Something changes for players in the Premier League when winter turns to spring. The dark nights and the yellow match ball are behind you for another season, replaced by bright afternoon games and the white ball. This final stretch of the season is still a time of hope for many teams, but a dip in form quickly turn that into despair. Everyone is playing for something, and one mistake can define your season.

Up to this point of the campaign, teams and coaching staff have been focused primarily on performance levels -- how well is the manager's playing style bedding in? Which players are forming effective partnerships? But by the time you get to March and April, the reality is that it's all about the outcome. Results are the most important thing. If you're down at the bottom, you have to get a result. If you're up near the top, it's a must-win game. Springtime is business time.

Even with Liverpool, who have a 13-point lead on Arsenal at the top of the table having played an additional game, have moved into the mode of just getting it done. Their general performances were probably at a higher level a few months ago, whereas now they're finding ways to get results, which is the sign of a team that is worthy of winning a league title. They are not just the best team in the country. They have also shown in the last few weeks after a couple of bad setbacks -- exiting the FA Cup to lower-league Plymouth and then being held to a combustible draw at Everton which earned their manager a touchline ban -- that they are also the best at getting the job done.

Of course, all 38 games of a campaign have the same number of points available, but at this stage of the season those results become more pivotal. Last season, there was one weekend in April when Liverpool and Arsenal were both above Manchester City but lost at home to Crystal Palace and Aston Villa respectively. That allowed City to go above them, and they held on to that lead for the rest of the season. If those results had happened in gameweek 12 or 13, they could have been written as stumbles with a lot of road still ahead of them. But, when it happens with only five games left, there is barely any time to bounce back.

City are way out of the picture for the league and Europe this season -- they are 20 points behind Liverpool in fourth and out of the Champions League -- but they still need to be getting results. Even with the Premier League likely to have five qualification spots for next season's Champions League, City cannot relax. They are away at third-placed Nottingham Forest next and then play the Brighton & Hove Albion, who are currently on the longest winning run in the league. So even though they are in the unfamiliar position of not chasing for the title, they still are in a position whereby they know the value of every single game. They've had to adjust their goals from the start of the season, but this is the final objective; they need to be in the Champion League next season. The players know that -- it's important not only for their status as stars but potentially for their futures at the club. So that's the thing that will be motivating them on a day-to-day basis.

Pep Guardiola's team are still in the FA Cup, too, and there is no situation in which results trump performances than knockout cup football. How many cup finals are actually great games? In general, people remember the winners of finals, not how they won.

Whether you are at the top of the league or fighting relegation, everything just feels that bit more definitive. Wolverhampton Wanderers may have a cushion between them and the relegation zone, where Ipswich and Leicester are five points behind them, but that is only two wins for either of those sides and two losses for Wolves. Trying to get two wins is one thing, but trying to get two wins of your last three games when you are battling to stay up and then also looking out for the results of the teams around you is something else entirely.

That's a situation that those teams should be doing their utmost to avoid while they still have 10-11 games left, because depending on other teams is a difficult place to be. The aim at the end of the season to be playing for something and to have your fate in your own hands but sometimes. when you are requiring other things to go your way, it can really affect the mood if they don't.

Some of the games against teams down near at the bottom could actually be really tough, especially when you're away from home, because they are desperate. So you need teams that aren't just going to focus purely on the football, but understand that the nature of this game is different to what it could have been earlier in the season.

You want all your players available to this important stretch because you know the gravity of every single game. The pressure rises for everyone now, based on the goals that they are trying to achieve. And when some teams are outperforming what others might have expected of them, as a consequence that puts an internal pressure on that team but also squeezes the teams around them who suddenly have another rival to worry about.

For teams who have real genuine requirements, whether it be the vital financial boost of reaching the Champions League or avoiding the potential calamity of relegation, the team getting the results they need in this final stretch can be change the fate of the football club. The pressure is massive. The fans will feel it, the players will feel it, the management will feel it. And so when you go out in those matches, if you win, it feels great, but if you're losing all of a sudden there's a more anxiety from everyone involved.

ESPN analyst Nedum Onuoha was speaking to Tony Mabert.

The Cincinnati Bengals have granted All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson permission to seek a trade.

"It's been an honor and privilege to represent Cincinnati over the last four years," Hendrickson, who led the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season, said in a statement released to ESPN's Adam Schefter on Thursday. "I love this city and organization. I appreciate the privilege of now being allowed to explore my options."

Hendrickson is under contract through the 2025 season but has stated a desire for a new contract, dating back to a failed trade request last season.

Hendrickson, 30, is coming off his eighth season in the league. All four of his seasons with the Bengals have resulted in Pro Bowl appearances.

The former third-round pick, who signed with Cincinnati as a free agent in 2021, requested a trade at the start of last offseason, despite receiving a one-year extension in 2023. Despite being one of the league's most productive players over the past few seasons, he ranks 11th in average annual salary among edge rushers, per Roster Management System.

He has 77 sacks in his eight-year NFL career.

ESPN's Ben Baby contributed to this report.

The Florida Panthers have acquired forward Nico Sturm and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the San Jose Sharks on Thursday in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick.

It was the second trade between the teams in two days. Florida had acquired goaltender Vitek Vanecek from San Jose on Wednesday in exchange for forward Patrick Giles.

Sturm, 29, figured to be the focus of a few calls to the Sharks, as he's in the final season of a three-year contract that carries a $2 million salary cap hit.

After a stint on the injured reserve list with a lower-body issue in February, the 29-year-old Sturm, who has seven goals and six assists this season, seems to be ready for a postseason run with the Panthers.

The steady, 6-foot-3 center from Germany can take up space on the Panthers' fourth line and is a capable penalty-killer who has won 62.7% of his draws this season with the Sharks, the highest total of anyone who has taken part in at least 200 faceoffs.

This will be Sturm's fourth NHL club, after stints with the Sharks, Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild. He has 91 career points (46 goals, 45 assists) and won a Stanley Cup with Colorado during the 2021-22 season.

With top winger Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injury reserve, Florida still has space to potentially add another forward prior to Friday's trade deadline in the aim of becoming the third series of back-to-back champs over the past decade.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Vegas Golden Knights have acquired forward Reilly Smith from the New York Rangers on Thursday in exchange for prospect Brendan Brisson and a third-round draft pick.

Smith played for Vegas previously and was part of their Stanley Cup-winning team in 2023.

On a star-laden New York team that struggled for offense at times, Smith posted decent numbers with 10 goals and 29 points.

Smith, who had 26 goals with the Golden Knights in 2022-23, is skating out the final weeks of a three-year deal he signed with Vegas that carries a hefty $5 million salary cap hit.

New York Red Bulls academy product Astin Mbaye has signed with Italian Serie A giants AC Milan, a source confirmed to ESPN.

The source added that while there is no fee involved, the Red Bulls will receive training compensation from Milan, as specified by FIFA's Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

Fabrizio Romano was the first to report Mbaye's move to Milan.

Mbaye, 16, has represented the U.S. at under-15 and level before recently being promoted to the U16 roster.

The young center back possesses a German passport, which allowed him to head over to Europe at age 16 instead of having to wait until he is 18. Mbaye is also eligible to represent Senegal.

The Jersey City, New Jersey, native joins a club that already has two U.S. internationals in its ranks, Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah, though Mbaye will be expected to initially play in Milan's youth setup.

Mbaye is the latest Red Bulls academy product to head overseas, a group that includes Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams and Holstein Kiel defender John Tolkin.

The banged-up New Jersey Devils wasted no time filling an area of need just a little more than 24 hours before the NHL trade deadline, as talks pick up around the league and players keep changing places.

New Jersey acquired veteran defenseman Brian Dumoulin from the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday for a second-round pick and the rights to unsigned 19-year-old prospect Herman Traff. The Ducks are retaining half of Dumoulin's salary for the rest of this season and will get the better of the second-rounders between Edmonton's and Winnipeg's in the draft this summer.

Dumoulin, 33, has played 768 regular-season and playoff games in the league. He won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2016 and '17 and this season has 16 points while skating just under 20 minutes on average over 61 games with Anaheim.

"Brian was good for us both on and off the ice, and we wish him well in New Jersey," Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. "This wasn't an easy decision for us. We do feel this allows more opportunity for our young defensemen, who have proven they can play and succeed at the NHL level."

The Devils' acquisition comes after they learned leading scorer Jack Hughes is done for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery and with No. 1 defenseman Dougie Hamilton also out because of injury. With Hughes joining Jonas Siegenthaler on long-term injured reserve, they can add roughly $10 million worth of players before the deadline, even after getting Dumoulin.

General manager Tom Fitzgerald has any number of options for how to use that space. Getting a high-end forward -- ideally a center -- would help fill the void left by Hughes' absence. Hughes is tied with Carolina's Mikko Rantanen in the league scoring race with 70 points on 27 goals and 43 assists.

Rantanen's future remains the biggest mystery to watch before the 3 p.m. ET deadline Friday. Already traded once this year from Colorado to the Hurricanes in a three-team blockbuster in late January, the 2022 Cup-winning, point-a-game winger in his prime could be on the move again with no guarantee Carolina will be able to sign the pending free agent beyond this season.

Others available include several forwards: the New York Islanders' Brock Nelson, the Penguins' Rickard Rakell, the Philadelphia Flyers' Scott Laughton and the Vancouver Canucks' Brock Boeser.

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel called his departure from San Francisco "bittersweet" but said Washington was always one of his preferred destinations after requesting a trade from the 49ers in part because of quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Samuel, in a 2,136-word essay for The Players' Tribune, reflected on his six seasons with San Francisco and termed his relationship with coach Kyle Shanahan "ridiculous" while also looking forward and saying, "D.C., we coming."

"I got a feeling this season is about to be one of them ones," Samuel wrote.

Samuel said he appreciates where the 49ers sent him and that there's "not a lick of bad blood when it comes to me and that organization. It's always love."

Washington traded a fifth-round pick for Samuel on Saturday; the trade will be official once the new league year begins March 12. Samuel has one year remaining on his contract.

He asked Shanahan for a trade in a meeting with him after the season, saying he told the coach he didn't think he knew how hard it was for him to have this conversation. ESPN's Adam Schefter broke the news on Super Bowl Sunday.

Samuel, a second-round pick in 2019, became a dangerous offensive weapon for San Francisco, capable of big plays as a running back as well. He finished his time in San Francisco with 4,792 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns while running for another 1,143 yards and 20 scores. In his All-Pro season of 2021, Samuel finished with 1,770 yards and 14 touchdowns from scrimmage.

But after a frustrating season in which he finished with 806 yards from scrimmage -- his lowest total since his second year when he played in only seven games -- Samuel wanted out.

"After I talked with Kyle, I talked to [GM] John [Lynch], and he understood where I was coming from and gave me his perspective on everything," Samuel wrote. "We talked about why we thought it was a good move for both of us. And listen, for John and Kyle to send me to a team in the NFC that was almost a Super Bowl contender, it just shows you the type of love and relationship that we have. I know at the end of the day, they didn't have to do that."

Samuel said he liked playing for Shanahan, though the ride was bumpy at times.

"One minute, he wanna knock my head off, and the next he's just going crazy, excited at something I'm doing," he wrote. "I've always felt like he coaches me harder than anybody else because at the end of the day, he knows I ain't no sensitive-ass player."

But Samuel said their relationship was deeper than just a coach-player one.

"Kyle knows damn near everything that I've been through in my life, and I damn near know everything he done been through," Samuel wrote. "It's like that. It's a bond you could never break. So, we talked it out. It was hard, in its own way. But more than anything, I was just proud of the way we both handled it, as men."

Samuel joins a Washington team coming off a loss in the NFC Championship Game at Philadelphia, the furthest the team has gone since the 1991 season. Daniels starred as a rookie quarterback, earning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and finishing seventh in MVP voting.

Daniels and 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk are best friends from their time together at Arizona State; Samuel said he started watching Daniels when he played at LSU because of Aiyuk. Also, Commanders general manager Adam Peters spent five years as an assistant general manager in San Francisco with Samuel. Washington's run game coordinator, Anthony Lynn, was an assistant head coach/running backs with the 49ers in 2022 and 2023.

"This is one of the best possible fits for me, where I can go in and help a team," Samuel wrote. "When my agent asked me where I wanted to go, this was one of the teams at the top of my list. I knew [Daniels] was going to be a stud. Definitely ready to work with Terry for sure, because we came in the league at the same time. I've heard how hard he grinds. I'm just ready to match the energy and get to it."

Samuel reflected on his journey from playing Pop Warner to his time at the University of South Carolina. He looked back on his two Super Bowl losses with the 49ers and how close the teams were, writing that "our locker room gave college vibes." That's why he labeled his departure bittersweet. He thanked the coaching staff, the cooks and equipment managers, among others.

"When the trade happened I was happy because this is something that I wanted," he wrote. "But as the day went on, my mind just kept fading off to all these damn memories, man."

TAMPA, Fla. -- Yankees pitcher Luis Gil will be sidelined for at least three months because of his lat strain and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton would have surgery on his elbows only as a last resort, according to general manager Brian Cashman.

Infielder DJ LeMahieu told reporters Thursday that he has a Grade 1 or 2 left calf strain and will be sidelined for several weeks in his fifth straight injury-hampered season.

Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, cut short a bullpen session last Friday because of tightness in his pitching shoulder, and the 26-year-old right-hander went to New York for an MRI that revealed a high-grade lat strain.

Cashman was quoted as saying the team hoped Gil will return "sometime in the summer."

Gil was 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 29 starts last year, striking out 171 and walking a major-league-high 77 in 151 innings. Marcus Stroman likely will replace him in a starting rotation that includes Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt.

Stanton said on Feb. 17 after reporting to camp that he had not swung a bat in three or four weeks because of elbow pain. The Yankees said he has been in New York, where he received a second round of platelet-rich plasma injections in both of his elbows.

Cashman said he expected Stanton to return to Tampa by the weekend.

"We'll clearly look forward to getting him back at some point, but obviously in the near term that won't be the case," Cashman said.

Surgery is not yet being contemplated for the 35-year-old designated hitter, a five-time All-Star.

"It'd be a last resort," Cashman said. "I can't rule out a surgery, but I know it's not recommended in the front end of this thing, but obviously if you have a number of different failed attempts, then obviously you start looking at different ways of intervention."

Stanton hit .233 with 27 homers and 72 RBIs while playing 114 games last year, his season interrupted by a strained left hamstring that sidelined him between June 22 and July 29. Stanton batted .273 with seven homers and 16 RBIs in the postseason.

He signed a then-record $325 million, 13-year contract with the Marlins ahead of the 2015 season and had 59 homers and 132 RBIs in 2017, winning the NL MVP award. He was acquired by the Yankees that December and hit 38 homers with 100 RBIs in his first season with New York.

He missed 266 of 708 games over the next five seasons because of a series of injuries that included strains of right biceps, right knee, left hamstring (twice) and left quadriceps along with right ankle inflammation and left leg Achilles tendinitis.

LeMahieu was hurt Saturday in his first spring training game of the year. The 36-year-old ended last season on the injured list because of his right hip. He didn't make his season debut until May 28 after fracturing his right foot on a foul ball in spring training.

Those injuries limited the three-time All-Star and two-time batting champion to just 67 games last season, and he hit a career-worst .204 with just two homers and 26 RBIs.

LeMahieu has two years remaining in a $90 million, six-year contract.