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Opening Day jobs come with hot seats for these Yankees, Mets

As Opening Day nears, the biggest roster questions have been answered.

The shortstop of the Yankees’ present and future is Anthony Volpe.

The Mets are keeping their futures in the minor leagues and have shed Darin Ruf.

We know who has earned jobs in February and March. Soon we will learn how tenuous those jobs can be for players desperately clutching onto roster spots in April and May.

The Yankees and Mets are leaving sunny camps in Tampa and Port St. Lucie, respectively, but a handful of players will bring especially hot seats wherever they go.

Among Yankees and Mets, who will feel the most pressure to perform as soon as the regular season begins this week?

Josh Donaldson: At 37, he is on a quest to prove he still has more in the tank. If he doesn’t, Yankees fans who no longer have Joey Gallo around as a piñata will find the next outlet for their frustration.

Josh Donaldson has tried to retool his swing after striking out in 27.1 percent of his plate appearances last season.

Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Here are Donaldson’s OPS numbers the past four seasons — see if you notice a trend:

2019: .900
2020: .842
2021: .827
2022: .682

Last year, he played excellent defense at third base, but his bat never got going. It is possible the 2015 MVP simply does not have the bat speed any longer, but the early returns for what Donaldson hopes will be a bounce-back season have shown some hope.

Donaldson has demonstrated solid punch in the Grapefruit League, with four home runs in 15 games. Donaldson retooled his swing in the offseason, and appears to have a less dramatic leg lift, perhaps a concession that he needs to get his bat off his shoulders sooner.

And he will need to hit soon. If he is batting .200 without much power in mid-May, the Yankees could make DJ LeMahieu their everyday third baseman.

Aaron Hicks: Another possible heir to the dreaded Gallo throne. Hicks’ ninth season in The Bronx will be a pivotal one. The longest-tenured Yankee has been a mess at the plate (and occasionally in the field) the past two seasons: He has played a combined 162 games, hit .211 and knocked 12 home runs. His power and his on-base proclivities have abandoned him.

Oswaldo Cabrera will start the season as the Yankees’ primary utility man, but could find himself with a regular outfield role should Aaron Hicks falter.

New York Yankees third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera (95) steals third base during the second inning against the Washington Nationals at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. — Oswaldo Cabrera will start the season as the Yankees’ primary utility man, but could find himself with a regular outfield role should Aaron Hicks falter.

At 33, the outfielder will try to show that after his 2021 season was ruined by a wrist injury, 2022 was an aberration. Hicks, feeling healthy, is the likely Opening Day left fielder, and should see time in center, too, with Harrison Bader out for at least a few weeks to open the season.

If Hicks does not hit, the boos would arrive quickly. His competition will include fan favorite Oswaldo Cabrera and a fourth outfielder — the winner of a late roster battle among Estevan Florial, Willie Calhoun and Rafael Ortega.

Gleyber Torres: The second baseman is 26, a two-time All-Star and coming off a solid season in which he drilled 24 home runs and posted a .761 OPS. He is probably the fourth-best hitter on a very good hitting team.

With an infield deep in players and prospects, the Yankees might find Gleyber Torres is more useful in a trade than on the field.

But Torres has grown into a solid major leaguer rather than a superstar, and the Yankees’ infield depth could prompt some difficult decisions. If Donaldson hits, where would LeMahieu’s at-bats come? If Oswald Peraza tears up Triple-A pitching, would the Yankees find a spot for the 22-year-old at the big-league level?

The Yankees have plenty of infielders, and Torres would have a trade market if the Yankees decide to cash him in.

Eduardo Escobar: The Mets’ version of Torres. Escobar is a fine major leaguer — even with his struggles last season, his 106 OPS+ indicates he was 6 percent better than the average hitter — but the options behind him offer more upside.

After hitting .325 this spring, Mets third-base prospect Brett Baty may not be in Triple-A for long.

Brett Baty, who is the future at third base in Queens, hit .325 this spring before getting sent to minor league camp. Mark Vientos will try to show at Triple-A Syracuse that he can be a major league defender somewhere — whether at an infield corner or in left field — after a loud Grapefruit League season in which he hit everything hard.

Escobar, who was nearly replaced by Carlos Correa, will hear the footsteps if he doesn’t hit immediately. He struggled the first few months of last season before a torrid September buoyed his numbers. In the Grapefruit League, the 34-year-old is hitting .118.

Tommy Pham: Ruf was designated for assignment, which made Pham a contender for plenty of DH at-bats against opposing lefties and a contender to absorb the boos that would have been directed at Ruf.

Tommy Pham appears to be in line for DH at-bats against lefty pitchers, as well as being deployed by Buck Showalter as a fourth outfielder.

Like Ruf, Pham is on the older side (35) and arrived in Queens with a history of hitting southpaws well (a .784 OPS against lefties last season). And like Ruf, Pham has had a poor spring, batting just 7-for-45 (.156) with a double as the only extra-base hit.

Unlike Ruf, Pham can play a decent corner-outfield spot and thus is a bit more valuable. But if he does not swing well quickly, the shouts would get louder that Vientos can handle left field and, more notably, can manhandle lefty pitching.

Today’s back page

🏈 Giants don’t have long-term deal for Saquon Barkley on table anymore

🏈 Jets’ Odell Beckham Jr. interest is real … Giants co-owner hasn’t closed door on Odell reunion

🏀 Rick Pitino makes in-home visits to top transfers in push to reshape St. John’s roster

📱 Join the Inside St. John’s text-message conversation to keep up with all the behind-the-scenes buzz around Rick Pitino’s Red Storm and to get your Johnnies questions answered by reporter Zach Braziller.

Knicks start turning down the Heat

A big week for the Knicks started Quickley.

Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 40 points (on just 17 shots) in a 137-115 win over the Rockets on Monday night at the Garden, ending the Knicks’ three-game skid.

Julius Randle added 26 points, RJ Barrett finished with 19 and Mitchell Robinson contributed a few ferocious blocks to stop the Rockets, who were blown away in the second half and look fully ready for their shot at Victor Wembanyama.

Immanuel Quickley had tongues wagging with a 40-point outburst in the Knicks’ no-fuss win over the Rockets.

The fifth-place Knicks (43-33) moved 2 ½ games up on the idle Nets and Heat, and the Heat (after playing Tuesday night in Toronto) invade the Garden on Wednesday.

If the Knicks beat Miami, they not would only gain further separation, but would take the season series, which would be the first tiebreaker in the case of a tie.

And while it’s too soon for the Knicks to look ahead to Friday, it’s never too soon for us: Tom Thibodeau’s team will head to Cleveland to face off against the current No. 4 seed, with Donovan Mitchell & Co. likely awaiting the Knicks in the first round.

The Knicks cleared the first hurdle in what will be an important week.

It’s Caitlin Clark against the champs

The best player in the sport against the best team in the sport.

Friday night box office at the Final Four.

West Des Moines’ Caitlin Clark led Iowa to its first national semifinal in nearly 30 years with a logo-3-draining, dime-dropping, crowd-hyping 41-point triple-double Sunday night — the first NCAA Tournament triple-double of 30 or more, women’s or men’s — that would be called bravura if it weren’t nearly routine for college basketball’s marquee attraction.

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark left little doubt she is the biggest star on the college basketball stage with a 41-point triple-double to get the Hawkeyes into the Final Four.

And standing in her way now is juggernaut South Carolina, the undefeated (36-0) defending national champions who won their 42nd game in a row by dispatching Maryland, 86-75, in the Elite Eight on Monday night.

(What, you didn’t think we were talking about San Diego State or something ridiculous like that?)

South Carolina’s size, rebounding and defense tend to grind opponents to dust, and Dawn Staley has a roster so deep, her second five probably would have made the Sweet 16.

The Gamecocks have Aliyah Boston, last season’s player of year who’s ready to go No. 1 in next month’s WNBA draft. And they have Brea Beal, an All-America-caliber defender who likely will draw the Clark assignment.

But Clark is unguardable right now. She’s bending the dimensions of the game with her shooting and playmaking. She’s drawing new viewers with her hype, and living up to every bit of it.

And Friday night — at 9 p.m. (more like 9:30) on ESPN — she’ll try to pull off her more impressive feat yet by dethroning the champs.

— Jonathan Lehman

Checking the Darin Ruf trade receipts

Acquired last year in hopes he lift the Mets’ offense, Darin Ruf was released by the team Monday after hitting .152 in 28 games.

As the Mets admitted defeat in their deadline trade for Ruf, let’s check up on the players the Mets sent the Giants:

J.D. Davis: In 49 games with the Giants, Davis morphed back into the slugger he once was. Davis finally got consistent playing time and drilled eight home runs en route to posting an .857 OPS.

To begin this season, though, Davis will face the same problem he could not overcome with the Mets: staying ready while not in the lineup every game. The Giants are expected to start David Villar at third, LaMonte Wade Jr. at first and Joc Pederson at DH. But they expect Davis to see plenty of time against lefties and while spelling the regulars.

Thomas Szapucki: The young lefty pitched well with the Giants last season, allowing three runs in 13 ⅔ innings (1.98 ERA) out of the bullpen, but he recorded just one out in spring training. Szapucki felt arm discomfort that is being called left arm neuropathy. He is expected to see a doctor this week in St. Louis, and could need surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome.

J.D. Davis has been a revitalized hitter in the Giants lineup, but appears slated to largely play as part of a platoon.

LHP Nick Zwack: The lefty starter was rising through the Mets’ system — needing just four outings in Low-A St. Lucie before a promotion to High-A Brooklyn — when he was dealt. The Giants kept Zwack as a starter in High-A, and he pitched to a 3.99 ERA in 29 ⅓ innings in San Francisco’s system. In all, he struck out 132 hitters in 105 ⅔ innings last season.

RHP Carson Seymour: Like Zwack, Seymour made quick work of St. Lucie and was beginning to master High-A competition when he packed his bags. The 6-foot-6 righty with high-90s heat thrived in the Giants’ system, where he struck out 43 batters in 29 ⅓ innings, including a 6 ⅓ -inning, two-hit, 13-strikeout gem in late August. At 24, he is still a few steps from the majors, but the Giants will let him grow.

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Reggie Miller out, Stan Van Gundy in

Stan Van Gundy is expected to be in as a game analyst on CBS/Turner’s NCAA Tournament coverage and Reggie Miller is out, The Post has learned.

Miller made the decision to give up the tournament, which allows him a little more of a break in his NBA commitments.

Background: Miller had worked with Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner in years past. Van Gundy is expected to slide in with Harlan and Bonner, but nothing is set in stone.

The tournament is one of the hardest jobs, if not the hardest, for top sportscasters to prepare for because you only find out on Sunday night the eight teams whose games you will call on Thursday or Friday. The announcers have rarely watched many of the lower-profile teams or haven’t seen them at all during the season. You then call six games over two days.

Former Villanova coach Jay Wright will join CBS/Turner’s coverage of the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

NBAE via Getty Images

New look/old look: The tourney will have a bit of a new look this year after Jay Wright joined CBS/Turner. It is also the last season for Jim Nantz as the voice of the Final Four. Next year, Ian Eagle will take over as the CBS/Turner’s No. 1 NCAA game-caller.

ESPN’s big moves

In naming Burke Magnus as the president of content, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro in some ways is replacing the position that executive vice president Connor Schell relinquished when he left at the end of 2020. However, Magnus’ title is bigger, his power is larger and ESPN’s manifest destiny is greater.

The new Disney setup under Bob Iger has made it so ESPN will report its own breakout financials.

Burke Magnus is taking on a new role as ESPN’s president of content.

Pitaro is still the most important executive at ESPN, but the future of the company will largely depend on Magnus and Rosalyn Durant, who becomes ESPN’s executive vice president, programming and acquisitions.

While Pitaro and Magnus will be involved, Durant will be the one figuring out what makes the most sense with the NBA and future rights deals.

ESPN has been the Yankees of sports media. In this setup, Pitaro is Hal Steinbrenner, Magnus is a Randy Levine/Brian Cashman hybrid and Durant is Aaron Boone.

Quick Clicks

Stephen A. Smith (left) and Molly Qerim (center) made news with their anti-hockey takes on ESPN’s “First Take.”

It’s amazing the social media relevance “First Take” has achieved. Throwaway lines from Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim about the NHL were treated as ESPN treason. With Michael Kay on the show as a guest debater, Qerim asked which New York team would be the next to win a championship. Kay said the Rangers. Qerim replied, “They don’t count.” No disrespect to the Rangers, she added. Smith chimed in that he doesn’t know anything about hockey except the puck is black and he apparently is buddies with Gary Bettman. If I’m ESPN, Smith and Qerim, I’d be pretty happy that any little thing you say becomes a big deal. Yes, it was a little insulting to hockey fans, but Smith is the center of the show and they were looking for the answer to be one of the NBA, MLB or NFL teams.

…WFAN’s Nets broadcast with Chris Carrino and Tim Capstraw is art. Carrino is so precise on all the calls, and Capstraw fills in all the analysis. But what makes it stand out even more is during the flow of the game, they find a way to somehow mention baseball’s new pitch clock and old Buck Williams stories. If young broadcasters want to hear how a game should be called, they should tune in.

SNY is on-site with Eduardo Escobar and the Mets, enhancing its spring training broadcasts.

…SNY’s spring training games sound way better than those on YES Network because SNY has its announcers on-site. YES is saving a few shekels, but there is a feeling missing when you are not live. By not being on-site, it also hurts you during the regular season because there is a flow to covering the game.

MSG pay-per-view

A few years ago, a very top TV executive said to me about cord-cutting and streaming: “We are just going to make less.” That’s the reality of the situation.

This brings me to MSG Networks’ forthcoming MSG+, which will cost $30 per month and then will offer the capability to purchase individual games for $10. It feels priced not to succeed or, at least, designed to keep people paying for cable.

Right now, cable subscribers pay 12 months a year for MSGN, but why would anyone who chose the streaming package do that? From the end of the NBA and NHL regular season in mid-April until the next season starts in October, there is nothing to pay for. That’s nearly six months. MSG+ is offering a yearly rate of $310. Why wouldn’t people just turn it on and off for $180? Or will people just turn back to cable?

MSG+ will offer cord-cutters the chance to stream the Knicks, for $30 per month or $10 for an individual game.

One point that is lost in this conversation: Who is not getting these games who wants them? There are definitely some folks. But at $30 per month?

(MSG does have a dispute with Comcast, so a Comcast user could be one potential subscriber. Beyond that, the market is pretty full.)

The move to offer streaming needs to be done, but in an effort to try to make as much money as cable networks once did, some of these plans feel as if they may not make much, if any, money. At least in the near term.

It is complicated because of relationships with cable subscribers, but if the pricing doesn’t feel fair — and $30 per month seems too steep — then I’m not sure where the audience will come from.

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Inside Apple TV+ 2023 MLB shakeup: new booths, schedule reveal

Apple is very secretive, which makes it even more fun to break news about them. So let’s do it.

The Post has obtained Apple TV+’s Friday night MLB broadcast schedule through July 14. The Mets and Yankees each will be on twice in that time.

April 21: Blue Jays at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. ET

May 26: Padres at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. ET

June 23: Mets at Phillies, 7:05 p.m. ET

July 14: Dodgers at Mets, 7:10 p.m. ET

Remember: These games are exclusive to Apple TV+ — there is no other way to watch them. The Yankees and Mets are slated to have two more Apple games apiece in the second half of the season.

We’ll print the entire Apple TV+ MLB schedule at the bottom of the newsletter. Apple declined to comment on the schedule.

Alex Faust is expected to become the play-by-play voice in one of Apple’s two MLB booths, per sources.
via Instagram/@faust_alex

via Instagram/@faust_alex

Apple news 2.0: Last week, we told you Katie Nolan and Melanie Newman would not be returning and Dontrelle Willis was joining Wayne Randazzo on one broadcast crew. Let’s give you some more news.

The other crew, according to sources, is expected to be LA Kings and Fox Sports play-by-player Alex Faust and Rockies analyst Ryan Spilborghs.

Apple news 3.0: Let’s do some more: Apple is not doing doubleheaders for most of the first half. There are some weeks when the games aren’t simultaneous, but even most of those are staggered starts rather than back-to-back 7 p.m. ET and 10 p.m. ET starts. The new timing probably makes sense because this is streaming and not linear TV, for which you need to fill out a schedule.

NFL TV free agency: The Rex effect

Rex Ryan’s potential return to the coaching ranks would create an opening on ESPN’s marquee NFL studio show.

During Super Bowl week, we listed our top NFL TV free agents, which might become an annual list. As we noted in the column, what makes the offseason fun is surprises. And we could have a whopper if ESPN’s Rex Ryan ends up leaving an NFL TV studio and joining Sean Payton on the Broncos sidelines. Ryan would be fun as a defensive coordinator, but it also would open up a spot on “Sunday NFL Countdown.”

The move for ESPN seems pretty obvious: to add either Marcus Spears or Mina Kimes. After years of “NFL Live” being a bit of a slog, the show got it right by featuring the team of Laura Rutledge, Dan Orlovsky, Kimes and Spears. But that doesn’t mean ESPN shouldn’t have upward mobility.

We have been high on Spears and Kimes for a long time. Here is a column I wrote on Spears in October 2019. Here is a feature I wrote on Kimes a little more than a year ago.

These are the types of folks ESPN should be promoting. Spears is the rare player-turned-analyst who can own a TV screen. Kimes is a rarity as a woman NFL analyst, and she stands out because her opinions are well-reasoned.

Quick Clicks

Matt Ryan is a broadcasting name to watch if he retires as an NFL quarterback.

Someone to watch whom we didn’t mention in the NFL TV free agent column is Matt Ryan. The veteran quarterback still could play next season, but if he doesn’t, we are told he is very interested in a career in broadcasting. He almost won a Super Bowl with the Falcons and has had a nice career, but would have to prove it in the booth to one day be a No. 1 analyst. Tom Brady and Tony Romo, who had stature as a former Cowboy, were able to land jobs in a top network booth without ever putting on a headset. With the big money available in the booth, any future top analyst openings would spark a competition with current Fox No. 1 Greg Olsen, Sean McVay and Mike Tomlin (if he ever left the sideline) all potentially part of the mix. … To be clear, the Pac-12 will get a TV deal. It is just hard to see how the conference gets one that will be incredible. Fox will only do a sweetheart agreement. Amazon is not going to go crazy. Mickey Mouse just told ESPN to watch its wallet for items that are nice but not must-haves. Speculation alert: Could Apple be a savior? Like the Pac-12, the company is West Coast-based, but even if they came up with a nice number, I would have serious concerns about college football putting its best games on a streamer at this point. There are too many games on Saturdays, so — as with the Apple TV+ MLB deal — there are many other options for fans who like a certain team. Yes, the Pac-12 will get a deal, but I don’t see a great one out there. At least not at the moment. … MLB Network will have a new look this season as Stephen Nelson, Scott Braun and Fran Charles will not return. Nelson left to be a Dodgers play-by-player. The specifics of Braun’s and Charles’ next moves are not known yet. … Brandon Gaudin feels like a strong choice by the Braves as Chip Caray’s replacement. … Correction: We always want to give you the right info. The most watched Super Bowl of all time was NBC’s Patriots-Seahawks in the 2015 Super Bowl with nearly 115 million. In the email version of the newsletter, I had that game as Patriots-Panthers.

Unreleased Apple TV+ schedule

Shohei Ohtani’s Angels will appear exclusively on Apple TV+ on April 14, June 9 and June 30.

(Fridays, all times ET)

April 7: Rangers at Cubs, 2:20 p.m.
April 7: Padres at Braves, 7:20 p.m.

April 14: Giants at Tigers, 6:40 p.m.
April 14: Angels at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m.

April 21: Blue Jays at Yankees, 7:05 p.m.
April 21: Astros at Braves, 7:20 p.m.

April 28: Phillies at Astros, 8:10 p.m.
April 28: Cardinals at Dodgers, 10:10 p.m.

May 5: White Sox at Reds, 6:40 p.m.
May 5: Twins at Guardians, 7:10 p.m.

May 12: Royals at Brewers, 8:10 p.m.
May 12: Cubs at Twins, 8:10 p.m.

May 19: Orioles at Blue Jays 7:07 p.m.
May 19: Mariners at Braves, 7:20 p.m.

May 26: Padres at Yankees, 7:05 p.m.
May 26: White Sox at Tigers, 7:10 p.m.

June 2: Brewers at Reds, 5:10 p.m.
June 2: Guardians at Twins, 8:10 p.m.

June 9: Royals at Orioles, 7:05 p.m.
June 9: Mariners at Angels, 9:38 p.m.

June 16: Pirates at Brewers, 8:10 p.m.
June 16: White Sox at Mariners, 10:10 p.m.

June 23: Pirates at Marlins, 6:40 p.m.
June 23: Mets at Phillies, 7:05 p.m.

June 30: Brewers at Pirates, 7:05 p.m.
June 30: Diamondbacks at Angels, 9:38 p.m.

July 7: There are no games currently listed for the Friday prior to the All-Star Game.

*July 14, Dodgers at Mets, 7:10 p.m.

*At the moment, there is only one game listed for July 14.

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Why Tom Brady’s Fox delay is worth $7 million to Greg Olsen

Greetings, before we get to today’s newsletter, please check out my review of the Super Bowl game broadcast on Fox.

We are calling it the “Brady Bonus.”

Tom Brady’s decision to take a gap year before potentially starting as Fox Sports’ No. 1 game analyst will be worth $7 million for Greg Olsen next season.

If Brady showed up for Fox next fall, Olsen not only would be knocked down to the No. 2 game analyst spot, but his salary would drop from $10 million to $3 million. The $3 million is a livable wage, but the extra $7 million is a significant difference.

With Tom Brady set to take some time away from football next season, Greg Olsen will remain in Fox’s top NFL broadcast booth.

Getty Images

Last offseason, Olsen signed his contract after Fox announced Brady would join the network. (The Post subsequently reported that Brady would receive $375 million over 10 years.) Olsen’s contract could be worth $50 million over five years if he remains in the No. 1 booth. It would have fallen to five years and $22 million if Brady started this fall. Now, at worst, Olsen will receive at least $29 million over those five years. Olsen also has an opt-out if he is bumped down and an opportunity to be a lead NFL game analyst for another platform arises.

Quick clicks I

Derek Jeter stopped by the Super Bowl on Sunday to announce he would be joining his former teammate Alex Rodriguez, and former rival David Ortiz, as an MLB analyst for Fox.

The biggest part of the Fox Sports Super Bowl pregame was the announcement that Derek Jeter would be joining its MLB pregame show. Though it got a little lost because of the enormity of the Super Bowl, it is a big deal. Alex Rodriguez was one of the folks who presented the news, which was funny considering their frenemy history. Jeter has been gravitating toward doing more media and has had talks with YES about doing games. Jeter didn’t say much as a player, but Jeter is expected to only be on during big events, so it won’t be heavy lifting. He will be able to joke with A-Rod and David Ortiz, so while he probably won’t set the world on fire, he should be OK. … Fox Sports insider Sean Payton had a funny, “Everybody wants to cover sports media” report when he revealed that the new Denver Broncos coach and former Fox Sports analyst interviewed current ESPN analyst Rex Ryan for the Broncos’ defensive coordinator position. Payton worked the Super Bowl pregame on Sunday. … ESPN had Oz Pearlman, “Oz The Mentalist” on “Sunday NFL Countdown.” If it wasn’t staged, it was kind of crazy as he predicted things that would seem impossible to get right without a cheat sheet. … Early in its pregame, Fox Sports used actors to portray the undefeated 1972 Dolphins on the 50th anniversary of their Super Bowl win. It could have been cheesy, but with Larry Csonka narrating, it was quite good. … The big question that will be answered in the next few days is if this year’s Super Bowl will be the highest-rated game in history. It would need to reach 115 million viewers to top the 2015 Pats-Panthers game.

Quick Clicks II

Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s chief media and business officer.

We had the NFL’s top business official, who is considered the No. 2 executive in the league after Roger Goodell, Brian Rolapp, on “The Marchand & Ourand Sports Media Podcast,” and he talked about Sunday Ticket becoming more “interactive.” He didn’t detail what that would mean, but I kind of wonder if that may eventually involve fantasy sports or betting. To be clear, this is a bit of speculation on my part. I agree with Rolapp that the main viewing experience will not be focused on gambling. (It also won’t be on fantasy, but Rolapp did not address that in the interview.) The mainstream viewer doesn’t want gambling or fantasy to be the focus — and I’m not sure they ever will. Gamblers know what their bets are on games, while fantasy players know which players they are looking out for. With the unlimited channels available on streaming, bettors will be able to seek out an alternative viewing experience that caters to gambling. For fantasy players, and Rolapp is one, could the NFL and YouTube create a way that you could view your players and your opponent’s players in real time? It seems very feasible with the current technology. … Rolapp made it sound like it will use “Monday Night Football” flex scheduling as sparingly as possible. It will begin next season and I’ve heard it could be put in effect six times, however it likely will be used on much fewer occasions. The idea is to not have really bad games later in the season. For MNF, there is a big difference between moving games later in the same day, like the NFL does for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” as compared to switching a matchup to a completely different night. It is also going to put late season trips for fans in flux. If you travel for a 1 p.m. Sunday game and it gets moved to 8:15 p.m. on Monday, that would be two more hotel nights and a change in airfare for fans. …

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell raised the possibility that Amazon could get some flex scheduling for its ‘Thursday Night Football’ schedule, which had its share of unappealing matchups in Year 1.

During his Super Bowl press conference, NFL commissioner Goodell mentioned the possibility of flexible scheduling for Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday night games. The NFL has a vested interest in making Amazon successful. It had a very good first year, but the NFL wants to see it build. Still, I think they will see how MNF goes before lessening the amount of 20-year-old Mazdas Al Michaels has to sell. … Condolences to the family and friends of longtime ESPN producer, Barry Sacks. Sacks passed away from a heart attack at the age of 63 this weekend. An Ithaca College alum and a huge Giants fan, he had a huge influence over ESPN programming and those on-air. Suzy Kolber mentioned during “Sunday NFL Countdown” that when Chris Berman said his trademark “G-Men,” it was an ode to Sacks’ fanhood. A common tribute from broadcasters was how Sacks always said, if you say, “Wow” when viewing a play, then it belongs in the highlight package.

Super Bowl column

In case you missed it, please take a look at my column reviewing the Super Bowl TV broadcast.

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How wild NFL QB carousel could get: Aaron Rodgers, Daniel Jones

Who would’ve predicted Tom Brady joining the losingest franchise in NFL history when the 2020 NFL offseason began?

Who could have foreseen that Jared Goff-Matthew Stafford swap that later decided a Super Bowl when the 2021 NFL offseason began?

Who would’ve imagined that Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson would be dealt out of the NFC and into the loaded AFC when the 2022 NFL offseason began?

What’s next? Brady’s retirement this week started the 2023 NFL quarterback carousel spinning a bit earlier than expected. Let’s have some fun with the “all hell breaks loose” version of quarterback movement, including teams with new starters from trades, free agency or the draft.

Panthers: Daniel Jones

The Giants are acting as if the return of their QB free agent is a formality before even beginning negotiations. What if the price tag exceeds $40 million per year and $140 million guaranteed? The franchise tag’s $32 million salary-cap hit is restrictive, and the new regime has enough fan equity to paint Jones’ ask as unreasonable while starting over. Jones’ hometown Panthers — bold in moves for Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield — jump in, and an old photo of Jones in a Jake Delhomme jersey goes viral.

Daniel Jones grew up in Charlotte, and didn’t leave the state of North Carolina when he selected Duke for college.

Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Giants: Will Levis

Following the script he helped write with the Bills in 2018, general manager Joe Schoen trades up twice to get from No. 26 into the top 10 of the draft to pick a high-ceiling, strong-armed, inconsistently accurate passer, hoping head coach Brian Daboll can mold Kentucky’s Levis into Josh Allen 2.0.

Falcons: Lamar Jackson

Fed up after two years of fruitless extension negotiations, the Ravens franchise-tag Jackson. Falcons owner Arthur Blank — who built a close friendship with Michael Vick — sees Jackson as a carbon copy and OKs dealing three first-round picks and fully guaranteeing a new contract, copying the Browns’ move to beat the Falcons in the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes last offseason.

Ravens: Bryce Young

Suddenly flush with draft capital, including No. 8 overall, the Ravens turn around and trade for the No. 1 pick and Alabama’s Young because the Bears are true to early leaks that they plan to build around third-year quarterback Justin Fields. Firing offensive coordinator Greg Roman — who built the run-first, tight-end-heavy offenses for Colin Kaepernick and Jackson — was the first sign of a shift to a more pro-style offense.

Bryce Young, a recent Sugar Bowl winner, could be the first quarterback selected this year.

49ers: Aaron Rodgers

It’s easy for the Packers to say that Aaron Rodgers only will be dealt in the AFC. But this franchise handled facing Brett Favre on the Vikings for two years at the end of his career. So, if the 49ers make the best offer because of real fears that Trey Lance can’t stay healthy and Brock Purdy won’t be healthy in time to prove he’s no fluke, are the Packers going to say no? It’s interesting that Rodgers quipped “I’m not going to San Fran” on Thursday while golfing. Why was that on his mind?

Packers: Jordan Love

Can the Packers really strike gold twice? Trading Favre worked out because it turned out they had a Hall of Famer in Rodgers sitting on their bench for three seasons. It’s a lot to ask Love to repeat history, but the Packers need to play him to find out if he can be the future — instead of a wasted first-round pick that could’ve been a much-needed receiver — in the final year of his contract.

Texans: Trey Lance

If the Jets’ Robert Saleh and Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel taught us anything, it’s that former 49ers assistants take players with them to new jobs. The Texans hold the No. 2 pick, but defensive end Will Anderson or defensive tackle Jalen Carter would be a foundational piece for new head coach DeMeco Ryans’ defense if he can convince the front office to take a chance on Lance instead of drafting Levis or C.J. Stroud.

Patriots: Jimmy Garoppolo

Garoppolo might have more suitors than anyone because of his ties to the prolific Bill Belichick and Kyle Shanahan coaching trees. Ultimately, Belichick gets the quarterback he has wanted ever since drafting Garoppolo in 2014, when he thought Brady was near retirement. Garoppolo never worked with returning Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. The egoless Bailey Zappe develops behind Garoppolo.

Could Jimmy Garoppolo wear Patriots gear again, just like he was in this photo from minicamp in 2014?

Raiders: Mac Jones

General manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels are going to dip into their Patriots roots to replace Derek Carr. If going all-in for Brady was Plan A and luring Garoppolo was Plan B, what is Plan C? Calling the Patriots to say, “Isn’t it redundant to have two young backups like Jones and Zappe?” McDaniels coached Jones as a rookie before his step back in Year 2.

Jets: Derek Carr

After missing out on Rodgers, Carr is a fine consolation prize, especially because he doesn’t cost any assets other than money after forcing the Raiders into releasing him to save salary-cap space by exercising his no-trade clause. Carr’s brother, David, was Eli Manning’s three-year backup, and convinces him that New York is a great place to win.

Colts: C.J. Stroud

Outbid for the No. 1 pick or Fields in talks with the Bears, the Colts stay put at No. 4 and seek to end the game of musical chairs that has seen seven different Week 1 quarterbacks in seven years by adding Ohio State’s Stroud to the lineage of Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck.

Saints: Matt Ryan

A brief flirtation with retirement after a one-year disaster with the Colts is scratched when Ryan sees a chance to again rule the moribund NFC South, only from the other side of the Falcons-Saints rivalry. Call time of death on the Andy Dalton-Jameis Winston-Taysom Hill rotation.

Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson is one of the most intriguing prospects in the 2023 draft.

Buccaneers: Ryan Tannehill

What does life after Brady look like? Re-sign free agent Blaine Gabbert? Turn to former second-round pick Kyle Trask for his first career start? It makes more sense for a veteran team with now-or-never head coach Todd Bowles to make a run at the division title while all other teams are down by trading for the final year of Tannehill’s contract.

Titans: Anthony Richardson

Who is going to fall in love with Richardson’s tantalizing, but raw, skillset? How about new general manager Ran Carthon, who was part of the 49ers’ decision to draft Lance — who had one season with more than 100 passes thrown since high school in 2017 — based on potential?

Today’s back page

🎙 CBS execs tried intervention to address Tony Romo’s slippage

🏈 Giants star slams Eagles coach before Super Bowl

⚾ Mets’ $75M pitcher also had iffy physical before Carlos Correa saga

It’s a make … and make … and make league

Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard rang in February with a 42-point outburst in a win over the Grizzlies in Memphis. Did you notice? Probably not. After all, he had already started the week with a different 42-point outing in a win over the Hawks. That night, he had company on the night’s scoring leaderboard from Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray, who had 40, and Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, who poured in 53 against the woebegone Pistons.

On Thursday night, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo went one better, dropping 54 in a one-point victory over the Clippers — his third 50-burger in his past 11 games.

In total, there have been 122 individual 40-point games this season. The record is 142, set more than 60 years ago when Wilt Chamberlain, then of the Philadelphia Warriors, recorded 63 40-point nights on his own (h/t NBA.com’s John Schuhmann). It doesn’t take a math wizard to see that with the season not even at the All-Star break, the league should fly past that mark set in the 1961-62 season. We’re on pace for a total of 192 individual games of 40 points or better, well past even the more modern-day mark of 137 during the 2018-19 season.

Damian Lillard’s 42-point outburst is far from an anomaly this season.

To what do we owe this offensive bounty? Let’s take a quick look.

Defense optional: The Cavaliers have the league’s best defense, per defensive rating, allowing 109.7 points per 100 possessions. As noted recently on ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast, that number would have ranked closer to the bottom third of the league than the top as recently as five seasons ago (21st, to be exact). And the 2017-18 season wasn’t exactly filled with Knicks-Bulls slugfests. That’s partly a result of coaches deploying more offensively inclined lineups, partly the result of rest days taking some of the best players (and their defensive capabilities) off the floor and partly the result of evolving rules limiting the amount of potential shot-changing contact defenders can make.
Skills kill: Look at the roster at almost any team and you can find someone capable of going off on any random night. Yes, there are the Doncics, the Antetokounmpos and the Jayson Tatums, but you also have the Zach LaVines (three 40-point nights) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders (also three 40-point nights) and even the Caris LeVerts — who can score from almost anywhere on the floor (more on that in a second). That’s not just a coincidence, but the result of a basketball development culture that has players working with skills coaches and honing their games as early as elementary school. Don’t take it from me, but a four-time title-winning coach, too.
Three is the magic number: It’s not exactly news that teams are relying on the 3-pointer more than ever, but just take a look at the past decade: The average number of 3s made per game per team is up to 12.3 this season, from 7.2 in 2012-13. On Wednesday night, for example, Tatum likely would have easily posted his eighth(!) 40-point or better game had the Celtics not run the Nets off the floor from the opening tip. Though he finished with 31 for the night, Tatum tallied 18 of those points in the first quarter, and finished with seven made 3s.

Some may bemoan the lack of defense all these numbers suggest. Some may claim this is the result of the game looking more and more like Pop-A-Shot. Some of us just want to enjoy the skills on display. But the game is different. The 3 has become the new-age dunk. Better get out your calculators.

— Paul Forrester

It turns out a person can be two places at once

Wearing an Islanders jersey after more than eight seasons as a Vancouver Canuck will be strange for Bo Horvat. It will be equally strange for fans at All-Star weekend, where the NHL has kept Horvat on the Pacific Division team despite his new associations.

Horvat will don an Islanders Fisherman jersey at the Skills Challenge on Friday night. Then, at Saturday’s All-Star Game, he will play for the Pacific — the NHL’s way of splitting the baby in a situation where there is not an obvious solution.

“I don’t know how they came up with everything,” Horvat said. “I was just happy to be here. All this unfolded. They basically asked me if I still wanted to come. Of course I wanted to come and enjoy the weekend. And then they worked out the logistics after that.”

Bo Horvat will represent both the Canucks and Islanders at various points during All-Star weekend.

Saturday will give Horvat a chance to skate with now-former teammate Elias Pettersson again (Horvat, by the way, endorsed Pettersson to replace him as captain of the Canucks).

“It’s gonna be fun and weird and awesome at the same time,” Horvat said. “I don’t really know how to approach it or how to talk about it, but I’m excited for it. Excited to skate with him at least on the same team for the last time, unless we join teams again later down in our careers. Really excited to see him.”

— Ethan Sears in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

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Original Source

Yankees hope to take YES direct-to-consumer by Opening Day

YES Network is working toward offering its service direct-to-consumer by Yankees Opening Day at the end of March, The Post has learned.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. While the aim is to be up and running by the time the Yankees face the Giants on March 30, YES won’t press go unless everything is lined up, so the start date could be moved. In late July, Yankees president and YES chairman Randy Levine said on WFAN’s “Carton & Roberts” that YES would have a DTC product “very soon.”

2. While a DTC offering would allow viewers to bypass cable and satellite providers, YES is working with its current distributors in an effort to make it work for all parties.

3. The price is not decided.

4. NESN jumped into the direct-to-consumer RSN game last year, pricing it at $30 a month for Red Sox and Bruins games, but also added eight tickets to games at Fenway. While the initial price was high enough to make it feel designed to keep people on cable, the tickets really sweetened the offer, which probably didn’t please NESN’s legacy distributors.

With the most valuable regional sports network product in the country, YES broadcasts of Yankees games with Michael Kay and David Cone may be available direct-to-consumer by Opening Day.

Robert Sabo for the NY POST

5. Where will YES DTC be available? Only in the local rights area, not everywhere. Maybe one day distribution will expand, but in the near term, if you are in the tri-state area where you can get Yankees games on YES, you’ll be able to buy this new product without cable.

Bottom line: The Yankees have the most valued regional sports product in the country. YES also has the Nets, but going direct-to-consumer with Yankees games and more will be a big deal for the business when the product launches.

It is no coincidence that the YES app logo has been part of network game broadcasts in the right hand corner for some time now. The Yankees, beginning last year, started streaming 21 games via Amazon Prime Video. So this would be a potential further expansion into the streaming world.

What about SNY?

Mets broadcasts featuring Ron Darling, Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez (assuming he signs a new deal with the network) aren’t slated to be available on a DTC product for at least another season.

From what we understand, SNY is most likely to wait another year before they jump into the direct-to-consumer game. It will happen. They are just taking it a bit slower.

The question that SNY, and each of these networks considering DTC has to ask: Are there a lot of people who must have games that don’t have access? If not, there might not be a need to rush. Eventually, all RSNs, leagues and networks will have it. You want to be a little ahead of the curve, but it is a needle that is being thread.

And MSG Network?

Post Business reporter Josh Kosman reported in November that MSG Network hoped to have its DTC product ready for the second half of the Knicks and Rangers seasons, and it would be priced at $20 to $25 per month.

The Post reported last fall that Rangers and Knicks broadcasts were expected to cost $20-$25 per month once MSG started its DTC service.

“We are progressing in the design and development of our direct-to-consumer offering, and remain on track to launch in the second half of the current NBA and NHL seasons,” MSG Network President and CEO Andrea Greenberg told Kosman in November. “So while the media landscape is certainly evolving, we continue to believe in the value of our premium content and our ability to innovate, to drive value for partners, advertisers and viewers alike.”

Quick clicks

Tony Romo and Jim Nantz seem to have lost the fundamentals of what once made them arguably the NFL’s top broadcasting booth.

The issue for CBS with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo is that the broadcast is not fundamentally sound. Until that improves, the calls of the games are going to be crucified by fans and experts alike because they are all over the place and lack cohesion. Romo has come under increasingly harsh criticism, and he’s earned it. What made him a success — his gunslinging approach from the booth — is a weakness now because he is not just off the field and doesn’t study enough to be off-the-cuff anymore. So he spends what seems like half his time gushing over quarterbacks, like Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow. We get it, they are really good. Meanwhile, Nantz isn’t on the same page with Romo. For all the passion and skill Nantz has on golf, he lacks it on football. He also can’t volley quick enough and lead Romo to bring some continuity to the broadcast. Unless Nantz and Romo can somehow improve their fundamentals, they will have problems. … Nantz did make me laugh in the post-game. As usual, he came down from the booth to do the trophy presentation. At the end of the game, Nantz dubbed the Super Bowl the “Andy Reid Bowl.” When interviewing Reid, Nantz quoted himself. …

Brock Purdy’s elbow injury not only limited him essentially to handing the ball off after he returned, but gave Fox broadcasters a less-than-inspiring game to cover.

Fox Sports was served a dud of a championship game with the depleted 49ers, but its broadcast got better as the game went along. They were a little slow on whether or not Brock Purdy could return to the game or not, which was quickly the biggest story. With Purdy out with an elbow injury, Fox showed video of him warming up. Sideline reporters, even one as accomplished as Erin Andrews, can only do so much, because the teams decide during games what information they feed, but we needed some analysis about what possibly was going on. To start the second quarter, analyst Greg Olsen did a fine job explaining that the elbow injury could be impacting the feeling in Purdy’s right throwing hand. Purdy did eventually return, but didn’t really throw the ball. Throughout the game, Burkhardt gave Olsen a lot of room to analyze, and, overall, Olsen did well. … Burkhardt grew up an Eagles’ fan in Bloomfield, NJ. In two weeks, he’ll call the Eagles in his first Super Bowl. … Chris Fowler furthered the mockery that was ESPN not sending its top play-by-players and analysts to the Australian Open. During the men’s semifinals, ESPN tried to fool the audience in its open by positioning Fowler and John McEnroe in front of a screen with the Australian Open crowd behind them. To a trained eye, it may have been obvious that they weren’t there, but most people are watching for the sport. After the high temperatures were noted by a sideline reporter in Melbourne, Fowler said it was 35 degrees in Bristol. And the ruse was over. Hopefully, next year, ESPN treats the Australian Open like a grand slam and not a second rate event. …

Soon to be 85, John Sterling may need Sweeny Murti’s eventual successor to be able to pinch-hit for him on occasion over the long season.

WFAN plans on replacing Sweeny Murti. It hopes to have someone who can do the post-game and be a pinch-hitter if — when? — John Sterling needs some days off. As is his nature, Sterling, 85 in July, is currently pushing to do all the games, but there is a good chance that he will change his mind when the grind of the season starts to be felt. That is why someone like Justin Shackil could be the choice for FAN. Shackil filled in for Sterling on games last year and did well. He has been working on Yankees-related shows from in-stadium to a Jomboy podcast with David Cone, while also doing boxing work for DAZN. …Mike Francesa’s appearance on Wednesday with his former partner Chris Russo on ESPN’s “First Take” is a win for … Stephen A. Smith. You could argue that Smith has already surpassed “Mike & the Mad Dog” in his career impact, but for Smith, who has toiled in and out of New York radio, where Russo and Francesa have been kings, it has to be pretty sweet to have the duo on his program.

Knicks ratings disaster

Even with Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson guiding the Knicks into playoff contention, MSG viewers have not guided themselves to watch the team as much as last season.

The Knicks ratings on MSG Network are down 22 percent compared to this time last year, according to a source with access to the Nielsen ratings. MSG, unlike most other networks, does not release its ratings. This secretiveness is unsurprising for a James Dolan company.

The Knicks are averaging 110,000 viewers per game, which is better than the Nets at 66,000. The Nets are down, but just six percent.

Anyway, with all the drama around the Garden, this may not be a big worry, but that is a significant drop year-over-year. The Garden doesn’t acknowledge the ratings, so if it has a reason for the plunge, it is unknown. It probably doesn’t help that MSG Network remains off Comcast systems, but that was the case last year, too.

Pac-12 dilemma

The Pac-12 TV deal is something to watch, because, while I think it has some suitors in Amazon, ESPN and Fox Sports, the sense I keep getting is none of them view it as a must-have. So where does the conference find leverage? In theory, it could look outside those three, but others all come with issues — namely exposure — because NBC, CBS and Apple TV+ would want to make it mostly a streaming deal, if they were even interested. Apple, of course, doesn’t have a broadcast network, while NBC has its new prime time Big Ten games starting in the fall and Notre Dame home games in the afternoon. And CBS has afternoon Big Ten on broadcast. Maybe there is an opening for a Saturday night Pac-12 schedule on broadcast TV, but it doesn’t feel like a match; at least not for big money.

The Pac-12 may find more exposure in its next media rights deal as part of a streaming package more than on traditional broadcasts, many of which have already been scheduled with other conference games.

The idea of Amazon Prime Video taking on the tonnage of the Pac-12 may not fully line up unless it is at the right price. Amazon doesn’t have a linear lineup to fill out, so it doesn’t need programming. ESPN and Fox Sports do, but between their other deals (ESPN with the SEC, ACC and Big 12, and Fox Sports with the Big Ten and the Big 12), they don’t necessarily need the extra games the Pac-12 would provide. With the economy in question, no one is looking to break the bank.

Amazon did well with Thursday Night Football, but, beyond the obvious fact that the NFL is a far different animal than the Pac-12, TNF also is a standalone game. Pac-12 matchups are in competition with endless other college games.

There are going to be deals to be made for the Pac-12, but will they be strong enough to stave off more realignment; especially with the Big 12’s agreement with ESPN allowing for further payments if Power 5 schools are added? The Pac-12 should be able to get close to the nearly $32 million per school that the Big 12 received, but the Pac-12 will have to realize that is more the comp, not the Big Ten.

On top of all of this, the Pac-12 may owe Comcast $50 million for overcharging. Not good.

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How ESPN, Fox Sports fail by not sending announcers to games

Fox Sports and ESPN have decided to have second-rate operations for some major sports, which reflects poorly on the networks and the events they are covering.

Let’s start with Fox Sports, which embarrassingly failed to have its announcers at each of its college football games in the fall, reportedly did not initially plan to send many of its broadcast teams to the World Cup (eventually it did, thanks in part to a sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways), didn’t have announcers at MLB games that aired on FS1 and now, in the latest absence, failed to have announcers courtside for a big Pac-12 men’s basketball battle between No. 5 UCLA and Arizona State this week.

As for ESPN, it is treating the Australian Open as if it is not a grand slam. Chris Fowler, John McEnroe and the rest of its top announcers are in Bristol — not in Melbourne.

What is ESPN saying to its tennis audience? What is it saying to its partners? It is saying it is not very important to have the best coverage.

ESPN’s top announcers are not on-site at the Australian Open, where Sebastian Korda has surged into the quarterfinals.

Getty Images

Backlash: Substack’s John Canzano spoke to Arizona State senior associate athletic director Doug Tammaro.

“When I saw they weren’t coming on an email, I was bummed,” Tammaro said. “You’re just bummed out.”

Declined comment: Fox Sports and ESPN both declined comment when asked how much money they are saving. With the pandemic health protocols no longer a legit excuse, this is just a money decision. It’s a way to cut corners.

Be careful: If you tell viewers that what they are watching is not important, they will eventually believe you. If you tell your broadcast rights partners they are not that important to you, they will go elsewhere at some point. You also are putting your announcers in a bad position.

The networks are deciding a lower-quality broadcast is worth it to them to save money. Maybe, but it is hard for me to see how any TV decision-makers who care about production value and being the best could support not putting their people in the optimal position to succeed, especially on top college basketball and tennis events.

Quick Clicks

Bill Walton has the perfect personality for an alternative NBA broadcast with Jason Benetti (right).

MLB Network will have the Hall of Fame announcement at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. They have ancillary programs before and after the reveal of who (if anyone) will get into Cooperstown. … NBC Sports said it had 808,000 viewers for the Jan. 15 stream of Tottenham-Arsenal on Peacock. The numbers were courtesy Adobe Analytics, via NBC. That seems like a significant figure. These soccer numbers might show that a dedicated audience will migrate to streaming for highly desirable programming. … Bill Walton’s alternative cast on NBA League Pass app is a good idea because Walton has the type of personality that can work on these broadcasts. On a regular call, Walton can get a bit in the way if you are really into the actual game you are watching. But when you are opting in to view Walton, Jason Benetti and friends, it makes sense because you are choosing to go in the way-out machine. Alternatives such as this and the Manningcast are not the future of broadcasting. These alternative broadcasts will be a part of some presentations, but it is going to be a long time, maybe never, before the traditional two-person or three-person crews that call games are replaced. … Dreaded Oops: Fox Sports’ Rob Gronkowski, on the big desk Saturday, was so close, yet so far, to saying Eagles’ offensive coordinator Shane Steichen’s name correctly. Gronkowski said, “Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Spikeman.” Here’s the clip. Meanwhile, after the Chiefs win, NBC’s Maria Taylor either had a little slip of the tongue or really doesn’t like Kansas City. Here’s the clip.

LIV and let live

In golf parlance, LIV Golf’s TV deal with The CW starts in the bunker, but has a good lie that with a proper wedge could land on the green.

The first thing for LIV that makes it not great: It’s not Fox Sports. With NBC, CBS and ESPN/ABC thought not to be real contenders for LIV, Fox Sports potentially could have been a fit, but Fox said no to the revenue sharing with no fee that The CW ultimately agreed to with LIV.

Phil Mickelson and other stars of LIV Golf will be relegated to being seen on The CW.

Besides Fox Sports’ superior reach, this would have made LIV more mainstream with a better chance for acceptance and growth.

With the opening rounds of its tournaments available exclusively on The CW app, LIV will feel very niche — even with some of the world’s top players involved. And though the Saudi-backed tour’s goal may be able to succeed with “sportswashing,” there doesn’t really seem to be a plan at the moment for having a viable business. The CW deal is a start, but the network is actually distributed less widely than YouTube, and I don’t think, as opposed to a platform such as Fox, it will give potential LIV sponsors enough of a cover to really want to get too involved. And though LIV officials are acting as if it was all good, it really isn’t that great.

I thought this from Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch put it well:

“Alert to an opportunity to impress his boss, LIV’s chief media officer, Will Staeger, conjured a version of events that would have even George Santos calling for narrative restraint.

“‘Following a competitive bidding window with multiple U.S. networks and streaming platforms, the sports story of 2022 has just moved into pole position for the top story of 2023,’ [Staeger] wrote in a social media post.

“Staeger’s comment raises two questions for those among us predisposed to cynicism: did autocorrect change ‘begging’ to ‘bidding,’ and how does a competitive process among multiple parties result in giving away the product for free to the worst-case option?”

FAN’s old guard out

Yankees reporter Sweeny Murti (with Chasen Shreve at spring training in 2018) is the latest member of WFAN’s old guard to leave the station.

All media is evolving, and WFAN — the top sports radio station in the country — is no different. Sweeny Murti, gone after three decades with the station, joins a long list of FAN’s core that is either no longer with the station or has a reduced role. Murti, who announced his departure on Friday, joins Mike Francesa, Steve Somers, Joe Benigno, Eddie Coleman, John Minko and ex-program director Mark Chernoff as former staples of 660 AM/101.9 FM.

Murti had been on the Yankees beat for 22 years, but in recent years had stopped traveling. FAN also has become less reliant on regular spots, most notably in the afternoons, when Craig Carton is not a fan of them, which follows the philosophy of “Boomer & Gio” morning producer Al Dukes, who doesn’t like most interviews.

Murti had remained full-time even as his role went from traveling with the team to doing just the post-game show. FAN offered to keep him on the post-game part-time, but he declined.

The sports media business has changed, and COVID has accelerated for some outlets (not The Post, thankfully) the idea that you don’t have to be there to cover a team properly.

Institutional knowledge is lost, which the people who either don’t know better or don’t want to know may not fully understand. Murti had a very nice run on New York radio for three decades. The FAN loses that institutional knowledge without him. Good thing its hosts can still read the papers.

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Why the Fisherman flopped — and now is an Islanders hit

Maybe it all would have turned out differently if the Islanders had won a playoff series. Maybe all it would have taken was just getting to the playoffs. Maybe it was all down to the disastrous record and pair of last-place finishes over the two seasons the Islanders used the infamous Fisherman as their primary logo.

Certainly the losing had at least something to do with the backlash back then.

“One of the truisms in sports is that you should rebrand when you expect that you’re gonna go in a winning direction,” Nick Hirshon, a journalism professor at William Patterson University and author of “We Want Fish Sticks,” a book that chronicles the failed rebranding, said in a phone call with Sports+.

The Islanders rebranded off a 15-28-5 lockout-shortened season in 1994-95. That was already one box they failed to check. The rest would come soon enough.

The original iteration of the Fisherman sweater, from the 1996-97 season.

NHLI via Getty Images

That is part of the reason why it might be surprising to anyone around between 1995 and 1997 that the Islanders have wholeheartedly embraced the Fisherman as their reverse retro look this season. When the NHL first introduced the retro concept in 2020, the Islanders steadfastly avoided it, instead going with a navy blue sweater that was basically the same as their regular jersey.

This time, they took the plunge, and the buzz was immediate. The sweaters quickly became ubiquitous around the UBS Arena concourse. The Isles are an organization based just outside of one of the league’s biggest media markets, but one that struggles to get attention. This got attention.

Players hailed it. So did the marketing team.

“I like the throwback stuff,” Zach Parise said in October. “I like the different looks, the different colors. Not the change, but just for a different look. It’s always neat for the fans.”

Why, though, has there been such a change in attitude about this logo, once associated with the dark days of the franchise?

Nick Hirshon’s book chronicles the disastrous rollout of the Islanders’ Fisherman logo.

“When the Islanders first unveiled the Fisherman logo in 1995, there were lots of mistakes made,” Hirshon said. “There wasn’t a lot of research done, there were no focus groups or interviews with fans to determine whether they wanted to part from the original logo. They didn’t have a really good ambassador for the rebrand. In most of the ads at the time, they had either [general manager] Mike Milbury or [owner] John Spano, who turned out to be a con artist and had to give up the team. And they really didn’t focus as much on the team, like Ziggy Palffy, who was incredibly popular and still is with the fan base.

“I think one of the reasons is with the passage of time, a lot of the younger fans who don’t remember the Fisherman logo from its first run in 1995-1997, they just view this as a cool retro design and they don’t associate it with the losing of the 1990s or any of the other negative media attention that it received: ‘We Want Fish Sticks’ chants and all that.”

Hirshon points to how the Kings rebranded after trading for Wayne Gretzky in 1988 as what a successful effort looked like. Gretzky arrived at his introductory press conference wearing silver and black, new colors for a franchise that previously had draped itself in the same purple and gold as their co-tenants at the Los Angeles Forum.

With Gretzky, the Kings — who had made the playoffs in the two previous seasons before acquiring No. 99 — became perennial contenders, making it as far as the Stanley Cup Final in 1993. Silver and black are still the primary colors of their logo set.

“People are more receptive to something like that because the team is doing good, so ‘I guess I’ll go out and buy the new jersey and I’ll associate it with all these positive memories,’” Hirshon said. “I think it’s that, I think it’s also remembering that changing a jersey or a logo is just one step in a more comprehensive rebranding.”

The Islanders are wearing the Fisherman jersey as a reverse retro look for six games this season.

The Islanders, at the time, also introduced Nyisles as their new mascot and included elements in their game presentation meant to emphasize the Fisherman brand — a foghorn as the goal horn and fog-like smoke emanating from the Nassau Coliseum scoreboard. With the team struggling, though, and Spano soon being chased out of ownership due to fraud, that all became part of the running joke that was the franchise.

A wholesale rebranding effort would not be greeted happily now. But as a nod to the past and a jersey that they’re wearing six times this season — the final two occasions are coming Saturday against the Hurricanes and Jan. 28 against Las Vegas — the Fisherman comes off as cool.

“[Fans] just see it as, “Hey, this is something that’s cool and old, it kind of fits in with the nostalgic kind of direction that a lot of sports teams have been going in the last few years,’ especially with 1990s designs,” Hirshon said. “For a lot of people like myself, they grew up in the ’90s and now we’re getting nostalgic: ‘Yeah, remember that?’ It’s now old enough that we kind of pine for it again.”

How has Pelech’s injury impacted matchups?

The Islanders’ dependable top defense pair of Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech (right) has been broken up due to Pelech’s injury.

Adam Pelech continues to skate with the team in his recovery from a head injury, but it has been a little over six weeks since the star defenseman went down against the Blues following a hit into the boards by Robert Bortuzzo.

Though the focus lately has been on the Isles’ offensive struggles, losing Pelech on the back end has caused major issues. The 2022 All-Star forms a steadfast pair with Ryan Pulock that eats up the largest bulk of minutes against opposing top lines when both are healthy. Without Pelech, Pulock has skated with whomever Pelech’s replacement has been on a given night — lately Parker Wotherspoon, though Dennis Cholowski drew in for Wotherspoon against the Bruins on Wednesday. That has been Lane Lambert’s way of protecting Wotherspoon, Cholowski or Robin Salo, all of whom have gotten a chance at that spot. But it means the Isles have needed to go with another pair — which has almost always been Scott Mayfield’s — against opposing top lines.

A couple things to take note of here. First, the graphic dates back to Dec. 23, Wotherspoon’s debut. Second, we looked at which pair played the most, but that doesn’t mean one pair played exclusively against one line. Third, remember that on the road, the Islanders don’t have last change — and therefore don’t have as much control of matchups.

The last two caveats apply in particular to the Calgary game, the only one we looked at in which Mayfield wasn’t involved as the primary matchup against a top line. Aho and Mayfield played roughly five minutes against Nazem Kadri’s line that night and were on the ice for two goals against — Pulock and Wotherspoon just happened to be on for slightly longer, with the former being on for a goal against as well.

Still, there are some takeaways here, the biggest being that Lambert still is sheltering Noah Dobson. Against Washington on Monday night, for example, Dobson played just 3:22 total while Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome’s left wing — was on the ice. Mayfield and Romanov were on the ice for 11:54 and 10:04, respectively.

When Lambert and GM Lou Lamoriello talk about Dobson taking the next steps defensively, they mean being able to trust him in spots like this. Right now, he isn’t quite there yet. Neither is Aho, who was demoted off Mayfield’s left side following a series of poor performances out west.

The Islanders haven’t trusted Noah Dobson with a promotion to date.

So lately, the Isles have been left with Mayfield and Romanov as their de facto top pair, and the results have been mixed. Minnesota’s top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Sam Steel and Mats Zuccarello had a strong night against them, as did the Capitals’ Ovechkin-Strome line. Mayfield and Romanov did hold their own against a heavy Stars top line of Jason Robertson, Tyler Seguin and Joe Pavelski — Robertson scored, but during a rare shift against Wotherspoon and Pulock — as well as against Montreal’s top line, centered by Nick Suzuki.

That alignment has the added disadvantages of splitting up Romanov and Dobson, a well-balanced pair that the Islanders want to make work, and limiting Dobson’s five-on-five ice time, which was down 1:16 per game from last season going into Wednesday.

Still, it might be the best solution they have right now. Which only makes it all the more imperative to get Pelech back and correct the order of things.

Five hits from Bruins 4, Islanders 1

1. William Dufour struggled in his debut, turning the puck over two separate times that led to goals. But the Islanders put their 20-year-old prospect in a position to fail. Asking him to make his NHL debut on the top line against the Bruins and then nailing him to the bench after he struggled is a self-fulfilling prophecy, one that stinks of desperation.

2. Ditto for the recent deployment of Semyon Varlamov, who allowed four goals on 1.86 expected goals-against on Wednesday, per Natural Stat Trick. The NHL is a results league, and that is on Varlamov, just as Dufour’s performance is on him. But not giving Varlamov a single game on the homestand until the last and then expecting him to beat the best team in the league — in only the second game he’s played in a month — does wrong by the player.

Trying to stop the NHL’s best team in only his second game in the last month was not a winning formula for Semyon Varlamov.

3. When every single penny of cap space matters, keeping Simon Holmstrom on the roster to be a healthy scratch instead of sending him to AHL Bridgeport — even if only for the day — was another head-scratcher.

4. Prior to any roster moves made Thursday, the Islanders had $3.36 million in cap space and were on pace to have $6.88 million by the March 3 trade deadline. Can they afford to wait that long to make a move? It is becoming hard to see how.

5. For all the well-deserved hand-wringing over the power play, the Islanders had just five high-danger chances at five-on-five on Wednesday, per Natural Stat Trick. It was the fourth time in their last seven games they’ve been held to five or fewer high-danger chances, and during the five-game homestand, they scored a total of eight goals.

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Which MLB teams had the best, worst and strangest offseasons?

The merciful end of the Carlos Correa saga — really! It’s over! He made the leap from “agreed with” to “signed with” the Twins! — is the unofficial end of baseball’s free-agent rush. There are still plenty of unsigned players, led by backbone-testing figures in Aroldis Chapman and soon-to-be-free-agent Trevor Bauer, but all the nine-digit contracts have been signed.

Which means we have a pretty good idea about how each team will look to begin the 2023 season, and that makes now as good a time as any to evaluate whose offseasons stood out. The two greatest outliers shouldn’t be a surprise.

Most ambitious: New York

This city has won this offseason. The Yankees and Mets have combined to commit more than a billion dollars to 12 free agents, Aaron Judge ($360 million) the largest outlay among the two teams and Justin Verlander ($43.3M) receiving the most per season. While the Yankees (about $573.5 million) and Mets (about $477 million) have bought their way to at least expected contention, no other team exceeded $400 million in free-agent pacts. Six clubs have spent less than $13 million in free agency (the Diamondbacks, Reds, Rockies, Mariners, Brewers and Braves, who at least have the excuse of locking up their stars early).

The Mets did not land Correa — whom Steve Cohen viewed as the last piece and one true upgrade over the 2022 Mets — but they did retain Brandon Nimmo ($162 million), Edwin Diaz ($102M) and Adam Ottavino ($14.5M). Verlander ($86.6M) will replace Jacob deGrom, and Kodai Senga ($75M) and Jose Quintana ($26M) will step in for Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker. David Robertson ($10M) will be a new weapon in a revamped bullpen and Danny Mendick ($1M) will be a flexible infielder. The Mets, who essentially traded James McCann for Omar Narvaez, look similarly built to the club that won 101 games last season.

The Yankees agreed to shell out $162 million for Carlos Rodon in hopes of finding a co-ace to pair with Gerrit Cole.

Corey Sipkin

The turnover is smaller in The Bronx, where the Yankees held on to Judge and Anthony Rizzo ($40 million) and added Carlos Rodon ($162M) and old friend Tommy Kahnle ($11.5M). Rodon — a strikeout machine and injury worry — elevates the ceiling for a team that won 99 games last season. There probably is more work to do, though — including developing prospects such as Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza — to catch the Astros.

Most disappointing: Giants

We’re differentiating disappointing from worst (more on that later). Because the Giants did plenty! Only the Mets (eight) have signed more free agents than the Giants (seven). President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi spread out about $193 million to reshape a team that disappointed last season. If Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger stay healthy, and if Joc Pederson grows into a star with rules preventing extreme defensive shifts, and if the Giants’ pitching minds work their magic with Sean Manaea and Ross Stripling, there is a pretty clear route to the playoffs.

But the Giants sought a star and struck out. They drew 30,650 fans per game last season, their lowest in a non-COVID-affected season since 1999. Zaidi’s belief in platoons — utilizing one lineup against lefty pitchers and another against righties, with few bats appearing in both — has proven it can work (in 2021) and proven it can be difficult to market. Fans often come to games to see stars — not to see lineup changes that result in a new cleanup hitter when the opposing team brings in a different-handed reliever.

An offseason that began with visions of Carlos Correa at shortstop eventually left the Giants counting on Brandon Crawford to start there yet again.

The Giants would have loved to find a star to pencil into their lineup every day, which is precisely what they found until they found an issue in Correa’s physical. The Giants let the shortstop walk (as did the Mets), but were left without a name to build around. Maybe this offseason was productive, but it fell far short of expectations.

Worst (on paper): Red Sox

Baseball is funny and unpredictable. The Nationals lost Bryce Harper and won the World Series. The World Series-winning Astros somehow looked stronger without Correa. Offseason winners are rarely championship winners.

So maybe the Red Sox know something the rest of the baseball world doesn’t, but it is difficult to detect the plan that led to this offseason’s results.

Four-time All-Star and lifelong Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts is now in San Diego. His presumed heir, Trevor Story, had surgery on his throwing elbow and might miss the entire season. Barring a late addition, they might have to ask Kiké Hernandez, their center fielder, to be their 2023 shortstop.

J.D Martinez, a difference-making bat, is now with the Dodgers. Filling his DH spot likely is Eric Hosmer, who has hit 20 total home runs in the past two seasons.

The Padres’ 11-year, $280 million offer was too much for now-former Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts to refuse.

The Red Sox’s rotation ERA of 4.49 last season was the worst in the AL East. All they have done to address the weakness is replace Nathan Eovaldi with Corey Kluber. Perhaps they are banking on a shutdown bullpen, having added Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin and former Met Joely Rodriguez, but the unit does not project to be strong enough to compensate for the other flaws across the roster.

Boston’s biggest signing, Masataka Yoshida for five years and $90 million, was a polarizing addition. Many rivals feel the Japanese batting champion is not worth the contract.

Maybe the Red Sox’s offseason has been brilliant, but it seems as if that outcome would surprise many across baseball.

Strangest: Dodgers

The team with the highest payroll in baseball last season has dished out about $44.5 million in free agency — or, about one season of Verlander.

Clayton Kershaw is back, and the Dodgers have added a few high-upside weapons in Martinez, Noah Syndergaard and Shelby Miller. But the Dodgers, who are typically in talks with every top free agent, have mostly sat out the winter — a winter that has been costly in terms of departures.

Unlike a handful of other key Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw will return to a Dodgers team that spent modestly in free agency.

They lost longtime third baseman Justin Turner and one of the best players in baseball in Trea Turner — replaced Wednesday at shortstop by Miguel Rojas in a trade with the Marlins. Talented if perplexing center fielder Cody Bellinger signed with the Cubs. The Dodgers’ rotation lost Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney, who both were excellent last season. And the Dodgers lost the arbitrator’s decision regarding the suspended Bauer, whom they must pay $22.5 million this season even after they cut him.

The consistent juggernauts, who have averaged 103.8 wins in the past five full seasons (and won the World Series in the shortened 2020 campaign), might finally be mortal. But they also have rare unclaimed positions that could be won by some of the best prospects — seven of MLB Pipeline’s top 100 to end last season — in the game.

Under the radar: Blue Jays, Rangers

Neither team is a sure bet for the postseason, but both have considerably raised their ceilings.

Jacob deGrom was just the latest splurge by the Rangers in their efforts to chase down the Astros in the AL West.

The Blue Jays have improved through swaps and signings. They added Daulton Varsho, a strong hitter, outfielder and catcher, in a win-now trade with the Diamondbacks, who got Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and top prospect Gabriel Moreno. Few teams can match Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman at the top of the rotation, and Toronto added one of MLB’s best No. 3 starters in former Met Chris Bassitt. Longtime Giants first baseman Brandon Belt, picked up this week, had an injury-plagued 2022, but posted a .975 OPS as recently as 2021.

The Mets’ deafening free-agent splurges have taken away attention from clubs such as the Rangers, who won the deGrom sweepstakes. DeGrom is injury-prone, but that likely played a role in the Rangers deepening their rotation, which will follow with Heaney, Jon Gray, Eovaldi and the re-signed Martin Perez, with Jake Odorizzi in the wings. If their previous free-agent signings in Corey Seager and Marcus Semien can carry the offense and their pitching lives up to expectations, the Rangers can be a force in the AL West.

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Wanted: new Jets offensive coordinator

When a team that looks destined for the postseason drops its final six games, fans usually demand a pound of flesh. Teams search for the weak link. Changes get made.

The Jets’ offense, which scored zero touchdowns in its final three games, was the clear weak link, and Mike LaFleur was its leader.

On Thursday, the Jets and their offensive coordinator parted ways, which was only somewhat surprising in its terminology. “Parted ways” is usually a euphemism for “fired,” but not always.

Mike LaFleur (right) failed to develop Zach Wilson in two seasons. Will LaFluer’s successor as Jets offensive coordinator face that task?

The Post’s Ryan Dunleavy reported, citing a source, that weeks of speculation about LaFleur’s job security led to other teams reaching out to the brother of the Packers head coach. Internal discussions followed, and the Jets decided to allow LaFleur to seek other opportunities.

The Jets, who have failed to develop Zach Wilson and have been a mess on offense for LaFleur’s two seasons, cannot be blamed much if they pulled the plug. Wilson has been the worst quarterback in football since he arrived. The Jets need to find someone who can help the 23-year-old grow, and it has not happened under LaFleur.

If LaFleur pulled the plug, it’s hard to place blame on him either. He was a rising young star in San Francisco before Robert Saleh recruited him to New York, where he was tasked with developing a prospect in Wilson who clearly needed more time than the Jets anticipated. If LaFleur, who is not the hot head-coaching candidate he probably wants to be, stayed for another season, he would be on shaky ground with a shaky young quarterback and a win-now team.

Regardless of who did the plug-pulling, the Jets need to find a new offensive coordinator who can quickly cure the offense — while likely inheriting a huge question mark at the sport’s most important position — and work within a regime that won’t last long without better immediate results. Good luck.

There’s no place like home

Damar Hamlin is going home.

The Bills safety, whose health has been the country’s concern since he went into cardiac arrest mid-game and had to be resuscitated on the field Jan. 2, has been discharged from a Buffalo hospital, the team announced.

A little more than a week after cardiac arrest put Damar Hamlin’s life in jeopardy on national TV, he was given the OK to continue his recovery at home in Buffalo.

“We have completed a series of tests and evaluations, and in consultation with the team physicians, we are confident that Damar can be safely discharged to continue his rehabilitation at home and with the Bills,” said Jamie Nadler, a critical care physician at Buffalo General Medical Center.

Hamlin, already the nation’s darling, could become the darling of the postseason. If in a few weeks, he shows up on the Bills’ sideline, Buffalo crowds would explode and hearts would be warmed.

Of course, the Bills would have to beat the Dolphins first — the same Dolphins who, on Wednesday, ruled out quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for Sunday’s wild-card game. Tagovailoa is believed to have suffered three concussions in 13 games this season, including a terrifying September incident in which his hands and fingers appeared to lock up in front of his face, a neurological response to the head injury.

Great news on Hamlin, but every football player is risking his health every time he steps on the field.

Ben there, need to do that

The Nets will play their first game since Kevin Durant went down when they host the Celtics Thursday night. The focus probably will be on Kyrie Irving — playing his former team and needing to pick up the scoring slack — but this should be Ben Simmons’ time to step up.

With Kevin Durant injured, the Nets will need Ben Simmons to rediscover the willingness to drive to the basket on offense that once made him one of the NBA’s more dynamic players.

After an understandably rough start to his season after sitting all of last season, Simmons has come along, played excellent defense and filled gaps on offense. He still will not shoot outside the lane, but he hasn’t needed to. Teams with Durant and Irving don’t need a ton of scoring help.

But now the Nets do. As recently as 2019-20, Simmons averaged 11.9 drives per game, which was just behind the speedy Markelle Fultz (12.0) and just ahead of Eric Bledsoe (11.8), who always could get to the hoop.

This season, Simmons is averaging 3.2 drives per game, equal with 7-foot Kristaps Porzingis and narrowly edging out the Knicks’ Evan Fournier (3.1), who barely dribbles.

The Nets will not be asking Simmons to score 30 points per game, but they should be asking him to create more than he has all year.

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What has gone wrong for the Rangers power play?

The narrative that had taken hold since Gerard Gallant’s reign behind the bench started last season — and for good reason — is inoperative.

The Rangers who were insufficient at five-on-five and were carried offensively by the power play have ceased to exist.

Instead, the remodeled Blueshirts, who used 40 different game-opening line combinations in the club’s first 35 games leading into the wonderfully civilized Christmas recess, rank comparatively higher playing at even strength than with the man advantage.

No one would have expected that.

By the way, Gallant created 33 line combinations in last season’s first 35 matches. Neither that total nor this season’s tally includes units that were combined mid-game. So the Artemi Panarin-Mika Zibanejad-Vitali Kravtsov and Barclay Goodrow-Jonny Brodzinski-Julien Gauthier combinations that played the final two-plus periods of the 5-3 victory over the Islanders on Dec. 22 are not included in the count.

The 411 on 5-on-5

Artemi Panarin and the Rangers have become a better even-strength team in 2022-23.

NHLI via Getty Images

The 2021-22 Rangers improved their five-on-five game proximate to the trade deadline with the rental additions of Frank Vatrano, Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte and defenseman Justin Braun. The club’s production and efficiency improved.

But before Vatrano was acquired as the first of the fortifications following Game 60, the Blueshirts ranked 24th in the NHL at five-on-five in goals-per-60:00 at 2.26 (thanks, Natural Stat Trick). They ranked 28th in xGF (expected goals-for) percentage at 45.85, and their goals-for percentage of 50 percent (111 for, 111 against) came in at 17th.

Hence, the flurry of trades that cost the Blueshirts one first-round draft pick, one second-rounder, one third-rounder, a pair of fourth-rounders and Morgan Barron, but also propelled the club to the conference finals.

This season, without any of the rentals and also without free-agent departure Ryan Strome, the Rangers will enter Tuesday night’s Garden match against the Caps ranked 12th in goals-per-60 at 2.66 and 15th in xGF pct. at 51.16. Their goals-for pct. of 53.96 (75 for, 64 against) ranks eighth.

So, despite splitting up Zibanejad and Chris Kreider and also having stopped trying to bang the Panarin-Vincent Trocheck peg of a connection into a round hole (or perhaps, because of these unanticipated moves), the Blueshirts have taken significant strides in their five-on-five game … and that is while receiving average goaltending for the first couple of months.

Nothing special about this power play

With Mika Zibanejad sniping away, the Rangers power play has become predictable.

These results may not alter Drury’s approach to the deadline — at or around which everyone expects the Rangers to add a known-quantity top-six right wing — but it represents improvement and good news.

Neither of which applies to the allegedly vaunted power play.

After ranking fourth overall last season while operating at a 25.2 percent clip with a dynamic group that was feared, the Rangers sit at 15th at the break with a 22.9 percent rate that has provoked tears. That is simply not close to good enough for a unit expected to be a game-breaker.

The four-righty concept has been in place since Thanksgiving of 2019, when then-head coach David Quinn constructed a unit including Zibanejad, Panarin, Strome and Tony DeAngelo with the lefty Kreider. That unit went off at a clip of 29.3 percent from the Christmas break to the COVID-related March 11 end of the season.

Vincent Trocheck, celebrating a power-play goal against the Devils on Dec. 12, is much more shoot-first than Ryan Strome was.

Righty Adam Fox replaced DeAngelo at the top at the start of the following season. That unit remained inviolate until Trocheck, another righty, stepped in for Strome at the start of this season.

But with familiarity, the unit has become more predictable and even occasionally stale, even if Panarin and Zibanejad essentially exchanged places against the Islanders last week with No. 10 moving into the off-wing, left-circle, one-timer position that he originally held upon joining the team in 2019-20. The puck often moves too slowly. The setups are often too deliberate and at times telegraphed.

Strome was more of a facilitator while Trocheck has a shoot-first mentality out of the bumper position. Indeed, Trocheck is tied with Panarin in power-play shot attempts, trailing Zibanejad, while second in shots to Zibanejad. That’s a change.

Chris wires crossed

But the most dramatic change as the season has evolved concerns Kreider, who led the NHL last season with a franchise-record 26 power-play goals on his way to a 52-goal season. The league’s most effective net-front presence hasn’t gotten anywhere near the touches he did both last season and through the first 20 games of this season when the unit pretty much ran through him.

Chris Kreider battles for position in front of the Penguins goal during a game on Dec. 20.

Over the first 10 games, Kreider had 28 attempts on the power play and 15 shots while being credited by Natural Stat Trick with creating 21 scoring chances. Over the next 10 matches, Kreider had 16 attempts and 12 shots while creating 16 scoring chances. So, through 20 games, Kreider had 44 attempts and 27 shots while creating 37 scoring chances and recording four PPGs.

But over the next 15 games that led into the break, the Rangers have either been unable to get the puck to Kreider either screening the goaltender or at the side of the net, or they have changed the game plan. In the past 15 games, Kreider has only 10 power-play attempts and five shots while generating nine scoring chances. He has gone 18 straight games without a PPG.

The difference is dramatic.

Maybe opposing penalty kills are preventing the guys at the top from getting shots through to Kreider. Maybe Trocheck’s increased shooting mentality as he has gained more comfort on the unit has changed the dynamic. Maybe defensemen are doing a better job preventing Kreider from getting position. Maybe Kreider hasn’t done as good a job establishing that net-front presence. Maybe the Rangers fell head over heels for Zibanejad’s one-timer.

Some of all of the above? Probably. But the fact is that over the past 15 games, Kreider ranks eighth on the team in power-play attempts per 60:00. Something is off there. It is imperative the Rangers get Kreider more involved. Everyone benefits when he gets his touches around the net.

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