The Montreal Canadiens have not done much celebrating in their last two injury-ridden seasons, as such, fans have few options besides investing their emotions in the ability of players who have, at best, played a small amount of minutes in the NHL. However, fans can once again believe in the Canadiens, especially now that they have two of the NHL’s top 50 prospects. Scott Wheeler from the Athletic created this list. Wheeler’s list is restricted to players under 23 who he says are not full-timers in the NHL. Montreal Canadiens’ David Reinbacher who is the top pick in their NHL Draft this year, ranks 20th position on the prospects list. Scott writes that Reinbacher has  “pro size, desired handedness and a really strong foundation of tools that all but guarantee he’ll become a good NHLer.” Readers may note that the seven forwards ignored by the Canadiens to draft the defenceman had higher rankings than the team’s top pick. In addition to Matvei Michkov, Zach Benson, Gabe Perreault, Dalibor Dvorsky, Oliver Moore, Matthew Wood, and Ryan Leonard are included. Just like Reinbacher, Lane Houston, a second-rounder from 2022  signed by Montreal, places No.27 on Wheeler’s ginormous list. “There aren’t many players who play like Hutson in hockey,” Wheeler writes. “I expect him to become a dominant offensive defenceman and PP1 QB who can hold his own defensively in the NHL once he gets a little stronger.” Four forwards in Montreal’s prospect pool: Owen Beck, Sean Farrell, Filip Mesar and Joshua Roy, earned honourable mentions.  Will Reinbacher and Houston be what the Montreal Canadiens need to win their 25th Stanley Cup? This question will be answered next season.

Thursday night was bad in all shapes and forms for the Arizona Diamondbacks after they were shut out for the first time this season, losing 9-0 to the New York Mets. However, what drew the most concern in the midst of the loss was Corbin Carroll and his shoulder discomfort.  The Diamondbacks got swept in a three-game series, for the first time this year. This was their fourth consecutive loss, their longest losing streak of the year. Most concerning of everything that happened was the team watching again, star tookie Corbin Carroll exit a game because of discomfort in his right shoulder. Carroll missed a swing at a change-up from Carlos Carrasco in the seventh and then grabbed his right shoulder. He held his right arm close to his body and quickly walked off the pitch with an athletic trainer. This is the second time in the last week that Carroll’s shoulder acted up. Last Thursday he swung at a pitch and felt discomfort in the shoulder. He remained in the match for another half-inning before he left. That same right shoulder was what made Carroll miss almost the whole 2021 season following surgery to repair the posterior capsular avulsion and labrum tear. Arizona ran strength tests on Carroll after the game and confirmed that his shoulder was strong and stable. He did not start the following two games before pinch-hitting on Sunday. Chosen to be a starter for the National League in next week’s All-Star Game, Carroll began all three matches of the current series with the New York Mets. Again, Diamondbacks’ manager Torey Lovullo said the first tests on Carroll’s shoulder showed it stable and that he had good strength in it. But, now, he will be sent for an MRI to find out what is causing the discomfort. “Things checked out a little bit more positively than I was expecting based on what I saw,” Lovullo said. “We all saw the same thing. And you know, it didn’t look good. So for the last three or four innings [of the game] all I was thinking about was ‘How’s Corbin? How’s he emotionally? How’s he physically?’ There’s going to be some imaging tomorrow morning where we’re going to find out what’s going on in there but it’s more positive than I was thinking after I saw what I saw.” Carroll is one player Arizona can least afford to lose, at this point in the year he is the front-runner to win NL Rookie of the Year. Despite him being in the lineup, the Diamondbacks still fell out of the game against New York on Thursday.  Wednesday’s loss was a disheartening 2-1 loss where they were one strike away from winning 1-0 before the Mets got two in the ninth and Lovullo proposed that they may have been a hangover from that game that led to this match getting out of control that early. Ryne Nelson the starter, who was fresh off two fantastic starts, could not ward the hitters off, while the Diamondbacks allowed a popup fall which added to a five-run New York third inning. They had a runner picked off first with two outs and slugger Christian Walker up in the first inning. “It was a bad game, it was a bad effort in a lot of different ways,” Lovullo said. “They came out hot, swung the bats and just beat us. You know that happens. For these three days, we didn’t play D-backs baseball. Everything was just adding up in a very negative way. It was a total clunker.  We’ve got to find a way to get it turned around.” Related News: Why the Los Angeles Angels will not trade Ohtani Eovaldi updates All-Star résumé by shutting down Houston AstrosJustin Verlander ‘phenomenal’ as Mets hit trio of HRs

There is a question mark surrounding Shohei Ohtani’s future now that Mike Trout is set to miss the next month, maybe longer. This is happening after the Los Angeles Angels were swept by the San Diego Padres, the most unsuccessful game of a horror stretch where they lost 11 of 15. Few people in MLB view the Angels’ precipitous fall as a sign that they will trade Ohtani before the August 1 Trade Deadline. In a different world, star pitchers on expiring contracts are sold for a high price. But the Angels are not that kind of team. They play in a world where Ohtani is one of the most special athletes to ever exist. Guaranteed, buying a collection of young talent is appealing. Los Angeles has two prospects in the industry’s Top 100, according to MLB Pipeline; the highest-ranked of the two players is catcher Logan O’ Hoppe who is recovering from left shoulder surgery. To be sure, the team’s baseball operations staff will communicate with other clubs to workshop trade situations if the Los Angeles’ slide persists. That duty falls to the front office. However, offering a favourable deal to ownership, and getting approval for it, is a completely different matter. If the Angels wanted to maximize Shohei’s trade value, they would have transferred him last year, when they were lesser competitors in the standings and the extra-contractual control would have had more value. Even if they miss the postseason, there is still some value in retaining Ohtani on the roster until he reaches free agency. They get viewership numbers every time he plays. Marketing revenues and sponsorships are attached to his presence. There is a highly realistic chance of him winning his second American League MVP Award. Ohtani heads the Majors with 31 home runs, which places him on pace for 56 over the full season. If fans think he is a global sensation now, they should wait until he starts slugging in September with a chance to reach 60 homers. Angels fans or an executive watching Shohei accomplish these things in another team’s uniform will leave them feeling empty. This is why a situation where they trade him is impossible. Ohtani’s game cap might no longer have its halo by Opening Day 2024. This is relevant too, as the Angel’s long relationship with him will be moulded by the manner in which they part. If he is made a solid offer in free agency, but he chooses to sign with a consistent playoff team. It will be hard for an objective witness to blame either party for their actions. In contrast, a midseason transfer for “maximizing asset value’’ would reduce any chance of Ohtani returning in free agency and may affect the way he will be connected to the organization after his career. Los Angeles may hush the talks of a trade by winning more matches, but this won’t be easy. They end the first half with the LA Dodgers and open the second half against the Houston Astros who are World Series champions. Trout will be absent from the lineup while he recovers from hamate surgery, and Ohtani’s next pitching task is uncertain after his most recent start left him with a blister on his right middle finger. The Angels who had the fourth-best record in the American League on June 18 are now trailing behind the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox for the third and final Wild Card spot. Shohei joining Los Angeles Angels in December 2017 is one of the best trades in sports history, due to the international transfer rules that oversaw the move. All he has done since his signing is to elevate baseball domestically and internationally, with a series of achievements that no one has attained previously. The Angels got value from this relationship a long time ago. Related News: Eovaldi updates All-Star résumé by shutting down Houston Astros.Justin Verlander ‘phenomenal’ as Mets hit trio of HRs.

Jonathan Quick was a backup goaltender acting as a mentor at the end of last season with the Vegas Golden Knights. He got his third Stanley Cup championship. He is going to try for another championship cup this season, this time for all 82 matches and hopefully, another long stay in the Stanley Cup Playoffs while living his dream and serving as a goalie who is considered to be one of the best in the world. Quick entered a one-year contract worth $825,000 with the New York Rangers on July 1 to be Igor Shesterkin’s backup, who received the 2022 Vezina Trophy selected as the NHL’s best goaltender and was eighth in voting last season. Hailing from Milford, Connecticut, 70 miles outside New York City, Quick grew up having a poster of Mike Richter on his bedroom wall and was eight years old when he watched Richter assist his favourite team to win the Stanley Cup in 1994. “Growing up watching the Rangers as a kid, this is just an opportunity you can’t turn down,” Quick said Monday. “Just want to make the most of it.” Jonathan Quick said the chance he has with New York, and the one he got with Vegas last season, supporting Adin Hill on the Stanley Cup run, was not in his books.  “Up until about five months ago, I thought I was going to be retiring a King,” Quick said. “Those were the discussions that were had.” Then the Los Angeles Kings where he won the Cup in 2012 and 2014, and the only team he had played for in an NHL career that kickstarted his debut on December 6, 2007, traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 1. One day later, Columbus sent him to the Golden Knights. Quick appeared in 10 games for the Knights in the regular season and suited up for one of the first eight playoff matches before Laurent Brossoit got injured in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Edmonton Oilers. He was Hill’s substitute for the rest of the season. But he was more of a backup. He was Hill’s partner, sounding board and mentor. “Unbelievable,” Hill said when asked about Quick after Vegas won the Stanley Cup at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on June 13. “I talked to him all the time. Quick has been an awesome guy. He’s one of the best guys I’ve met in the hockey world.” Being the No.1 goalie since 2008-09 in LA, Quick quickly got used to his new role as the backup/mentor to the Golden Knights. He liked it but does not know how much mentoring he will have to do with Shesterkin in New York. “Igor, he’s Igor, and he doesn’t need too much mentorship with as good as he is and what he’s already been able to accomplish in his young career,” Quick said. “If there’s times when I can help him, I’m definitely willing to and looking forward to that, and also whenever I’m in the net trying to the team win hockey games.” Winning matches is crucial to why the New York Rangers signed Jonathan Quick. They cannot depend only on Shesterkin to lead them to the playoffs.  Jaroslav Halak began 24 games last season, winning 10 with a 2.72 goals-against average, a .903 save percentage and one shutout. New York will need the same effort from Quick, should Igor play again between 55-60 games and ideally win close to 40. He started 58 and won 37 last season. “I think it’ll be seamless,” Rangers general manager Chris Drury said. “He’s excited to be a Ranger. A Connecticut kid that wanted to come here, play here and be a Ranger. He obviously knows all about ‘Shesty’ and his accomplishments, and I think he’s ready to take on the role of mentor, similar to what he did in Vegas. We’re excited to have him.” Related News: Wheeler signs $800,000 contract with Rangers