You don’t need to glance at the team statistics to know that it has been a disappointing start to the season for veteran Minnesota Wild winger Marcus Foligno. The team’s injury report will tell you as much now as well.

While still offering his patented combination of on-ice intensity and off-ice levity, Foligno had registered no goals or assists through the Wild’s first nine games, and he was scratched from Sunday’s 10th game, versus San Jose, due to an upper body injury.

“He’s out, upper body,” Wild coach John Hynes said, speaking to the media prior to the date with the Sharks, adding that the severity of the injury is unknown currently. “He had some imaging done today and I don’t know the results of it.”

Foligno, 34, missed five games all of last season, chipping in with 14 goals in 77 games, and adding three more in the six-game opening round playoff loss to Vegas. In Saturday evening’s home loss to the Utah Mammoth, Foligno logged 14 minutes but left the game in the third period and did not return.

Already this season he had shown some physical resilience, taking a massive open-ice hit in a win versus the Rangers at Madison Square Garden last week, but returning to finish the game seemingly no worse for wear. But even before the injury suffered versus Utah, Hynes acknowledged that Foligno was one of the veterans they were looking for to contribute more on the score sheet. The coach had a one-on-one meeting with Foligno following the team’s Friday practice at TRIA Rink.

“He’s such a valuable member to the team. I think what he brings to the team is crucial,” Hynes said then. “He’s kind of a heartbeat type of guy. And sometimes he’s just looking at some things, almost like we did last year at the beginning of the year, getting back to the things that make him such an important player for us and such a good player.”

Keying on Celebrini

The Sharks came to Minnesota with just one win to their credit this season, and the franchise has not been a playoff participant since 2019, but all of those on-ice struggles did pay a notable dividend in 2024 when they won the draft lottery and used the first overall pick to grab Macklin Celebrini. Originally from Vancouver, Celebrini played two seasons of prep hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, and logged one year at Boston University, where he won the Hobey Baker Award as a freshman.

Still just 19, Celebrini came to St. Paul averaging better than a point per game for San Jose, and had a familiarity with the Bay Area even before San Jose employed him. His father Rick, a former pro soccer player, worked for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors as their director of sports medicine. Hynes acknowledged that part of the game plan versus the Sharks was to be on alert whenever Celebrini was on the ice.

“He’s a driving player. Even though he’s young he’s got good speed, he’s strong, he’s tenacious on the puck, he can shoot it, but he also can pass,” Hynes said, admitting part of the game plan was to have a committed defensive pair on the ice to counter San Jose’s top line which had Celebrini centering Tyler Toffoli and Will Smith.

Celebrini had five goals and seven assists in the Sharks’ first eight games. He was one of three finalists for NHL Rookie of the Year last season. Sunday’s game was barely five minutes old when Celebrini got his 13th point of the season, assisting on San Jose’s first period power play goal.

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By Daniel Flatley and Josh Xiao, Bloomberg News

Top trade negotiators for the U.S. and China said they came to terms on a range of contentious points, setting the table for leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to finalize a deal and ease trade tensions that have rattled global markets.

After two days of talks in Malaysia wrapped up Sunday, a Chinese official said the two sides reached a preliminary consensus on topics including export controls, fentanyl and shipping levies.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking later in an interview with CBS News, said Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs on Chinese goods “is effectively off the table” and he expected the Asian nation to make “substantial” soybean purchases as well as offer a deferral on sweeping rare earth controls. The U.S. wouldn’t change its export controls directed at China, he added.

“So I would expect that the threat of the 100% has gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime,” Bessent said. He separately told ABC News he believed China would delay its rare-earth restrictions “for a year while they reexamine it.”

Bessent telegraphed a wide-ranging agreement between Trump and Xi that would extend a tariff truce, resolve differences over the sale of TikTok and keep up the flow of rare earth magnets necessary for the production of advanced products from semiconductors to jet engines. The two leaders are also planning to discuss a global peace plan, he said, after Trump said publicly he hoped to enlist Xi’s help in resolving Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The encouraging signals from both sides of the negotiations were a marked contrast from recent weeks, when Beijing’s announcement of new export restrictions and Trump’s reciprocal threat of staggering new tariffs threatened to plunge the world’s two largest economies back into an all-out trade war.

Signs of an impending deal lifted sentiment in markets. Risk-sensitive currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars climbed against the greenback in early trading, outperforming major peers, while havens including the Swiss franc and Japanese yen edged lower. Bitcoin rose a fourth day.

Staving off China’s rare-earth restrictions is “one of the major objectives of these talks, and I think we’re progressing toward that goal very well,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Trump himself predicted a “good deal with China” as he spoke with reporters on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur, saying he expected additional leader-level follow-up meetings in China and the US.

“They want to make a deal, and we want to make a deal,” Trump said.

Still, markets will be closely watching the details of the ultimate agreement, after nearly a year of head-spinning changes to trade and tariff policies between the U.S. and China.

Chinese trade envoy Li Chenggang indicated his belief that the sides had reached consensus on fentanyl — suggesting the U.S. might lift or reduce a 20% tariff it had imposed to pressure Beijing to halt the flow of precursor chemicals used to make the deadly drug. He said the nations would also address actions the Trump administration took to impose port service fees on Chinese vessels, which prompted Beijing to put retaliatory levies on U.S.-owned, operated, built or flagged vessels.

Li, whom Bessent called “unhinged” earlier this month, described the talks as intense and the U.S. position as tough, but hailed progress in the discussions. Both sides will now report the outcome back to their leaders ahead of a planned summit between Trump and Xi on Thursday.

“The current turbulences and twists and turns are ones that we do not wish to see,” Li told reporters, adding that a stable China-US trade and economic relationship is good for both countries and the rest of the world.

The reopening of soybean purchases, if realized, could provide a significant political win for Trump.

China imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. farm goods in March, effectively slamming the door shut on American soybeans before the harvest even began. The Asian nation last year purchased $13 billion of U.S. beans — more than 20% of the entire crop — for animal feed and cooking oil, and the freeze has rocked rural farmers who represent a key political base for the president.

Perhaps more important is resolving the U.S.’s rare-earths tussle with China, which fought back against Trump’s trade offensive earlier this year by cutting off supplies of the materials. Although flows were restored in a truce that saw tariffs lowered from levels exceeding 100%, China this month broadened export curbs on the materials after the U.S. expanded restrictions on Chinese companies.

The negotiations took place at the skyscraper Merdeka 118 as Trump met with Southeast Asian leaders at a nearby convention center, where he brokered a series of framework trade agreements seeking to diversify U.S. trade away from China.

The Chinese delegation was led by He, China’s top economic official, and included Vice Finance Minister Liao Min. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was also part of the talks.

Trump’s meeting with Xi this week will be their first face-to-face sitdown since his return to the White House. The U.S. leader has said direct talks are the best way to resolve issues including tariffs, export curbs, agricultural purchases, fentanyl trafficking and geopolitical flashpoints such as Taiwan and the war in Ukraine.

“We’ll be talking about a lot of things,” he said. “I think we have a really good chance of making a very comprehensive deal.”

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(With assistance from Sam Kim, Tony Czuczka and Matthew Burgess.)

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©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Minnesota United vs. Seattle Sounders

What: MLS Cup Playoffs, Game 1
When: 8 p.m. Monday
Where: Allianz Field
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+
Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500
Weather: 53 degrees, cloudy, 11 east wind
Betting line: MNUFC plus-160; draw plus-250; Seattle plus-155

Format: Quirky best-of-three playoff series begin the MLS Cup Playoffs’ first round over the next few weeks. Game 2 will be near 10 p.m. Central Time next Monday at Lumen Field in Seattle. Game 3, if necessary, would be back in St. Paul on Nov. 8.

Form: Fourth seed Minnesota (16-8-10, 58 points) is 1-2-1 over its final four regular-season games. Fifth-seed Seattle (15-9-10, 55 points) has won its last three in regular season — each against playoff teams.

Recent matchups: The Loons won their first-ever game in Seattle, 3-2 on June 1. Minnesota completed the regular-season double against the Sounders with a 1-0 win in St. Paul on Aug. 16. Minnesota is 3-2-14 all-time against Seattle, including the infamous 3-2 loss in the 2020 Western Conference final.

Quote: Wil Trapp on a pair of wins over Seattle this season: “The performances were cagey. …  (We were) very difficult to break down. They’re having to go around us instead of through us, and they just found it difficult.”

Absences: CB Carlos Harvey (knee) is out. CB Morris Duggan (leg) and FW Kelvin Yeboah have been increasing their training loads this week.

Scouting report: Given MNUFC’s struggles at center forward — Tani Oluwaseyi transferred and Kelvin Yeboah coming off injury — the Loons’ best shot of advancing is firmly on the back of a stout defense that allowed the third-fewest goals in MLS this season and success on set pieces. … Ramsay was asked Sunday about Seattle’s biggest threat: “Jordan Morris is looking like he’s nearing his best. He’s been a tricky player for Minnesota to play against.” The off-injured Morris is coming off a goal in the regular-season finale victory over New York City to give him five total in 1,032 minutes this season.

Prediction: The Loons aren’t as strong as they were in the previous two matches against Seattle this season. The Sounders are a veteran, cup-winning outfit that won’t be rattled by a playoff atmosphere. This opening game will go to penalty kicks, just like the Loons’ first-round series against Salt Lake last year. After drawing 1-1, Seattle wins in PKs (5-4).

The onus is on Minnesota United to show it hasn’t peaked for 2025.

The Loons were flying high after a 3-1 away win against frontrunner San Diego FC on Sept. 13, but then suffered the misery of losing the U.S. Open Cup semifinal 2-1 to Austin FC four days later, conceding a goal in the final minute.

Before that prime opportunity to win the club’s first trophy, MNUFC had transferred its best forward, Tani Oluwaseyi, to Villarreal in Spain for a club-record $9 million transfer fee in late August. And in that Open Cup loss, the Loons’ No. 2 striker Kelvin Yeboah suffered a hamstring injury.

Since then, MNUFC has one win in four matches going into their MLS Cup Playoffs first-round series against Seattle Sounders. Game 1 in the best-of-three is set for 8 p.m. Monday at Allianz Field.

“We had this high after San Diego, where, ‘Wow, we just beat the best team in the league — the best team in our conference. We’re three points away from (them),’ ” Loons midfielder Wil Trapp recalled to the Pioneer Press. “Then we have a (Cup) semifinal to potentially win and host the final (in St. Paul). And then when that kind of fell flat …”

The Loons were outplayed by then-last place L.A. Galaxy in a 2-1 loss in the regular-season finale, and head coach Eric Ramsay was asked if his team was going in the wrong direction headed into the postseason,

“You guys know the circumstances that we are working with at the moment,” Ramsay told reporters. “We look very different as a team from the perspective of what we have available at the top of the pitch. You would be hard pushed to find a team that would deal with losing its two No. 9s at a crucial point in the season and comfortably waltz through the rest of the season.

“We are a team that, unfortunately at this point in the season, is transitioning to an extent, and we’ve got to make sure that we find some solutions to the problems that we’ve got.”

Yeboah returned against the Galaxy, subbing on for the final 13 minutes. He had one touch in that stint and his fitness lagged. Without Oluwaseyi and Yeboah, the Loons have used Robin Lod, Joaquín Pereyra and Bongi Hlongwane. Pereyra has scored twice, but the others haven’t scored at all.

“You can’t overstate the fact that we kind of built this thing around Tani and Kelvin from the beginning,” Trapp said. “When those guys are not in there, it’s just different. That’s not saying that Joaquin and Rob in the past couple games haven’t been good. It’s just different.”

Trapp noticed a shift in Ramsay’s approach after the Open Cup loss. The first-time head coach usually conveys to his team in broad themes boiled down to a very concise, to-the-point message.

“I don’t want to say emotionless, but it’s specific,” Trapp explained. “Then, I think, at the Austin game, he was frustrated in the way we conceded the goals (and) you start to see that emotion — in a good way.”

Ramsay was “more targeted” in his criticisms. He was the same way postgame with reporters, in particular toward wingback Joseph Rosales allowing a runner in behind on Austin’s winning goal.

“We have to deal with that run off Joe’s shoulder better,” Ramsay said postgame. “It’s something that is very basic to the way that we defend. It’s something we talk about a lot. At that stage of the game, it’s a case of one player running more than another player and obviously at that stage of the game, that can’t happen.

“That is a case of us really letting ourselves down as a collective after what an effort it is to get to that point in the game. So, that will really hurt Joe. It will hurt the group. It’ll hurt us as staff. But we’ve got to get on with it.”

The Loons have home-field advantage against Seattle, but the seasoned Sounders will be hard to dispatch. In late August, Seattle won the Leagues Cup, going unbeaten against three teams from Mexico’s Liga MX and topping Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the final in late August.

Coming out of the Open Cup semifinal, the Loons needed to rotate their squad after four players went the distance in 120-minute shifts, so there was a distinct reason for the ensuing 3-0 loss to Chicago. MNUFC then had a 1-1 draw against Colorado, followed by a 3-0 win over last-place Kansas City and the Galaxy defeat.

“They’re bright enough as a group of players to sort of know a lot of context wrapping around a couple of the defeats,” Ramsay said. “It’s a level-headed-enough group to sort of see it in the way that a coach would see it.”

The Loons have been, at best, treading water over the past month, and the veteran Trapp knows no one is going to throw them a life preserver.

“No one feels sorry for you,” he said. “No one feels sorry for this team.”

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