Rob Gronkowski retires... again, plus Auston Matthews cleans up at NHL Awards

Happy Wednesday, everyone.

Let's get right to it.

Good morning to everyone but especially to...

USATSI

AUSTON MATTHEWS

Auston Matthews has won his first MVP award. It probably won't be his last. The 24-year-old Maple Leafs superstar won the Hart Trophy, given to the league's most valuable player, by a wide margin over second-place finisher Connor McDavid. Matthews also won the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the league's most outstanding player.

Matthews is just the third Maple Leaf -- and the first in 67 years -- to win the Hart Trophy, joining Ted Kennedy (1954-55) and Babe Pratt (1943-44).Matthews led the league with 60 goals and 0.82 goals per game this season.Matthews was also named to the 2021-22 First All-Star Team along with goalie Igor Shesterkin, defensemen Roman Josi and Cale Makar, right winger Mitchell Marner and left winger Johnny Gaudreau.

Here were the other award winners from last night:

Norris Trophy (top defenseman): Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)Calder Trophy (top rookie): Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings)Vezina Trophy (top goalie): Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers)

Honorable mentions

And not such a good morning for...

THE TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have already been boosted by one retirement and un-retirement this offseason (thanks, Tom Brady). Now, they'll be hoping for the same from one of his favorite targets. Rob Gronkowski called it a career yesterday, writing on Instagram, "[I'm] walking away from football again with my head held high knowing I gave it everything I had, good or bad, every time I stepped out on the field."

This isn't Gronkowski's first retirement. He left the game in 2019, missed the entire regular season, and then reunited with Brady for 2020 and 2021 in Tampa. Gronkowski's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, even admitted he wouldn't be surprised if Gronkowski returned if Brady called.

If Gronkowski is indeed done, though, he leaves as one of the greatest tight ends of all time:

2010s All-Decade Team, five-time Pro Bowler, four-time first-team All-Pro, four-time Super Bowl champion, 2014 Comeback Player of the YearThird all-time among tight ends with 92 regular-season receiving touchdowns, only behind Antonio Gates and Tony GonzalezSecond all-time with 15 playoff receiving touchdowns, only behind Jerry Rice

It's hard to overstate Gronkowski's impact. He was a terrific receiver, very good blocker and a constant source of joy both on and off the field. You can check out his best moments from both here. As for the on-field impact, this is a big loss for the Buccaneers. They have five tight ends on their roster. Only one, Cameron Brate, has caught an NFL pass. Three are rookies.

Also, Brady threw six touchdowns and zero interceptions while targeting Gronkowski last season, his best ratio of any target. Here's how he reacted to the news.

SportsLine data expert Stephen Oh says that with Gronkowski retiring, the Buccaneers' chance to win the NFC dropped from 22.1% to 20.6%, and their chance to win the Super Bowl fell from 11.8% to 11.2%.