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Teenager involved in an accident in Portugal
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Finlay Tarling, the younger brother of Netcompany Ineos rider, Josh Tarling, has been killed while racing in stage eight of the Volta a Portugal.
Although the details are yet to be confirmed, reports in the Portugese and French media suggest that the 19-year-old Welsh rider was hit by a non-race vehicle travelling on the course in the opposite direction to the peloton.
Continue reading...It has now been a month and half since the start of NHL free agency. While this is the case, there are still multiple players who remain unsigned.
Among the top defensemen who are still free agents at this point in the summer is former Chicago Blackhawks blueliner Matt Grzelcyk.
With Grzelcyk being a well-respected veteran defenseman, it seems possible that he could land a professional tryout (PTO) or a one-year contract from an NHL team before the start of training camp. NHL clubs are always on the hunt for defensive depth, so the 32-year-old could very well generate some interest.
Grzelcyk spent last season with the Blackhawks and served well as a veteran mentor for their younger players. In 69 games with Chicago in 2025-26, he posted zero goals and 12 points. This was after he had a career year with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2024-25, as he posted a career-high 40 points in 82 games.
Given Grzelcyk's solid resume, it would not be shocking if he gets another opportunity in the NHL. However, with the Blackhawks signing veteran defenseman Ian Cole this off-season, a return to Chicago seems unlikely.
It looks like former Carolina Hurricanes first-round pick and 2010 Calder Trophy winner Jeff Skinner's NHL career may be over.
Skinner, 34, signed a one-year deal with EHC Biel-Bienne of the Swiss Elite League on Friday.
The 2010 first-round pick spent eight seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, leading them in goals three times, and eventually moved on to play for the Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks.
Across 16 seasons, the scoring winger registered 379 goals and 712 points in 1,110 career games.
The talented skater also holds the record for the most games played before an NHL playoff appearance (1,078 games). He finally made his playoff debut in 2025 with the Oilers.
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It was a turbulent end to the centennial season for the Detroit Red Wings, one that was supposed to be a celebration of the franchise's history.
Instead, the team collapsed over the final stretch and missed the playoffs for a tenth straight season, leaving a fan base growing weary of the disappointment. Now, heading into the franchise's 101st season, fans are left wondering how the roster losses from this past season will impact the club, and whether Detroit is already headed for another difficult year.
The most notable of those losses is, without question, veteran winger Patrick Kane. Detroit was fortunate to have three seasons with the future Hall of Famer, who gave several of the team's younger players valuable time alongside a living legend, offering advice and guidance to help them elevate their own games.
His departure will be felt as a player who came close to a 60-point season, though with Kane approaching 38 years old this November, letting him walk may ultimately prove to be the right call. Injuries have crept into his game in recent years, and Kane hasn't played more than 80 games in a season since 2018-19.
To help fill that void, Detroit brought in Viktor Arvidsson, who also came close to reaching 60 points this past season before injuries got in the way, much like Kane. Arvidsson is expected to slot directly into Kane's old spot on the second line alongside Alex DeBrincat, where the hope is he can provide a similar offensive jolt.
Further down the lineup, another significant name not returning is James van Riemsdyk. At 37, the longtime NHLer built his reputation on staying relevant, consistently producing 35 to 40 points a season while providing a net-front presence that's difficult to quantify statistically.
This past season, though, his production dipped to just 31 points in 72 games, his lowest output since 2022-23, when he missed 21 games and finished with 29 points. Van Riemsdyk's value went beyond the scoresheet, offering veteran mentorship much like Kane, along with pointers on playing an effective net-front game, but that role will likely be filled by others on the rise.
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Mason Appleton and Michael Rasmussen serve similar functions, albeit without matching van Riemsdyk's offensive output, while 24-year-old Carter Mazur could get a real opportunity to prove he belongs at this level.
Describing his own game as being in the mold of a Tkachuk brother, Mazur brings the kind of grit and heart expected of a lifelong Red Wings fan now wearing the Winged Wheel. If the Jackson, Michigan, native can finally stay healthy, there's genuine curiosity around what he can bring after establishing himself as a point-per-game player in the AHL.
If anyone on the roster has the 30-point upside to replicate van Riemsdyk's old role, it's Mazur. Detroit also has several other bottom-of-the-lineup forwards, including J.T. Compher and Marco Kasper, both coming off disappointing seasons and capable of taking steps forward to help fill the offensive gap.
Not every offseason move represents a loss, however, as Detroit added a significant plus in Stanley Cup champion Keegan Kolesar, acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights. The 29-year-old isn't the most offensively gifted player, projecting as a 15-to-30-point contributor, but he's one of the better role players in the league.
Kolesar spent his entire seven-season NHL career in Vegas, helping the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup in 2023 and reach the Final again last season. He racked up 270 hits a season ago, seventh-most in the NHL, and has piled up 1,416 hits since the start of 2020-21, fourth-most in the league over that span. His physical, hard-forechecking style gives Detroit exactly the kind of bottom-six impact it had been missing.
Between the pipes, John Gibson enters the season at 33 years old still looking to prove he's worth a new contract. As an expiring free agent, and with Detroit's goaltending pipeline featuring AHL prospects Michal Postava and Trey Augustine both nearing NHL-readiness, Gibson appears to be playing this season with an eye toward earning his next deal elsewhere.
Backing him up will be a different look in net, with veteran Cam Talbot likely making his final NHL stops, while Detroit brought in former Florida Panthers backup Daniil Tarasov, a reliable option who figures to fill Talbot's old role admirably while the organization's young goaltenders continue to develop.
It will be a very different-looking Red Wings roster this season, and while some of the losses appear significant on the surface, they may not be as damaging as some fans fear. With the right development and a bit of health luck, Detroit still looks capable of returning to the form that fueled its strong start a season ago, with hopes this time that the run lasts considerably longer.
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Kevin Garnett is the greatest player in Timberwolves franchise history. The 2004 MVP when with the team was a nine-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA player while in Minnesota, and remains the franchise leader in points, rebounds, blocked shots, assists, and steals. His Timberwolves team was the first in franchise history to reach the Western Conference Finals.
His jersey retirement is long overdue, but it will happen on Feb. 28 against the Boston Celtics — an NBC Sunday Night Basketball game, which will have plenty of coverage of the event.
"Minnesota is home. That's never changed," Garnett said in a statement announcing the retirement. "This is where it all started for me, so seeing No. 21 go up in Target Center and sharing that moment with the fans, my family, teammates, coaches, and everyone who's been part of this journey means everything.
"But I don't see this as the end — I see it as a new beginning. Retiring the jersey is just the start of the next chapter in Minnesota, about building something that lives beyond the game... But 21 being retired is forever — and it's also just the beginning of something new. I can't wait to be back in that building, feel that energy, and celebrate it with everybody. Let's get it."
This should have happened long ago for the Hall of Famer, but Garnett's feud with former Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor ran so deep that he wasn't around the team and wasn't honored. That strain in the relationship started around Garnett's trade to Boston, where he did go on to win a ring (the Celtics have retired his No. 5 in green).
One of the things new Minnesota owners Mark Lore and Alex Rodriguez did was patch up that relationship.
"Over the course of his career, Kevin Garnett became much more than the greatest player in Timberwolves history. He became the embodiment of what it means to compete, to lead and to represent Minnesota," Timberwolves & Lynx Co-Chairmen Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez said in a statement. "Bringing Kevin back to the organization as Team Ambassador has allowed us to celebrate his legacy in a new and meaningful way, and retiring No. 21 is the ultimate recognition of everything he has meant to this franchise and our fans. We are thrilled to celebrate this incredible moment with Kevin, his family, our fans and everyone who helped make his legacy possible."
It may have taken a while to get here, but this is finally getting done, as it should. And it's happening on a night with what should be an entertaining matchup, with Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards going head-to-head.
We all know Igor Shesterkin will be the New York Rangers’ starting goaltender, but who will take on the backup position?
For the past three seasons, Jonathan Quick served as Shesterkin's backup, but his retirement at the end of the 2025-26 season left a vacancy in the Rangers’ goaltending room.
At the end of last season, Dylan Garand got an audition with the Blueshirts, playing in three games and recording a .948 save percentage and a 1.62 goals against average.
“It was great, such a good experience,” Garand said of his time with the Rangers to close out the season. “Obviously, waited my whole life for an opportunity like this, and yeah, it was everything I dreamed of.”
With Quick retiring, the tides seemed to be shifting in Garand’s direction to secure the backup goaltending role for the 2026-27 campaign.
The Rangers gave Garand a two-year contract extension late in June, which seemed to prove further that he would be on the NHL roster once training camp rolled around.
“As far as Dylan, I couldn’t be happier for him, coming up and playing as solid as he did,” Rangers’ president and general manager Chris Drury said during his exit interview. “I was excited about what we saw, and we're certainly looking at him and among other options as to see who could be backup.”
Despite all of the positive signs leaning toward Garand, the Rangers acquired veteran goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins on July 1 in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round pick.
Korpisalo comes in with a $3 million cap hit for the Rangers over the next two years, with the Bruins reportedly retaining $1 million per season from his current contract, which expires after the 2027-28 season.
Between Garand and Korpisalo, who will serve as the Rangers’ backup goaltender?
While the Rangers are viewing the backup position as up for grabs and a competition between Korpisalo and Garand, it’s hard to imagine the Blueshirts not handing the job to Korpisalo.
Drury specifically sought out Korpisalo and used draft compensation to acquire him.
The 32-year-old goalie’s $3 million cap hit and 334 games of NHL experience make it more likely for the Rangers to give him the job over Garand, who’s on a league-minimum contract and has only 3 games of NHL experience.
If there were to be an early favorite to secure the backup goaltending role behind Shesterkin going into training camp, it would be Korpisalo.
Oliver Kapanen had a surprising rookie season with the Montreal Canadiens last year. After Martin St-Louis put him on the third line with Ivan Demidov and Alex Newhook to start the season, the coach realized the youngsters were ready for a bigger workload, and shortly after the start of November, they moved up to the second line.
The 64th overall pick at the 2021 draft put up 37 points in 82 games, including a whopping 22 goals. Nobody expected that kind of output from the then-22-year-old Finn, but playing with a player as talented as Demidov sure has its advantages. However, Kapanen hit a proverbial wall midway through the season, and after returning from the Olympics, he was only able to put up six points in 25 games.
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In the playoffs, he struggled with the game’s speed and intensity and soon found himself on the outside looking in. He was only dressed for seven games, four against the Tampa Bay Lightning, one against the Buffalo Sabres and one against the Carolina Hurricanes. Obviously, that wasn’t a great confidence builder for the youngster, and if he wants to bounce back, he’ll have to get over the disappointment of his playoff usage and performance. This is where a player needs to show that he has a short-term memory to be in the best possible mental frame to bounce back.
If St-Louis elects to use Kapanen with Demidov once again this season, the young centerman may be able to avoid the sophomore slump. Still, if he decides to give yet another chance to Kirby Dach as a top-six center, things may get more complicated for Kapanen. There’s a possibility that St-Louis will be asked to showcase Dach if he’s still a member of the Canadiens to give him some value on the trade market, since Kent Hughes is not one to sell low, but one had to think that Dach would be on a short leash, so to speak. In fact, given the opportunities he’s had in the past and the fact that he’s unlikely to be part of the long-term picture in Montreal, it would make more sense to give Kapanen the better opportunities.
If Kapanen spends much of the season with Demidov, we can expect some growth in his offensive production; if not, he may become a candidate for regression this season. In the long term, it would be surprising if Kapanen hung on to a top six spot. On a contending team, he’d be best suited to a third-line center role, but right now, as a placeholder for Michael Hage until he not only joins the Habs, but proves he’s able to take on a top six role, Kapanen appears to be the most viable option.
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Jeff Skinner's hockey career in the NHL might be over. At least, for the 2026-27 season, he'll be playing overseas and not on one of the 32 NHL franchises.
The unrestricted free-agent winger signed a one-year contract with EHC Biel-Bienne in the Swiss league, the team announced Friday.
𝐔𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐍𝐇𝐋, 𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐂 𝐁𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞 ✍🏼
— EHC Biel-Bienne (@ehcbiel) August 14, 2026
Der EHC Biel freut sich, die Verpflichtung des kanadischen Stürmers Jeff Skinner bekanntzugeben. Jeff unterschreibt beim EHCB einen Vertrag bis Ende April 2027. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QBOaplYgMX
Oiler fans will know Skinner from his brief stint with the team during the 2024-25 season. He scored 16 goals and 29 points in 72 games. Given how little ice time he was offered under then-head coach Kris Knoblauch, it wasn't a bad season. He also saw the only playoff action of his 16-season NHL career in Edmonton, playing in five games.
A six-time 30-goal scorer, Skinner was limited to 13 points in 32 games with the San Jose Sharks last season, averaging a career-low 12:21 per contest.
If this is the end of his NHL run, he finishes with 379 goals and 712 points in 1,110 games.
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Former Buffalo Sabres winger Jeff Skinner surprisingly did not find a home after having his contract terminated last February by San Jose. This summer, the former 40-goal scorer did not latch on with an NHL club and he has opted for a sure thing instead of a professional tryout at training camp.
On Friday, the 16-year NHL veteran signed a one-year deal with HC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland.
Skinner signed an eight-year, $72 million contract in 2019 after scoring 40 goals in the final year of his contract. The club’s coaching change to Ralph Krueger was not a good fit for the offensive winger, who was relegated to a bottom-six role and scored only 21 goals in 112 games the next two years, but his goal scoring returned under Don Granato, with 33 and 35-goal campaigns in 2022 and 2023.
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𝐔𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐍𝐇𝐋, 𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐂 𝐁𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞 ✍🏼
— EHC Biel-Bienne (@ehcbiel) August 14, 2026
Der EHC Biel freut sich, die Verpflichtung des kanadischen Stürmers Jeff Skinner bekanntzugeben. Jeff unterschreibt beim EHCB einen Vertrag bis Ende April 2027. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QBOaplYgMX
After dropping to 24 goals in 2023-24, the Sabres bought out the final three years of his contract; something that has resulted in over $6 million in dead cap space this season. The 34-year-old hooked up with Edmonton in 2025, and played in his first postseason games during the Oilers run to a Cup Final loss.
In other news, the Sabres announced the hiring of five to their management and scouting staff: David Warsofsky as Defense Development Coach, Chris Knieste as Data Engineer, Eric Weissman as Director of College Recruiting and Reserve List Scouting, Jack McNaughton as Goalie Scout and Emergency Replacement Goaltender, and Ariel Amaral as Data Scientist.
Warsofsky, 36, is a former NHL defenseman who played for four clubs (Boston, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Colorado) and served as head coach and Director of Hockey Operations of the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays last season. McNaughton, 24, played four WHL seasons with the Calgary Hitmen, and another four years in Canadian college hockey at Western Ontario.
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With the 2026–27 Phoenix Suns schedule officially released, we now have some insight into the cadence of next season. We now know how many back-to-backs exist, how long the road trips are, and when the NBA’s joke of a “rivalry week” will occur.
One of the more interesting aspects, though, is how often the Suns will appear on a national stage. That number is usually a good barometer of how the league views a team’s relevance. You want your most marketable teams and players in front of a national audience as often as possible to maximize profits. If there’s anything we know about the NBA, and quite honestly just about anywhere you look these days, it’s that maximizing profits tends to drive the conversation. Quality be damned.
That brings us to the Suns. Phoenix was an unexpected success story last season. Granted, they faded late, lost a Play-In game, finished as the eighth seed, and were ultimately swept out of the playoffs. Still, they were entertaining. They had their own storylines, an aggressive identity, and a gritty style of play that gave people a reason to watch.
So what is their reward for all of that? Nine nationally televised games. Nine opportunities to showcase what Phoenix Suns basketball looks like in front of a national audience.
You could take that personally if you’re the Suns. You could look at it as the league not respecting what you do or how you do it. Quite honestly, though, this is exactly where I’d rather be as someone who watches Suns basketball.
It wasn’t that long ago when Phoenix had more than 30 nationally televised games and routinely embarrassed itself on the national stage. It was torture watching those KD/Booker/Beal teams drag us through uninspired moments of basketball, and it was exacerbated by the fact that it was under the bright lights.
Yes, this is a much different team. Thankfully. But the lack of national exposure also reinforces where expectations currently sit. The Suns are projected to win 38.5 games. The league and the sportsbooks don’t appear to believe Phoenix will be anywhere close to relevant. And that’s right where I like them. I’d much rather be overlooked than overhyped. I’d rather be underappreciated than overexalted.
There’s also another benefit to having 73 games that aren’t nationally televised. You know exactly where you’re going to watch them. The nationally televised games will be spread across NBC, Peacock, ESPN, and Amazon Prime. Everything else will be available on Arizona’s Family and the Suns Live app. As a consumer, I find that finding Suns games is much easier and far more predictable. Call me old school, but hopping between five different streamers is cumbersome. We don’t have to navigate the confusion the league has created as it tries to squeeze every profitable dollar possible out of each broadcast deal. From that perspective, I’ll take it as a win.
If the Suns want more national exposure, there’s a pretty simple way to get it. Earn it. Make the postseason and stick around for a while, because those games are all nationally televised.
So the Suns are only on national television nine times this season. Who cares? The team can use it as motivation, we know where to find the games, and the ones that ultimately matter most will be played in the postseason. Don’t let it get you down. Although I’m sure it didn’t.
When I first met Blake Butera, we were in his small Spring Training office in West Palm Beach. The main thing I remember is the scented candles, a sign of his youth.
Over the last few weeks, through a series of questions before and after games, I’ve tried to get a better sense of how Butera thinks about the job.
Butera has become a more seasoned and experienced manager since arriving in Jupiter, Florida for Spring Training, but fundamentally, he is still the same person. He still has the same goals and mentality, but Butera, who turned 34 last week, has learned about the realities of managing a big league club.
As Butera put it, he has “been able to see things through a different lens” as he has gained experience. From bullpen management to knowing when to pull starters, Butera feels like he is learning something every game.
For this whole organization, they are constantly thinking about the process. That is something being done from the top down, and something Butera is constantly trying to do.
But it can be challenging for him. His head knows that he needs to be process oriented, but his heart lives and dies with every result.
With how the Nats season has gone, that has surely been on his mind often. There have been plenty of meltdowns this year, but Butera said, “As long as the process is good, you can live with the outcome, at least that is what I tell myself.”
That last part was telling. Butera may be the same person every day, but losing is something that clearly pushes him to the edge.
That combination of consistency and competitiveness is part of what has endeared him to his players. Jake Irvin told me that Butera is “very focused and diligent in his work.” He also mentioned that his new manager is the same guy every day.
But more importantly, Irvin pointed to the trust Butera has built. “The best managers I have had put trust in their players and communicate well,” Irvin said. “Blake has done both those things.”
Butera is a hands-on presence in a clubhouse that desperately needed that. He is constantly asking how to put his players in the best position to have success. That can even mean delivering hard truths to players. Irvin told me that Butera “tells you the truth whether you want to hear it or not.”
Butera is someone you would firmly characterize as a new school manager. However, Thursday revealed an old-school side of him that still matches with his player-first mentality.
He told me that if Cade Cavalli still had a no-hitter going, he would have been out for the ninth inning even if he was above 100 pitches.
For a few years now there have been a lot of debates about whether to let guys throw well over 100 pitches in pursuit of history. Earlier this season, the Marlins pulled Eury Perez after seven perfect innings.
Butera made it clear that was not his philosophy.
“If there was still a no-hitter, Cade would be pitching until he said he could not pitch anymore.”
Despite being a young, analytically minded manager, Butera appreciates the history of the game. He made it clear that he was not the type of manager to stand in the way of a no-hitter.
There have been times where Butera’s bullpen management has been questionable. It is something where he may even second guess himself. He is constantly thinking about the process and how he can get better. But there is another side to that.
You could see how desperate he was to get a victory during the team’s recent seven-game losing skid. That frustration boiled over when the normally even-keeled Butera got his first ejection as an MLB manager.
In a presser, Butera told a story about how his wife was upset that there wasn’t anything “juicier” that led to the ejection. She asked him what the umpire said that made him so mad, and Butera explained that he was just yelling at the dugout.
His wife was confused about how that made him so mad.“You don’t get it,” Butera told her. That angry side of Butera is not the norm. Most of the time he is calm and calculating. But it gets at the tension that has become more apparent as his first season has gone along.
Butera may not cut the most imposing figure and still looks at least five years younger than your average 34-year-old, but the competitive fire is burning.
He is a fresh-faced 34-year-old who loves talking about cutting-edge analytics in his office with scented candles. However, he is not the type to pull someone from a no-hitter and had the loud endorsement of a Hall of Famer in Mike Piazza.
Blake Butera is a process-oriented manager, or at least he tries to be. In a 162 game season, you can’t live or die by every result. But that can be tough for Butera, who leaves no stone unturned in his goal of winning as many games as possible.
Maybe that is why the most revealing thing Butera said was not that he can live with a bad outcome when the process is good. It was what he added afterward. “At least that is what I tell myself.”
For what very well could be the last time, a group of former Philadelphia Flyers standouts will return to the ice in honor of one of the NHL's greatest, most impactful defensemen in the history of the game.
On Friday, Aug. 21, a large handful of legends and former stars will reconvene in Trencin, Slovakia, to play in Zdeno Chara's farewell game in a matchup of Team Boston vs. Team World.
Team Boston will feature all the star names you'd expect: Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, and Ray Bourque, as well as current Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm.
Also joining the fray, however, are Flyers Hall of Famer Mark Recchi, as well as former Flyers defenseman Dennis Seidenberg.
The Flyers will be equally represented on Chara's Team World, which boasts a group of ex-Flyers forwards in Michal Handzus, Jaromir Jagr, and Jakub Voracek.
As a fun Easter egg, legendary soccer goalkeeper Petr Cech will be between the pipes for Team World; Cech, 44, is a four-time Premier League champion, a Champions League winner, and an ice hockey goalie with 40 games of experience playing in the English leagues.
Zdeno Chara’s farewell game set for August 21st, in Trenčín, Slovakia is STACKED with legends on both teams 😮💨
— BarDown (@BarDown) August 14, 2026
What team do you think is winning this matchup in their primes?
(via: zeesfinalshift /IG) pic.twitter.com/CJ2gY4ehAf
Zdeno Chara farewell game rosters
Team Boston: Patrice Bergeron, Chris Kelly, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Daniel Paille, David Pastrnak, Mark Recchi, Michael Ryder, Marco Sturm, Ray Bourque, Johnny Boychuk, Andrew Ference, Tomas Kaberle, Adam McQuaid, Dennis Seidenberg, and Jaroslav Halak, coached by Matt Keator and Tim Thomas.
Team World: Michal Handzus, Marian Hossa, Jaromir Jagr, Anze Kopitar, Ziggy Palffy, Robert Reichel, Miroslav Satan, Thomas Vanek, Jakub Voracek, Radek Hamr, Duncan Keith, Andrej Sekera, Aaron Ward, and Petr Cech, coached by Jergus Baca, Peter Bondra, and Marian Gaborik.
Chara, 49, last played in the NHL in the 2021-22 season, returning to the New York Islanders team that drafted him 56th overall in the 1996 NHL Draft.
The 6-foot-9 Hockey Hall of Famer scored 17 goals, 29 assists, and 46 points in 84 career games against the Flyers, per Statmuse.
The Kansas City Royals dropped a series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Jacob Milham and Jeremy Greco find plenty worth discussing in both the struggles and the small victories along the way.
Jac Caglianone remains the most compelling storyline on the roster right now. He is hitting for average and looking increasingly comfortable at the player while playing first base, and Jacob and Jeremy dig into the ongoing debate about which position actually maximizes his value to this team. It is a conversation about more than just defense but where he plays affects the entire lineup construction moving forward.
Carson Roccaforte is making waves with legitimate home run power, and Sean Gamble continues to impress in his second-half turnaround. The headline name, though, is Angeibel Gomez at just 17 years old and already drawing comparisons to Juan Soto. Jacob and Jeremy place his early performance in the context of the Royals’ historically uneven track record developing outfielders, while acknowledging that the depth and quality of this farm system feel different than in years past.
Injury updates round out the roster conversation, with Vinnie Pasquantino back from injury and Maikel Garcia’s status also addressed. Statistical trends across the roster get a look as well, including the team’s surprising leader in OPS.
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The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, and the organization’s developmental model has begun to yield results, with 2023 first rounder Zach Benson making an impact in the playoffs, and 2024 top pick Konsta Helenius appearing as one of the AHL’s top prospects the last two seasons.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. These players are all 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 82 NHL games.
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25. Noah Laberge - Defense (Newfoundland - QMJHL)
The Sabres selected three defensemen in the 2025 Draft class, including their top two picks in first-rounder Radim Mrtka, and hulking third-rounder David Bedkowski in the third round. With their pick in the fifth round, Buffalo selected blueliner Noah Laberge from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL. The 19-year-old tripled his goal total from four to 12 in his draft year and scored 35 points for the Titan, who moved to St. John's, Newfoundland last season.
In his third and final QMJHL season, Laberge set a career-high with 56 points (7 goals, 49 assists) and also posted 13 points in 12 playoff games.
Elite Prospects describes the 6’1”. 187 lb. defenseman as “an intelligent and mobile blueliner who specializes in suppressing opposing rushes. He plays a patient defensive game based mostly on his stick work. He funnels puck carriers to the outside, anticipates their movement and matches them, and cuts passes as they’re fired, limiting the opposition’s ability to orchestrate chances. When he regains possession, he immediately looks to the inside for an outlet, connecting with teammates as they rush up the ice, before following their movement.”
Normally, the Sabres would be on the clock to decide to sign the youngster with the two-year window for players drafted out of the CHL, but the option now open to head to the NCAA gives NHL clubs a longer development window. Laberge is heading to Northeastern University this fall.
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Former Iowa State men’s basketball player Deonte Burton, who played for the Cyclones from 2015 to 2017, will play for NLEX Road Warriors when the PBA season 50 Governors’ Cup resumes in October.
The team made the announcement Friday, following a 112-110 loss to Converge FiberXers.
Road Warriors head coach Jimmy Alapag is “very excited” to have Burton suit up for the team as Alapag coached the Milwaukee native during his time in the Sacramento Kings organization.
In addition to stints with the Kings and Oklahoma City Thunder, Burton has also played for: the Maine Celtics, South Korean teams Wonju DB Promy, Busan KCC Egis and Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters, Mets de Guaynabo and Osos de Manatí in Puerto Rico and Guangzhou Loong Lions in China.