Morning y’all. Hope everyone is having a good long weekend! Plenty happening in the world of sports, so here’s what we got for ya today:

• NHL and NBA Signing SZN 💸 

• Rickie Fowler Wins the Rocket Mortgage Classic 🍊 

• Max Verstappen Wins Again 🏎️ 

Enjoy!

Free Agent Frenzy

Since the last time we talked, NHL and NBA free agency has begun and money has been thrown around like it’s nothing (especially in the NBA). There is so much that could be discussed for both leagues, but I’ll try and keep things short(ish) and sweet for ya (I know my last couple newsletters have been long af, so I’m really making an effort to be more concise).

NHL Free Agency

There’s never a day I feel more confident that I could be a good NHL General Manager than on Canada Day. July 1st is the first day free agents can sign with new teams in the NHL, and every year there are numerous bad contracts given out - contracts that can set teams back years. And that didn’t change this year, so here are my winners and losers from the first couple days of free agency, with some (a lot) of help from @domluszczyszyn and @hayyyshayyy.

Winners

With the caliber of players that were on the market, I wouldn’t even describe these teams as winners, moreso non-losers.

Winner: Carolina Hurricanes

Additions

Dimtry Orlov - 2 years, $7.75M/year (AAV)

I’ve always been a big fan of Orlov’s game, and I think he’ll be a perfect fit with the Canes. A d-core that already includes Slavin, Burns, Pesce, and Skjei just got even deeper (although Pesce or Skjei might get traded now). Shorter-term contract is a win for both parties as well.

Michael Bunting - 3 yr x $4.5M AAV

I’m not as high on Bunting as lots of people and analytical models are, but stylistically his game will fit perfectly in Carolina. Only a three-year deal as well, another A+ move for the Hurricanes.

Carolina continues to be the standard on how to operate a small market team.

Winner: Dallas Stars

Additions

Matt Duchene - 1 yr x $3M AAV

Duchene was bought out by the Nashville Predators the day before free agency began. He obviously wasn’t too worried about his salary for next season, he just wanted to play somewhere he’d have a chance to win. He’ll bring more offense to an already solid Stars team.

Losers

All of my big free agency losers make me ask the same question - what is their direction? The worst place to be is stuck in the middle, and I’m afraid that is where these teams are headed based on their free agency moves so far.

Detroit Red Wings

Signings:

• Klim Kostin - 2 yr x $2M AAV

• Justin Holl - 3 yr x $3.4M AAV

• Daniel Sprong - 1 yr x $2M AAV

• James Reimer - 1 yr x $1.5M AAV

• Alex Lyon - 2 yr x $900K AAV

• J.T. Compher - 5 yr x $5.1M AAV

• Shayne Gostisbehere - 1 yr x $4.125M

• Christian Fischer - 1 yr x $1.125M

Now I don’t hate all of these signings, but these are a lot of mid players. Mid players = mid team. Almost 25% of the salary cap for all of these guys? Not really sure what Yzerman’s plan is for the Red Wings moving forward.

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks receive my award (and many other’s) for the worst signing of free agency, as they gave 33 year old Alex Killorn a 4 year, $6.3M AAV contract.

I’m no statistical genius, but a 20% chance that the contract provides positive value isn’t great. Between this and passing on Fantilli at the draft, it hasn’t been a very good week for Anaheim IMO.

Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators, the definition of contradiction so far.

They trade Ryan Johansen for essentially nothing, buyout Matt Duchene, and you think okay they’re beginning their rebuild.

Then they proceed to sign:

• Ryan O’Reilly - 4 yrs x $4.5M AAV

• Luke Schenn - 3 yrs x $2.8M AAV

• Gustav Nyquist - 2 yrs x $3.2M AAV

32, 33, and 33 years old, respectively.

🤷‍♂️ 

Maybe Barry Trotz should’ve stuck to coaching…

NBA Free Agency

The amount of money being spent on these NBA players is nuts, especially when you compare it to the NHL. For example, Connor McDavid, the best hockey player in the world, makes $12.5M annually and Dennis Schroder’s new contract with the Raptors will pay him $13M per season. Crazy.

I, unfortunately, haven’t been able to find the resources to analyze NBA contracts like I’ve been able to do with NHL ones, so I’m just going to catch you up on some of the most notable signings to date.

• Kyrie Irving - Dallas Mavericks - 3 yr, $126M 

  • One of the most polarizing athletes on the planet stays put in Dallas.

• Draymond Green - Golden State Warriors - 4 yr, $100M

  • I think this signing is more critical to the Warriors winning another championship than people think (more on that down the road).

• Fred VanVleet - Houston Rockets - 3 yr, $130M (Max Contract)

  • Former face of the Raptors cashes in.

• LaMelo Ball - Charlotte Hornets - 5 yr, $260M (Max Contract)

  • Tied for the second largest contract in NBA history.

• Tyrese Haliburton - Indiana Pacers - 5 yr, $260M (Max Contract)

  • The man tied with LaMelo for that second largest contract in NBA history.

• Domantas Sabonis - Sacremento Kings - 5 yr, $217M

  • Looks like the Haliburton-Sabonis trade has worked out for both franchises.

• Desmond Bane - Memphis Grizzlies - 5 yr, $207M (Max Contract)

  • Another max contract given out…

That’s a crazy amount of money given out between those seven players ($1.3 billion to be exact).

But the biggest NBA news of the week comes from Portland, as Damian Lillard has requested a trade from the Trailblazers.

Loyalty is officially dead.

Rickie Fowler gets his 1st win since 2019

Rickie Fowler is officially back.

The orange-wearing golfer everyone loves won the Rocket Mortgage Classic, defeating Collin Morikawa and Canadian Adam Hadwin in a playoff. Rickie has been playing at a high-level again for awhile now, but he has finally found himself back in the winner’s circle.

Rickie’s (untelevised 🫤) win didn’t come without some awfully clutch shots. As Rickie headed to the 18th tee, he was at 23 under par, one shot behind Morikawa, who was in the clubhouse at -24, and Hadwin who was also at -24 in the final pairing with Rickie. Rickie had to make birdie to have any chance of forcing a playoff, and he did just that as he threw an absolute dart on 18 when he needed it most.

The three men headed back to the 18th for the first playoff hole, where Rickie found himself with a birdie putt to win his first tourney since 2019… and he made no mistake.

What a moment.

Exciting to see what’s next for Rick. Will he find himself back on USA’s Ryder Cup team? Might he finally capture that elusive major?

Max Verstappen Wins the Austrian GP

Max Verstappen wins again. 🥱 

I’m ngl I didn’t see the race (i.e., I was still sleeping), but it seems like no one wanted to stay on the track as there were penalties given out to eight drivers for exceeding track limits.

After all the penalties were accounted for, here’s the official top 10 from the race:

And here are the updated driver and team standings:

Yes, Max and Red Bull are dominating, taking much of the excitement out of each race. However, it looks like there is a pretty good battle shaping up between Mercedes, Aston Martin, and Ferrari for 2nd in the Constructors Championship. Plenty of races left this season, meaning there’s plenty of room for more excitement and drama (and hopefully more rain).

That wraps up another newsletter. Hope everyone enjoyed it and enjoys the rest of the long weekend! Thanks for reading!

From,

The Nosebleeds🩸