With less than a month before the opening of training camps, there are still a number of unrestricted free agents looking to find a landing spot, either on a professional tryout contract or a one-year deal. Earlier this week, the St. Louis Blues invited veteran winger Milan Lucic in on a PTO, and on Wednesday, former Sabres winger Victor Olofsson signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche for $1.575 million.
The 30-year-old Swede was a seventh-round pick of Buffalo in 2014 and spent four years in Sweden before coming to North America in 2018. After scoring 30 goals in AHL Rochester in 2019, the winger scored 20 goals as a rookie in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season, 20 goals in 2022, and a career-high 28 in 2023, when the Sabres came within a point of making the playoffs.
Olofsson’s decline to seven goals in 51 games in his final season with Buffalo was due more to a demotion to a fourth-line role by head coach Don Granato than an inability to score. After signing a one-year deal with former teammate Jack Eichel in Vegas, Olofsson bounced back with an injury-shortened 15 goals in 56 games (which again would average over 20 in a full year).
The signing with Colorado appears to be to fill the role vacated by the departed Jonathan Drouin, who signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the NY Islanders Olofsson can still put the puck in the net, especially on the power play, and may be insurance as a potential top-six forward replacement with the questionable health status of veteran Gabriel Landeskog.
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Montreal Canadiens fans and followers were shocked Lane Hutson isn’t attending USA Hockey’s Olympic orientation camp, to say the least.
"I don't understand this at all," Global TV Montreal hockey analyst Brian Wilde said onThe Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro on Tuesday. "It's crazy. The Calder winner, the guy in the playoffs that (averaged) 25 minutes is the best Montreal Canadien."
Added Habs fan Dustin Degree on X: "Not inviting Lane Hutson is ridiculous."
With the NHL’s participation in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games less than half a year away, Hutson was not among the 44 players attending the United States' orientation camp. Alex Vlasic and Jackson LaCombe were among the younger blueliners who are attending. Hutson, who ranked third among U.S.-born defenders in scoring last season, with 66 points, isn't.
We have to say to those aggrieved Canadiens fans – chill out. Hutson's absence from the camp is not the end of the world, and even if he doesn't make the actual roster, it won't hinder his development as a budding NHL star.
First of all, USA Hockey noted in its announcement that just because a player isn't attending the camp, it doesn't mean they're automatically removed from consideration for the Olympic roster. This camp is not a tryout; it is mainly happening to cover administrative topics and include some team-building activities.
As Nazem Kadri noted to The Athletic when he wasn't invited to Hockey Canada's camp, there’s still a chance, however remote, that players can sway the opinion of Olympics GMs in their favor. That could easily be a great motivation for Hutson as he kicks off his sophomore NHL season.
That said, look at the defensemen on America’s orientation camp list who are locks to make the team, and tell us who Hutson should be ahead of on the depth chart for the final roster.
For the camp itself, if budding solid NHL blueliners Vlasic and LaCombe are attending, then Hutson should have been as well, unless he was invited but couldn't make it. The same goes with Washington Capitals stalwart No. 1 blueliner John Carlson.
That group is an elite mix of offensive production from the back end and strong defensive play. Unless any of these players are injured, they likely wouldn't get worse enough by roster selection time for Hutson to leapfrog somebody on the Americans' depth chart.
Even if Hutson ultimately fails to make it, does that take away anything from him or his career trajectory? Absolutely not.
He’s the type of generational talent teams crave, and that’s not going to change. This was true of Chicago Blackhawks star center Connor Bedard when he wasn’t named to Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off squad. They have plenty of time to make the national teams later on when older players age out, and they continue to improve.
Ultimately, not being part of a team’s Olympic roster is definitely a snub, but that doesn’t mean it’s not warranted. The truth is there’s a plethora of talent on the United States, and there are precious few spots to accommodate them all.
Canadiens fans may not be happy that Hutson isn’t on America’s orientation camp list, but he is very much a special player, and nothing that’s happened this summer, nor in the next season, is going to change that.
Coco Gauff has reportedly split with coach Matthew Daly just days before the start of the US Open, making another shakeup to her support team on the eve of the year’s final major. The move was first reported by Bounces.
The world No 3 and two-time major champion will continue to work with her longtime coach Jean-Christophe Faurel but has added biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan to her corner. MacMillan was spotted with Gauff during a Wednesday practice session at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche added depth at forward by signing Victor Olofsson to a one-year deal.
The 30-year-old Olofsson spent last season with the Vegas Golden Knights, where he had 15 goals and 14 assists over 56 games. He turned in the longest road point streak in Golden Knights history when he notched at least a point in 10 straight games from Dec. 4 to Jan. 23.
Olofsson got his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season, scoring two goals as the team reached the second round.
A seventh-round pick by Buffalo in 2014, Olofsson has 105 goals and 106 assists in 370 games with the Sabres and Golden Knights. He reached two milestones last season — recording his 100th career assist on Jan. 17 and notching his 100th career goal the next night.
The 5-fot-11, 180-pound Olofsson was on the 2019-20 all-rookie team.
Before arriving in North America, Olofsson played in the Swedish Hockey League for parts of the 2013-18 seasons.
He was a member of Team Sweden at the IIHF World Championship in 2021 and 2024. He helped the squad to a bronze medal in ’24.
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, but the organization’s developmental model has not yielded enough results.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. All are 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 40 NHL games.
#23 - Gavin McCarthy - D (Boston University - NCAA)
McCarthy was the Sabres third-round pick at the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville. The Western New York native is well known to GM Kevyn Adams and the club’s scouting staff since he played three seasons with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres.
The 6’2”, 185 lb. blueliner scored 27 points (8 goals, 19 assists) and 88 penalty minutes with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL in his draft year, and moved on to play with 2024 top overall pick Macklin Celebrini at Boston University. The 20-year-old had five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in 38 games in his freshman year and was invited to Team USA’s summer camp for the 2025 IIHF World Junior squad, but did not make the WJC gold medal-winning squad last December.
In his sophomore year at BU, McCarthy showed some offensive growth, tripling his freshman point total with 16 (3 goals, 13 assists) in 39 games. Elite Prospects says he is “part-robust defender and part-clever creator” and that “there’s plenty of flash to McCarthy’s puck game” with an “angle-changing wrister and a non-stop activation game make him a constant threat.”
The Sabres will be looking for the young defender to take a big step as a junior, which will determine whether they pursue signing him to a pro contract or let him sty in college for his senior season.
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Clippers guard John Wall shoots against Washington Wizards Corey Kispert, center, and Kristaps Porzingis during a game on Dec. 10, 2022, in Washington. (Nick Wass / Associated Press)
In his prime, John Wall was a rocket, a supremely talented point guard whose speed, explosiveness and star power made him the first pick in the NBA draft, a five-time All-Star and a fan favorite of the Washington Wizards, the team for which he delivered nearly all his heroics and highlight reels.
At the end, Wall was in uniform and running the court — that in itself a sight to see — but the uniform was the Clippers and his game had been reduced to eye-blink spurts of greatness.
The Clippers visited Washington's Capital One Arena on Dec. 10, 2022, Wall in the midst of a 34-game slog that would be his last in the NBA. Wizards fans cheered his introduction and the 90-second tribute video that Wall was too emotional to even watch.
When the Clippers were off to a disastrous second-quarter start, Wall answered with six consecutive points, the last two swishing on his step-back 13-foot jumper. He spun toward the crowd, pointed both index fingers toward the court, and shouted, "Still my city!"
Wall was so overcome by the cheering crowd that he started walking to the wrong bench. “I kind of flashed back and forgot like, I’m in a different jersey,” he said. "Just being in that moment and electrifying the crowd, that’s what I’ve been doing for a lot of years in my career when I was here.”
Wall announced his retirement on Tuesday, although most fans probably figured he had retired already. His Clippers stint ended Jan. 13, 2022, and he never played again. His slide began in 2020 when Washington did the unfathomable, trading the most popular Wizard since Wes Unseld to the Houston Rockets for Russell Westbrook.
Wall had suffered a succession of leg injuries and he would suffer some more. The loss of his signature speed, coupled with the death of his mother, sent Wall into a depression that eventually had him contemplating suicide.
"For me, it all happened really fast," he wrote in a first-person Players Tribune story. "In the span of three years, I went from being on top of the world to losing damn near everything I ever cared about.
"In 2017, I’m jumping up on the announcer’s table in D.C. after forcing Game 7 against Boston, and I’m the king of the city. I’m getting a max extension, thinking I’m a Wizard for life. A year later, I tore my Achilles and lost the only sanctuary I’ve ever known — the game of basketball. I ended up with such a bad infection from the surgeries that I nearly had to have my foot amputated. A year later, I lost my best friend in the whole world, my mom, to breast cancer.
“My best friend is gone. I can’t play the game I love. Everybody just got their hand out. Nobody is checking on me for me. It’s always coming with something attached. Who’s there to hold me down now? What’s the point of being here?”
Never mind that the Rockets gave him $172 million over four years, and that he gave them only 40 games in 2020-2021 in return. The next season, he agreed to the Rockets' request that he not play, that he sit out and become a glorified assistant coach while the team tanked.
Wall agreed to forfeit a slice of his salary — his career earnings were $276 million — to get a fresh start with the Clippers, but it was soon clear he had little to offer, averaging 11.3 points and shooting 40.3%.
“That’s the most frustrating part because people think, ‘Oh, he got the money, he’s set for life, he don’t care,'" Wall recently told the Washington Post. "No, I would give up all the money to play basketball and never deal with none of those injuries. I didn’t play the game of basketball for money. I played the game of basketball because I love it,”
It took him two more years to reconcile that he was through, and his retirement announcement Tuesday was timed with another that he will join Prime Video for its studio show in its inaugural season broadcasting the NBA in 2025-2026.
Prime Video will broadcast 67 regular-season games, the play-in tournament and some playoff games. Wall called the G League Winter Showcase in January, which led to appearances on NBA TV. Now he’ll join the "NBA on Prime" team along with Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade, Blake Griffin, Udonis Haslem and Candace Parker.
For Wall, it will be an opportunity to revisit his prime, sharing the basketball knowledge he accumulated through a difficult upbringing in North Carolina, an All-American one-and-done season at Kentucky and an 11-year NBA career in which he averaged 18.7 points and 8.9 assists a game.
“If you never really had the opportunity to sit down and talk to me, you won’t really understand how much I love basketball, where my basketball mind is at, where my IQ is," Wall said. "I can basically tell you the best player in the country — from girls to boys, high school, to the players that’s in college, to the people that’s at the NBA and WNBA."
Linebacker Brayden Rouse (Marietta, GA/ Kell High School), the four-star prosect has officially accepted his invitation to the 2026 Navy All-American Bowl.
Defensive back Brandon Arrington (Spring Valley, CA/ Mount Miguel High School), the five-star prosect has officially accepted his invitation to the 2026 Navy All-American Bowl.
In a couple of weeks, when Dwight Howard is inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Shaquille O'Neal will be by his side as one of his presenters. Shaq's addition to the list of Patrick Ewing, Robert Parish, Dennis Rodman, and Dominique Wilkins was announced by the Hall.
It's an interesting choice, given that Shaq and Howard have had a public feud that goes back more than 17 years. It was an inevitable tension as Shaq was not willing to cede his spot among the best centers in the game to another player, especially one Shaq saw as appropriating his "Superman" image.
So u wear a cape and win a dunk contest and they call u superman So
This feud continued after Shaq's playing days, with him once suggesting Brook Lopez was a better center than Howard (who had been named First Team All-NBA for five straight years at that point). Howard said Shaq was retired and needed to let it go. Shaq later said all this was a motivational tactic to fire up Howard, but it continued even a year ago when both were out of the game (Howard was inspired by the Mike Tyson/Jake Paul "fight").
Gotta have more than one ring to get in the ring with me, I’ll stick with a real champion like @RobGronkowski, and you can have the Superman belt, all yours buddy,
Now, though, it's apparently all good. The two men have a lot in common, including both being the No. 1 pick of the Orlando Magic and leading that franchise to the NBA Finals, and both were dominant at their peak.
hen Dwight Howard deservedly enters the Hall of Fame next month, Shaq will be there to present him and welcome him to the club.
PITTSBURGH — Baseball’s top pitching prospect is getting called up to the majors.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have decided to promote 22-year-old right-hander Bubba Chandler ahead of their game Friday against the Colorado Rockies, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the roster move was not yet official.
Chandler will join a staff that already includes 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.
The person told the AP that Chandler will initially work in a “bulk” bullpen role. Chandler got off to a hot start in Triple-A this year but has stumbled lately and is currently 5-6 with a 4.05 ERA in 100 innings pitched this year for Indianapolis.
The Pirates have been careful with Chandler’s workload since he moved to pitching full-time ahead of the 2023 season after being projected as a two-way player when he was drafted in 2021. Chandler saw time at shortstop and as a designated hitter early in his minor-league career but struggled at the plate, hitting just .184 with Class-A Greensboro in 2022.
Asked in February if he missed hitting, Chandler joked he learned in the minors that for a position player, he’s a pretty good pitcher.
And potentially a very good one. Yet Pittsburgh has been cautious in bringing Chandler along. He pitched 106 innings in 2023 and 119 innings last season.
Chandler got off to a scorching start at Triple-A this spring, posting a 1.33 ERA in April and a 2.54 ERA in May. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, however, had been hesitant to promote Chandler, citing his relative inexperience as opposed to Skenes, who had a standout career at LSU before the Pirates called him up in May 2024.
Chandler’s effectiveness has waned of late. He went 0-2 with a 7.50 ERA in three starts this month for Indianapolis.
Yet with Pittsburgh heading for a last-place finish in the NL Central, Chandler will get an extended audition in the majors as the club points toward 2026.
The top of the Pirates’ rotation for next year appears to be set with Skenes and Mitch Keller. The other three spots are a question mark at the moment, with Jared Jones (who has missed all season after having Tommy John surgery), Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows and Johan Oviedo (who made his second start after having Tommy John surgery of his own in late 2023), all in the mix.
Chandler can join them with a solid showing, with the club likely looking for chances to put him in low-leverage situations. In that way, having him available for a weekend series against MLB-worst Colorado makes sense.
Wisconsin wants to start a new string of bowl appearances after allowing its streak of 22 straight winning season to end with a late tailspin a year ago.
Czech
defenseman Jan Rutta is about to sign with Genève-Servette
of Switzerland’s National League, according to a
Swiss media report.
Gregory Beaud reports
that his media outlet Blick
has information that indicates the deal is imminent. No details about
the length of the contract are mentioned, other than “for the
upcoming season.”
If correct, it would
mean a return to Europe after eight years in the NHL for the
35-year-old. Rutta has 98 points and 219 penalty minutes in 417 NHL
regular-season games with the Chicago
Blackhawks, Tampa Bay
Lightning, Pittsburgh
Penguins and San Jose Sharks.
He also has 11 points in 49 playoff games and is a two-time Stanley
Cup champion with Tampa Bay.
According to the
report, Genève-Servette sports
director Marc Gautschi has said that he
wants to start the upcoming season with
seven import players.
The club already has under contract for the 2025-26 season
Finns Puljujärvi, Markus
Granlund, Sakari Manninen and Vili Saarijärvi, Canadian Taylor
Beck and American
Jimmy Vesey.
Genève-Servette team won its first-ever
national championship in Switzerland in 2023-24 after
a century of existance and then
won the Champions Hockey League in 2024-25,
but has missed the playoffs the last two National League seasons.
The St. Louis Blues' goal this upcoming campaign will be to build off their strong 2024-25 season. When looking at the Blues' current roster, it is clear that they are trending in the right direction. This is especially so when noting that they brought in some good new talent this off-season.
With the Blues' season opener starting to get closer, let's take a look at two of their players who could be surprises for them during the 2025-26 campaign.
Mathieu Joseph
Mathieu Joseph had a tough first season with the Blues, as he posted four goals, 10 assists, and a minus-6 rating in 60 games. While Joseph struggled to produce offensively in 2024-25, his past seasons demonstrate that he has the potential to bounce back.
Just back during the 2023-24 season with the Ottawa Senators, Joseph scored 11 goals and set career highs with 24 assists and 35 points. With this, the possibility of Joseph getting his offense back up and being a nice surprise for the Blues next season should not be ruled out.
Logan Mailloux
Earlier this off-season, the Blues traded forward Zack Bolduc to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Logan Mailloux. While Bolduc was a promising young forward for the Blues and had a solid 2024-25 season, fans should not ignore Mailloux. He has the potential to become a key piece for the Blues moving forward.
Mailloux is a former first-round pick who is still trying to cement himself as a full-time NHL defenseman. The promising blueliner should get more opportunities on the Blues, and it will be fascinating to see if he can break out for the Central Division club because of it. In seven games last season with the Canadiens, he had two goals and four points.
