#Roster moves

#Roster moves

Nylander has been out with a groin injury since January 15, after suffering it in the first period against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Maple Leafs have undergone an abysmal stretch in his absence, winning only one of their past seven games with a total record of 1-5-1. They currently sit 10 points out of a wildcard spot, with their playoff chances plummeting to 2.6% according to moneypuck.com.

Marshall Rifai has been up and down with the Maple Leafs this season, since recovering from his injury that was suffered during preseason. Rifai had a strong preseason with the Maple Leafs and was projected to be with the top club to begin the season, but dealt with an injury that set back his season. Rifai has not played a game with the Leafs this season and has two NHL contests on his resume dating back to 2023-24.

For a team that has generally owned the Magic historically, the Heat have now lost six out of their last eight games against Orlando. But none may have been as frustrating as how things played out in their most recent affair. The Heat held a nine-point lead over the Magic heading into halftime. Miami would be outscored by 20 points in the third quarter, and the Magic never looked back.

As the regular season ended and autumn leaves started to fall, the Giants had very clear needs around their roster: starters, relievers and an outfielder. With February looming, Buster Posey and Zack Minasian checked all those boxes. San Francisco added Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle for the rotation; Sam Hentges and Jason Foley for the bullpen; Daniel Susac as a potential backup catcher for two-time Gold Glover Patrick Bailey; and, on Monday, Harrison Bader to strengthen the outfield defense.

Hollins had landed on IR on Dec. 27 with an abdomen injury. Up to that point, he had started 13 games and was third on the team in receptions (46) and receiving yards (550). He had been designated to return from IR on Thursday, practicing for the first time. At 6-foot-4 and 221 pounds, Hollins' large catch radius makes him a top option for quarterback Drake Maye on in-breaking routes.

Taylor, 27, has a small and unimpressive big league track record. He has appeared in 83 games over the past three seasons, split between the Royals and Mariners. He has stepped to the plate 83 times and produced a .205/.272/.260 line. However, he stole eight bases in that time without getting caught and has lined up defensively at second base, third base and all three outfield slots.

The Miami Marlins acquired right-handed pitcher Bradley Blalock from the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday in exchange for minor league right-hander Jake Brooks. Blalock was designated for assignment by the Rockies last week to open a roster spot after Colorado finalized an $8 million, one-year contract with right-hander Michael Lorenzen. The addition of Blalock adds depth to Miami's pitching staff after the Marlins traded Edward Cabrera to Chicago and dealt Ryan Weathers to the New York Yankees earlier this month.

The Bruins placed left-shot defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok on waivers on Tuesday for the purpose of sending him to Providence. The B's had claimed the 24-year-old Kolyachonok off waivers from Dallas on December 16 at a time that their blue line was hit by injuries but he got into only two games for the B's since then. Showing an eagerness to jump into the play, he nonetheless posted no points and was minus-1.

The Washington Commanders are in the midst of some substantial changes. Not entirely surprising when one considers the wreck that eventually became their 2025 season, but it's enough to put everyone on edge regarding their fortunes heading into the 2026 campaign. General manager Adam Peters has some tough choices to make. However, a respected Commanders insider believes there is one simple roster decision staring Washington's front-office leader in the face. And it's something fans have been shouting about for months.

"He's a significant challenge," Capitals Coach Spencer Carbery said. "He's having a phenomenal season. ... He changes his shot angle as good as anybody in the world. When he gets in tight spaces and you think you've got him stick on puck, he's able to just move it six inches more to get a real clean look off when he gets into that dangerous scoring area. And frankly, that's a little bit larger for him than it is for most players."

SANTA CLARA Linebacker Eric Kendricks will be new to the 49ers' starting lineup come Sunday's wild-card playoff game at Philadelphia. The footsteps he follows are not new to him. There's a standard that's upheld in this room, Kendricks said Wednesday. This organization has always had good linebackers, as far as I'm concerned, so I don't plan on it being any different. That history includes the surnames Hazeltine, Wilcox, Turner, Norton, Woodall, Willis, Bowman, Warner, Greenlaw and many more.

As a corresponding move, the club designated right-hander Paxton Schultz for assignment, opening a spot on the 40-man roster. Schultz made his major league debut with the Blue Jays last season, tying the record for most strikeouts by a reliever in his debut with eight versus the Seattle Mariners on April 20. In total, the 27-year-old made 13 appearances (two opener starts), pitching to a 4.38 ERA and 4.07 FIP with 28 strikeouts and eight walks.

After the final standard gameday practice squad elevations of the 2025 regular season, the three-game elevation limit resets for the postseason, so only players getting signed to the 53-man roster because of the limit will be noted today. Also, a number of teams are moving players to injured reserve to make room for practice squad players. Doing so will make it easier to sign the taxi squad guys to reserve/futures deals at the end of the season.

Sewell suffered a torn Achilles in Sunday night's loss to the 49ers, ending his 2025 season and starting a length rehab process for the third-year linebacker. Teller aggravated a calf injury on Sunday against the Steelers. He will miss the Browns' last game of the season and is set to hit free agency this offseason. After seven years in Cleveland, Teller may need to find a new home this offseason.

Back in 2012, the Blue Jays signed Ureña for a signing bonus of $725,000. By 2016, Ureña reached Double-A and ranked as the Blue Jays' seventh-best prospect. Most of Ureña's 2017 was spent in Double-A, but since he was on the 40-man roster, he was called up to the big leagues that season and got some playing time In their 2017 rankings, MLB Pipeline ranked Ureña as their 94th-best prospect, but his stint with the Blue Jays didn't go so great.