Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below decks of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken are up, at ’em, and rarin’ to go ...

Go get another box of fish crackers, that is. 

Anyway, we start our look at the sports world in hockey. The NHL trading deadline on March 7 brought on a veritable plethora of moves and maneuvers, as the haves sought to strengthen their status heading into the playoffs starting next month and the have-nots sought to strengthen their future status via stockpiling draft picks and prospects. Given that my team (Los Tiburones de San José) is firmly in the latter group, one can only hope that general manager Mike Grier and company have the wherewithal to surround the team’s young guns, namely Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, with complementary talent to return the team to relevancy. I believe they are on the right course for what it may be worth. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, at least two of the league’s big boys got bigger. The Dallas Stars secured the services of Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes, who acquired this generation’s Finnish Flash from the Colorado Avalanche earlier this season. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, Rantanen seemed far more focused on securing maximum dollars for a contract extension — he would have become a free agent at the end of the season — than proving himself worthy of the same by playing up to his standards. So, rather than lose him for nothing, Carolina made the best deal available. Given that Rantanen quickly signed a juicy contract extension shortly after arriving in Big D, he obviously got what he wanted. The question that shall remain unanswered until the playoffs start is whether his lack of production with the Hurricanes was a momentary lull or if Carolina wisely said goodbye to underperforming dead weight not buying into the program.

The other significant move consisted of the Florida Panthers strengthening their hand at retaining the Stanley Cup by snagging veteran provocateur Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins, the latter having thrown in the towel on this season regardless of whether they care to admit the same. Marchand still has hockey-playing skills, as is witnessed by his place on Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off squad earlier in 2025. That duly noted, his highest skill is throwing the other team off their game by goading them into undisciplined play via continuous agitation. If the Panthers get Matthew Tkachuk, currently out with a groin injury, back in time to be effective in the postseason, the thought of facing a line of him, Marchand, and Sam Bennett is the stuff of other teams’ nightmares.

On to football, starting with the semi-pros, otherwise known as CINO (College in Name Only). A growing trend is teams canceling their spring football intrasquad games, deciding it is better to hide what they have on hand from other franchises... pardon me, schools that are looking to poach players during the next transfer portal. In the actual pro league, the Seattle Seahawks have a “Help Wanted” sign outside their office door as they are presently down two wide receivers and a quarterback. Tyler Lockett, who for years was the Seahawks’ premiere receiver, has been cut. DK Metcalf, presently Seattle’s best receiver, has demanded a trade. Finally, the Seahawks have traded their starting quarterback, Geno Smith, who is serviceable but not a star, to the Las Vegas Raiders. That’s a hefty trio of positions to fill. Did I mention that the Los Angeles Rams resigned Matthew Stafford? I did, didn’t I?

On to basketball. While on the CINO side, tournament play is underway because playing everyone else in your conference twice simply will not do in terms of making more TV money determining the conference champion, a reminder to one and all as Selection Sunday, during which the teams picked for participation in the NCAA tournament see their names go up in lights before the championship hopes of all but one go down in flames, draws nigh. If there is debate as to whether a team warrants inclusion in the tournament ... it doesn’t.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone.

RedState isn’t just your go-to source for politics and news – we cover culture, sports and life too.

Become part of the RedState team! Join RedState’s VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership today.