Michigan Wolverine to focus on this offseason is his shooting, but that clearly is becoming less of a problem with his success at the end of the season and in the IIHF World Championships proving he can score at will.

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The Chicago Cubs have an important week ahead with six very winnable games on tap at Wrigley Field after spending this past weekend in New York. Their homestand starts with a three-game series with the Miami Marlins beginning on Monday. The fish enter the series in last place in the NL East with a 15-24 record and a -69 run differential this season, good for second-worst mark in all of baseball.

Following the Marlins, the Cubs get to host the White Sox for three games in what is known as “rivalry” weekend across the league. The White Sox are not currently the worst team in baseball, which is a step up for them from a season ago. They finished the 2024 campaign with the worst record in the modern era (41-121), and while they haven’t looked great this season, they have competed in more ball games. The White Sox enter this week with a 12-29 record, ahead of the 7-33 Rockies, who have the worst record in the league.

The Cubs should be in a good position to win games this week, and one of their hottest bats picked up a career milestone over the weekend that he hopes to use as momentum as the team returns home.

Chicago Cubs’ second baseman Nico Hoerner has 600 career hits

Nico Hoerner collected his 600th career hit in Sunday’s 6-2 loss to the Mets at Citi Field. The second baseman was Chicago’s first-round draft choice out of Stanford in 2019 and he has carved out a nice career for himself with the organization. He even earned a new contract at the beginning of the 2023 campaign that has him in the Windy City through the end of the 2026 season.

Hoerner has a knock in his last six games, and the Cubs will need him to continue to be a steady presence in the middle of the lineup moving forward. He is slashing .281/.318/.349 this season with a .668 OPS in 37 games. The 27-year-old did not make the trip with the team to Japan at the beginning of the season against the Dodgers, as he was still recovering from offseason surgery.

Nico Hoerner has looked like he did in 2023 so far this season

A big issue for Hoerner in the 2024 season was that he hit the ball in the air too much. He was much more successful in 2023 when he focused more on hitting line drives and getting on-base at a high clip. Hoerner’s WAR reflected that two years ago, as he posted a 5.5 mark in 2023. This was the highest WAR in a single season in his career, and he paired it with a .283 batting average and a .729 OPS in a year where the Cubs just missed out on the postseason.

Hoerner does not have a home run yet this season, and that is more than fine. If this means that he’s focusing more on spraying line drives all over the base and getting on base at a high rate, that is what the Cubs need more out of him than anything else.

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The Chicago Cubs’ bats were a bit inconsistent at times in their six-game stretch last week, but they still found a way to win a couple of games against two strong teams. They began their week at home against the Giants, where the long ball and a massive five-run bottom of the sixth frame propelled them to victory in game one of the set. Ian Happ and Carson Kelly left the yard in the seven-run victory, as Kelly has tapped into some unheard-of power early on in his first season with the organization.

After dropping three straight contests, a much-needed 6-5 win on Saturday against the Mets got Chicago back on the right track. The game featured the Cubs scoring the first four runs, which included a Dansby Swanson solo homer. Brett Baty drove in all five runs for New York via two long balls of his own, and Porter Hodge slammed the door shut in the ninth inning.

Some good came out of the weekend for the Cubs despite dropping the series. Their young budding star joined another group of superstars in the home run and stolen base categories.

Pete Crow-Armstrong remains among the best in baseball

After clubbing out his 10th home run of the season on Sunday, Pete Crow-Armstrong is now one of three players in all of baseball to have 10 homers and 10 stolen bases so far this season. He joins Shohei Ohtani and his teammate Kyle Tucker on this short list, proving that he is one of the best outfielders in the entire league. PCA played in 123 games a season ago at the big league level, but it took him until this season to be fully settled and comfortable at the plate.

Crow-Armstrong has been a sensation for the Cubs and has earned himself plenty of money in the process so far this year. After he turned down a deal worth $75 million in April, he has proven to be a true game changer and a player worth building around moving forward. PCA is slashing .264/.304/.535 for a .838 OPS in his 41 games played in this season. The phenom even got the chance to hit leadoff in the final two games of the New York series due to Ian Happ nursing an oblique injury.

The Chicago Cubs’ need their bats to get hot again quick

While it is unrealistic for the Cubs to have as hot of an offense as they have had so far this season, they need their bats to get going again quickly. Due to their bullpen being inconsistent and their starting rotation being banged up, the offense is going to have to shoulder the load even more as summer nears.

With the exception of third base, there really hasn’t been a true weakness in Chicago’s lineup. Both catchers have swung the bat well and Swanson is returning to form a bit after going through his slump at the end of April. As long as everyone can stay healthy, this unit at the dish can remain one of the top ones in all of baseball.

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Despite a rough past week for the Chicago Cubs, their starting pitching remained consistent like it has been all season long through early-May. Their rotation was the strongest part of their squad in 2024, but injuries have made that tough to follow this spring. Justin Steele went down for the season in mid-April and Shota Imanaga strained his hamstring in Milwaukee over a week ago, so depth has become an issue for the unit. The Cubs were able to take the opening game of the San Francisco series last Monday, which was the first of just two games that they won in that six-game stretch.

Chicago followed up their massive series opening victory by dropping three straight contests for the first time all season. It’s impressive that this was the first time that the team had done this in 2025, as they had a gauntlet that they needed to complete to begin the campaign. Out of there first 29 games of the year, 20 of the Cubs’ battles came against the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks. They managed to stay above .500 in these games, as they went 11-9.

After Sunday’s loss at Citi Field, one the club’s more consistent starters this season spoke on how important it is for the rotation to take care of business this year.

Matthew Boyd stresses Chicago Cubs’ starters going deep into games

Following his start in the series finale against the Mets, Matthew Boyd spoke to the media about the importance of the current rotation going as deep into games as possible.

“That’s our job as a starter, it’s always important,” Boyd said. “The bullpen’s been amazing for us, and it doesn’t change what’s been happening. The bullpen’s been money for us and they’ve been doing a lot for us down there.”

The bullpen has received plenty of criticism so far this year after not being able to hold onto a handful of leads. While guys like Porter Hodge have been relatively consistent, there are still way more questions than answers in the stable as the summer nears. Boyd was sharp once again on Sunday, as he allowed just two runs in six innings for the second straight start. He now has a 3-2 record with a 2.78 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 45.1 innings tossed this year.

The Chicago Cubs’ could use some starting pitching depth

Even though Imanaga could be back around the beginning of June, the Cubs front office could look to add some depth in the rotation down the stretch. Names like Brad Keller and Sandy Alcantara have been floated around on the rumor mill, and either would be great additions to the current unit.

Alcantara has had a rough start to the 2025 campaign, so his price could be much more reasonable for Chicago to make a solid offer on now compared to what it would have been at the beginning of the year. Keller has been the definition of consistent for the Pirates since the 2021 season and has kept a clean bill of health in the process, making him another suitable candidate for the front office to pursue.

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The Chicago Cubs closed out there past week with a 2-4 record in their two separate three game sets that they played in. They began the week at home against the Giants and the series began with plenty of promise for the group that entered the week with a comfortable lead in the NL Central. The offense came to play in their first game of the season against San Francisco, as they clubbed out a couple of home runs and took their walks in a five-run sixth frame that carried them to victory.

The Cubs got a huge victory in the second game of the Mets’ series over the weekend where top pitching prospect, Cade Horton, made his big league debut. However, the group couldn’t capture the series win at Citi Field, as they fell once again on a Sunday in this season. The lineup saw some movement in the final two games of this series, as one of their key cogs was out due to injury.

Craig Counsell confirms that Ian Happ will still bat leadoff

Despite Ian Happ missing a couple of games due to injury, manager Craig Counsell assured the media that the veteran would not lose his spot as the leadoff man in the order when he returns. Amid a breakout season, Pete Crow-Armstrong was called upon to step up and take Happ’s place as the leadoff man in the final two games of the Mets series. The 23-year-old clubbed out his 10th home run of the season on Sunday in Chicago’s 6-2 loss and showed some promise in his new temporary role in the lineup.

Even though fans have been wanting Crow-Armstrong to bat leadoff for quite some time, it is clear that Happ is the perfect tone setter for this club. The former first-round draft choice of the organization is slashing .269/.364/.381 with a .745 OPS in 39 games. He also slugged out three homers and has driven in 16 runs so far in 2025.

The Chicago Cubs outfield has been one of the best in baseball

Kyle Tucker and Crow-Armstrong have been fun to watch this season, and Happ playing up to his ceiling when he returns from this day-to-day oblique injury would be the cherry on top. Tucker has been everything the Cubs hoped he could have been and more, as he is already proving to be one of the best hitters in baseball so far this season.

Crow-Armstrong rightfully earned the nod to fill in for Happ in the leadoff role, as his bat exploding early on in the campaign has been the best part of Chicago’s season. The speedy center fielder currently leads the team in home runs with 10 and has driven in 28 while making noise on the bath paths this year. Crow-Armstrong could be the x-factor that this team needs in their pursuit of the NL pennant, and he has earned himself a lot of money in the process.

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The Chicago Bulls disappointing end to their 2024-25 season has them praying for some insane luck at the draft lottery next Monday. They found themselves in the play-in tournament once again this past year and got blown out at home against the Miami Heat. While this was a tough way to end a season that had plenty of excitement down the stretch, the front office now sits with the harsh reality that there are in a similar spot entering this summer compared to a year ago.

A couple of key veterans were dealt away either last offseason or at the trade deadline, with Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso all out in the Western Conference now. There appears to be more of a direction in place in Chicago, but it still feels like the Bulls need to tear down their roster completely if they want a chance to win a title in the next decade or so.

If the Bulls don’t get the lottery luck they are hoping for and stand pat with the 12th overall pick, they will need to draft based on upside. In the latest CBS mock draft before the lottery, Chicago is projected to get some frontcourt help out of the SEC.

The Chicago Bulls are projected to drafted Collin-Murray Boyles

Collin Murray-Boyles has played both of his seasons at the collegiate level with South Carolina and saw his production between his freshman and sophomore campaigns. The power forward averaged 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this past year on 58.6% shooting from the field. The Columbia, SC native stayed close to home to continue his career and his time with the Gamecocks will turn into him being a first-round draft pick this summer.

Adam Finkelstein of CBS has Chicago taking Murray-Boyles with the 12th pick if they stay in that spot after the lottery.

“Murray-Boyles is long, strong, very smart, and impactful on both ends of the floor, even if he’s closer to an undersized five-man who doesn’t yet space the floor,” Finkelstein writes. “With Nikola Vucevic headed into a contract year, and big potential shooters like Jalen Smith and Matas Buzelis at the forward/wing spots, this could be a fit.”

Murray-Boyles rebounds the ball well and is a strong interior presence on the offensive end of the floor. He’s an athletic power forward that can quickly cut to the rim and be a mismatch on certain big men in the NBA when he makes his debut this fall.

Why Collin Murray-Boyles wouldn’t fit the Chicago Bulls well

One of the downfalls with Murray-Boyles is the fact that he is limited offensively. Even though he finishes well around the rim, he isn’t the best shooter and can’t stretch the floor consistently. At six-foot-seven, he would be considered an under-sized power forward in the NBA, and even though Finkelstein believes that the Bulls could work it out, he plays too similar to the current big men on Chicago’s roster.

Murray-Boyles would be a solid pick in the long run, which goes back to why the Bulls would need to use the 12th pick in this scenario to draft based on upside. However, the front office shouldn’t expect him to make an immediate impact from day one, as he would be a work in progress.

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Despite three head coaching vacancies being filled across the NHL already this offseason, the Chicago Blackhawks still have some solid options to choose from. The rumored top candidate linked to the organization, David Carle, took his name out of the running for the role a few weeks ago and signed an extension to remain the bench boss at Denver University.

After Carle was no longer an option, all eyes turned to former Pittsburgh Penguins head coach, Mike Sullivan. Those dreams for Chicago fans did not last long, as Sullivan latched onto another Original Six franchise with the New York Rangers making him the highest paid head coach in NHL history.

The third job that was filled most recently did not come as a shock to the hockey world. Chicago would never have considered this candidate for their opening, as he has already served as the leader in the Windy City for quite some time. Joel Quenneville became the newest Anaheim Ducks head coach on Thursday after being reinstated by the league last summer. Coach Q won three Stanley Cups in his time with the Blackhawks and the Ducks will be the fifth organization he has been a head coach for.

Another experienced bench boss could be an option for the Chicago Blackhawks in this hiring cycle, but he would come to the organization with some baggage for his past ventures in the NHL.

Why John Tortorella fits the Chicago Blackhawks

If the Blackhawks are looking for a candidate that has won in multiple places at the NHL level and has a lengthy track record, John Tortorella could be a guy toward the top of their list. He is a guy that would demand respect from the young roster as soon as he walks into the dressing room and it would be interesting to see how he would mesh with the dynamic that the Blackhawks have with young talent right now.

Similar to Coach Q, Tortorella has been around the NHL for a long time. He has served as the lead man behind the bench to some capacity with five different franchises in the league, with his longest tenure being a seven year stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2000-2008. Tortorella also spent six seasons each with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers following his time in the Sunshine state before completing his most recent job with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Tortorella won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004 and is a two-time Jack Adams Award winner. He took home the honor for the best coach in the league the same season he won the Stanley Cup and in 2017. Tortorella has coached in 1,620 games at the NHL level and has a career record of 770-648-37 for 1,742 points throughout his travels.

Why the Chicago Blackhawks should avoid John Tortorella

Tortorella’s dismissal from the Flyers this past season came with multiple possible reasons going against the long time head coach’s attitude toward what the organization was building. Altercations with players, comments reflecting negatively on the front office, and even reportedly saying that he didn’t have much interest coaching a rebuilding team could all be red flags for Chicago.

Not only do the Blackhawks not want a guy who has a potentially bad rap, the rebuilding comments would impact them as well. Even though the team had  a strong end to this past season and there is hope for improvement in the immediate future, they are still a bit of ways away from legitimately contending. If Tortorella felt strongly against that in Philadelphia, the same thing would likely happen in Chicago.

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Despite having a three-game lead of first place in the NL Central entering their weekend series against the Mets, the Chicago Cubs will need to add pitching depth at some point this summer. Losing Justin Steele for the entire season with an elbow injury that he sustained last month was not ideal, as the left-hander was looking continue his solid stretch as a top-of-the-line guy in the Cubs’ rotation over the past couple of seasons.

Things went from bad to worse when Shota Imanaga joined Steele on he shelf following his start against Milwaukee last weekend. While Imanaga won’t miss the entire season, he will likely be out four-to-six weeks as he recovers from a hamstring strain.

The front office was already put on notice to potentially go out and acquiring starting pitching help after Steele’s season came to a close. That has since been bumped up a few notches with Imanaga set to miss a handful of starts coming up.

Sandy Alcantara was the original top target on the pitching trade market for most teams across the league, but his rough start to the season could impact his trade value. If Miami elects to hold onto him due to lack of interest or poor value, Chicago could look within the NL Central for another veteran right-hander to join the rotation.

The Chicago Cubs could target Mitch Keller

Mitch Keller has been a consistent part of the Pirates rotation since 2021 and he has kept a clean bill of health in the process. The right-hander’s numbers have been relatively similar in each of the last four seasons on a Pittsburgh squad that has yet to turn a corner in their current rebuild.

Keller made 31 starts a year ago and posted an 11-12 record in 178.0 innings tossed. He finished the season with a 4.25 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP while opponents hit .261 against him. In eight starts this year, Keller has a 4.40 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP in 45.0 innings pitched. His numbers are a bit inflated after he allowed seven runs in his 3.2 innings of work against the Yankees in hi second start of the campaign.

While he won’t win a World Series on his own, Keller has proven to be healthy and consistent over the past few years. The Cubs need depth badly and purely from a performance standpoint, the right-hander would improve their rotation immediately.

Mitch Keller’s contract could prevent the Cubs from making this trade

Keller is under contract for three more seasons after 2025 and is owed $16 million next year, $18 million in 2026 and $20 million in 2027. That is a hefty price to pay for a Chicago front office that should be looking to extend Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong this offseason.

While this price on Keller is the going rate for quality arms in today’s game, the Cubs might be better off trying to use that money on a different pitcher. However, beggars can’t be choosers and Keller should still 100% be in consideration at the deadline if Pittsburgh is willing to part ways with him.

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The Chicago Cubs series against the New York Mets on the road this weekend is one of their more important sets away from Wrigley Field in the first half of the season. They are coming off a three-game home series with the San Francisco Giants where they couldn’t come away with anything in the win column after their 9-2 win in the opening game of the set on Monday.

There is no denying that the Cubs have had a difficult schedule to begin the 2025 season, so there shouldn’t be a reason why fans are panicking with them dropping three of their last four games dating back to the series finale last Sunday against the Brewers.

Even though this season is the top priority for the organization, part of the front office should always be looking toward the future. With two big contract decisions on their hands this offseason, an important baseball insider believes that Chicago has more than enough resources to keep two of their brightest stars around for a long time.

Jon Heyman assures Cubs fans about paying Kyle Tucker and PCA

Jon Heyman appeared on 670 The Score earlier this week and made it known that the Cubs front office should be able to fork over the contract offers necessary to keep Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong around for the long haul.

“Well, they should be able to afford both guys, Heyman said. “This is a very successful franchise, they’ve done great from a business standpoint. They did not come close on Bregman and that looks like a bit of a mistake at this point. You got to sign PCA, you’re going to get a good deal out of him at this point. You can do it for $100 million or less, which is nothing in today’s day in age so you got to do that.”

Even though Bregman would have been nice to have for the team based on how lackluster the third base position has performed so far this year, not paying him could lead to a Tucker extension this offseason. The fact that the slugger is willing to talk to the Cubs’ during the season about a new contract leads Heyman to believe that he could remain in the Windy City for years to come.

“Tucker, it seems like he’s willing to talk in-season, so that is a great sign to get something done,” Heyman said. “I had a rival executive tell me they got to put the $500 million in front of him, they’re not going to do that, that’s not the Cubs. He wants to be here, let’s get it done.”

Tucker has provided a huge boost to Chicago’s order so far this season and has made everyone around him in the order better. The Cubs have one of the best offense’s in baseball, and Tucker plays a big part in that.

Kyle Tucker and PCA will be crucial for the postseason push

Tucker has nine home runs so far this season and has driven in 31 runs while slashing .284/.395/.547 to give him a .943 OPS. He is top ten in baseball in homers and runs driven in and has been as consistent as can be after having an abysmal spring down in Mesa. Tucker is the definition of a superstar and has the power that can carry a team toward the top of a pennant race.

Crow-Armstrong has burst onto the scene this year after playing in 123 big league games a season ago. The speedy center fielder has tapped into his power this year, as he has nine home runs, just like Tucker. PCA has also driven in 27 runs to go with his .265/.303/.537 slash line and .841 OPS. The 23-year-old has the ability to change the game in many ways and has the energy that can flip the momentum of a big game at any time.

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The Chicago Blackhawks have found a way to get all types of good news surrounding the organization in the last month, despite the team finishing at the bottom of the league’s standings again this past season. They ended the season on a high note with an overtime victory against the Ottawa Senators on the road, with the group playing more physical and with a quicker pace in general throughout the final few weeks of the campaign.

It was made official on Monday that the organization will be drafting third overall in June, with the results of the lottery giving the New York Islanders the top pick in the draft. This selection will be another major piece to this rebuild moving forward, and it’s one that could potentially see Chicago pick anywhere outside of the top three choices in the 2026 draft.

The franchise was notified on Friday that one of their all-time greats was named to the NHL’s quarter-century team alongside other premier forwards who made their debuts between the 2000-2010 years.

Chicago Blackhawks’ icon Patrick Kane named to quarter-century team

Kane spent 16 seasons in Chicago after being the first overall pick in the 2007 draft. Known as “Showtime”, he won three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks and took home the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s most valuable player in 2016. Kane being officially selected to the NHL’s quarter-century team is a well-deserved honor, as he will go down as one of the greatest Blackhawks to ever play the game.

Kane finished his time in Chicago playing in 1,161 games across his 16 years. He scored 446 goals and collected 779 assists with the organization as his 1,225 points made him an over point-per-game player in his tenure. There will never be another figure in franchise history as electric as Showtime was, and fans can only hope that he finds a way to finish his legendary career where he started it.

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The Chicago Cubs dropping two of three games at home against the San Francisco Giants to begin this week was certainly not ideal after how Monday’s game went. The offense plated nine runs in the series opener with Matthew Boyd on the mound. The veteran left-hander went six strong innings and allowed two runs on five hits while not walking a batter and collecting seven strikeouts. Boyd has been a solid addition to this Chicago rotation that has needed him to step up with injuries to fellow southpaws Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga early in the season.

Ian Happ led the way offensively for the Cubs in the series opener with three runs driven in. His two-run homer in the third frame got the scoring started in the contest and was his third long ball of the campaign. Chicago fell flat in the final two games of the series, with the offense not having much to say. They still have won most of their sets so far in 2025 while dealing with one of the hardest schedules in baseball. Because of this, any fan that is worried about the team moving forward might be an overreaction on their part.

Chicago Cubs fans don’t need to panic

Despite the Cubs dropping the series to San Francisco at home this week, fans should not be freaking out on the state of the team whatsoever. The Giants are 10 games above .500 and Chicago’s offense was able to have a big showing against their pitching staff on Monday. San Francisco has a dominant big three in their bullpen for the final three innings of close games and the Cubs forced extra frames in game two of the set on their closer, Ryan Walker.

The expectation of Chicago’s offense coming out every game and scoring six or more runs is unrealistic. There will be stretches throughout the summer where the bats go cold and it will be up to a hopefully revamped pitching staff to make up for that. It’s also worth noting that the Cubs have not played a team under .500 through their first 38 games of the season with the exception of the three-game series that they had at PNC Park against the Pirates last week. Better times are ahead scheduling wise, and this team is in a good spot to make a run at claiming the division crown in 2025.

Nico Hoerner was fantastic for the Chicago Cubs in the series

Nico Hoerner collected a hit in each game of the Giants series and appears to be getting into a nice groove after getting a later start to the season than normal due to surgery he had in the offseason. In the final game of the series on Wednesday, Hoerner had half of the Cubs’ hits by collecting two doubles in the 3-1 loss.

Hoerner is still searching for his first home run of the season, but he has been mostly known as a contact hitter throughout his career. After having a rougher 2024 season, his approach in the box has clearly changed and he looks much more like he did in 2023 when he finished the season hitting .283 in 150 games.

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The Chicago Cubs are coming off a series loss at home against the San Francisco Giants and are set to take on the New York Mets for three games on the road this weekend. The team has dropped three of their last four games, which dates back to the series finale against the Brewers on Sunday at American Family Field that they lost 4-0. Despite all of this, the Cubs are still have a three-game lead in the NL Central with a 22-16 record through their first 38 games of the young season.

Production has come all over the place in the lineup so far this year, as the Cubs have one of the best offenses in all of baseball. They scored nine runs in their lone victory against the Giants this week, and the order’s ability to execute at a high rate will win them plenty of more contests down the stretch when it matters the most.

One of the biggest surprises for the team so far this year has come from the catching position. The two guys who have worked in there have come up clutch multiple times, and one of them has made tremendous strides in his defensive game.

Miguel Amaya has improved behind the plate for the Chicago Cubs

Miguel Amaya’s work behind the dish has not gone unnoticed so far in 2025. The 26-year-old finished the 2024 campaign in the 20th percentile for Caught Stealing Above Average across the league and was known as a liability at times behind the plate. Fast forward to this year, and Amaya has jumped up to the 86th percentile in the category.

Amaya need to take a big step forward defensively to prove to the front office that he is capable of throwing runners out consistently and he has done so. Highly regarded catching prospect Moises Ballesteros remains in Triple-A, where he has been crushing the ball so far this season. It appears that Ballesteros will have to wait his turn with how successful Amaya and Carson Kelly have been behind the plate to begin the campaign.

The Chicago Cubs have a great catching tandem in Amaya and Kelly

Along with their stellar defense, there isn’t a better catching duo at the plate right now in all baseball than Amaya and Kelly. Amaya is slashing .257/.284/.471 with an .755 OPS in 20 games thus season. He has driven in 16 runs and has three homers to his name, including the huge game-tying solo shot against the Dodgers with two outs in ninth inning in the comeback victory at home on April 22.

Kelly has been a true revelation across the entire league in 2025. The veteran is slashing an eye-popping .348/.488/.773 with a staggering 1.261 OPS in his 22 games played and 66 at-bats. Kelly has eight home runs and 23 runs driven in, making the two-year deal he signed in the offseason look like a steal for the Cubs front office.

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There are multiple aspects of the Chicago Blackhawks summer that will be crucial to the positive swing that the rebuild took at the end of this past season. The head coaching hire is without a doubt the most important thing that the front office needs to take care of. Even though they have lost out on their rumored top candidate for the role in David Carle along with well-respected bench boss Mike Sullivan, there are still a handful of solid options on the market to be the team’s next leader.

The organization landed the third overall pick in the draft this summer on Monday through the draft lottery and that pick alone will give fans plenty of reason to be excited at the idea of adding another franchise cornerstone into the mix. Chicago also holds another first-rounder from Toronto and two second-round choices in the draft this year.

Despite general manager Kyle Davidson hitting free agency hard last summer by adding a slew of veterans into the fray for last year’s squad, he won’t ignore the open market in the coming months. There are arguably even stronger options in the forward department that could elevate this roster in the fall, and one of them is a hard working veteran who has seen success in his multiple stops across the league.

Why Jonathan Drouin would fit the Chicago Blackhawks plan

Jonathan Drouin would be a short term veteran addition to Chicago’s forward group and he would come at a friendly rate. He is currently on his second one-year contract with the Avalanche that is pay him $2.5 million this season. Drouin earned this deal after he posted 19 goals in 79 games with Colorado in the 2023-24 season, which was the second-most goals he scored in a campaign in his lengthy pro career.

Drouin could be another middle-six winger on this Blackhawks roster to create competition in camp this year among the younger players the see who will start the year out at the NHL level and who will begin the campaign in Rockford. This will be the toughest team to make in the last few years in Chicago, and Drouin would only add more fuel to that fire.

Why the Chicago Blackhawks might want to avoid Jonathan Drouin

A major knock on Drouin, if not the biggest is his ability to stay on the ice. While he played in all but three regular season games for Colorado in the 2023-24 campaign, he was hit with multiple injuries this most recent season. The veteran logged just 43 regular season games for the Avalanche, with his last contest before the playoffs being the April 2 showdown against the Blackhawks at the United Center.

In those 43 regular season games. Drouin scored 11 goals and had 26 assists for 37 total points. He returned to the lineup for Colorado’s first round playoff matchup with the Dallas Stars, where they lost the series in seven games. Drouin still posted solid numbers overall in his two years with the Avalanche, but he might not be the guy Chicago is looking for if he can’t consistently stay healthy.

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The Rockford IceHogs continued their quest for the Calder Cup on Wednesday and Chicago Blackhawks fans kept a close eye on what was happening in goal. Despite having a 2-0 series lead over the Milwaukee Admirals, the IceHogs allowed three goals in the opening period of the 6-2 loss. This was the first game that Rockford dropped in the playoffs so far this season, as they swept the Chicago Wolves in the opening round.

A few younger players on the NHL roster this past season are getting in on the action for the IceHogs this post season, and it has been a huge boost to their success. Colton Dach made his return at the beginning of this series with Milwaukee and scored the overtime winner in game one.

There could certainly be some reason for concerned base on how the team played as a whole last night. They got beat from the jump and never gave themselves a chance to find their footing at the end of the day. Regardless of the outcome, fans should have no reason to worry about the result of this contest.

Chicago Blackhawks fans don’t need to worry about Drew Commesso

Drew Commesso has been lights out for the IceHogs this season. The 2020 second-round draft choice of the Chicago Blackhawks has come into his own this year, as he posted a .911 save percentage and a 2.54 GAA mark in the regular season. Commesso was pulled from the game on Wednesday after Rockford went down 5-1, but interim head coach Mark Eaton assured the media after the game that this wasn’t as big of a deal as some might have made it out to be.

“No need to really narrate why the decision was made, it could be a lot of factors, one to motivate the guys,” Eaton said. “Drew’s played phenomenal hockey for us in these past couple of months, this just allows him to take a breath, reset and get ready for Friday.”

Keeping Commesso’s confidence at a high level is crucial, and Eaton making the decision to take him out of the game on Wednesday was important for that factor. The 22-year-old will still lead the charge on Friday night in game four of the series in what has been his best season as a pro so far. Commesso even made his NHL debut in December and his first start as well with the Blackhawks.

Drew Commesso and Spencer Knight could form a great duo

Knight was fantastic for Chicago after he was acquired in the Seth Jones trade with the Florida Panthers back in March. Some might have thought that bringing in a guy of Knight’s caliber would throw off Commesso’s mindset for the future. Instead, it only reassured Commesso that the Blackhawks could be building something speical.

“Honestly, I don’t adjust my mentality at all,” Commesso said last month. “It was something that was completely out of my control and I think I found out about it 15 minutes before my first game back from injury in the locker room. For me, I’ve just had a great mindset of just being present and controlling what I can.”

The idea of Commesso and Knight being a tandem for years to come should excite fans. With the exception of a couple of netminders across the league, most teams have a strong one-two punch in the cage if they want to contend. The pair could be just that for Chicago moving forward.

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The Chicago Blackhawks front office is still looking to bring in the right guy to be the next bench boss of the franchise for years to come. Luke Richardson was relieved of his duties as the organization’s head coach in December, which paved the way for Anders Sorensen to come up from Rockford to serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the campaign.

Getting the right guy to lead the charge with a young budding core is extremely important, but it is just the first thing that general manager Kyle Davidson has on his to-do list this summer. The franchise holds the third overall pick in the draft at the end of June following the lottery results on Monday. This will provide the team another key piece in their rebuild that took a turn for the better at the end of this past season.

Three of the coaching vacancies across the NHL have been filled so far in this hiring cycle, and the most recent hire came on Thursday morning. The coach that will be brought in to lead the Anaheim Ducks is one that the Blackhawks are quite familiar with, as he is returning to his spot behind the bench after three seasons away from the game.

Chicago Blackhawks coaching icon Joel Quenneville to coach the Ducks

Per reports, the Ducks plan to hire Joel Quenneville as their next head coach, with the official announcement expected to come as early as Thursday afternoon. Quenneville spent 11 seasons with the Blackhawks and brought home the three Stanley Cup titles for the franchise a decade ago. In 797 games with Chicago, he posted an astonishing 452-249-96 record, good for 1,000 points exactly. He was let go by the franchise during the 2018-19 campaign in favor of Jeremy Colliton after a rough start to the season.

Quenneville was last coaching for a few years with the Florida Panthers before abruptly resigning from the role during the 2021-22 season after he was connected to the investigation that was brought into the Chicago Blackhawks organization that revealed their mishandling of a 2010 sexual assault allegation involving a team video coach and a player.

Quenneville was reinstated by the league on July 1, 2024 and it was well known across the hockey world that it wouldn’t be long before he landed another gig, as long as he still wanted to be behind the bench. Anaheim will be the fifth franchise that the now 66-year-old has gotten the opportunity to lead in his coaching career.

There are still solid coaching options for the Chicago Blackhawks

Jay Woodcroft and Rick Tocchet should be the new coaching candidates atop of Chicago’s list moving forward. Both have worked with young talent and have found ways to win at the NHL level, which is extremely important with this core that is coming through the organization right now.

This upcoming season will be a very important one for Connor Bedard, as the 2023 first overall pick has scored 20 or more goals and has posted 60 or more points in each of his first two NHL seasons. The hope is for him to take a big leap forward with a new coach calling the shots this fall.

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The Chicago Blackhawks are still searching for their next head coach to lead the franchise, with their vacancy officially adding another excited piece to the puzzle on Monday. The franchise secured the third overall pick in this summer’s draft, and general manager Kyle Davidson was pumped about the results of the lottery even though the team dropped a spot in order.

“I thought it was kind of exciting,” Davidson told the media. “The last couple years haven’t been necessarily like chalk, but teams close to the top of the odds have moved up or stayed the same, so it was kind of exciting from that standpoint. Third overall, we’re going to get a great player. I’m excited to head into meetings next week with our amateur group and start the process of nailing down where we want to line up the board and what it looks like. We stayed in good range where I think we’re going to be really excited with what we end up with.”

Another important part of the Blackhawks’ rebuild will join the organization on June 27 in Los Angeles, and it should be known by then who the next bench boss will be. Despite missing out on their top candidate, a new report has come out saying that Chicago pushed hard for him to be the next leader of the franchise.

The Chicago Blackhawks pushed hard for David Carle

A recent report from John Buccigross of ESPN stated that a team (Chicago) made an extremely enticing offer to David Carle of Denver University, but the young guru held off on making the leap to the NHL ranks this offseason. There is no secret that Carle was a top option in this cycle for many organizations with head coaching vacancies, with the Chicago Blackhawks being one of them. Carle agreed to a new contract to remain at Denver on Monday, proving that he does not plan on coaching at the NHL level anytime soon.

Carle has a 179-73-17 record in his time as the Denver head coach. He has led the program since 2018 and has a 12-2 NCAA tournament record in his tenure. Along with working at Denver, Carle was the head coach for the U.S. National Junior Team for the last two years. He helped them bring home the gold medal both years and announced that he will not return to the role next season.

The Chicago Blackhawks young core should attract candidates

Even though the Blackhawks missed out on the Carle and Mike Sullivan sweepstakes, there are still some attractive candidates out there like Rick Tocchet and Jay Woodcroft. What Chicago has built in their prospect pool has given fans something to look forward to and they even got to see some more first-round picks make their NHL debut this past season.

Six of the eight first-round selections in the last three drafts were with the team at some point this season, and the other two picks from that 2024 class are not too far behind. Everyone is hoping that Connor Bedard will take a massive step forward in his third NHL season after posting back-to-back 20-plus goal and 60-plus point campaigns to begin his career.

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There has been a group of relief pitchers that have been shuttled back an forth between Triple-A and the big leagues for the Chicago Cubs so far in 2025. With injuries and inconsistent performances and big moments, some are surprised that the team holds a three-game first place lead in the NL Central prior to Wednesday’s series finale at Wrigley Field against the Giants.

If it wasn’t for late inning struggles both ways for the Cubs on Tuesday night, they would have already claimed the series against San Francisco before getaway day. Trailing by two runs in the ninth inning, the Cubs rallied behind a pinch-hit RBI single off the bat of Justin Turner, and a game-tying knock with two outs from Kyle Tucker. However, Chicago couldn’t seal the deal in the ninth, as Seiya Suzuki struck out with the winning run on second base.

A nine-run top of the 11th was more than enough for San Francisco to even up the series, as closer Ryan Pressly allowed eight earned runs without recording an out in the frame. Porter Hodge worked a clean tenth frame, but the offense couldn’t come through with two runners on and less than two outs to end the ball game.

When looking deeper into this Chicago bullpen, there are multiple arms that can be identified as easily replaceable. They have options in Triple-A, and one of them is a veteran that had plenty of success at the big league level in Chicago a year ago.

Tyson Miller was solid for the Chicago Cubs in 2024

Tyson Miller was acquired by the Cubs last season from the Seattle Mariners and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy turned him into a weapon out of Chicago’s stable. The right-hander worked in 49 games a year ago and finished the campaign with an eye-popping 2.15 ERA in 50.1 innings pitched. Miller had a 5-1 record to pair with his impressive 0.81 WHIP, and opponents hit just .178 against him.

Miller didn’t look like himself in Spring Training this year and landed on the IL following the Tokyo trip with a left hip impingement keeping him out of action for a little while. The veteran has been back in Iowa after returning from the IL and he has looked sharp in his time at the Triple-A level.

It might be time for the Chicago Cubs to call up Tyson Miller

The 29-year-old has pitched in seven games with the Iowa Cubs and has a 1.08 ERA in 8.1 innings tossed. He has been pretty much unhittable and even has a 1-0 record in relief so far this spring. Miller has a 1.20 WHIP and opponents are batting .214 when facing him in this small sample size.

Based on what Miller did in Chicago a season ago and what he looks like right now at the Triple-A level, the front office might be thinking of calling him up at some point in the near future. As long as he is back to full health, there isn’t a point in keeping him down on the farm while the big league bullpen falters every third game. The Cubs need the best arms in relief available in their stable if they want a real shot at winning the division, and Miller looks to be one of those options right now.

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The Chicago Cubs’ front office has two important contract situations that they need to handle this offseason that impacts the future of the franchise. They finished the 2024 campaign with a 83-79 record, the exact same win total they had the year prior. The Cubs are looking to make 2025 the first season they have made the playoffs since the 60-game campaign in 2020 due to the pandemic. They won the NL Central that year, and are currently the favorites to do so five seasons later.

Trying to prevent a repeat year of the last two seasons, Jed Hoyer went out and made some changes to the roster this past offseason. The addition of Kyle Tucker was one that got the entire fanbase rocking in a trade with the Houston Astros that cost Chicago a few pieces in Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and highly regarded prospect, Cam Smith.

Tucker has been playing his role so far in a Cub uniform and will without a doubt be the biggest expiring contract for the front office to make a decision about in recent memory. The other important contract situation to monitor involves another outfielder who has burst onto the scene in a big way so far this season.

Pete Crow-Armstrong has been going off since turning down new deal

Pete Crow-Armstrong was reportedly offered a contract extension by Chicago’s front office nearly a month ago worth $75 million. Fans were in awe when the 23-year-old turned down the deal, as many believed that he hadn’t played up to that price so far in his young big league career. The outfielder has responded to this contract offer by exploding at the plate and posting insane numbers in the last month.

Since the report came out of PCA turning down down this deal on April 12, he has been one of the best hitters in all of baseball. The former first-round draft choice is hitting .310 in this span with 26 hits, all nine home runs in his season so far, 21 runs driven in and 19 runs scored in 21 games. Crow-Armstrong has instantly become a go-to guy in Chicago’s order and has earned himself a lot of money due to his recent success. His defense, arm and baserunning have only gotten stronger as well, and he could be on his way to making the All-Star team in July.

The Chicago Cubs need to do what they can to keep PCA for the future

The Cubs’ front office clearly had the right idea last month when they tried to sign PCA for the long haul on a team-friendly contract. They will now have to fork over more cash to keep him in centerfield for the future, which is definitely an investment that they need to be all in on.

Crow-Armstrong has the makings of an elite everyday center fielder in the big leagues for years to come based on his traits and Chicago has the ability to keep him around for a long time. He has the personality to be a face of the franchise an him being a fan favorite in Wrigleyville makes it that much easier to want to keep him right where he’s at.

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Even though they have a three-game first-place lead in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen has held them back from winning a few games so far this season. They have taken most of the series the have played in, which has been great sight for fans to see after their rough start in the Tokyo series against the Dodgers in mid-March had people worried early about what this season could look like.

The starting rotation has been hit hard, with a season-ending injury to Justin Steele and a hamstring strain for Shota Imanaga depleting their depth early in the campaign. Imanaga’s loss will sting for the next month or so, as he was dealing once again at the top of the team’s staff in their strong start to the year. This will require other arms in the rotation to step up in the meantime, while potentially grabbing a big time prospect like Cade Horton from Triple-A to help the club out.

The bullpen needs all of the consistent help it can get as the team is getting ready to hit their stride into the summer. These late-game collapses cannot keep happening and the front office will need to take action on the trade market at summer point to address their broken stable. One right-hander who has only made a couple of big league appearances in relief this season for the Cubs has been impressive, and he could work himself into the fold throughout 2025.

Gavin Hollowell is making his case to stay with the Chicago Cubs

Hollowell was first called up prior to Chicago’s series opener on April 22 at home against the Dodgers. The veteran went two frames in that game and didn’t allow a hit or run in the Cubs’ most exciting comeback victory of the season. The highlight of Hollowell’s club debut came when he struck out Shohei Ohtani in a rocking Wrigley Field environment that felt like a playoff atmosphere.

The former Colorado Rockie was called back up for his second stint with the team in 2025 after Imanaga was officially placed on the IL. Hollowell tossed two more scoreless innings against the Giants in Monday’s win, where he allowed just one hit and struck out one batter as well. The 27-year-old pitched in one big league game with Chicago last season after he appeared in 26 contests with the Rockies in 2023.

The Chicago Cubs might need Gavin Hollowell down the stretch

Hollowell’s funky delivery and mid-90s fastball has led to his early success with the Cubs in 2025. While this has been a small sample size, the veteran has thrown well against some of the game’s best bats and the front office might start taking his push to be a full-time arm in the bullpen seriously depending on how his next couple of outings go.

With a rough ending to Tuesday night’s game against San Francisco where closer Ryan Pressly allowed eight earned runs without recording an out in the 11th inning, Chicago will need to look at every possible option in the organization to help out in the stable to avoid the issues that the team had in relief last summer.

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The Chicago Cubs had a chance to claim a series at home the begin the week against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, but could not get the job done. The team put on a clinic at the plate in Monday’s series opener, winning the contest 9-2. Dansby Swanson stayed red hot since being moved down to the bottom of the order and Carson Kelly clubbed out his eighth home run of the campaign.

Colin Rea got the start for Chicago on Tuesday and surrendered five runs in his five innings of work. While fans would have liked a stronger start from the veteran, he held a dazzling 1.46 ERA through seven appearance and four starts this season entering play last night, so he was due for a slight hiccup.

Down two runs in the ninth inning, the Cubs fought back to tie the contest at five with two outs thanks to a base hit up the middle from Kyle Tucker. However, Chicago couldn’t seal the deal in the ninth, as Seiya Suzuki struck out with the winning run on second base. After Porter Hodge worked a scoreless top of the 10th, the Cubs couldn’t push across the winning run in the bottom half, which led to a disastrous 11th inning. This frame could lead to a change in Chicago’s bullpen at some point moving forward.

Chicago Cubs’ closer Ryan Pressly is on the wrong side of history

Ryan Pressly allowed eight earned runs on five hits without recording an out in the 11th inning in Tuesday’s 14-5 loss. His season ERA shot up from 2.08 to 7.62 with this appearance, and the veteran joined the wrong type of history in the collapse.

Per OptaSTATS on X, Pressly is the only MLB reliever to allow eight or more earned runs in a game, not get an out and take the loss since earned runs became official in both leagues in 1913. This is not a good look for Pressly, who came over in an offseason trade with the Houston Astros with the intention of solving the Cubs’ issues in the ninth inning that they dealt with all of last season.

Pressly previously worked an inning in Chicago’s 8-3 victory on the road on May 1 against Pittsburgh. Some could chalk this rough outing up to him not working in the previous four games, but his stuff not landing where he needed to on Tuesday suggests otherwise.

Ryan Pressly might not be the Chicago Cubs closer much longer

It was known entering this season that Pressly would serve as a mentor to Hodge. With the veteran having just one year left on his current contract, it was hard to imagine him spending more than one year in the Windy City. Unfortunately, it appears that Pressly may have to give up his ninth inning role with the organization much earlier than originally planned.

Hodge has appeared in 17 games this season and has a 4.50 ERA in 16.0 innings pitched. The 24-year-old has a 2-0 record and six holds as the eighth inning guy ahead of Pressly after collecting nine saves in 39 appearances in the 2024 campaign.

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Following a tough series finale loss in Milwaukee on Sunday, the Chicago Cubs bounced back and took the opener of a three-game set at home against the Giants on Monday night. The 9-2 victory gives them a four-game lead in first place in the NL Central and they are 22-14 through 36 games on the young season. Chicago made a big statement in their series opener last Friday against the Brewers at American Family Field. The 10-0 rout saw the offense post seven runs in the second frame and everyone in the lineup found a way to contribute.

The main issue in series with this Chicago club is their inability to finish them strong. They are under .500 in series finale’s so far this year, but they have proven time and time again to be consistent enough to win these sets to begin with. Figuring out their pitching depth will be important over the next couple of weeks to keep their lead in the division, but the offense has come through to a point where they can afford to miss their top arms for the time being.

Ever since Craig Counsell adjusted the batting order before the Pirates series last week, certain guys have popped off even more than they have been so far this season. One veteran in particular has snapped out of a slump in a big way.

Dansby Swanson has been on a tear since moving down in the order

Dansby Swanson was moved down to the eighth spot in the Cubs order last week and is currently on one of his best streaks at the plate in his time with the franchise. The shortstop is 12-26 with a .462 batting average, three home runs, five runs driven in and 23 total bases. Swanson homered in the opening and final games of the Pittsburgh series while having a three-hit showing in game two of the set.

Swanson now has his season average well above .200, as he is hitting .232 in his 36 games played. The former Atlanta Brave has seven home runs and 20 runs driven in this year to go with his .720 OPS. He is almost halfway toward his homer total from a season ago, where he clubbed out 16 long balls and drove in 66 runs in 149 games. He is currently in the third season of a seven-year contract that he signed with the organization in 2022.

The Chicago Cubs need Dansby Swanson to find a level of consistency

Swanson had a strong start to the season when it came to coming up in the clutch with runners in scoring position. Since that stretch, he cooled down big time and saw his 2025 average dip down below .185 as an everyday presence in the middle of the order. Swanson has been an up-and-down bat since he joined the Cubs, but his glove has already remained the best part of his game.

Chicago doesn’t need Swanson to be a cornerstone piece to their hopeful championship puzzle, they need him to be as consistent as possible. If he can be a dynamic part of the bottom of their order, it will add a whole new element to their efforts to win their first divisional title in five seasons.

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The offseason outlook for the Chicago Bulls is rather bleak after getting blown out in the play-in tournament by the Miami Heat at home. The team finished with a 39-43 record and seemingly have not been able to get out of the play-in tournament for the past few years. Guys like Josh Giddey and Coby White were tremendous in Chicago’s backcourt this year, but the team was just too inconsistent halfway through the campaign that there end-of-season breakthrough was enough to earn them one final home game.

The front office needs to make a change this offseason and there is a long shot possibility of a franchise-altering move being on the table. The Bulls have not had a true superstar since the prime Derrick Rose days, but that would change if they pulled a move off for a player that they are very familiar with.

The Chicago Bulls could be in play for Giannis Antetokounmpo

There have been rumblings of what Giannis Antetokounmpo’s time post-Milwaukee could look like. While nothing is set in stone that the 2021 NBA Finals MVP would leave the Bucks in the first place, but the idea of it has made it’s rounds through league circles as of late. Howard Beck of HoopsHype wrote about Chicago being a big city that Antetokounmpo could be interested in, despite certain reports saying otherwise.

“I poked around a little bit a few days ago and the initial thing I got from one person was just like some rumblings that it’s already just the big cities: One of the LA teams or one of the New York teams or maybe Miami, not a big market, but a glamour market, mid-size market,” Beck said. “I think they threw Chicago in there. I can’t remember if Houston came up. It should. So first is like where does Giannis want to go and do they honor that? Because again, back to Damian Lillard, you’re not obligated to honor it.”

Antetokounmpo played in 67 games for Milwaukee this past season and posted his usual superstar numbers. The Greek Freak finished the campaign averaging 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game on 60.1% shooting from the field. Despite hitting 30-years-old, there is no doubt that Antetokounmpo can be guy that leads a franchise like the Bulls to glory.

It would take a lot to get Giannis Antetokounmpo to Chicago

Along with paying his salary, the Bulls would have to cough up a lot to bring Antetokounmpo to the Windy City. Guys like White and former rookie standout Matas Buzelis would likely be the starting price that the Bucks would ask for in a trade. This doesn’t include the draft capital that Chicago would have to surrender and any additional active players that Milwaukee might have interest in.

There is a strong possibility that the Bulls would end up in the exact same spot in the standings with Giannis due to all of the assets they would need to give up in a trade. Things could change based on what other free agents they could attract with what little money they would have remaining to spend, but who knows how that would work out.

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With the Chicago Blackhawks locked into the third overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft in June, their prep work on the prospects that will be available to them officially begins now. The team entered the lottery with the second-best odds at winning the top selection, but slid down a slot in the order after the New York Islanders made the surprise jump to one after entering the night with a 3.5% chance to win it all.

While there will certainly be hopes for either of these two prospects fall to Chicago at three, Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa will likely be gone before the Blackhawks are on the clock. With the organization likely targeting a promising forward to help Connor Bedard and company, they have a handful of options to choose from in this year’s class.

Chicago Blackhawks draft target: Porter Martone

According to The Athletic, The Chicago Blackhawks are mocked to draft RW Porter Martone at #3.

Martone, 18, scored 98 points (37 G, 61 A) in 57 games for the Brampton Steelheads this past season.

Would you want the Blackhawks to draft Martone at #3? pic.twitter.com/CpUr3nHdT9

— Just Another Year Chicago: Blackhawks (@JAYChi_Hawks) May 6, 2025

Porter Martone is currently the favorite to go to the Blackhawks with the third overall pick and he fits the description of what the franchise might be looking for in a top-six winger. He is six-foot-three and even though he has an incredible scoring touch, he is classified as a power forward as well. Chicago has great top-end forward talent in the organization, but not a lot of those players have the size and general strength that Martone does.

Martone has spent the last three seasons in the OHL, and saw his scoring production rise this past year. He had 37 goals and 61 assists, giving him 98 total points in 57 games for the Brampton Steelheads. Martone is also known for his strong puck handling abilities and his wicked wrist shot, which would compliment Bedard well on his wing for years to come.

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After last night’s draft lottery, the Chicago Blackhawks will officially be selecting third overall in the 2025 NHL Draft which will take place on June 27 in Los Angeles. The franchise will have made a top three selection in each of the last three drafts, with the highlight being Connor Bedard going number one overall in the 2023 draft. The team’s rebuild took a turn for the better at the end of this past season, with the youth movement in the organization making an impact down the stretch.

Chicago entered last night’s lottery with the second-best odds to win the top selection at 13.5%. Despite moving down a spot in the order with the New York Islanders making a surprise leap to win the lottery, people around the organization feel great about the spot they are in. This includes general manager Kyle Davidson, who has crushed the last few drafts since he took over in the role to steer the ship in this rebuild.

Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson “excited” about the 3rd pick

Davidson spoke to the media after it was announced that Chicago would be drafting third overall this season, and he was in a very positive mood while doing so. A couple of things in this lottery were different than those of the last few years, including the surprise jump from the Islanders and the fact that the drawing was done live for the first time ever.

“I thought it was kind of exciting,” Davidson said. “The last couple years haven’t been necessarily like chalk, but teams close to the top of the odds have moved up or stayed the same, so it was kind of exciting from that standpoint. Third overall, we’re going to get a great player. I’m excited to head into meetings next week with our amateur group and start the process of nailing down where we want to line up the board and what it looks like. We stayed in good range where I think we’re going to be really excited with what we end up with.”

As Davidson mentioned, the Blackhawks are getting a fantastic player with this selection. Their prospect pool is only going to get better after this pick, which is the biggest positive to take away at the end of the day. Six of the eight first round picks that Davidson has made in the last three years were with the team at some point this past season, and that number will only grow more this year.

This pick for Kyle Davidson is another huge piece in the rebuild

After getting much needed help on the blue line in last year’s draft with the selection of Artyom Levshunov number two overall, it is likely that Chicago will take a forward with the third overall pick in June. They will have plenty of options, but any choice will be great in helping guys like Bedard and Frank Nazar down the road.

Even though this pick shouldn’t start the season with the team, their progress will be monitored closely to potentially sign their entry level deal at the end of the campaign. This will be different from the previous two top picks, as Bedard made his NHL debut right away in 2023, and Levshunov began his career in Rockford this past season before getting called up with 18 games left to play in the year.

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With the 2025 NHL draft lottery officially in the books, the Chicago Blackhawks will be drafting third overall at the end of June. They had an 18.5% chance at winning the lottery outright when it was down to the final ball, but the New York Islanders made the shocking leap to win the top pick in the draft.

The Blackhawks entered the lottery with the second-best odds of winning the top selection, just behind the San Jose Sharks, who held a 25.5% chance to win the lottery after coming out on top a season ago. Chicago last won the lottery in 2023, where they selected franchise cornerstone Connor Bedard. 

The Chicago Blackhawks will be picking third overall

The Blackhawks have the ability to add a true game changer to the organization once again this summer with the third overall pick. While they might miss out on the likes of Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa, there are still a plethora of goal-scoring options they could go with at number three overall.

Porter Martone and James Hagens are the first two forwards that come to mind for general manager Kyle Davidson to choose from if they can’t take Schaefer or Misa. Martone is a big winger who would be an excellent complement to Bedard, and Hagens has just as much upside as anyone in the class.

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Despite the Chicago Cubs leading the NL Central by three games entering play against the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, their pitching health has been a concern this year. Losing Justin Steele for the entire season in a few weeks ago was not news that the organization was thrilled to hear. The left-hander seemed off from the beginning of Spring Training, as his fastball velocity was down and he left plenty of breaking balls up in the zone.

Along with injuries, the bullpen having inconsistent moments have hurt the club as well. While things have gotten much better for the stable over the past few weeks, keeping things as locked in as possible with the unit entering the summer is preferred for the coaching staff. The biggest downfall for the last two years with this organization has stemmed from poor bullpen performances, and the front office does not want that to be the case in 2025.

Shota Imanaga leaving his second consecutive start on Sunday was a major concern for Cubs fans everywhere. The team’s new ace had to leave his start last Tuesday against the Pirates due to leg cramps and was lifted on Sunday on the road against Milwaukee with a hamstring strain. Based on Steele’s strained hamstring a season ago, Chicago has to be prepared to lose Imanaga for a brief period of time.

Shota Imanaga has a similar injury to Justin Steele’s last year

Steele strained his hamstring on Opening Day against the Rangers last season and missed over a month because of the injury. His strain was considered Grade One, which is the most mild strain possible. Despite this, Steele was out from March 28 to May 6 and missed his turn in the rotation numerous times.

If this is the best case scenario for Imanaga, the Cubs front office and coaching staff needs to be prepared to be without him for the time being. The second year pro has been dealing so far this season, as he currently holds a 2.82 ERA to pair with his 1.10 WHIP in eight starts. Imanaga has tossed in 44.2 innings so far this season and has a 3-2 record.

The Chicago Cubs have to overcome losing Imanaga and Steele

One obvious option for the Cubs to go to when addressing the help that their rotation needs is currently sitting in Triple-A. Cade Horton has been on fire so far this season with the Iowa Cubs and the 2022 first-round draft choice could be making his big league debut any day now based on how thin the organization is with starting pitching.

If the front office wants Horton to get more time in Triple-A to prepare him for life in the big leagues, Chris Flexen would be the arm to move from the bullpen to the rotation. Similar to Horton, the veteran right-hander dominated Triple-A in five starts before earning a promotion last week. Flexen made his Cub debut in the 10-0 rout of the Brewers last Friday at American Family Field where he tossed three innings in relief to end the contest.

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The Chicago Cubs have taken on some reclamation projects from a pitching standpoint over the past few seasons at the big league level. Most of these arms have stood out in the bullpen for pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, as the starting rotation has been the strongest unit on the team in recent memory entering the 2025 campaign. Julian Merryweather and Tyson Miller are two relief arms in each of the last couple of seasons that have turned their careers around in the Windy City.

Even though the Cubs are currently in control of the NL Central, there is still plenty of ball to be played this season. Their bullpen has faltered on occasion and the depth of their starting rotation has been depleted, especially after Shota Imanaga had to leave his start on Sunday in Milwaukee due to a strained hamstring.

The front office will need to rely on guys from Triple-A and the trade market if they want their pitching staff to make it through the entire regular season. They have an opportunity to make an addition through a different avenue after a veteran was placed on waivers by the Tigers last week.

The Chicago Cubs could take a chance on Kenta Maeda

Maeda was officially designated for assignment by Detroit last week and the Tigers are responsible for eating the $10 million remaining on his contract this year. The right hander struggled mightily in his time with Detroit this year. Maeda appeared in seven games and possessed a 7.88 ERA to pair with his 1.88 WHIP in 8.0 innings tossed. The veteran signed a two-year deal with the Tigers prior to last season and he pitched in 29 games for the club in 2024. Out of the 29 appearances he made, 17 of them were starts and he logged 112.1 innings on the hill.

Maeda finished last year with a 6.09 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP along with his 3-7 record. The now 37-year-old had a rough go at it in Detroit and he might not have much left in the tank in his big league career. If there is a pitching coach that can turn around a veteran’s outlook in the game, it’s Hottovy and he might be able to help Maeda overcome his struggles if given the opportunity to work with him.

Kenta Maeda would provide more depth for the Chicago Cubs

With injuries to Imanaga and Justin Steele, the Cubs may have to lean on top pitching prospect, Cade Horton to come up to the big leagues and take on a major role from the jump. Chris Flexen was called up from Triple-A last week and after making his team debut in relief against Milwaukee on Friday, he might need to jump into the rotation at some point as well.

Even though he has primarily worked out of the bullpen as of late, an addition of Maeda could be for him to get a crack with the starters. However, the coaching staff could be confident in their starting plan moving forward and Maeda be another throw at the dart board as a veteran reliever. With the exception of a couple of arms in the stable, nobody’s role in the group should be safe.

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All eyes have been on the Rockford IceHogs as some key Chicago Blackhawks prospects are with the club right now for the AHL playoffs. The NHL season ended on a positive note in the organization with an overtime victory on the road against the Senators in the final game of the campaign. It was Frank Nazar who netted the game winner on an assist from Connor Bedard.

The depth in the Blackhawks’ organization was very prominent this past season, as plenty of NHL debuts were made throughout the year. This was a complete flip from the 2023-24 campaign when Chicago had a handful of AHL-level players getting consistent ice time on a nightly basis. Despite general manager Kyle Davidson going out and bringing a good amount of veterans in free agency last summer, young talent made it to the NHL level after all.

These young faces ended up taking away some of the roster spots occupied by the new acquisitions from the summer and it is giving fans hope for the future. This team still has a few things that they need to get right before they are fully ready to compete, but this is the closest they have been to that status in quite some time. One of the young forwards down with the Rockford IceHogs for the AHL playoffs made an immediate impact upon his return to the team last week.

Colton Dach made an immediate impact for the Rockford IceHogs

Colton Dach was good to go for the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs after missing some time over the past month and a half due to injury. The 21-year-old scored the game-winning goal in overtime in the first game of the series against the Milwaukee Admirals to give the IceHogs another series lead. Rockford has yet to lose a game in the Calder Cup playoffs, as they swept the Chicago Wolves in the opening round and currently hold a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-five set with the Admirals entering Wednesday night’s matchup at home.

Especially because of his injury, it is important for Dach to play in as many games with Rockford as possible in the playoffs this year. He is among a handful of forwards in the organization that could be a key contributor down the road as a bottom-six forward and any ice time that he can get back this year is crucial for his development.

It won’t be easy for Colton Dach to make the Chicago Blackhawks

Dach made his NHL debut on January 3 and logged 25 games with the Blackhawks this past season. He had two goals and five assists while seemingly having a different role every other week. He got to play on the top line on occasion with Connor Bedard, while serving as a bottom-six guy toward the end of his stint prior to his injury.

It is known that this will not be an easy roster to make out of camp this year. All of the bottom-six forwards and fringe defensemen will be involved in intense positional battles, which is something that hasn’t happened in Chicago in a few years. Dach will be in the running to make the team, but he will need to stay healthy and earn his spot depending on who is brought in this offseason.

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The Chicago Blackhawks have a few key young pieces on their roster that are participating in the IIHF World Championships that officially begin on May 9. Getting some of these guys more ice time after a long season might seem like a bad idea to some, but others view it as an opportunity for the future of the franchise to get stronger while playing alongside some other great young talent across the NHL.

A notable Blackhawk that chose to forgo this tournament is franchise cornerstone, Connor Bedard. The 2023 number one overall draft choice was given the option to skate for Team Canada, but he decided that it was best for himself to focus on his detailed training regiment back home this summer to prepare himself for an important third year in the league coming up this fall.

Frank Nazar and Alex Vlasic were selecting from Chicago to represent Team USA in this tournament. For Vlasic, getting the nod to join this squad is extremely important for himself and the Blackhawks moving forward. The 23-year-old took a step in the right direction this past season and solidified himself as a top-pair defenseman in the organization. With him now being surrounded by some other great young blue liners and going against talented forwards from other countries, he can grow his game that much more entering a crucial summer.

Nazar was selected to the American squad just after Vlasic was, and fans got equally excited about him being apart of this team for the two week stretch. After Sunday’s pre-tournament contest against Germany, the 2022 first-round pick is already on the radar of hockey fans everywhere based on his performance.

Chicago Blackhawks’ Frank Nazar is making a name for himself

In Team USA’s pre-tournament showdown with Germany on Sunday, Frank Nazar netted two goals in their 5-2 win over Germany. Nazar wrapped up this past season playing at a high level after getting off to a slow start when he was called up in December. The former Michigan Wolverine had 12 goals and 14 assists in 53 games played in this past year.

Nazar signed his entry level deal with the Blackhawks with just a few games remaining in the 2023-24 campaign and even scored his first career goal on his first career shot at home on April 14, 2024 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Many figures across the organization have been happy with how Nazar’s game has progressed over the last year, and this tournament can help him elevate his play before heading home for the summer to continue his training.

This tournament is a perfect lead into Frank Nazar’s summer

Nazar came into his own at the end of this past season and scored the game-winning goal in overtime to end the campaign in the final game on the road against the Ottawa Senators. The young forward was praised often this past year for his two-way play and he earned himself a spot on the top powerplay unit in the final few weeks of the season.

Along with his game-winner to conclude the year, Nazar had goals in the final three games of the season. This also included back-to-back two point games against the Jets at home and the Canadians on the road. The 21-year-old averaged over a point-per-game in the month of April, giving him positive momentum to build off entering this tournament that starts on Friday and the offseason in general.

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The Chicago Cubs knew they would have to scratch and claw to get something going against Paul Skenes in the series finale against Pittsburgh on Thursday. After dropping the second game of the series late on Wednesday, a rubber match against one of the best pitchers on the planet wasn’t ideal for Chicago, especially with it being their first divisional series of the campaign.

Playoff aspirations are more alive early in a season than they have been in the past few seasons for Cub fans. They haven’t won the NL Central or even made the playoffs since 2020 and they haven’t clinched a playoff berth in a standard 162-game season since 2017. It’s safe to say that people are getting antsy about the possibility of the organization playing meaningful baseball down the stretch again the for first time in a little while.

Even though it’s the beginning of May, every series weighs the same for a team with a vision like Chicago and everyone recognizes that. This getaway day showdown with Skenes was a significant one, and the offense rose to the occasion thanks to one big inning.

The Chicago Cubs hit three home runs off Paul Skenes

Skenes was cruising along through the first four innings of his start against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday before he ran into a wall in the fifth frame. The offense clubbed out three home runs against the right-hander in that fifth inning alone, with Dansby Swanson, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki all leaving the yard. This erased the Pirates 2-0 lead, as the three solo shots gave Chicago the lead for good.

This is the first time in Skenes’ career that he allowed three home runs in a start, and they all came in the same inning. An even wilder stat is that the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year gave up more home runs (three) than strikeouts (two) that he recorded on Thursday.

The Cubs offense showing out in a big way once again proves that they might be different this year compared to previous seasons. They have fought back in games in various ways already and we haven’t even hit the dog days of summer yet. Seeing guys like Dansby Swanson make adjustments after being bumped down in the order is a great sign as well. The veteran shortstop homered in the opener and finale of the series and had a three-hit outing in the second contest against Pirate pitching.

Seiya Suzuki is on a hot streak right now for the Chicago Cubs

Suzuki left the yard twice on Thursday and appears to be getting into a nice groove entering May. He currently leads the Cubs with nine home runs to go with his .295/.365/.625 slashline. The designated hitter has a .990 OPS and has progressed well in each season against big league pitching so far in his career.

If Suzuki can become an elite aspect of this Chicago lineup on a consistent basis this year, it would add another dominant element to a potential playoff push. Tucker has done a great job at making everyone better around him in the order, and the hope is that he can stick around Wrigleyville for the next decade.

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The Chicago Cubs picked up a much needed victory on Thursday afternoon to secure a series win against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. This comes after a series loss at home last weekend against the Phillies that started off strong with a shutout in the series opener. The name of the game for most competitive teams in the league is to just find a way to win every series. Regardless of how strong or lackluster the opponent is, if a squad can find a way to win most sets, they are in good shape.

The Cubs dominated the opening game of the series against Pittsburgh on Tuesday in what was their first NL Central contest in the 2025 season. They played the first 29 games of the campaign mostly against the NL West in odd fashion. After a tough 4-3 loss in the second game against the Pirates on Wednesday, Chicago had to face Paul Skenes on getaway day in the series finale.

After four shutout innings, the Cubs got to one of the best pitchers on the planet in a big way in the fifth frame. They hit three home runs off Skenes and chased him out of the contest after that inning. The offense tacked on more insurance runs in the seventh in ninth innings to seal the deal on the 8-3 victory.

A key cog in the Cubs offense has hit well at PNC Park throughout his career and that continued this week. The three-time Gold Glover and Pittsburgh native added onto to his stellar on-base streak against the Pirates in their home yard in this series.

Ian Happ extended his impressive on-base streak at PNC Park

With Ian Happ’s 3-4 effort in Thursday’s win, he now has reached base safely in 44 consecutive games played at PNC Park. The outfielder has always hit well on the road in his hometown, and he was a big reason why the Cubs took two of three from the Pirates. Happ went 2-4 in the second game and 1-5 in the series opener, which includes him driving in a run in each of the final two games of the set.

Happ is slashing .279/.365/.390 with a .755 OPS out of the leadoff spot this season. The left fielder has two home runs and 16 runs driven in over the course of his 136 at-bats that he has received in 32 games. While it would be nice to move Happ down a spot or two in the order to tap into his power a bit more, his ability to get on-base early and often makes it difficult for Craig Counsell to take him out of the leadoff spot.

The Chicago Cubs will take this momentum into the weekend

The NL Central road trip continues for the Cubs this weekend in Milwaukee. They currently have a two game lead over the second place Reds and will have their work cut out for them in a three-game series with the Brewers. If hthe Cubs want to win their first NL Central crown in five seasons, this is the type of series they need to take care of business in.

Even though Milwaukee is a .500 club so far this year, they should never be taken lightily and the Cubs know firsthand how intense the environment can be at American Family Field when they are in town. First pitch of the series opener on Friday night is set for 7:10 with Ben Brown getting the ball for the Cubs.

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Much of the Chicago Blackhawks’ front office will have their attention locked in on the draft lottery that will be conducted next Monday, May 5. The team will be getting another top-four pick just like they had a season ago when they finished 31st in the league standings. Last year’s lottery stayed true to form and not a single team moved up or down in the drawing. That doesn’t happen often, as they Blackhawks just missed out on Boston University phenom Macklin Celebrini at this time last year.

Chicago stood pat at the second selection last summer and used it to select Artyom Levshunov out of Michigan State. The big right-shot defenseman earned a call up to the NHL after beginning this past season down in Rockford and looked comfortable in the 18 games he appeared in with the Blackhawks.

When looking at what young names might come up to the surface on the trading front this summer across the league, one of Levshunov’s old teammates at Michigan State could be in conversations. Due to a surplus of blue liners in the Blackhawks’ system, they could become instant contenders to trade for this stellar forward prospect.

The Chicago Blackhawks should target Isaac Howard

Isaac Howard not signing his entry-level deal following his second season at Michigan State and his third at the collegiate level was shocking to most of the hockey world. He was a first-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021 and many people figured he would turn pro after another fantastic campaign with the Spartans.

Howard scored 26 goals and added 26 assists for 52 total points in the 37 games he played at Michigan State this past season. His first season with the Spartan program came after he transferred from Minnesota-Duluth upon the conclusion of his Freshman year.

The 21-year-old has been apart of Team USA and their developmental program since the 2020-21 season and is well known throughout the hockey community as a guy who has all of the tools to be a very good pro. It is made out to believe that Howard wanted to sign and immediately burn the first year of his entry-level deal with Tampa Bay this season, which is something that organization typically doesn’t go for. This could have created a riff in negotiations that led to Howard returning to Michigan State for his final year at the collegiate level.

Isaac Howard would be more depth for the Chicago Blackhawks

If Howard and the Lightning can’t see eye-to-eye, there is reason to believe his rights could be shopped over the summer. The Blackhawks would never turn down more forward depth in their system, especially if it’s for a talent like Howard. The former first-round pick would offer more scoring for young guys like Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar while giving the new coaching staff another option to work into the fray down the road.

Chicago has a surplus of young left-shot defensemen that they could use as trade bait with Tampa Bay, along with plenty of draft picks that they could dish out. Howard played his youth hockey in the Shattuck St. Mary’s program, which happens to be the same spot where Blackhawks’ franchise icon Jonathan Toews played his youth hockey.

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The 2025 Chicago Cubs have been making waves across baseball in their first 30 games of an extremely important season for the franchise. They were given a tough schedule to begin the campaign, as they did not face a divisional opponent in their first 29 contests of the year. Getting 20 of their first 29 matchups against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks or Padres was a tough draw for this year’s group. Despite the challenge, they handled their early gauntlet well, as they went 11-9 in those games against the NL West.

The Cubs began their regular season before 30 other big league clubs did, as they started off in Japan on March 18 and 19 against the Dodgers. They struggled to get anything going in that shortened two-game set and they dropped both contests against the defending World Series champs. Since the opening week of the season, the Cubs have looked like a completely different club and had Wrigley Field rocking the entire month of April.

There is an early vibe that this year’s squad could have something special up there sleeve. The organization hasn’t seen playoff baseball since the 2020 season that was shortened due to the pandemic. Even then, the Cubs were swept at home in a best-of-three series to forget against the Marlins. The 2025 Cubs joined the 2016 World Series team in some pretty good company following their 30th game of the season.

These Chicago Cubs have something in common with the 2016 team

The Chicago Cubs scored 181 runs through their first 30 games of the 2025 season. The only team to have scored more than that in the first 30 games of a campaign in franchise history is the 2016 team that plated 184 runs in that stretch. 2016 was the most important year in most Chicago sports fans lives and any time a Cubs team is put into the same breath as that group, heads will turn.

This year’s team is scoring at a high rate and have done so in various ways. There have already been a couple of extremely exciting comeback victories at Wrigley Field this season in dramatic fashion. The bullpen certainly didn’t help make those games any easier, but plenty of runs were needed to win those ballgames and that’s when this offense came through.

Kyle Tucker and PCA have been driving forces for the Chicago Cubs

When looking at the standout players in Chicago in the early going this season, it’s hard to look at many other guys besides Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Tucker has been everything the Cubs could have asked for and more after he was acquired from the Houston Astros back in December. He is already receiving attention for the All-MLB first team just a month into the season and he has instantly made everyone around him in the order much better.

Crow-Armstrong has broke through at the plate big time and it appears that the piece that the Cubs acquired in the Javier Baez trade almost four years ago has fully arrived in the Windy City. The centerfielder is getting on-base at a consistent rate and already has six home runs on the season. He was originally projected to have around 12 long balls in 2025, but that could be changed rather quickly.

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The Chicago Bears front office has made reloading the offensive line a priority this offseason and they have done so in multiple ways. General manager Ryan Poles hit the trade market hard the week before free agency opened up by acquiring Joe Thuney from the Chiefs and Jonah Jackson from the Rams. The two veterans will handle the guard spots for Caleb Williams ahead of his second NFL season.

Once free agency was in full swing, Poles added the final piece to the puzzle for Chicago’s offensive front. He went out and signed center Drew Dalman to a three-year deal after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Atlanta Falcons. Williams was dropped a league-high 68 times last season and the Bears could never seem to get their run game going on a consistent basis, so these changes up front were much needed.

Despite Chicago having a set group to protect Williams for the upcoming season, the front office still has to have the future of the unit in mind. They drafted a project tackle in last year’s draft and many were wondering what their approach would be for the 2025 class. Poles selected two offensive linemen last weekend, one of which was a second-round draft choice that he already has a plan for.

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles has a plan for Ozzy Trapilo

When Poles went on ESPN 1000 on Thursday morning, Trapilo was a topic of conversation. The general manager said his plan is to start the Boston College product out at left tackle and that they will go from there. With current starting left tackle Braxton Jones having a season ending injury back in December, it is important for Trapilo to hit the ground running at the position in case he needs to be ready to roll early on in the fall.

Trapilo was taken with the 56th overall pick in the second round by Chicago. It was a pick the Bears acquired in a trade back with the Bills and is one that could work out well for them down the road. Trapilo is a big guy, as he stands at six-foot-eight and weighs 316 pounds. The Boston College connection to Poles certainly helped the prospect’s case in becoming a Bear, but his ceiling in the second round makes him a promising piece to the organization’s future.

Trapilo has more experience at right tackle, which makes this announcement from Poles rather interesting. He did start 10 games at left tackle in 2022, but he spent most of his time at the collegiate level on the other side. Many believed that Darnell Wright would flip to left tackle to allow Trapilo to slide into his natural spot, but there is a different vision from the coaching staff and front office moving forward.

Ozzy Trapilo could be a big part of the Chicago Bears future

Based on when he was selected and his projectable frame, Trapilo could be a major part of Chicago’s offensive line in the future. Jones is on the last year of his current contract and if the front office isn’t sold on what he can bring to the table on a second deal, it could provide a perfect opportunity for Trapilo to take his place.

It’s great that the Bears have a solid offensive line in place for 2025, but the future needs to be kept in mind at all times and depth is always a good thing to have up front. Kiran Amegadjie was taken in the third round last season and he too is viewed as a project for this coaching staff.

While Amegadjie struggled mightily when given a spot start in December against the Vikings, he could always transition to being a guard if it helps the franchise down the road. Luke Newman was the second lineman drafted by the Chicago Bears last weekend in the sixth round out of Michigan State. He too will play on the inside and can hopefully serve as depth for the unit in his time with the organization.

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Regardless of if the current starting rotation remains healthy over the summer, the Chicago Cubs front office will likely add another arm to bolster the staff at the trade deadline. Losing Justin Steele for the season just a few weeks into the campaign pushed this narrative forward for the organization, but it will have to be at the right price.

With Chicago having a loaded farm system with plenty of talent that could help them out down the road, it will have to be the perfect situation to move on from a few pieces of their future to add strength to the 2025 rotation. While everyone knows that prospects are never a guarantee and that acquiring the known sometimes works out better at the end of the day, the Cubs front office still needs to be smart with how they spread out their resources.

One of the top pitching targets at the trade deadline this season has had a rough start to the year, and Chicago should be fully aware of the situation.

Sandy Alcantara has had a rough start to the year

Sandy Alcantara was viewed as one of the top trade chips in the league entering the season. With the Marlins not expected to do much this year and with Alcantara coming fresh off surgery that had him miss the entire 2024 campaign, he instantly became the topic of conversation across the trade market this spring.

Alcantara won the National League CY Young award in 2022 and although he wasn’t as dominant the following year, he kept a clean bill of health. The right-hander made 28 starts following his CY Young year and was still relatively consistent for the Marlins until he missed all of the 2024 campaign.

So far this year, Alcantara has a 8.31 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP in six starts. He has a 2-3 record and has worked in 26.0 innings for a Marlins squad that is already 8.5 games out of first place in the NL East. Alcantara’s last start came against the Dodgers on Tuesday where he allowed seven runs in 2.2 innings tossed.

The Chicago Cubs could look elsewhere for rotation help

If Alcantara can’t be consistent throughout the summer, the Cubs might not be in the position to use some of their valuable assets to acquire him. Even though they need the rotation help, it is completely within reason for the front office to be picky when looking at the market.

From an internal standpoint, top pitching prospect Cade Horton has been lights out so far this season. The 2022 first round draft choice has a 1.17 ERA in 23.0 innings pitched and five starts at the Triple-A level. Horton has dealt with injury issues in the past, and Chicago’s front office has made it known that they want to take their time getting him to the big leagues.

There aren’t many early trade candidates on the pitching market at the moment, with certain teams not knowing whether they are for real yet or not. These options for the Chicago Cubs will make themselves known more throughout the summer, and it will then be up to Jed Hoyer to determine what he is willing to part ways with to get this team as ready as possible for a potential postseason push.

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Not many answers were originally provided to fans regarding the current state of the Chicago Bears running back following the draft over the weekend. The running back board seemed to dance away from general manager Ryan Poles multiple times after the first round, which forced the organization to go in different directions with the rest of their selections.

The organization still managed to snag a ball carrier at the end of the draft to provide some juice in the room. Kyle Monangai from Rutgers could be an exciting talent to watch at the next level despite going so late on Saturday. It appears that the Bears are still looking to add more to their running back depth before training camp gets underway this summer. A lead writer for the organization on behalf of the Chicago Tribune gave an update on the running back room right now.

Chicago Bears insider gives his take on state of RB room

Brad Biggs spent some time in his latest mailbag column writing about how things currently look with the Bears running back situation just days after the draft. He touched on how D’Andre Swift will be a bigger focal point for Ben Johnson than some originally anticipated and that Roschon Johnson might get a fair shake to begin the year.

“Coach Ben Johnson has been very upbeat about working with Swift again after their time together in Detroit, and with an improved offensive line, Swift and the rest of the backs should look better,” Biggs wrote. “Johnson never really got a chance last season, and I think the front office still would like to see him get a chance to stick.”

When Biggs turned his attention to the depth guys in the running back room, he mentioned that he thinks it will be hard for any new additions to beat out the current personnel based on their current value to the team.

“(Travis) Homer’s roster spot is relatively secure because of his role on special teams,” Biggs acknowledges. “The Bears obviously want to see what Monangai, a two-time captain and workhorse at Rutgers, can do. So, barring unforeseen injuries, any player the Bears sign likely would have to beat out Johnson or Monangai because they’re unlikely to carry more than four running backs on the 53-man roster.”

After spending the previous two seasons in Chicago, Homer was brought back in the offseason on a one-year deal worth just under $2 million. The special teams ace shouldn’t have to worry about his roster spot being in jeopardy for the upcoming season and Monangai will get just as much of a chance as anybody to succeed based on what the organization thinks of his abilities right now.

Signing a veteran RB should still be in play for the Chicago Bears

Ben Johnson has preached that he is trying to create as much competition as possible entering camp. Because of this, it would not be shocking if a veteran was brought into the running back room after all. While guys like Monangai and Johnson deserve a fair shake at getting carries this season, they need to earn them in camp. Bringing in another back would suggest that Johnson could be on the trade block, with Monangai being a rookie.

The Chicago Bears had trouble getting their ground game going consistently last year. Even though they have a revamped offensive line entering this upcoming season, it won’t mean much if they don’t have the right personnel running the rock. If bringing in a veteran like Nick Chubb or JK Dobbins can elevate the ground game in any way, it is worth considering over the next few weeks.

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The Chicago Cubs currently sit with a 1.5 game lead in the NL Central through the first 30 games of the 2025 season after playing their first divisional game on Tuesday. They took care of business in the first of a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 9-0 victory where the team did not strike out once. This is the first time this has happened for a Cubs squad since the 2013 season, and it continues to add onto the team having serious buzz early on in the campaign.

The Cubs have an 18-12 record heading into Wednesday evening’s contest with the Pirates where Matthew Boyd will get the ball with a chance to take the series before getaway day. Despite Chicago having a much easier schedule in May compared to what they began the year with in April, plenty of NL Central action will keep them on their toes as they prepare for the summer.

There are still some areas of the roster that need to be properly addressed throughout the summer. This team won’t be able to get by long term with what they have at third base and the inconsistent arms in their bullpen. All of that aside, a major reason why the Cubs are sitting how they are right now is due to their big offseason acquisition in the outfield.

Chicago Cubs’ star Kyle Tucker already in All-MLB talks

Through the first month of the 2025 season, Tucker was recognized on the All-MLB first team poll. The slugger has seven home runs and 26 runs driven in over the course of his 30 games played in this season. Tucker is slashing .288/.397/.568 with an .965 OPS in 118 at-bats and has automatically made everyone in the lineup around him significantly better this year.

Tucker as come through in some big spots for the Cubs and has shown off his clutch gene early on in the Windy City. He has instantly been an upgrade over Cody Bellinger in right field, who the organization dealt to the Yankees shortly after Tucker was acquired from Houston in December. The 28-year-old will give Chicago a real chance at playing significant games down the stretch if he can continue to impact the game every night.

The Chicago Cubs front office can’t let Kyle Tucker leave the city

The pressure was immediately on Jed Hoyer and the Cubs front office after they pulled off a trade for Tucker. He is the best player that the organization has had since Kris Bryant was in his prime years and he has certainly fit the mold of a franchise corner stone in a big market like Chicago so far.

Tucker will not come cheap for obvious reasons, but the front office and ownership group needs to do everything they can to assure that he will not leave Chicago after the 2025 season. He can change the game with one swing and is simply an all around presence that cannot be replaced once you have him in the fold. If he can’t be extended this offseason, the trade could be a colossal failure for years to come.

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The Chicago Cubs began their divisional slate for the 2025 season on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates and their showing did not disappoint. A rare scheduling change hit the Cubs this year in the fact that they played nearly 30 games to begin the campaign against opponents outside of the NL Central. Getting 20 of their first 29 matchups against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks or Padres was not ideal for Chicago whatsoever, but they handled those tests well.

They finished 11-9 against those three NL West opponents, which includes 4-3 season series wins against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. Despite Los Angeles being banged up, the Cubs took care of business after struggling mightily against them in their two-game series in Tokyo to open the 2025 season. No matter who has been on the mound for the Cubs or who they have faced, the group has found a way to win games in various ways.

Even though it is early in the season, the vibe around this current roster is different than what fans have been used to in recent years. Wrigley Field has already been a rocking environment and we haven’t even gotten to the summer yet. While there are still hurdles that this group needs to clear and areas on the roster that need to be shored up, they continue to excite every night. The Cubs accomplished a feat as a team on Tuesday night that they had not done in over a decade.

The Chicago Cubs did not strikeout on Tuesday against Pittsburgh

The Chicago Cubs did not strike out once in Tuesday night’s 9-0 victory at PNC Park in the series opener against the Pirates. This has not been done since 2013, and the order put together by manager Craig Counsell was all over Pittsburgh left-hander, Andrew Heaney. The Cubs first struck in the fourth frame on a two-run homer off the bat of Carson Kelly, who has been on fire to start the year. The new catcher leads the team with seven long balls on the season and has driven in 21 runs to go with his eye-popping .370 batting average.

Pete Crow-Armstrong added a two-run blast of his own an inning later, continuing the tear that he has been on as well to begin 2025. Chicago sealed the deal by scoring in the final three innings by posting a three spot in the seventh and a run in each of the last two frames. The Cubs have been much more disciplined at the plate in general this season, but being on point by not striking out at all on Tuesday is extremely impressive.

The lineup shuffling definitely could have played a factor in this

Counsell decided to change up the Cubs lineup for the series opening against the Pirates, and it worked wonders. He moved Dansby Swanson down to the eight-hole in the order while elevating Kelly to the cleanup spot. Because of the veteran catcher getting moved up, Michael Busch slid down to the five-hole in the process.

Busch finished 1-4 in the game, and Kelly’s home run to get the scoring started made Counsell’s decision look like a wise one. Swanson getting moved down was the big story through it all. The Cubs’ highly paid shortstop was not getting it done in the middle of the order so far this season, and he desperately needed a change at the plate. He too homered on Tuesday and the coaching staff is hoping this is the start of Swanson breaking out of his slump.

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Seeing how the Chicago Cubs coaching staff and front office has navigated their up-and-down pitching unit so far in 2025 has been interesting. The bullpen has been in flux for most of the campaign, but the team holds a 1.5 game lead in the NL Central with an 18-12 record in their first 30 games.

Losing Justin Steele for the season a couple of weeks ago made things much more difficult on the starting rotation, and it could lead to a bigger trade made by the front office to fill his shoes later on this season. The bullpen has had their moments of coming through big but also not being a huge help in important moments, which is on par for what the unit was like a season ago.

The front office made the decision to call up a veteran arm for the current Pittsburgh series who has been thriving at the Triple-A level so far this year.

Chicago Cubs to select Chris Flexen from Triple-A

Per reports, the Cubs are selecting Flexen’s contract from Triple-A and he will be added to the roster on Wednesday or Thursday morning prior to the series finale in Pittsburgh. Flexen has been dominant in Iowa so far in his five starts this season. The right-hander has a 1.16 ERA and a 3-0 record in 23.1 innings tossed thus far in 2025.

Flexen spent the 2024 campaign with the White Sox where he made 30 starts in 33 total appearances. He finished the season with a 3-15 record and a 4.95 ERA on the worst team in the modern era. His 160.0 innings tossed proved that he can be a reliable option and durable when needed.

It is unclear what Flexen’s role will be when he officially joins the Cubs on this road trip. He has the flexibility to pitch in long relief and as a starter, so it gives the club options. After Shota Imanaga exited Tuesday night’s game at PNC Park with leg cramps, he shouldn’t need to go on the IL. This instead could be a move to shake up the rotation and move a young arm like Ben Brown to the bullpen after he had another rough start against the Phillies at home over the weekend.

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The Chicago Cubs are off to a 17-12 start in the 2025 season while being dealt a tough schedule with no division games until Tuesday night’s showdown in Pittsburgh. The team has weathered the storm of a tough schedule to begin the year, as they have faced the Dodgers seven times and the Padres and Diamondbacks six times each. In these 20 games, Chicago managed to finish above .500 with an 11-9 record.

With plenty attention focused on the big league club, the farm system hasn’t had as much light shined on it as it has in previous years. A few big name prospects in the Cubs’ pipeline are now in the show and others are right on the cusp in Triple-A, but there are still guys making names for themselves elsewhere in the system.

One infielder that the Cubs have had for quite some time in their prospect pool has emerged as a legitimate player early on this season. Even though the team has a plethora of infield prospects at all levels, each prospect they have in these spots need to be looked at seriously for the future.

Cristian Hernandez is off to a strong start on the Chicago Cubs farm

Cristian Hernandez signed with the Cubs on January 15, 2021 and was instantly put toward the top of the organization’s prospect rankings. He offered plenty of offensive upside coming out of the Dominican Republic with a smooth defensive touch on the left side of the diamond. Many referred to Hernandez as “baby A-Rod” with him drawing comparisons to Alex Rodriguez as an international free agent.

Things did not start off smoothly for Hernandez once he got to the states in 2022. His season in rookie ball that year was fine, but he struggled mightily at the dish when he joined the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at the A-Ball level in 2023. Despite driving in 40 runs in 106 games, Hernandez had an OPS with the Pelicans that was just above .600 in a year he would like to forget in the box.

Hernandez was much better at the plate last year in his time split between Myrtle Beach and South Bend. He hit .261 while driving in 59 runs and collecting 27 doubles. Many were hoping he would use this as positive momentum entering 2025, and it looks good so far.

The 21-year-old has spent all of the current season with South Bend and has been fantastic in 20 games. Hernandez is slashing .296/.356/.457 with an .813 OPS in 81 at-bats. Despite this not being the biggest sample size in the world, the young infielder is continually showing signs of growth in the box. It has been noted that he is looking more and more comfortable everyday.

The Chicago Cubs could have a future piece in Cristian Hernandez

While Hernandez still needs to conquer two more levels of Minor League Baseball, he could be well on his way to being a solid big league ball player. He has cleared a hurdle at the plate and it would be great to see him at Double-A at some point this season if all goes well.

Even though the Cubs are locked into their middle infield for the next handful of seasons, third base remains an issue for them right now. Hernandez can work at the hot corner and certainly has the arm for it. Matt Shaw will continue to receive opportunities at the position, but Hernandez is worth considering there down the road if things don’t work out for the organization’s 2023 first-round draft choice.

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With the Chicago Blackhawks finishing at the bottom of the league standings for another season, the highlight of their year is coming up next week. The NHL draft lottery is set for next Monday, May 5 to determine where the Blackhawks will be selecting with their first of two choices in the opening round of the draft in June. The team finished 31st in the league in points for a second consecutive season, meaning they are guaranteed another top-four pick.

Chicago has the second-best odds at landing the top pick behind the San Jose Sharks once again. Fans were hopeful that they would leapfrog the Sharks last year in the lottery to have the chance at pairing Connor Bedard with another young phenom in Macklin Celebrini. Instead, the order did not change pre-lottery, and the Sharks got to select the Boston University star with the top pick.

This year’s draft lottery presents an interesting spot to be in. While winning the lottery in each of the last two seasons was the obvious prize, this year appears to be a bit different for a team in Chicago’s shoes.

Matthew Schaefer would be the top pick for the Chicago Blackhawks

The top prospect in this year’s draft is Matthew Schaefer from the Erie Otters of the OHL. He is a left-shot defenseman, which puts Chicago in an awkward spot if they win the lottery. While they are a bunch of high quality forwards in this draft class, it would be hard to pass on a talent like Schaefer if they win the lottery.

There is no denying that Schaefer would be an excellent addition to Chicago’s loaded blue line of young talent right now. Him, Alex Vlasic, Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel would instantly be one of the strongest top-four of a defensive core in the league down the road. However, there is a pressing need that Chicago should address in this draft with their premier pick.

Chicago really needs another top end talent to pair up front with Bedard. Levshunov made sense in last year’s draft with the second overall pick, but the forward talent in this year’s class could help the incoming third year pro a ton.

There is no saying that that front office won’t take a forward if they win the lottery, but they don’t need to win this one as bad as they have needed to in the previous two years. Plus, if Chicago wins the lottery next week, they can’t do so for another five seasons. Even though they shouldn’t be in the discussion next year, it wouldn’t hurt having somewhat of a chance if they are in the lottery again, which is likely.

The Chicago Blackhawks would likely prefer Michael Misa

The Blackhawks and Michael Misa are truly a match made in heaven. The forward has spent the last two seasons with the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL where he has put up gaudy numbers in each year with the team. Misa scored 62 goals and added 72 assists for 134 total points in 65 games.

Chicago needs another guy in their core that is a true game changer and can score at will. Misa brings that to the table and would be a perfect scoring compliment to Bedard in every way. Unlike certain forward prospects in their pool, Misa is a bigger player. He is six-foot-one and has a bit of a physical edge to his game thanks to his size. He is without a doubt the top forward in this draft, and Chicago could look to take him if they win the lottery no matter what.

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The Chicago Cubs bullpen has already been a roller coaster to begin the 2025 season, but there are some positives to take away from certain individuals in the stable. Relief pitching has been Chicago’s Achilles heel over the past few years and some have made the argument that it has kept them out of the playoff picture in a couple of seasons down the stretch.

The 2024 Cubs had an extremely solid and consistent starting rotation. It was the strongest aspect of their squad and they even finished the campaign with one of the better units in the National League. The front office entered this past offseason knowing that while they have a great rotation, they can’t rely on it being the best part of their team again this year.

Justin Steele going down for the year a couple of weeks ago was a tough pill for the organization to swallow. It places even more pressure on the rest of the rotation and especially the bullpen moving forward until the front office makes some moves closer to the trade deadline.

A few arms have come through so far in 2025 and have been more consistent than others. This includes a certain area of the bullpen that has struggled mightily over the past few seasons.

The Chicago Cubs signing Caleb Theilbar look solid so far

The Chicago Cubs added Caleb Thielbar on New Years eve as the lone left-handed reliever to the squad. He had spent parts of eight seasons in his career with the Twins prior to coming to Chicago and made his return to the big leagues after a five-year absence. Theilbar made a comeback to the Twins in 2020 and posted a 5.32 ERA last season in 39 appearances.

Despite having a rocky start to the year in Chicago, Thielbar has settled in nicely over the past few weeks. The veteran has been put in high leverage situations out of necessity and has come through big time. On April 15 against San Diego, he entered the game in the 10th frame with a one-run lead and held the 2-1 score for his first save as a Cub.

It’s Thielbar’s curveball that has worked out extremely well for him this season and has earned him more opportunities. He has a 3.48 ERA in his 12 outings and 10.1 innings tossed and could very well be the consistent veteran presence from the left side that the Cubs have been looking for in relief since Andrew Chafin was traded in 2021.

Acquiring Drew Pomeranz could be a sneaky move for the front office

The Cubs snagged Pomeranz in a trade with the Mariners last week in an attempt to have more left-handed options at their disposal down the road. The 36-year-old hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2021, so him and Thielbar have something in common along with being the only two lefties the Cubs have in relief.

Pomeranz has tossed in just two games for Chicago so far, but has looked sharp while doing so. He has yet to allow an earned run in 2.1 innings of work and has a pair of strikeouts early on in his time with the Cubs. Even though it is way too early to tell with the Pomeranz, he could be another solid find by the front office who might play an important role in relief throughout the season.

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The schedule makers were not too kind to the Chicago Cubs when dishing out their opponents for the month of April in the 2025 season. Not only did they begin their season a week earlier than 30 other teams in the league, they had to play in Tokyo against the defending World Series champions. The Dodgers swept the two-game set against the Cubs in the Japan series, which instantly had fans worrying about what this season could look like.

If Chicago couldn’t hang with the best in the National League, thoughts of already regretting the Kyle Tucker trade and the general roster construction began to creep in fans heads early. This season is a make-or-break year for a few individuals in the organization. The team hasn’t made the playoffs since the shortened 2020 season due to the pandemic, which is also the last time that they won the division.

With how this franchise should be set up, there is no reason why fans should have to wait years between playoff appearances. Frustration has certainly gotten to most of the fanbase and that has clearly rubbed off on the front office as well with some of the moves made this offseason. Wrigley Field has been rocking this season already, and the Cubs don’t seem to care who they have played so far.

The Chicago Cubs fully embraced their gauntlet to begin the season

Through their first 29 games of the 2025 season, the Cubs have had the toughest schedule so far. Their opponents have held a .573 winning percentage so far this year, the most in MLB. Tuesday night in Pittsburgh will be the first time all season where Chicago will square off with a divisional opponent. The fact that they are getting their first NL Central contest at this point in the season is pretty wild to say the least.

Before having seen a single divisional opponent in 2025, the Cubs have faced the Dodgers seven times and the Padres and Diamondbacks six times each. In these 20 games, Chicago managed to finish above .500 with an 11-9 record. This includes season series victories over the Dodgers and Diamondbacks after getting swept by Los Angeles in the two-game Japan series in mid-March.

Chicago is 17-12 through these first tough 29 games of a crucial season. The club found a way to keep their heads above water against some of the best teams in baseball and now the fanbase can see that there is a reason for Wrigleyville to have some buzz this summer.

It will only get easier from here for the Chicago Cubs

After having the toughest schedule to begin their season, the opponents that the Cubs will see the rest of the way have a .469 winning percentage. This makes their slate the easiest to navigate across the league for the last 133 games of the campaign, which is obviously subject to change at some point during the summer.

Regardless, knowing that the Cubs have made it through their hardest part of the schedule already before May 1 is a major victory. They have had a few September collapses due to tough scheduling in recent memory, so that aspect of the slate should not be an issue in 2025. The NL Central games won’t be easy, and they begin on Tuesday night with a 6:40 first pitch at PNC Park against the Pirates.

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David Carle informed the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday that he was withdrawing his name from their head coaching search this offseason. This was a gut-punch to fans, as many viewed the 35-year-old as the “must hire” candidate as soon as Luke Richardson was relieved of his duties behind the bench in December. The Blackhawks truly haven’t had a championship-caliber coach lead the charge since they let go of Joel Quenneville during the 2018-19 season.

This head coaching hire is arguably the most important one that the organization has had to make in quite some time. The current state of the rebuild has taken a positive turn, with all of the young pieces that made their NHL debuts this past season ready to hit their first full offseason with the team in stride this summer.

Plenty of Chicago fans are hoping that Carle does not take a different NHL job, with the logic behind him passing on the Blackhawks opening being pretty confusing to most. Chicago had a lot to offer with this job between the history behind being an Original Six franchise, having a young budding core and being a premier organization in all of hockey. There has to be more behind Carle not taking the position now, and it appears that he won’t be around an NHL bench this upcoming season.

David Carle is “likely” to return to Denver

On insider Elliotte Freidman’s “32 Thoughts: The Podcast”, he made it known that Carle will likely be back at Denver for another season this fall.

“I’m told it’s likely he goes back to the University of Denver,” Freidman said. There is definitely still plenty of interest in Carle across the league, however, it’s not done until it is done.”

While Blackhawks fans will still certainly be on edge waiting to see if Carle takes another NHL job, this report from Freidman should ease their worries a little bit. The Anaheim job is one that could concern certain people about Carle making the jump from the collegiate game to the NHL. Ironically enough, there are rumblings around the league at the moment that Quenneville has spoken with the Ducks about their vacancy.

Carle has had great success so far in his tenure with the Denver Pioneers program. He has a 179-73-17 record in his time at the University and has led the program since 2018 and has a 12-2 NCAA tournament record across his seven seasons. Him wanting to be back at a place that feels like home and he has history with is completely understandable. If he takes a different NHL job this offseason, there will surely be questions to follow for the Chicago Blackhawks management group.

It will always be “what if” with Chicago Blackhawks and David Carle

The idea of having a young head coach as an exciting hire will always be a fantasy now for Blackhawks fans. Carle would have been to the Blackhawks what Ben Johnson was to the Bears when they hired him away from the Detroit Lions to be their new head coach in January.

Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel all played under Carle in 2024 when the team won gold in Sweden, which was another connection that fans made for him to this role. While Chicago struck out in these sweepstakes, there will still be other solid options to step in as the bench boss who have prior NHL experience that will be ready to take this team to new heights.

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The Chicago Cubs struggles at third base continued in their extra inning loss at home against the Phillies on Sunday. In the tenth inning, Vidal Brujan chose to back up on a ground ball off the bat of Trea Turner that came back to bite him as Turner beat the throw to first. This allowed another run in extras to come across for Philadelphia on their way to a 3-1 victory.

The Phillies took the series at Wrigley Field against the Cubs in which Chicago had a promising start to the three-game set on Friday. Colin Rea was fantastic in another scoreless start as the Cubs shutout Philadelphia, 4-0. For the most part in this weekend series, the bullpen had things under control. The relief pitching and hot corner have been the two biggest issues this season, and those both were once again on full display on Sunday.

Despite the offense not providing much run support for Jameson Taillon who tossed seven innings and allowed just one run, it was Julian Merrywheather who walked three batters in the tenth inning to set up that infield single from Turner to make it a two-run game.

While the bullpen remains in flux through the first month of the season, the Cubs front office should stand pat with their decision in keeping their top prospect down at the Triple-A level. Just because things are rough at the hot corner right now, it doesn’t mean they should make a rash decision in calling him up to potentially hurt his development.

The Chicago Cubs should not panic in calling up Matt Shaw

Even though things have been rough since the Cubs sent down Matt Shaw to Triple-A a couple of weeks ago, they should still keep him at that level while he continues to work on things at the plate. Shaw hit .172 with a .535 OPS in 18 games during his first big league stint. He had one homer (which came off the bench) and three runs driven in. He struck out 18 times in 58 at-bats, proving that something just wasn’t right for him in the box when getting his first look at big league pitching.

Shaw hasn’t been much better at the plate in his short time with the I-Cubs. The former first-round pick is hitting .192 in 26 at-bats across his seven games with the club and hit his first homer of the year with them over the weekend. This proves that Shaw should not be rushed back up to the show, regardless of how big the need is at third base. His development is vital to the team’s future, and that should not be sacrificed whatsoever.

Matt Shaw could have a new veteran counterpart in the show

An alternative that the Cubs front office could look at to try and fix the third base position in the short term is on the trade market. They could look to a guy like Ryan McMahon of the Colorado Rockies as an option to pursue if things continue to go down a rough path at the position. McMahon has been consistent for Colorado over the past few seasons and would be a big time improvement at the plate for the middle of the Cubs order.

Although his contract could be an issue and he hasn’t had the best start to the 2025 campaign, McMahon wouldn’t block Shaw in the long run. With McMahon being a left-handed bat, it could allow Shaw to ease into big league life at a steadier pace as a platoon guy when he is ready if this is the path that the franchise were to go down.

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With the NFL draft officially coming to a close on Saturday, the Chicago Bears front office has been graded by various outlets for their showing this year. The franchise entered the draft with a few needs to take care prior to camp this summer and while the front office might not have been able to address those as much as they wanted to, they still came out of the draft with some strong talent.

A theme of this draft for Chicago was trading down as soon as day two got underway. They traded down a handful of times across the final two days of the draft and were able to recoup some assets back that they lost in the trade market when acquiring offensive linemen back in March.

Despite the board not totally shaking out the way that the organization was hoping that it would, they still came away with some really good pieces in this draft class. Plenty of the outlets that have already graded the Bears draft as a strong one, and the NFL’s national writer for The Athletic further backed that idea.

National writer gives the Chicago Bears a high draft grade

Dane Brugler of The Athletic thought very highly of what the Bears pulled of in the draft this past weekend compared to the rest of their division and the entire league. Brugler gave Chicago the seventh-best draft in the entire league, which ranks 13 spots higher on his list than the next best class in the NFC. He had Green Bay at 20, Detroit at 21 and Minnesota slotted in 32nd with the worst draft class in the league.

The Bears selecting Luther Burden in the second round was a shock at first, but fans quickly got excited about what it means for the offense moving forward. With Chicago having four pass catchers in the offense already following the Colston Loveland pick in the first round, many assumed that a wide receiver was out of the question on Friday. The choice of Burden only further confirms that new head coach Ben Johnson is looking to sculpt his offense both right now and down the road in terms of having the right personnel for Caleb Williams.

The Chicago Bears not taking a running back higher in this draft and missing out on the top end edge rushing talent could be a reason why Brugler doesn’t have their class in the top five. They ended up taking Kyle Monangai out of Rutgers as their running back selection in the seventh round and appear to be rolling with their current edge group into camp this summer.

Colston Loveland is the reason Chicago Bears draft could be great

Loveland quickly soared up big boards days before the draft and Chicago made him the first tight end taken on Thursday. He is already receiving comparisons to Sam LaPorta, which is only fitting seeing as Johnson could view Loveland as the perfect fit for that role in his new scheme in the Windy City.

The former Michigan Wolverine finished the 2024 season with 56 catches for 582 yards and five touchdowns. He is another threat that opposing defenses with have to plan for this season and could be around the Bears organization for a long time. Because of how versatile Loveland is, Cole Kmet’s future in Chicago could be up in the air beyond this season.

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A very busy offseason has already begun for the Chicago Blackhawks and they received some bad news on Saturday in regards to their head coaching search. The rumored top coaching candidate for the franchise, David Carle, informed the organization that he intended to withdraw his name from the running of being the next bench boss in Chicago.

With all of the success that he has had with Denver and the USA Juniors squad, Carle was viewed as a home run hire across the league and he would have made plenty of sense in Chicago. He had coached a few of the Blackhawks young pieces to the future in his two years with Team USA in Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel and Oliver Moore. This in itself could have been seen as a major recruiting tool to lure Carle away from the college ranks, but he has stood pat with his decision in not being interested in coming to the Windy City.

The Blackhawks will need to move forward in their search and will likely look to hire a candidate with previous head coaching experience in the NHL. The only thing against Carle as an option to take over in Chicago was the fact that he never coach an NHL game before, and the organization won’t have to worry about that being a factor in the rest of the candidates that they talk to. One potential big name that the Blackhawks front office could interview officially parted ways with his current franchise on Monday morning.

Chicago Blackhawks could have interest in Mike Sullivan

Mike Sullivan and the Pittsburgh Penguins officially parted ways on Monday morning after Sullivan spent 10 seasons leading the charge in the steel city. The 57-year-old finished his time with the franchise coaching in 753 games and posting a 409-255-89 record. Sullivan won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins in the 2016 and 2017 campaigns, but did not take home the Jack Adams award in either one of those seasons.

Sullivan was the head coach for Team USA in the Four Nations Face-Off just a couple of months ago and is set to serve the same role in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games for the United States. With his loaded resume, Sullivan instantly becomes a top candidate for the Chicago Blackhawks. He is a proven winner and he knows what it takes to get to the top of the hockey mountain, which is exactly what the franchise is looking to accomplish multiple times in this rebuild.

Mike Sullivan would get the best out of the Chicago Blackhawks core

The hockey lifer would step into the Blackhawks’ dressing room and instantly gain respect from the veterans and youth movement that made its’ way up to the NHL this past season. It might be tough to convince Sullivan to enter a situation where his team might not win in the next year or so. However, if the Blackhawks front office can keep him hooked with their plan for the future and their solid veteran group right now, there might not be a better job in the league for him to consider.

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The second day of the NFL draft is arguably just as important this year for the Chicago Bears, as the front office holds three selections on Friday. Round two will be vital for the franchise, as they own the 39th and 41st overall picks, which are the seventh and ninth choices of that round.

Where they look with the 72nd overall pick in the third round obviously depends heavily on who they snag in round two, but they need to keep their options open on the likely prospects that will on the board later on Friday night. Edge rusher, running back, safety and even offensive line should be on the table for Ryan Poles when looking at his lone third round selection.

Chicago Bears round three target: Jack Sawyer

For the time being, there are a good amount of edge rushing prospects that could be available for the Bears in the second round. Knowing the draft, things can change quickly. If Chicago isn’t completely solid on their options in the second round at edge, Jack Sawyer could be a guy they target at 72.

Sawyer spent all four of his years at the collegiate level representing the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was only fitting the the Columbus native got to play for his hometown team, and he built a legacy for himself as one of the more respected players in program history.

The 22-year-old posted nine sacks in his final season with the Buckeyes where he was a driving force of their National Championship squad. Sawyer being a proven winner and leader with one of the biggest programs in the country certainly earns him points as a day two prospect.

Sawyer is 20 pounds off being the ideal frame of an edge in Dennis Allen’s system, but the Bears would likely need to get over that if they are waiting until the third round to address the position. His brute strength and impressive bull rush technique on the outside is what makes him such an intriguing prospect and he would rotate in nicely to the Bears’ current edge rushing unit.

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The Chicago Bears front office went out and added a new pass catcher to first-year head coach Ben Johnson’s offense on Thursday night. Colston Loveland from Michigan is the newest Bear and the tight end was the first from his position to be taken in the opening round of the draft. The former Wolverine has already received comparisons to Detroit’s Sam LaPorta after being selected, which bodes well for Bears fans.

The second day of the draft is extremely crucial for Chicago’s front office. For the time being, they hold three picks on day two and two of them are in the second round. There are still a few key positions that need reinforcements, and the general manager Ryan Poles is lucky that quite a few first round talents fell out of the top 32 selections. Chicago could take their two second round choices in a few different directions on both sides of the ball.

Chicago Bears round two target: Kaleb Johnson

Kaleb Johnson has been a favorite of Chicago fans as a potential second round pick to add to the team’s backfield for a while now. He dominated the Big Ten this past season and has spent the past three years as an Iowa Hawkeye. Johnson finished the 2024 campaign with 240 carries for 1,537 yards on the ground to go with his 21 touchdowns.

The Bears were unable to make the moves necessary to trade up on Thursday to acquire Ashton Jeanty, so they will have to result to adding backfield depth in day two. Johnson would pair well with veteran D’Andre Swift, as their different rushing styles would create a fun one-two punch next to Caleb Williams.

Two important traits of Johnson’s game that stand out are his explosiveness once he gets to the second level and his ability to set up crucial blocks. Despite being more of a power back, it’s still good that Johnson can accelerate and kick it into another gear once getting beyond the line of scrimmage. The blocking aspect of his game would fit the Chicago Bears perfectly, as Swift doesn’t bring that to the table consistently.

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The Chicago Bears used the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft to select tight end Colston Loveland from Michigan. Even though there were rumblings of Chicago looking to trade up or down in what is an interesting class, they stand pat at 10 and get their guy.

The front office chose to pass on Tyler Warren and any of the available offensive line talent to snag a pass catcher to add even more depth to first-year head coach Ben Johnson’s group. Loveland spent three seasons as a Wolverine and saw his game grow in each of his years in Ann Arbor. Even though it wasn’t necessarily a position of need for the Bears, fans can get excited about the potential that he brings to the table.

What Chicago Bears fans need to know about Colston Loveland

Loveland is a six-foot-five, 245-pound tight end who received a high overall grade from the NFL.com Next Gen prospect profile done on him. He earned a 6.70 grade, which puts him in the grouping of being a year one starter. His overall Next Gen score came out to an 84, which is good among all prospects, and he scored particularly high in the production department with an 86 being his score there.

The consensus around Loveland is that he is the top pure pass-catching tight end in the draft class, especially with what he showed at Michigan this past season. Loveland finished the campaign with 56 catches for 582 yards and five touchdowns. His most popular pro comp is Sam LaPorta, which is fitting with Johnson coming over from the Lions and having worked with LaPorta for the past two seasons.

When looking at Loveland’s fit in Chicago, seeing what LaPorta has done in Johnson’s system for the past two years is all you need to know. Even though Johnson said the playbook and the offense as a whole would be ripped down to the studs and built up around Caleb Williams, having similar players to what he had in Detroit is certainly a luxury.

Having Colston Loveland means the Chicago Bears won’t add a WR

In theory, the Bears could look to add a receiver later on in the draft for depth purposes, but Loveland instantly becomes a major part of the offense moving forward. Between him, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Cole Kmet, Chicago appears to have their primary weapons in place for Williams as he prepares for his second NFL season.

Loveland can definitely be put out wide frequently if that’s what Johnson sees for him, with Kmet sticking in the more traditional tight end role at the line of scrimmage as a potential extra blocker in certain packages. With Kmet still under contract for two more years following the extension he signed, the Bears must have a plan in place to make it work with two tight ends in their system for the time being.

With how the board shook out, this is a win for the Bears’ front office. They didn’t pay to move up, and they got a guy they were more than fine with having in their offense down the road. Williams has another option to look to on the outside as a new era is underway in the Windy City.

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The Chicago Blackhawks have a good problem on their hands entering camp at the end of the summer in regards to their defensive group. They entered this past year with a handful of veterans on the blue line, but that has changed drastically heading into the offseason. Multiple defensemen in the organization under the age of 23 either made their NHL debuts this year or saw frequent ice time that forced a few veterans out of the lineup on a nightly basis.

The last three roster spots on the blue line will be fought for harder in camp at the end of the summer compared to previous seasons. Based on what the organization has at the NHL level right now and in Rockford, the fringe defensemen come at a much higher number than usual. This doesn’t include any marginal additions that general manager Kyle Davidson might make in free agency, which should be taken into account as well.

One of the Blackhawks’ former top draft choices looked solid in his first NHL action this past season, but it might not be enough to keep him around for the long haul.

Nolan Allan put together a solid shortened season in Chicago

Nolan Allan was Chicago’s first-round pick in the 2021 draft, as he went 32nd overall. He made the opening night roster in Utah back in October and had a lengthy stint with the team before he was sent down to Rockford at the end of February.

Allan logged 43 games at the NHL level this past season and collected his first career goal to go along with seven assists. The 21-year-old had a plus/minus rating of -13 and was noticed as one of the top rookie defensemen across the league at the quarter way mark of the campaign.

In his time with the IceHogs in the regular season, Allan played in 20 games. He posted two goals and four assists with a 0 plus/minus rating. Allan’s game remained consistent to close out the regular season and he’s a staple on Rockford’s blue line in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Nolan Allan’s path to consistent ice time will be difficult

With the Blackhawks having two left-shot defensive spots truly up for grabs in camp as of right now. Alex Vlasic has the top pair locked in and there is a solid chance that the front office brings in a veteran that will actually be worthy of playing time every night.

This leaves Allan competing for the last position (and the seventh defenseman on the roster) with the likes of Ethan Del Mastro, Kevin Korchinski and Wyatt Kaiser. There is no saying that Allan is not capable of winning one of the two potential openings on the roster to begin this upcoming season, but it will not be easy for him.

If the Blackhawks front office does not see a path for Allan down the road to be a consistent part of the future, trading him could certainly be a possibility. He offers plenty of upside and put together a solid stint at the NHL level before being sent down and he kept that momentum going in Rockford. The organization could look to flip him for a forward prospect who is in a similar situation of being involved in a position log jam for a change of scenery.

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The youth movement that made it to the Chicago Blackhawks roster toward the end of the season was exciting to watch, but select veterans put together solid years to keep the team afloat in the beginning. This year marked the first true crossover in the organization’s rebuild.

Last season consisted of mostly fringe NHL level players getting an opportunity with the Blackhawks to mix in with a handful of veterans and young talent. Fast forward to this most recent year where general manager Kyle Davidson made a surplus of free agent acquisitions in the offseason to have better depth overall within the organization. The expectations in Chicago were higher entering this most recent season than in years past, but it was still known that they were not going to be all that competitive.

With things going south for Chicago right around the time of their tough loss in the Winter Classic, the lineup was shuffled more frequently by interim head coach Anders Sorensen and it lead to a little more success. This came at a cost, as multiple veterans lost partial ice time with all of the young faces getting called up toward the end of the year. However, a few veterans enjoyed solid seasons in the Windy City. This includes a 2015 Stanley Cup Champion that was brought back as a big free agent signing last summer.

Teuvo Teravainen had a quietly good first season back in Chicago

Teuvo Teravainen agreed to a three-year deal with the Blackhawks last summer worth $5.4 million per season. He was the 18th overall pick of the franchise in the 2012 draft and was a member of the last Chicago team to hoist a Stanley Cup back in 2015.

After the 2015-16 season, Teravainen spent the next eight seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes where he scored over 20 goals in a year four different times. This includes his single-season high of 25 times that he lit the lamp a season prior to his return to Chicago.

Teravainen was the definition of consistent this past year. He played in all 82 games and was a top-six forward for most of them. The 30-year-old quietly put up a great scoring season, as he finished third on the team in points with 58, and second in assists with 43. He trailed only Connor Bedard in the assist department, who completed the season with 44 helpers. Teravainen and fellow veteran Tyler Bertuzzi got in a good grove with Frank Nazar toward the end of the season, so it will be interesting to see if that line stays intact heading into next year.

The Chicago Blackhawks can lean on Teravainen and others next year

Due to Teravainen’s consistent production and chemistry with other forwards in Chicago’s top six, the organization can continue to rely on him down the road. He is obviously being paid a good amount to fill this role and help the front office hit the salary floor, but he shouldn’t be in the same department as other veterans on the roster who might not be back next season.

Teravainen, Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno are veterans that should have guaranteed spots in the forward group moving into camp at the end of the summer. Everything else could be up for grabs between the younger players that just got their feet wet at the NHL level this season and a select few veterans who have been around for a couple of years.

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This offseason is just as important for the young faces on Chicago Blackhawks roster as it is for the front office through the draft and free agency. The team finished 31st in the league standings this season just like they did a year ago, but this campaign was much different than the previous one. The Blackhawks collected points in their final three games to end the year and played in more competitive contests than they have in the last handful of seasons in the final five weeks.

A handful of entry-level deals were signed toward the end of the season and the team began playing much quicker because of that. Even though the Blackhawks remained the team with the lesser talent on most nights, their speed and physicality kept them in games.

It will be harder to make the roster out of camp for the fringe guys this upcoming season and that’s another positive note for fans to hear. The bottom-six forward positions will be a major battle for the younger players who recently signed their deals and the last three blue line spots won’t be easy to earn either.

One of the top defenseman in this growing core for the Blackhawks will be playing more hockey during the offseason and it’s a fantastic opportunity for him to take his game to new heights.

Alex Vlasic playing for Team USA will benefit the Chicago Blackhawks

Alex Vlasic will be a member of Team USA in the IIHF World Championship beginning on May 9. The Blackhawks’ top left-shot defenseman played in all 82 games this past season and scored four goals while adding 26 assists for 30 total points. All scoring marks for Vlasic were the most he posted in a single season, but his plus/minus rating took a hit.

Vlasic finished the campaign with a -23 plus/minus rating after posting a -4 mark in the 2023-24 season. This could be due to the Wilmette native being elevated to the top pairing for most of the year and the few tough stretches the team went through before hitting their stride in the final few weeks of the season.

The 23-year-old will get the chance to skate with some really solid best blue liners in this two week tournament, which will only help him moving forward. Vlasic signed a five year contract extension last year that will begin this upcoming year. The organization has faith in their homegrown talent and they know that he can be a big part of the next playoff team in the Windy City.

The Chicago Blackhawks could expect Alex Vlasic to become a leader

Vlasic made it known at the end of the year that he feels ready to take on a leadership role with the Blackhawks. There will be an alternate captain spot up for grabs this upcoming season, with Nick Foligno returning as the captain and Connor Murphy as the other alternate.

“I like to think I stepped up a little bit (as a leader),” Vlasic told the media. “Next year, I want to try to be a little more vocal.”

The young core that Chicago has right now is getting more comfortable at the NHL level and the guys around them. Foligno’s contract is up after next season, which could be his last as a professional. If this is the case, the Blackhawks will be looking for a new captain once again, and Vlasic could be a candidate to step in and fill those shoes.

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Following a two-game series sweep of the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs look like one of the best teams in all of baseball. The offense has been scoring at a historically high rate and they have had to do so based on the incredibly tough schedule they were given to begin the campaign.

Through 26 games this year, the Cubs have already finished their regular season schedule against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Padres before they squared off with a divisional foe. Their first NL Central tilt of the season will be next Tuesday, April 29 on the road at PNC Park against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The homestand continues on Friday with a three-game series against the Phillies before the team hits the road next week. It’s been Chicago’s offense that has propelled them to a few huge victories early on this year, and one of their young players could be turning into a start before our eyes.

Pete Crow-Armstrong remains on a tear for the Chicago Cubs

Pete Crow-Armstrong collected another multi-hit game in Chicago’s 7-6 win over the Dodgers on Wednesday. The 23-year-old had three hits in each contest of the set and finished the series 6-9 with four runs driven in against the Los Angeles pitching staff.

The former first-round pick hasn’t just seen Dodger pitching well in the shortened series at Wrigley Field. In his last four games against Los Angeles, Crow-Armstrong has a .526 batting average with four home runs, nine runs driven in and an eye-popping 1.895 OPS. Chicago’s centerfield certainly loves hitting against his hometown team and has suddenly put himself into a conversation where the deal worth $75 million in total that he was offered from the Cubs’ front office might not have been enough.

Along with these fantastic numbers when taking on the Dodgers, Crow-Armstrong is 17-36 at the dish in his last nine games, which is good for a .472 batting average. In that same stretch, he has five home runs, 11 runs driven in and a 1.570 OPS. With his second straight game collecting a long ball on Wednesday, Crow-Armstrong tied Corey Patterson in 2003 for second among most home runs hit in March/April by a Cubs player in their age 23 or younger season since 1906 with five home runs.

The Chicago Cubs are hoping more young success is on the way

Crow-Armstrong should give hope to fans when it comes to look at other young faces in the organization. The speedster had a slow start to his big league career and even began the 2024 campaign in Triple-A. If he can have his bat figured out from a consistency standpoint, Chicago could have their answer in centerfield for a long time.

Matt Shaw had a rough go at it when beginning his big league career at the Cubs’ third baseman this year. The organization’s first-round draft choice in 2023 couldn’t get things going at the plate and was sent down to Iowa after 18 games. While this certainly was not ideal, fans should not worry too much yet about his future. If anything, Crow-Armstrong is a prime example of good things needing to take time in order for consistent success in the big leagues.

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The Chicago Blackhawks future outlook in the cage got much stronger at the trade deadline just under two months ago. General manager Kyle Davidson found a trade partner for veteran blue liner Seth Jones in the Florida Panthers and Chicago fans were thrilled at the return that he fetched for the 30-year-old. Along with a first-round pick, the Blackhawks got Spencer Knight in return for Jones and it appears that Chicago now has their top netminder of the future.

The Blackhawks have struggled to find a top goaltender since Corey Crawford was in his prime and that had to change in order for the current rebuild to get kicked into a new gear. While Knight was fantastic to watch in his short time with the Blackhawks this season, there is no doubt that he is the front runner in the organization to control the net for the long haul. Despite Chicago having other top goaltending prospects in their pipeline, the trade didn’t change the mindset of their current starter in the AHL.

Drew Commesso spoke on his relationship with Spencer Knight

Drew Commesso has put together a strong season with the Rockford IceHogs and even made his NHL debut back in December. For the longest time, he was the prospect in the organization set to be the primary goaltender of the future, but it appears that those plans have changed. Despite the move for Knight, Commesso remains focused on the process to being his best every night. When he appeared on the CHGO Blackhawks podcast, he had nothing but great things to say about Knight and his future with the franchise.

“Honestly, I don’t adjust my mentality at all,” Commesso said. “It was something that was completely out of my control and I think I found out about it 15 minutes before my first game back from injury in the locker room. For me, I’ve just had a great mindset of just being present and controlling what I can.”

Commesso’s strong mentality on the situation could have a lot to do with the fact that him and Knight have a strong relationship based on their time together at the U.S. developmental program and having similar roots as east coast natives.

“Spence and I have a phenomenal relationship,” Commesso said. “He’s been such a great guy to me ever since I met him at the U.S. program when we were there together and I only have unbelievable things to say about him. I think we are really similar in a lot of ways and we view the game very similarly.”

With how today’s NHL operates, it’s more important now than ever to have two strong netminders on an active roster. Gone are the days of one goalie taking the net for a majority of the season (with a few exceptions across the league, of course). Chicago needs as much depth as possible and having both Knight and Commesso in their system should be seen as a good thing.

The Chicago Blackhawks could have a solid goaltending tandem

Knight made 15 starts after the Blackhawks acquired him in March and posted a 5-8-2 record with a 3.18 GAA and a .896 save percentage. The numbers don’t attest to how solid the 23-year-old was in the cage due to the inconsistent play in front of him down the stretch.

Commesso made one start and came off the bench once in his brief stint with the Blackhawks. In 39 regular season games with Rockford, he had a 18-15-6 record with a 2.54 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Commesso improved in all statistical categories from his first season in the AHL and he will lead the IceHogs into the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs on Wednesday night against the Chicago Wolves.

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The hot corner struggles for the Chicago Cubs continued in Tuesday’s thrilling victory at Wrigley Field against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gage Workman got the start and made both of Chicago’s errors in what turned out to be the best game of the young season so far.

Matt Shaw was the Opening Day starter for Chicago at the third base spot, but the top prospect’s first stint in the big leagues turned sour rather quickly. Shaw slashed .172/.294/.241 with a .535 OPS in his 18 games and 58 at-bats to begin his professional career and was sent down to Iowa last week to work out the kinks in his offensive game.

With Shaw being down in Triple-A for the time being, the Cubs officially brought back an old friend on Wednesday who has an established big league-level glove.

The Chicago Cubs have DFA’d Gage Workman

Per reports, the Cubs officially designated Workman for assignment on Wednesday and have signed Nicky Lopez to the active roster prior to the first pitch of the series finale against the Dodgers. Workman was a Rule 5 draft pick of the Cubs this past offseason and made the team after hitting well in Spring Training. In nine games and 14 at-bats at the big league level this year, he hit .214 and drove in three runs. Workman will return to the Tigers organization with this news breaking.

Lopez was with the Cubs in Spring Training this year and was granted his release after he did not make the travel roster to Japan. The Naperville native spent last year with the White Sox and collected six at-bats to begin 2025 with the Angels before Zach Neto returned from injury. Lopez is known for being a strong defender and can hopefully aid the issues that the team has had at third base to begin the season.

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The Chicago Cubs failing to sign Alex Bregman this offseason on the open market has turned out to be a much bigger issue than most originally thought. The franchise’s top draft choice in 2023, Matt Shaw, got the Opening Day nod at the hot corner and began the season in that position until he was sent down to Triple-A last week.

Shaw slashed .172/.294/.241 with a .535 OPS in his 18 games and 58 at-bats in what was a rough start to his big league. The former Maryland Terrapin will have time to make the necessary changes to his swing in Iowa and fans should not be concerned at all about his future as an everyday guy.

With Shaw off the roster, the coaching staff has been forced to piece together the third base position with three veterans. Between Gage Workman, Vidal Brujan and Jon Berti, things have not been pretty over the last week. Workman made two errors in Tuesday night’s game and Brujan has not looked the part defensively either. Berti is a 35-year-old veteran who hasn’t been a complete liability, but certainly shouldn’t be starting more than two games a week.

If the front office wants to give Shaw the time he needs to figure things out, it might not be a horrible idea to already begin looking into the trade market at third base. They could stay in the National League if they want to go after a bat that would provide more pop to their order.

Why the Chicago Cubs need to trade for Ryan McMahon

Ryan McMahon has been a consistent presence in the Colorado Rockies lineup since 2019 and has quietly been one of their better players over the last handful of years. The third baseman has hit 20 or more home runs in each of his last four seasons and he clubbed out 24 long balls in 2019. The lone season that stopped this skid for McMahon was in 2020 due to the 60-game campaign stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with his consistent power, McMahon has kept a clean bill of health in his time at the big league level. He has logged over 150 games in each of the last four campaigns posted a career high 3.9 WAR in 2021. A major plus that comes with McMahon is that he is not a total liability on the defensive side of things. He only made 12 errors in 130 games back in 2023, which is more than fine compared to what the Cubs have rolled out defensively to begin this season.

McMahon’s veteran presence and consistency at the plate would be a breath of fresh air for Chicago fans. As a left-handed bat, he wouldn’t block Shaw by any means and he would give the youngster a chance to fine tune his game longer in Iowa without feeling the pressure of needing to be back in the big leagues at a certain time.

Why Ryan McMahon wouldn’t be the best fit for the Chicago Cubs

Unfortunately for the Cubs, McMahon does have a few red flags as a trade target. He is under contract for two more seasons after 2025 and his $16 million per year salary would come along with his services in a trade. He isn’t having the strongest start to the current year either, as he is hitting under .200 in 22 games while having a .627 OPS.

McMahon’s WAR has gone down each season dating back to the 3.9 mark he posted in 2021 and it appears that his peak days could be behind him. Also, the Cubs already have a couple of power-hitting left-handed bats in their order with Kyle Tucker and Michael Busch having great starts to 2025. McMahon’s presence in the middle of the lineup could make things complicated for manager Craig Counsell in having to deal with another lefty to work into the fray.

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Tuesday night’s thrilling 11-10 victory for the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field against the Dodgers featured just about everything one could imagine a ball game having. There were eight runs posted in the first frame from both offenses, which included a five spot from the Cubs. Each club had their own five-run inning the opening game of a shortened two-game series at the Friendly Confines in what will be the final battles between the Cubs and Dodgers in the regular season.

Chicago’s bullpen had yet another slip up in a game early on in the season, as they couldn’t keep the two-run lead they held in the seventh inning. The back-and-forth effort in the late innings resulted in clutch home runs from Kyle Tucker and Miguel Amaya to force extras. Ian Happ played hero as the lead off man in the tenth inning with his walk off single to right field that scored Vidal Brujan to end the ballgame.

While there are still things that need to be cleaned up with this roster, the Cubs are making noise in April with one of the toughest schedules in the league. It’s giving fans hope for October baseball to Wrigley Field for the first time since the COVID-shortened season in 2020.

A young face on the team had another monster game on Tuesday in what has been an important start for him this season. The speedster joined his own class in franchise history from his efforts in the victory.

Pete Crow-Armstrong is in a class of his own in Chicago Cubs history

Per Just Baseball on X, Pete Crow-Armstrong is the first Cubs hitter since integration to record 25+ hits, 8+ stolen bases, and a .500+ SLG in the first 25 games of the season. Still just 23-years-old, Crow-Armstrong is beginning to put it together at the plate in his first full season at the big league level.

The former first-round draft pick’s consistency at the plate was the biggest question mark surrounding him entering 2025. Crow-Armstrong’s defense has been the strongest part of his game along with his speed to begin his career. He is a problem for opposing teams on the base paths and the Cubs know that if he can find his way on-base at a regular rate he can be a real difference maker down the road.

Most of the Chicago Cubs lineup is clicking at the right time

For the time being, all of the Cubs’ everyday starters are batting above .270 at the worst with the exception of one veteran who has struggled mightily out of the gate in 2025. Despite having his clutch moments, it has taken Dansby Swanson a bit of time to find his groove this season, as he is slashing .180/.231/.360 for a .591 OPS in his 100 at-bats. While his defense has been spectacular per usual, Chicago will need him to get his bat rolling as a key presence in the middle of the order this year.

To the same point, not every bat is going to continue to be hot at the same time. Guys will go through their respective rough patches this year, as that just happens in baseball. It’s all about limiting the slumps and giving a hopefully revamped bullpen the best chance to win games as possible.

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