Browsing: Alex

These days, all the talk about NHL contracts feels as though itâ€s focused on how high player salaries could push up in coming years. However, one pending UFA whose name can get lost in the mix has been approached by his club about potentially taking less than he might demand on the open market.

The 2026 UFA class is headlined by the likes of Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov and Jack Eichel. With those three megastars — all still in their 20s — in the final year of their deals, Artemi Panarinâ€s status as someone who could hit the open market in July has gone somewhat unremarked upon in wider conversations.

Of course, Panarin, the New York Rangers and Blueshirts fans are all hyper-focused on what might happen next with the guy who, last season, had the highest cap hit of any winger in the league ($11.6 million). That figure stems from the monster seven-year, $87.13-million contract Panarin inked in 2019 to join the Rangers as a UFA and give the teamâ€s rebuild a huge push forward.

Now, as the club tries to get back to contender status after a brutal 2024-25 campaign that saw it miss the playoffs, New York is sussing out the situation to see whatâ€s possible on a new deal.

Though heâ€s still a fantastic player, the calculous on a new Panarin pact is different from those aforementioned pending UFAs because he turns 34 in October. According to Sportsnetâ€s Elliotte Friedman, the Rangers are looking at what happened between Anze Kopitar — another star, veteran player — and the Los Angeles Kings a couple years ago as a possible precedent for what might come next with Panarin.

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• 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

  Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

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Speaking on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Friedman noted that, near the end of an eight-year, $80-million contract, Kopitar was asked by the Kings if he was willing to take a little less to help the team gain a competitive edge. In 2023, about a month before his 36th birthday, Kopitar — with one season remaining on his contract — inked a two-year extension worth $7 million per year that we now know will take him to retirement at seasonâ€s end. While we canâ€t say for sure how long Panarin will keep playing or exactly what kind of term is being offered, those dealings could serve as some kind of blueprint.

“I understand, at some point in the off-season, the Rangers had that kind of conceptual conversation with Panarin: ‘Is there a way you could do for the Rangers what Kopitar did for the Kings?â€â€ Friedman said on 32 Thoughts. “Obviously, at this point and time, it hasnâ€t happened. I donâ€t know where thatâ€s going to go, I donâ€t know if thatâ€s going to be a possibility, but I do know the two sides had the conversation and, obviously, at this point, Panarin is unsigned.â€

Speaking of decorated players, most people assumed two-time Stanley Cup champion Alex Pietrangelo had played his final NHL game when he announced in late June that he was stepping away from hockey to focus on his health.

However, that narrative was tweaked when Pietrangelo met with the Vegas media on Monday, noted he is feeling better and didnâ€t not completely close the book on playing NHL hockey again.

While everyone in the game would be rooting for a respected player like Pietrangelo to return, it would make things tricky for Vegas from a salary-cap standpoint. Recall, new rules mean the cap is still in place for the playoffs, so Vegas could not stick Pietrangeloâ€s $8.8-million hit on long-term injured reserve until the cap is lifted. While Vegas could get up to $4 million in cap relief without declaring Pietrangelo will not play at all this year, getting his cap hit fully cleared requires the team and player to go through a bit of a process.Â

“The only way you can get (full salary relief) in the playoffs is if you declare a player out for the year,†Friedman stated. “Basically what happens is, a team has to apply to the league, submit the medical records and the (NHL Players†Association) is involved, too, because the player has to agree (heâ€ll be out for the year). If you apply for this and itâ€s given, then the player isnâ€t eligible for the season and the playoffs.

“As far as I can tell right now, Pietrangelo and the Golden Knights havenâ€t applied for that. Maybe they will, but I asked if it had happened and I was told, ‘Noâ€.â€

Although a resolution might not be imminent, the knowledge that there are no more cap loopholes to exploit for big-spending Cup contenders like Vegas definitely makes Pietrangeloâ€s situation one to monitor.Â

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The successor to Bob Costas as play-by-play voice on TNT’s Major League Baseball postseason games will be the same broadcaster who replaced the legendary Bob Miller in 2017 after Miller retired following a 44-year Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL.

Yes, Alex Faust has experience replacing a titan of the airwaves.

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Costas, of course, is another Hall of Famer, and he also retired after 44 years. His final MLB call was the 2024 American League Division Series in which the New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals in four games.

Faust, 36, currently calls Friday Night MLB games streamed on Apple TV+. He also is the radio voice of the New York Rangers and has been part of hockey and tennis coverage at TNT Sports. Faust left the Kingsin 2023 when their television deal with Bally Sports expired.

Costas will continue to appear on MLB Network but won’t do play-by-play. His most recent appearance on the airwaves was as a guest on the NPR news quiz “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me”on Sept. 13.

After telling stories about not making his high school baseball team and recounting an embarrassing, mildly profane gaffe he made on air early in his career, Costas answered all three game show questions about the Emmy Awards correctly.

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Costas joked that he had accomplished “the trifecta, the hat trick, the triple crown.” Host Peter Segal asked what the show should call it when someone goes 3 for 3. Costas laughed and replied, “The Costi.”

He probably should have an award named after him. Costas, 73, has received 29 Emmys and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 1988 through 2016. He called three World Series and 10 MLB league championships.

Costas stepped down from MLB play-by-play in November, telling Tom Verducciof MLB Network that he had planned to retire for more than a year, saying, “I couldn’t consistently reach my past standard.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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  Greg WyshynskiSep 22, 2025, 03:43 PM ET

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  Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will not rule out a return to play this season as he continues to rehab a prolonged hip injury.

Pietrangelo, 35, and the Golden Knights announced in June that he was stepping away from “the intensity of hockey” to see if his injured hip could improve to the point where he could have “a normal quality of life.” GM Kelly McCrimmon said at the time that the injury “would require bilateral femur reconstruction, with no guarantee of success.”

Multiple reports indicated that Pietrangelo, the team’s No. 1 defenseman, would miss the entire 2025-26 season at a minimum. The defenseman himself said in June that “the likelihood is low that my body will recover to the standard required to play.”

But Pietrangelo said Monday that he has opted not to have surgery while continuing a rehab program that has given him positive results. When asked if a return this season was off the table, Pietrangelo wouldn’t rule it out.

“Nothing is really concrete. I’m just going to continue to take it day-by-day and see where it goes,” he said at the Golden Knights’ training camp.

Pietrangelo said that the hip issue started years ago but that last season “was when it really took a toll on me.” He played through it, skipping the 4 Nations Face-Off to focus on the Stanley Cup playoffs. He played 71 games overall and then another 10 in the postseason, averaging 23:03 in ice time in the playoffs.

A 17-year NHL veteran, Pietrangelo led the St. Louis Blues (2019) and the Golden Knights (2023) to Stanley Cup championships. He has 637 points in 1,087 career games.

Pietrangelo has two years remaining on a seven-year contract he signed as a free agent with Vegas in 2020, and it carries an $8.8 million salary cap hit. The Golden Knights have limited cap space after acquiring star winger Mitch Marner from Toronto with a new contract that has a $12 million hit.

Vegas will open the season with Pietrangelo on long-term injured reserve. The NHL and NHLPA recently agreed to expedite changes to the collective bargaining agreement that address the salary cap benefits from players on LTIR and establish a postseason cap.

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Greg WyshynskiSep 18, 2025, 04:13 PM ETCloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.ARLINGTON, Va. — Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin…

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Alex Noren made a late charge this summer to try and force his way onto Team Europe for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. The Swede, who missed the first several months of the season due to a 90 percent tear of his hamstring, carded a T7 at the 3M Open and a T3 at the Wyndham Championship before winning the British Masters at the Belfry last month.

But in the end, Noren did not make the cut and was instead named as a vice captain to assist captain Luke Donald on Long Island later this month.

However, as is usually the case after the Ryder Cup captain’s picks are made, a reason for second-guessing emerged this week at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club. With 11 of Team Europe’s 12 members in the field this week, many were expecting weekend fireworks between the likes of Rory McIlroy — fresh off his Irish Open win — Jon Rahm, Ludvig Åberg and others.

Instead, Noren brought his A-game to Wentworth, eventually beating Adrian Saddier on the first playoff Sunday to win his second BMW PGA Championship title and 12th career win on the DP World Tour. Noren’s uptick in play was partially spurred by his desire to make his first Ryder Cup team since 2018, but he admits it’s a spot he didn’t earn, and Donald was right to take his six picks — Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Åberg, Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick — to fill out the roster.

“I think we have a great team and I think it’s the right 12 guys that are playing,” Noren said on Sunday after winning the BMW. “I showed good form late, but it was the wrong time, and I didn’t really show the form I needed to show when I started playing, and too many kind of bad tournaments in the middle of the season. Then way better the last six starts.”

Asked if he planned to take his clubs to Bethpage Black just in case Team Europe needed them, Noren smiled and immediately put on his vice captain’s hat. His clubs will have to wait until 2027 to see Ryder Cup action again.

“I’ll take my clubs this time but take [them] home to Florida,” Noren said. “I think the other guys have played better than me throughout the year. I’ve had a great result now in the last month but it came a little bit too late. I think the guys on the team are going to be fantastic.”

As for the members of Team Europe, Tyrrell Hatton and Viktor Hovland entered the final round with a chance to charge up the leaderboard and challenge Noren for the trophy, but neither could put the gas pedal down Sunday to catch the Swede. Hatton shot a final-round 2-under 70, while Hovland shot a 69. They finished in a tie for fifth at 15 under, four shots back of Noren and Saddier. Fitpatrick also finished T5.

McIlroy, meanwhile, scuffled through the first three rounds before making five birdies and two eagles on Sunday to shoot a 7-under 65 and finish in a tie for 20th alongside Åberg.

“There’s been a lot of talk and a lot of chat and a lot of thinking about the Ryder Cup,” McIlroy said after his final round. “But you still want to play well this week. I saw a glimpse of that. There was a lot of birdies and eagles and just a few too many bogeys and double-bogeys to have a chance to win ,but overall, happy with the week and obviously very excited for what’s to come in a couple weeks’ time.”

Rahm carded a 66 on Sunday to finish tied for 13th. The two-time major champion needed a captain’s pick from Donald after not securing enough points at major championships following his move to LIV Golf. Despite the defection, Rahm remains a foundational part of Team Europe. His foursomes pairing with Hatton was potent during Europe’s 2023 win in Rome, and he could be asked to shepherd rookie Rasmus Hojgaard around Bethpage in two weeks.

Further down the leaderboard, Tommy Fleetwood, who just won the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship, and Shane Lowry finished in a tie for 46th. Justin Rose finished T61. Robert MacIntyre and Hojgaard missed the cut.

Team Europe will now head to Bethpage for a team scouting trip on Monday and Tuesday. After that, the team will break for a few days before rejoining on Long Island for the event that has taken up all the oxygen in the golf world since McIlroy won the Masters to complete the career grand slam.

They will do so confident that they can become the first away team since the 2012 Europe “Miracle at Medinah” squad to win on away soil.

“Wouldn’t be the first time miracles happened twice,” Rahm said on Sunday. “Got to have faith. I think we’re playing good enough and we are a good and strong enough team to face what we are going to face at Bethpage and hopefully end up with the Cup.”

“I keep saying this: We have a massive opportunity to do something that not a lot of Ryder Cup teams say that they have done,” McIlroy said on Wednesday. “But I think we all know it’s going to be very, very difficult, and you’re not just playing 12 American golfers. You’re also trying to get past the crowd, and that’s the same thing that they feel when we come here and play in Europe. Just it definitely gives you a bit of an in-built advantage to start the week, and that’s something definitely that we’re going to have to overcome. But I think it’s a wonderful opportunity. I don’t want to speak on behalf of everyone that’s on the team, but I would assume that we are all very, very excited for that opportunity.

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Sep 14, 2025, 12:59 PM ETVIRGINIA WATER, England — Alex Noren turned a bad shot into a playoff victory Sunday,…

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Flyers’ prospects weren’t the comeback kids this time. They fell to the Rangers, 5-2, Saturday night…