BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres signed Josh Doan to a seven-year, $48.65 million contract extension in a deal announced Wednesday that secures the third-year forward as a key fixture of the team’s core group.
The signing was the first completed by newly promoted general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and rewards a player enjoying a breakout season in his first year with Buffalo.
The 23-year-old is from Scottsdale, Arizona, and the son of former Coyotes captain Shane Doan. In showing signs of following in his father’s offensive and physical style, Doan has already set career-bests with 15 goals and 35 points in 49 games this season, and leads the NHL with 35 takeaways.
Doan was in the final year of his rookie contract, and is now signed through 2032-33.
“Josh is a player that impacts the team both on and off the ice,” Kekalainen said. “He works hard, is competitive and skilled, and his game is going to continue to develop.”
Doan was acquired along with defenseman Michael Kesselring in a trade that sent high-scoring forward JJ Peterka to Utah in late June. The deal was completed by Kekalainen’s predecessor Kevyn Adams, who was fired last month.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Doan played mostly a checking role with the Mammoth, but was eager to develop his offensive touch in an expanded role in Buffalo. Selected by Arizona in the second-round of the 2021 draft, he’s already surpassed the combined production of 12 goals and 28 points in 62 games over his first two NHL seasons.
Doan’s two-way presence has helped the Sabres climb into playoff contention in a bid to end an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought. Buffalo (27-17-5), coming off a 5-3 win at Nashville on Tuesday night, is 16-3-1 in its past 20 and entered Wednesday in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
The fact that the Toronto Blue Jays‘ pennant defence will take place without a key player is resonating with at least one of his former teammates.
Star shortstop Bo Bichette, who hit a go-ahead three-run home run in Game 7 of the World Series, reportedly signed with the New York Mets last week, leaving Toronto after seven seasons with the club.
Fellow infielder Ernie Clement — a post-season hero himself, with 30 hits in 77 plate appearance — said life without Bichette will be an adjustment.
“I’m really happy for him. He deserves every penny he gets. He’s a heckuva player, awesome dude, he’s become a really a good friend of mine. It sucks seeing him go,” Clement said on the JD Bunkis Podcast on Tuesday. “It’s gonna be really weird not having Bo Bichette in the Blue Jays locker room.”
Clement, who was among a group of 2025 Blue Jays who recently travelled to Bichette’s wedding, said he has kept in touch with multiple teammates from the AL-champion club through their fantasy football league, which Bichette won.
(Pitcher Kevin Gausman finished last, with his punishment still to be determined, per Clement).
Clement added that Bichette was locked into helping the Blue Jays win the World Series before reaching free agency.
“He knew that he had some decisions to make after the season, and he was so engulfed in trying to win the World Series that it finally hit him,” Clement said.
Meanwhile, without Bichette, and with the likes of Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt still available in free agency, Clement said the 2025 Blue Jays’ lauded chemistry will be “impossible to replicate.”
The other knockdown effect of Bichette’s departure will occur in the infield, where Andres Gimenez will likely move to shortstop while free-agent signing Kazuma Okamoto appears headed to third base.
Clement, then, seems slated to man second base, just one season after receiving a Gold Glove nomination at third.
He said he’s willing to play wherever he’s needed.
“Wherever I’m playing, I go trust my instincts and any ball hit my way, I take a lot of pride in making sure it doesn’t get to the outfield,” Clement said. “I don’t do a lot of thinking over there. … Short, third, second, I’m ready to roll. Whatever they need me to do, I’m good.”
The goal, Clement said, is simple.
“We’re all pretty hungry to get back to the World Series and start winning ball games again,” he said.
Since that crushing Game 7 loss, Clement has spent his season in the public eye around his hometown of Rochester, N.Y., and in Toronto, attending sports events and playing plenty of golf on the side.
He even got some shinny in, he said.
“I think maybe I got one more skate, then I’m rocking and rolling and it’s all baseball,” Clement said.
That baseball will begin March 3 at the World Baseball Classic, where Clement was recently named to Team USA.
The Blue Jays’ home opener follows not long after, on March 27.
In between, Clement said he plans to do what worked for him ahead of the post-season last year.
“Those five, six days off, or whatever it was before we played the Yankees … I had been dealing with a broken hand,” he said. “I came into the playoffs just super healthy and ready to go.”
“I can’t say we ever thought it was done,” Dombrowski told reporters via Zoom on Tuesday. “We thought we were very close to having a deal done, and we thought it was going to happen. But it wasn’t done, so there’s a difference between the two. … Until you sign a memo of understanding, you don’t have a deal done, and we did not sign one of those. It wasn’t that we weren’t moving towards that direction; it wasn’t that we didn’t think we were going to get there based upon our conversations. …I did think we were going to get a deal done.”
The former Toronto Blue Jay infielder Bichette reportedly declined a seven-year, $200-million deal from the Phillies to sign his three-year, $126-million contract with the New York Mets.
He could have joined the 96-win Phillies and paired up with Bryce Harper and Trea Turner, but instead went for the $42-million annual average to join the Mets, who missed the post-season in 2025.
“This is not the first time this has ever happened to me; it actually happens more than you think,” Dombrowski said. “… It’s a gut punch, you feel it, that day you’re very upset, but you have to pick yourself off and shake it off because you can’t just wallow in what took place.”
Despite missing on Bichette, the Phillies haven’t had a terrible off-season. They re-signed designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and catcher JT Realmuto to long-term deals, while adding reliever Brad Keller and outfielder Adolis Garcia.
“I feel great about our club going into Spring Training,” Dombrowski said.
Dombrowski also made it clear that Philadelphia is no longer looking to add this off-season. “We’re content where we are,” he said.
Hockey fans got to witness one of the most entertaining spectacles in all of sports on Monday.
A goalie fight broke out with 14 minutes left in a game Monday night between the Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks that had gotten increasingly chippy with post-whistle pushing and shoving.
Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky beelined from his crease to even things up after San Jose’s Alex Nedeljkovic got involved in a scrum in the corner.
Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues’ hit on Vincent Desharnais behind the Sharks net sparked the fight. Nedeljkovic then went over to shove Rodrigues.
“I tripped the guy and then I got hit from behind,” Desharnais told reporters in the visitors’ dressing room, per The Athletic. “I was on the ice trying not to get stepped on. I got up and I just see Ned and Bob going at it, and I was like, ‘Did I miss something here?’ But it was a great fight. I don’t think Reavo (Ryan Reaves) needs to teach him anything. Maybe he can teach a thing or two to Reavo. That was awesome.”
Bobrovsky felt Nedeljkovic’s response to the hit “was a little much.”
“It’s exciting, but obviously it’s not a thing I’m doing for a living. It is what it is, but we had a good fight,” Bobrovsky said.
“I was just doing my best not to get punched,” Nedeljkovic said, per The Athletic. “He came out swinging, so I was just trying not to lose any teeth. It might have straightened my nose out a little bit more, but I don’t want it that way.”
Panthers fans chanted, “Bobby! Bobby!” after the two netminders were done tussling. Cheers followed when Bobrovsky returned from a brief trip to the locker room.
Bobrovsky and Nedeljkovic each got a five-minute major penalty for fighting and an additional two-minute penalty for leaving the crease to take part in an altercation. They stayed in the game.
“I couldn’t believe it. Best goalie in the world is doing that. It’s pretty incredible. We know what he’s meant to our team,” Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk said.
It’s the first goalie fight in the NHL since Mike Smith fought Cam Talbot in the Battle of Alberta on Feb. 1, 2020.
“We need to use that fire and energy from our backbone in Bob and use that this next road trip because let’s be honest, we’re not in a good spot at all right now in the standings,” Tkachuk said.
Here are some of the best reactions to the ultra-rare event that hockey fans were treated to on Monday:
The two-time all-star addressed the recent trade speculation about him after the Grizzlies’ 126-109 victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday.
“If anybody in here knows me, I’m a very loyal guy,” Morant said. “I got a logo on my back (Grizzlies tattoo), so that should tell you exactly where I want to be.”
Memphis reportedly began entertaining trade offers for Morant earlier this month, with the team prioritizing draft picks and young players in return, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
This came with the Grizzlies sitting on the outside of the playoff picture, and Morant not playing like his former self.
Morant was averaging 19 points entering Sunday — his lowest since his rookie campaign — to go with 3.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists. His field-goal and three-point percentages are also the worst of his career, shooting just 40.1 per cent from the field and an abysmal 20.8 per cent from deep while averaging 4.3 attempts per night.
However, Morant returned from a six-game absence Sunday with an impressive 24 points and 13 assists while shooting 7-of-13 from the field. If he can maintain that level of play, he may force the Grizzlies to hold onto him.
Even with the Grizzlies entertaining offers, they are still considering multiple paths forward and remain open to keeping Morant, Charania added.
The Los Angeles Clippers star is heading from the team’s road trip due to irritation in his left knee, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported on Sunday.
Leonard snapped a streak of 24 straight games played on Friday when he sat out against the Toronto Raptors with a left ankle injury suffered Jan. 7.
Leonard sustained a contusion around a week ago, but the injury is not seen as being serious, per Haynes.
The two-time Finals MVP has been enjoying one of his best seasons since his 2018-19 run with the Raptors, averaging 28.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on 49.7-per-cent shooting from the field.
Los Angeles has also surged of late, winning 12 of its last 14 games including a comeback overtime win against the Raptors to climb back into the post-season race.
The Clippers visit the Washington Wizards on Monday and Chicago Bulls on Tuesday to round out their five-game road trip before returning home to face the Lakers on Thursday.
“When he gets the puck, everyone on the bench just exhales,” said centre Curtis Lazar. “We know he’ll do the right thing with it.”
Sure, but it’s not like he’s been that guy for very long. Just 1,000 NHL games.
As the baby-faced Nugent-Hopkins gets ready to become the first player ever to play his first 1,000 games in an Edmonton Oilers jersey — game No. 1,000 goes Sunday versus St. Louis, barring injury Saturday in Vancouver — we look back on a No. 1 overall pick who, somehow, remained an Oiler when so many around him did not.
Like the last needle on Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, Nugent-Hopkins survived the 2010’s in Edmonton, hockey’s Hunger Games. Fresh, young faces showed up every year, and soon another was being shipped out in the other direction.
It was peak Decade of Darkness, an eat-your-young era that was survived by few.
“There were definitely moments where I thought I’d be getting the call,” Nugent-Hopkins, 32, said this week. “I was really good friends with Justin Schultz, and things went from really good to pretty sour pretty quickly for him here. Then Jordan (Eberle), and Taylor (Hall), and a lot of other guys left too.
“Yeah, there were moments when I thought I could be next on the block. I’m sure there were offers.”
Yet somehow, where Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr et al. each managed to depart before playing 1,000 games — Kevin Lowe played his 1,000th game as a New York Ranger, then returned to Edmonton and reached 1,037 games in an Oilers uniform — Nugent-Hopkins becomes the only one to play 1,000 games an Oiler, start to finish.
Why was he the one who remained?
“He’s such a good teammate, such a low-maintenance guy,” offered former teammate Sam Gagner. “Maybe when you’re looking for problems or looking for change, he’s the last place you look?”
Fifteen years after he was drafted ahead of the likes of Gabriel Landeskog, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mark Scheifele and Nikita Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins is the fourth-highest scorer from that 2011 draft. He will be the first to reach 1,000 games, and when it’s all said and done, the guy Leon Draisaitl calls “Nuggy” will have 1,000 points,he has 785 now, and be the all-time Oiler, leading his franchise in games played in blue and orange.
And he has done so with a subtlety and professionalism that is most respected by those in his trade.
“He’s got such a good feeling, a conscience for the game. He always seems to make the right play, whether that’s offensively or defensively. He’s just so stable,” said Darnell Nurse, a forever teammate of Nugent-Hopkins.
“He’s one of those guys you’ve got to see every night to see what he brings every night,” Nurse explains. “Those little details of the game that never seemed to waiver for him. The way that Lazar described him? He’s an exhale. I mean, you couldn’t put it better.”
The package is slight. Walking down the street, you’d never I.D. Nugent Hopkins as a professional athlete, generously listed as six-foot-one and 192 lbs. But he’s sly, and early on, Nugent-Hopkins figured out that he would likely not be a prolific enough scorer to live off his points alone.
So he dug in as a defensive centre.
“There was about a four-year stretch where I was really focusing on that, I feel like it’s brought me to this point,” he said. “You had to find a way to keep the puck out of your net, in some manner. And as a smaller guy, I was going to be able to run around, or defend like some of these other guys. I had to use my brain, and the skillset that I have.”
“He’s a smart, cerebral player who can adapt to any role — and he’s been asked to play a lot of ‘em,” said Gagner. “He’s played centre, wing, on different lines with different players, different coaches… he just keeps showing up to work and continuing to get the job done. I’m a proud friend, proud of what he’s done.
“He’s got a 100-point season behind him, gone on long playoff runs. It’s incredible to see the career he’s built for himself.”
Nugent-Hopkins has endured the worst and the best of the Oilers 2.0, missing the playoffs in eight of his first nine seasons.
Like so many before and after, he was a high draft pick in a Canadian city who arrived with suffocating pressure.
Taylor Hall was drafted first overall in 2010, and was supposed to save the day in Edmonton. Then Nugent-Hopkins was picked at No. 1 the next year. Then Nail Yakupov in 2012, Leon Draisaitl at No. 3 in 2014, and of course, Connor McDavid at No. 1 in 2015.
As it turned out, “saving the day” in Edmonton took many hands and many years. The expectations arrived much more swiftly than the results.
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“We felt a little bit of that (pressure), but we understood where the team realistically was,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “And we were kids, trying to get our feet in the NHL, trying to enjoy it as much as we could. And we did that, no question.”
There were the early years, spent at the Cactus Clubs and other spots with Hall and Ebs. And now, a home in Laurier Heights, a wife and child, and a contract that will keep him in town for three seasons after this one ($5.125 million AAV).
The lessons along the way were stark for an 18-year-old from Burnaby, B.C., whose favourite player was Pavel Datsyuk.
Today, the Oilers are a good enough team that they can, on some nights, play less than a full game and still win. The way the Blackhawks could do against those old Oilers teams. Or Vancouver, when a solid period by the Sedins and a few Roberto Luongo saves were enough to whip Edmonton on any given night.
“Every time you’d go into St. Louis, you were losing 3-1 or 2-1 and just getting beat up the whole night,” he recalls. “L.A. was the same thing. Anaheim. When I first came in, Vancouver was tough, with the Sedins. Chicago would outskate you every night…
“It’s extremely nice to be on the other side of it now.”
And he didn’t even have to leave town to get there.
One day after the Buffalo Bills’ season ended in overtime, a key play continues to ripple through the NFL
Analysts are split over whether Brandin Cooks completed the overtime catch that was ruled an interception in the Bills’ 33-30 divisional-round loss to the Denver Broncos on Saturday.
On third-and-11 from the Bills’ own 36-yard line in overtime, quarterback Josh Allen lofted a deep pass down the right sideline to Cooks. The receiver appeared to come down with the ball, with his knee nearing the turf, before Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian reached in as the two fell to the ground and wrestled possession away.
Officials ruled that Cooks did not complete the process of the catch and awarded the ball to Denver. Because challenges are not permitted in overtime, McDermott could only call timeout while the play was reviewed by league replay officials in New York. The on-field officials did not initiate a stoppage to review the play themselves.
Long after the final whistle Saturday night, Bills coach Sean McDermott said he watched the play back roughly 20 times. Each viewing led him to the same conclusion: Cooks caught the ball.
“That play is not even close. That’s a catch all the way,” McDermott said. “Nobody can convince me that that ball is not caught and in possession of Buffalo.”
In a pool report interview, referee Carl Cheffers explained why replay officials upheld the ruling.
“The receiver has to complete the process of a catch,” Cheffers said. “He was going to the ground as part of the process of the catch and he lost possession of the ball when he hit the ground. The defender gained possession of it at that point. The defender is the one that completed the process of the catch, so the defender was awarded the ball.”
CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore expanded on his thoughts on the call but said that more time should’ve been taken to review it.
“The interception is a wild play, with a lot going on,” Steratore posted on X. “Seeing it full speed, I thought it was an interception and would’ve ruled it that way if I was on the field. My perspective on it is that Cooks lost the ball as soon as his body hit the ground. In my opinion, if there was no defender near him and he lost the ball when he hit the ground, the ruling would’ve been incomplete.”
McDermott’s frustration extended beyond the ruling itself, centring on the replay process.
“I don’t understand why the head official who is at the game does not get a chance to look at the same thing people in New York are ruling on,” he said. “Too big of a play to not even slow it down.”
Cooks said he believed he completed the catch but added he should have done more to remove doubt. Several Bills players voiced their disagreement on social media following the game.
“Of course I’m always going to think I caught it,” an emotional Cooks told reporters. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter ultimately. You work so hard, and I look back, and I wonder what I could’ve done to alleviate some of that pressure from (Allen).”
NFL rules analyst Walt Anderson echoed that interpretation during NFL GameDay, emphasizing that the ball never contacted the turf.
“As the receiver’s going to the ground, as soon as he hits the ground, the ball is immediately loose,” Anderson explained. “That would be an incomplete pass if it comes out and hits the ground. Here, the ball never hits the ground.
“The replay officials in New York and in the stadium were looking at the play, they looked at all the angles… They’re confirming the call on the field was the ball was immediately loose when it hit the ground, and control was gained by the defender.”
Meanwhile, former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said he believed that Cooks had possession as his knee went to the ground before McMillian grabbed the ball from him.
Former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman was also among those who publicly sided with Buffalo.
“I have never seen a contested catch like this ever be called anything but a catch,” Sherman said. “Even as a DB you know that if it’s even a tie it will go to the WR. Can’t believe this decided the game.”
Former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz immediately thought the play was an interception, but said that after watching it over should’ve been more time taken by the officials to review it closely.
Of course, those were not the only ref-centred plays that ended up being crucial to the result of the game, as the Bills were flagged for a pair of defensive pass interference calls that set up the Broncos for the game-winning field goal on the ensuing possession.
Denver will now prepare to host the AFC Championship game at home against either the New England Patriots or Houston Texans.
But it will not be an easy road to the Super Bowl as the Broncos will be without starting quarterback Bo Nix, who suffered a season-ending ankle fracture near the end of the game.
Wolverhampton, the Premier League’s last-placed team, continued its resurgence by holding Newcastle to a 0-0 draw to extend its unbeaten run to five games in all competitions.
Wolves collected just two points from its first 18 league games, but has earned six points from its last four. However, they are still 14 points from safety and appear destined to return to the second-tier Championship after eight years in the top flight.
Wolves need four more points to avoid the lowest ever total in a single Premier League season — 11 by Derby County in the 2007-08 campaign.
The draw brought an end to a streak of three straight league wins for Newcastle, which jumped to eighth place — two points off fifth-place Manchester United.
Later, Aston Villa hosts Everton and can move into second place — four points behind Arsenal — with a win.
OTTAWA — The Montreal Canadiens are 10 points up on the Ottawa Senators in the standings — and their rebuild feels about 10 times more exciting, too.
Senators fans’ disdain for Montreal and Toronto are closely matched, but when one is on your same journey and begins to beat you, it hurts just a little bit more.
Four years ago, the Senators and Canadiens were mired in rebuilds, buried at the bottom of the standings. Since then, Montreal has risen up from laughingstock status.
The Senators, meanwhile, hopes to at least get one chuckle after a disappointing and dramatic start to their season when they host the Habs Saturday on Hockey Day In Canada (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT).
Their rivalry is just getting started. During the pre-season, Senators forward Nick Cousins slashed Canadiens rookie Ivan Demidov, leading to a fight.
In their most recent matchup, Brady Tkachuk taunted the Montreal crowd after scoring the game-sealing goal.
“Always tight games and with a lot of emotion,” Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot said about the rivalry. “Those are the games you circle on the calendar.”
Pure cinema every time these two foes meet.
Yet the difference between the two has been clear: the Canadiens are younger and more offensively inclined, featuring highly skilled players and a plethora of prospects and draft capital.
So what do the Senators have going for them?
Well, Tkachuk for one. If the Canadiens had drafted him over Jesperi Kotkaniemi back in 2018, the fiery forward might already have a statue in Montreal.
Meanwhile, Tim Stutzle could be as good as any forward in the fearsome rivalry.
Then there’s Jake Sanderson, who will be compared to Lane Hutson until global warming gets us all. There is no question Sanderson is the better defensive defenceman. It ain’t close.
Plus, the Senators have a slew of effective centres from Stutzle to Dylan Cozens, Shane Pinto and Ridly Greig — all of whom are signed through 2029.
We won’t discount the centre Oliver Kapanen has become in Montreal. Nevertheless, the Senators are a bigger team. The Habs’ stars — including Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Demidov and Hutson — are all under six-feet tall. None of the Senators’ stars are below six-foot-one.
The issue the Senators face compared with Montreal is twofold: lack of assets and lack of big-market spending power.
The Senators’ most recent two first-round picks are struggling, and the team doesn’t own a first-rounder in 2026. Meanwhile, Demidov, who was picked two spots ahead of Carter Yakemchuk, looks to be a superstar.
At the same time, Canadiens prospects such as Jacob Fowler and Michael Hage could be difference-makers soon. Yakemchuk and Logan Hensler’s progress are less assured.
Right now, the Canadiens are ahead of the Senators in their rebuild. Yet hockey is fickle, and timelines are unknowable. Just look at the last two Presidents’ Trophy winners, who have each spent time at the bottom of their conferences this season.
Montreal’s edge might even be moot if the Senators didn’t have awful goaltending.
If the Senators had the Habs’ goaltending — which is hardly anything to boast about at an .883 team save percentage — the teams could conceivably have swapped spots in the standings.
Ottawa’s Saturday meeting with playoff-destined Montreal on Hockey Day in Canada is more than just a battle of adversaries. For the Senators, it’s an attempt to reclaim some ground in the race to rebuild.
Adams’ apples
Ullmark back with team
We are never able to walk in another man’s shoes, but we’d imagine it’s been quite a month for Ullmark, from taking a leave of absence shortly after Christmas to rumours swirling about his personal life that led to the Senators’ angry denial. Nevertheless, Ullmark was back with the team, skating at practice on Friday.
“It’s great. It’s a big step in the right direction,” Chabot said.
“Obviously, when you have Linus out with the talent that he is and how good he is as a player, you’re obviously going to miss him in net.”
There is no timeline for his return, but it likely won’t be too long until we see Ullmark don a Senators jersey in game action once again.
Who knows what level of Ullmark will be present when he plays again after a month-long hiatus? Maybe time away has helped clear his mind.
Meanwhile, the Senators signed James Reimer to a one-year contract, but he has yet to play in the NHL this season.
“He could get into action soon,” Green said.
You’d expect Reimer to get a chance to play this weekend in Ottawa’s back-to-back with Montreal and Detroit, though he did not play in either end of a back-to-back earlier this week.
It was Leevi Merilainen who got the crease for the rare feat of nine straight games.
“I can’t play every game, every night, even though I want to,” Merilainen said.
Merilainen has produced a sub-standard .868 save percentage and a minus-14.6 goals saved above expected this season, the latter of which ranks third-worst in the league behind only Ullmark and Canadian Olympian Jordan Binnington.
Nothing is clearer than the Senators’ No. 1 issue: goaltending.
But goaltending is voodoo in the NHL. Just look at Brandon Bussi, who was waived in October by the Panthers. Bussi was snagged by the Carolina Hurricanes and has gone on a 16-3-1 run in his first 20 starts.
Merilainen says he hasn’t been told what the plans are for the goalies when Ullmark gets back into the lineup. With Merilainen still waiver-exempt, the Senators can send him down to Belleville if he needs game time.
The right move for the Senators would be to hold on to Ullmark, Merilainen and Reimer and see who gets hot. The Senators only need one to excel.
The Toronto Raptors‘ injury report is starting to look more like a laundry list with each passing day.
They’ll be without at least four players when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night (Sportsnet ONE or Sportsnet+, 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT), and could possibly be without four more.
RJ Barrett (ankle), Jakob Poeltl (back), Ja’Kobe Walter (hip) and Chucky Hepburn (two-way) have all been ruled out already by the team. Barrett and Walter are considered day-to-day.
Barrett has already missed Toronto’s last three games after twisting his ankle in a loss to the Boston Celtics last week. Walter will miss his third straight game on Friday, with his injury originally occurring in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers last Sunday.
As for Poeltl, he is set to miss a 13th consecutive contest due to his lingering back problems and has yet to suit up since a six-minute stint back on Dec. 21.
Meanwhile, Immanuel Quickley (back spasms), Sandro Mamukelashvili (illness) and Garrett Temple (back spasms) are all questionable entering the matchup against the surging Clippers — 8-2 in their last 10. All three were sidelined for the Raptors’ win over Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.
Although the Raptors started that game with 10 healthy players, they left with nine as Jamison Battle exited midway through the contest with an ankle injury of his own. The sophomore sharpshooter could miss even more time as he’s been listed as doubtful for Friday’s matchup.
The 25-17 Raptors won’t get much rest to nurse their injuries in order to maintain their fourth-place standing in the East, as they’ll hit the road for a five-game West Coast trip after hosting the Clippers.
