Latest news with #playoffs
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Adam Silver plans to use Artificial Intelligence after the NBA's injury surge: "Ingest all video of every game a player's played in to see if we can detect some pattern"
Adam Silver plans to use Artificial Intelligence after the NBA's injury surge: "Ingest all video of every game a player's played in to see if we can detect some pattern" originally appeared on Basketball Network. Damian Lillard. Jayson Tatum. And most recently, Tyrese Haliburton. Three All-Stars, three different teams, three different playoff moments, all with the same devastating result: a torn Achilles. Advertisement The 2025 NBA Playoffs were supposed to be a celebration of star power, and for the newly crowned champion Oklahoma City Thunder, they absolutely were. But the sour taste left behind by a wave of devastating Achilles injuries made it hard for the rest of the league to fully enjoy the show. Cuts and bruises aren't new to the league, but the sudden surge of this specific problem this season has everyone — from fans and analysts to coaches and executives — asking the same question: What's going on? The repeating injury trend This specific injury, hitting multiple franchise players in the same postseason, has sparked something deeper. And with his top stars dropping one by one, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is refusing to sit with his hands crossed, not trying to dig deeper. He's bringing every resource to the table, including Artificial Intelligence, to try and get ahead of a problem that's becoming far too familiar. Advertisement "We are looking at it. And, in fact, We've already convened a panel of experts before Tyrese's (Haliburton) Achilles rupture. We had seven this year, and we had zero last year, under the exact same circumstances," Silver said, ready to tackle the issue head-on. "The purpose of convening those experts is to try to figure out what's going on." Around the league, the speculation came quickly. Some pointed to sneaker trends, especially the decline of high-top shoes in favor of low-cuts. Others circled back to the NBA's long, physically demanding season, a 100-plus game marathon for the league's best players, many of whom go all-out every night. However, while those theories might offer partial explanations, Silver isn't convinced that volume is the root cause of the problem. "It is interesting, when we look back at the last 10 years, the majority of Achilles injuries happened before the All-Star break, so it's not clear it's the number of games," NBA Commish said. Advertisement Related: Dwyane Wade believes Westbrook is still the OKC GOAT despite Shai's historic season: "We are talking about a player who went and did something, and people said it will never be done again" Can AI help the NBA with this problem? This isn't just some random injury wave the league can brush off, not when the faces of the NBA are the ones going down one by one. Silver knows that if the NBA wants to keep its top talent on the floor, it has to get smarter and has to do it fast. So now, he's turning to tech. Silver believes AI may be the key to uncovering the invisible wear and tear that builds up before an Achilles gives out. The league is already working with data teams to feed full game footage into machine learning systems, hoping to detect some kind of patterns that human eyes may have missed for years. Advertisement "I'm hopeful, by looking at more data, by looking at patterns… This is one area where AI is going to transform so many eras. The ability with AI to ingest all video of every game a player's played in to see if we can detect some pattern that we didn't realize leads to Achilles injuries… We are taking it very seriously," Silver concluded. The NBA's injury problem doesn't have a simple fix. But for the commissioner, that's not an excuse to keep doing things the same way. Silver's willingness to tap into technology shows a league that isn't afraid to evolve — especially when its best players' futures are on the line. With a little help from the "almighty" Computers, maybe the Association can put an end to this ugly trend. Related: ESPN analyst says Ace Bailey was hoping to avoid Utah at all costs: "This was not one of his preferred destinations" This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 26, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Exclusive: What's in the new NHL CBA? Digging into the memorandum of understanding
The NHL will introduce a playoff salary cap as part of the collective bargaining agreement extension it signed with the NHL Players' Association on Friday, league sources told The Athletic. The four-year extension, which must still be ratified in separate votes by the owners and players and won't go into effect until the 2026-27 season, calls for the creation of two rules to curb the use of the long-term injury exception to the salary cap in instances where an injured player returns for the playoffs. Advertisement The first will place limitations on the extra cap space a team will receive when a player goes on LTIR during the regular season. Teams will only be allowed to exceed the cap by an amount equal to the prior season's average salary — unless the NHL and NHLPA approve the full amount, which will only happen when there is no doubt the player will miss the entire remainder of the season, including the playoffs. The second will see a cap introduced during the playoffs that will apply only to the 20 players suiting up for each game. Teams will be able to shuffle their rosters between games. In the event the playoff cap has unintended consequences, the NHL and NHLPA have the right to reopen the agreement on this issue. Here are some of the other key points included in the CBA extension, based on a summary of the memorandum of understanding obtained by The Athletic. The NHL regular season will be increased from 82 to 84 games starting with the 2026-27 season. To accommodate this increase, training camp will be shortened from 21 days to 13 — 18 for rookies — with one day off during the first week. Each team will be limited to four exhibition games, and players with 100 or more career NHL games (including games dressed for goaltenders) will be capped at two exhibition games. The current idea is to start the regular season in late September and have the Stanley Cup awarded by June 21, according to league sources. The two extra games added in the regular season will be divisional games. The NHL's minimum salary will jump each season of the new agreement from its current level of $775,000. The new minimums will be as follows: Salary retention will still be allowed in trades, but with an interesting tweak: A second retention on the same contract can only happen 75 regular-season days after the first one, which nixes the use of a third-party broker in real time as has been seen in numerous instances at recent trade deadlines. Advertisement The players' playoff fund is set to take a significant jump from its current level of $24 million during the next CBA, with the league paying the entirety of the amounts off-share (i.e. it won't come out of shared hockey-releated revenue). The fund will grow as follows: Teams will no longer be allowed to implement a dress code for players. Instead, there will be a leaguewide dress code requiring only that players dress in a manner consistent with 'contemporary fashion norms.' Neck protection will become mandatory for all players entering the league starting with the 2026-27 season, with a minimum protection level of A5. Players with at least one NHL game will be grandfathered and will not be subject to the rule. Teams will be allowed to employ a permanent emergency backup goaltender who will travel with the club. The maximum term of contracts will be reduced by one year, with a contract capped at seven years if a player re-signs with his existing club before reaching free agency and six years if he signs with a new club. The existing agreement allowing players to participate in the Olympics will be extended to cover the 2030 Games in the French Alps. When a player seeks a second medical opinion and the second opinion doctor and team doctor disagree on diagnosis and/or treatment, the two doctors will now select a third doctor to help resolve the dispute. The team must give due consideration to the opinion of the third expert prior to determining the final course of treatment and must also pay the reasonable costs of the third doctor. The NHL and NHLPA will establish a retired players emergency healthcare and wellness fund. Advertisement The NHL will contribute $4 million annually to the fund. Players will no longer be prohibited from endorsing wine and spirits. Fitness testing will no longer be permitted during training camp or the regular season. A small change to NHL bye weeks: Waiver-exempt players who have played in at least 15 of their team's past 20 games before the beginning of a bye week will be entitled to the time off at NHL salary and benefit levels so long as they are not loaned to the minors prior to the team's fourth-to-last game before its break. The variability rules for front-loaded contracts will change as follows: Year-over-year increases will be limited to 20 percent of the first year, down from 25 percent. And the lowest year of the contract must be at least 71 percent of the highest year, up from 60 percent previously. For example, if the highest year's compensation is $10 million, the lowest year's compensation cannot be less than $7.1 million. And the year-to-year differences cannot exceed $2 million. The NHL is eliminating 'paper loans,' which occurred when players were assigned to the AHL on paper only and never had to report to the minor-league club. That practice reduced the players' compensation because they were paid at the AHL rate for the days that they were on loan. The CBA extension requires that a loaned player play in one minor league game before being recalled. There will be standardized retention periods for drafted players based on their age that no longer account for whether they are selected from the CHL, Europe or NCAA. For those selected at age 18, teams will retain their rights until the fourth June 1 after they were drafted. For players drafted at age 19 or above, teams will retain their rights until the third June 1 after they were drafted. Advertisement The only exception to these rules is for players in the NCAA at the time of expiration. Their rights will be extended until 30 days after notifying NHL they are no longer playing college hockey. In the current CBA, European players aged 25 to 27 are required to sign entry-level contracts. That will no longer be the case under the new rules. European players that age will now be treated the same as all other players. As previously reported, deferred payments in contracts will no longer be allowed. For example, the $2 million deferred bonus payment in John Tavares' new contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs would no longer be allowed starting in 2026-27. But Tavares is fine, as his deal was signed under the existing rules. Same for other players who have already signed deferred payment contracts, such as the Anaheim Ducks' Frank Vatrano, the Maple Leafs' Jake McCabe, and the Carolina Hurricanes' Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin. Among the wins for the players is the fact that owners will now completely cover payments for workers' compensation and employer payroll taxes. Under the proposed CBA, the $70 million annual cost will be completely removed from the players' share of revenues and become the responsibility of the owners. (Top photo of NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Associated Press
a day ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Sabres newcomers Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring eager to end Sabres' 14-season playoff drought
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Forward Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring are fully aware of the Buffalo Sabres' past struggles, and eager to play roles in transforming the team into a winner. 'As a duo, we have to kind of wear it as a badge of honor, that they wanted to bring us in to help this group win,' Doan said during a Zoom call on Thursday, less than 24 hours after he and Kesselring were acquired by Buffalo in a trade with the Utah Mammoth. 'I think this group is going in the right direction, and they have the right guys to go in that direction,' the 23-year-old added. 'It might be one or two pieces or a couple of more to fix that. And that's what they're trying to do.' If anything, their desire to be part of a winner is fueled further by having yet to make the playoffs after opening their careers in Arizona and then falling short in Utah's first season last year. 'It's never fun bouncing around, leaving friends, leaving teammates,' said the 25-year-old Kesselring, who has gone from being traded in March 2023 by Edmonton to Arizona and then making the move to Utah as a new NHL franchise last summer. 'It makes it even more of a reason I want to succeed here,' he added. 'You want to be one of those guys that's part of the solution.' The two newcomers — and roommates last season — represent the latest roster makeover for a Sabres team in the midst of an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought. They were acquired in a trade that sent promising forward and two-time 25-goal-scorer JJ Peterka to Utah. 'We needed some scoring and we felt that could be answered with JJ who's not only a goal-scorer but somebody in the same age range as most of the players on our team,' Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong said of the 23-year-old Peterka, who was signed to a five-year $38.5 million contract. What Doan and Kesselring lack in offense in having scored 12 career goals each over a combined 218 NHL career games, they make up in bringing a physical style of play to a Sabres team that's been knocked for being soft. In February, Buffalo players faced criticism for failing to step up when Tage Thompson lay hurt on the ice after being bowled over by New Jersey's Stefan Noesen in what was deemed an illegal hit. The Sabres held a team meeting afterward to specifically address their lack of response. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Doan has developed a reputation for being a solid forechecking player, who doesn't shy away from hitting. 'It's the most fun way to play hockey being a little bit of a pest on the ice,' said Doan, the son of longtime Arizona Coyotes star Shane Doan. Kesselring is listed at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, and noted for his rugged style and hard shot. 'I'm not the biggest fan of fighting, but I like to think I'm a good teammate. And when it has to happen, it has to happen,' he said. Doan will likely fill a third-line role. Kesselring has the opportunity to use his defensive ability to complement the more offensively oriented Owen Power. Both are familiar with Thompson after playing with him at the world championships in May in helping the U.S. win its first tournament title since 1993. 'That just fueled the fire to play in big games like that,' Kesselring said of competing at the worlds in Sweden. 'It really helped me mature as a player and it helped me realize what it takes to win at this high level.' Kesselring also played with Sabres forward Jason Zucker in Arizona, and was a college teammate of Buffalo goalie Devon Levi at Northeastern. 'I know a lot of guys in that room and I think there's a lot of talent here,' Kesselring said. 'And there's no reason we can't turn it around pretty quick.' ___ AP NHL:
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Wild trade veteran center Freddy Gaudreau to the Kraken for a fourth-round draft pick
FILE - Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) and Minnesota Wild center Frederick Gaudreau (89) battle for the puck during the first period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series on April 29, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker, File) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild traded veteran center Freddy Gaudreau to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday for a fourth-round pick in this weekend's draft. Gaudreau has three years remaining on his contract with an annual average value of $2.1 million. He had 18 goals and 19 assists while playing in all 82 regular-season games in 2024-25 before going without a point in six playoff games for Minnesota. Advertisement The pick from the Kraken is 102nd overall and gives the Wild five selections this weekend. They have only one, No. 52 overall in the second round, in the top 100. The 32-year-old Gaudreau has 152 points in 410 career games over eight NHL seasons, including three with Nashville and one with Pittsburgh. 'Frederick's a versatile skater who plays a strong two-way game,' Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said. 'He gives us depth down the middle and has the ability to produce offensively. He's a player that can be trusted on the defensive side of the puck, especially on the penalty kill. We're excited to welcome him to the team.' ___ AP NHL:
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Canadiens expectations, Logan Mailloux as a trade chip, Stanley Cup checklist: Mailbag
We had Part 1 of the Montreal Canadiens mailbag earlier this week, and here is Part 2, featuring some of the questions we didn't get to. Of course, there were 226 comments on the question submission form, so we are not getting to the vast majority of them. But this is a democratic process, and we take the questions that got the most likes on the form. This is the best of the rest. Fans' expectations for the team are much higher for this season than for last season. The goal last season was to be 'in the mix' last year and make the playoffs this year. Now since they made the playoffs, certain fans seem to be expecting the team to compete to win rounds this year. Have HuGo changed their goals for the Habs, or are they still just looking at making the playoffs this year as the goal? Do you expect them to start to put messaging out there to reduce expectations for fans for this season? I think missing the playoffs would be a normal part of the rebuild but that fans might react as if it's a disaster. – Nick L. Missing the playoffs would not necessarily be a normal part of the rebuild, Nick. Most rebuilding teams, once they reach the playoffs, tend to grow on that achievement. But in the Canadiens' case, it could easily be argued they reached the playoffs a bit sooner than expected by management, so within that context, missing them next season would not – or at least should not – be seen as a setback. Advertisement The Canadiens will be consistently competitive when – and only when – their young core has reached its peak. And right now, that young core is nowhere near its peak. Nick Suzuki is definitely approaching it, and it will be interesting to see if he can build on his 89-point season, if that is the new normal, or if it turns out to be an outlier. I could see Suzuki building on it, but I think it's most likely to be the new normal for him. We have not yet seen Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovský play to their ceiling, and there is no way we have seen the best out of Lane Hutson, Ivan Demidov and David Reinbacher, the latter two still awaiting their NHL rookie seasons. Jacob Fowler is years away from being a factor in Montreal. Same for Michael Hage. There are so many complementary pieces in the Canadiens prospect pool that will emerge to fill important roles on the big club, from Logan Mailloux to Oliver Kapanen to Owen Beck and others. In other words, the Canadiens remain relatively far from their peak potential, the time when the young core is mature enough to truly drive the bus. In the interim, the Canadiens undoubtedly want to remain competitive. But the real window they are managing is the one where Demidov is, say, 23 and Suzuki is 29, with all those other core elements falling in between that age range. That is still three or four years away. This is not to say the Canadiens will miss the playoffs next season. But it is to say that Canadiens management's eyes remain transfixed on that contention window that remains an abstract point on the horizon right now. They have set a good path to get there, but they are not yet close to arriving. How high (or low) is the front office on Logan Mailloux? In the past few weeks, a lot of people include him in potential trades and therefore seem to be ready to let him go. While I understand that he could be the asset that ultimately gets us a significant player like a 2C/RHD, he still is a great RHD prospect who's only 22 and is going through normal growing pains (decision making at the pro level) if you can even call it that. I get that HuGo didn't draft him, so maybe they would be less hesitant to trade him, but I still wonder about how much they value him (or what return value would be enough for them to trade him). I know that they can't keep everyone forever and that his value is really high right now with the actual market, but I also think we shouldn't trade this kind of asset just because he hasn't made the team yet. Big, mobile RHD with a cannon like his don't really grow on trees. – Olivier G. What are your thoughts on one of David Reinbacher or Logan Mailloux breaking camp with the Habs? I noticed you had a RHD as your ideal UFA target, so was wondering if that meant you thought neither were quite ready for the show? – Chris N. No, they don't grow on trees. But that's exactly why Mailloux would have value on the trade market. The trade late Wednesday night — the Buffalo Sabres sent JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for right-shot defenceman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan — is one example of how much value a good right-shot defenceman can have. Kesselring was a total find for Utah, acquired from the Edmonton Oilers in a deadline deal for Nick Bjugstad and Cam Dineen, and they've now converted him into a legitimate top-six forward with upside. Advertisement The difference between Kesselring and Mailloux, however, is NHL experience. Kesselring wasn't given time to accrue it in Edmonton, but once he did with Arizona/Utah, he became an extremely valuable trade chip. Teams love big, mobile right-shot defencemen with a cannon, but they want to know they can actually play in the NHL before giving up difference-making assets for them. So, the long play here would be for the Canadiens to allow Mailloux to accrue some of that NHL experience before monetizing that heightened trade value. Until that happens, they might wind up being the Oilers in this Kesselring scenario, as opposed to the Mammoth, who now have a legitimate top-six forward signed through his prime thanks to demonstrating how valuable Kesselring can be at the NHL level. This, however, goes back to that expectation of making the playoffs next season, because to allow Mailloux to get that NHL experience and to allow Reinbacher to take the necessary steps to reach his potential, the Canadiens would need to have both of them on the NHL roster next season. And I'm not sure how willing they would be to do that. How well do you think the Canadiens have managed to fill out the 'Cup checklist' (by Dom Luszczyszyn) considering where the current core and blue-chip prospects could find themselves a few years down the line? Suzuki / Demidov / Hutson should provide the elite production with Cole, Slaf, Guhle and Reinbacher spearheading an exciting support group. – Veeti L. For reference of Dom's Stanley Cup checklist, here is the latest version, and it is an interesting exercise to go through for the Canadiens. It demonstrates just how much remains unknown on the ultimate journey. The checklist elements we are looking to identify for the Canadiens are a franchise forward, a star forward, franchise offensive and defensive defencemen, shutdown offensive and defensive forwards, a star goalie, a support core and a depth core. There's a lot of projection here, but here's how I would project the eventual Cup checklist for Montreal. (Orange denotes support core. Blue denotes depth core.) There are a lot of Canadiens prospects not mentioned here, and there are a lot of slashes. That means a lot of question marks remain for filling this out. But what's important for the Canadiens is they have legitimate candidates to fill out each of these roles, and if a certain candidate doesn't quite fit the specific role needed, he becomes a trade chip to try and better fill that role. Advertisement Some eyebrows might be raised at how Suzuki is slotted here, but to me, finding a shutdown forward who can provide offence is rarer than finding a star forward, and Suzuki has the potential to be among the best in this category. Do you think a Mike Matheson for Rasmus Andersson trade could work conceptually (perhaps with some sweeteners from Montreal)? Similar contract status (with Andersson seeming unlikely to stay in Calgary beyond this year). Montreal has an overload of LHD and Calgary has the opposite problem. Andersson would also fit the profile of the type of defenceman Montreal is looking for. – Jordan S. Conceptually, this could work. It would highly depend on how the Calgary Flames view Matheson and what else is available on the market for them, with Andersson being one of the most prized trade targets in the league. But it honestly could make a lot of sense from both sides of it. There would need to be some sweeteners from Montreal, but they have tons of sweeteners to offer, so that wouldn't be an issue. (Photo of Logan Mailloux: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
