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Connor McDavid’s contract saga could have some sort of resolution shortly.

The Edmonton Oilers superstar may give his team clarity on his pending free agency before its season opener on Wednesday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.

“Reading the tea leaves here, I do think that McDavid wants to give the Oilers clarity before the season begins by either signing or explaining why specifically he wouldn’t sign. So I think we’re gonna have an idea, one way or another, in the next day or two,” Friedman said.

McDavid, the three-time MVP and five-time Art Ross Trophy winner, is scheduled to become a free agent next summer. He has been eligible to sign a contract extension since July 1, but has yet to do so.

The Oilers are coming off back-to-back losses in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

Fellow superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who was also primed to reach free agency next summer, recently signed a record-breaking eight-year, $136-million extension with the Minnesota Wild.

However, McDavid isn’t expected to raise the standard even higher, Friedman reported.

“I think if he does (sign), it’ll to be short term. I’m not even convinced it’s gonna be as long as four years, if he signs. I think it could be less than that. And as I’ve been saying all the way along, I think it’s going to be lower than many people expect, below $16 (million), if he signs. I would be surprised if it’s close to that,” Friedman said.

McDavid, 28, has been consistent when asked about his contract situation that he is focused on winning above all else.

But even with a rising salary cap, the Oilers still must manage player salaries carefully with Leon Draisaitl on the books at $14 million annually, Evan Bouchard at $10.5 million and Darnell Nurse at $9.25 million.

Friedman said McDavid is “well aware” of that dynamic.

“There’s a limit of what he can do with all of those other numbers and I absolutely believe that that has been a factor in whatever conversations he’s having,” Friedman said.

Still, ultimately, Friedman said he believes that McDavid, who has spent his entire career with the Oilers since being drafted first overall in 2015, will wind up signing an extension — even if it’s not for maximum term.

“I think there’s a real loyalty there to the players that either he’s grown up with, the Draisaitls, the Nugent-Hopkins, the Nurses, or the players who have come that he has grown to have a great relationship with, the Ekholms and the Hymans, and that’s why I believe he’s going to sign,” Friedman said.

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Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from his third-round match at the Shanghai Masters against Tallon Griekspoor, the 27th seed, after suffering from cramps in humid conditions while trailing the Dutchman 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-2 on.

In the final weeks of a long, arduous season for all, the conditions in Shanghai have been severe this past week, particularly on Sunday as players tried to compete in 90% humidity. Many struggled badly.

Being scheduled in the night session offered little solace for Sinner, the world No 2, who was dragged into a third set by a tenacious Griekspoor. By the third set, Sinner had physically deteriorated, visibly cramping and limping badly before he had no choice but to retire.

“This is definitely not the way you want to win,†said Griekspoor. “Brutal conditions here in Shanghai all week already. I thought we were still a little bit lucky to play in the evening without sun, but two hours, 36 minutes on the clock, middle of the third set. Sorry for him, I wish him a speedy recovery.â€

Carlos Alcaraz, the world No 1, withdrew from Shanghai before the tournament because of the ankle injury he suffered at the beginning of his title run in Tokyo earlier this week, meaning Sinnerâ€s retirement presents a great opportunity for the rest of the field, including Novak Djokovic, who edged into the round of 16 with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Yannick Hanfmann of Germany.

Elsewhere, Amanda Anisimova continued to put together an incredible breakthrough season as she followed up her success at the grand slam tournaments by clinching the biggest title of her career with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 win over Linda Noskova in Beijing.

Anisimova has now won two WTA 1000 titles at the China Open and Qatar Open alongside reaching two grand slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open this year. Having been ranked as low as No 41 in February, she sits at No 4 in the WTA rankings and No 3 in the WTA race. She has now qualified for the WTA Finals in Riyadh for the first time in her career.

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Her progress over the past nine days has been particularly satisfying considering she underwent wisdom tooth surgery on the day she flew out to Beijing: “Itâ€s been quite a few weeks for me here, for sure,†she said. “I feel like Iâ€ve learned a lot about myself. I think I can take a lot of positives and look at it as a lot of progress for me just figuring out ways to face certain challenges and push myself in moments when it feels like I canâ€t go any further. I feel like in that sense I learned that Iâ€m stronger than I think. Thatâ€s a huge win for me.â€

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Manchester United have now gone 12 years since winning the title after the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson – and they’re a long way from returning to those lofty heights.

The Red Devils won the Premier League 13 times during the first 21 years of the division’s existence, but have gone through six different permanent managers since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

This season, Manchester United currently sit 14th in the Premier League under Ruben Amorim, after finishing 15th last term.

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  Sean AllenOct 2, 2025, 09:00 AM ET

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  Sean Allen is a contributing writer for fantasy hockey and betting at ESPN. He was the 2008 and 2009 FSWA Hockey Writer of the Year.

Your decision to draft Leon Draisaitl over Auston Matthews isn’t going to win you your league.

Neither will choosing Zach Werenski over Rasmus Dahlin. Or Sergei Bobrovsky over Igor Shesterkin.

It’s your league. Run it how you want.

Choose your league size, customize the scoring and set the rules you want to create the fantasy hockey league you want to play in.

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Fantasy hockey leagues are won in the margins. Everyone gets quality players early. The difference between finishing middle of the pack and taking home the trophy is how you use those late-round picks (and then how you manage waivers and trades along the way, don’t worry, we’ll be here for that, too).

ESPN Fantasy Hockey tracks average draft position (ADP) out to a 10-team league, which means 230 players. That means about 230 is the max you’ll see on ADP in your draft window or when looking at the player data in your league. If a player has an ADP lower than 200, they are being selected in the majority of drafts. If they are in the 200 to 210 range, it’s a coin flip that they’ll be drafted. In the 210 to 220 range, we are talking closer to one in four. And if they are past 220 ADP, odds are they aren’t being picked at all.

So who deserves a shot in that 200-plus range? Who should you actually use those last handful of picks on when you’re filling out your bench in rounds 19 through 23?

This is where context beats star power. Upside is hidden in the details — a second-unit power-play assignment, a depth chart shuffle, being next in line if a star gets hurt, or landing on a team that’s simply better this season. Beyond raw talent, the late rounds are about who has a real pathway to meaningful minutes and production.

These are the players who can turn the margins into your edge. You’ll have your own, for your own reasons. Here are 12 names outside pick 200 that I’m targeting, and the hooks that make them worth the gamble.

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Late forwards

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Quinton Byfield, C, Los Angeles Kings (214.7 ADP): Anze Kopitar’s retirement tour looms over this season, and Byfield is the heir apparent. He’s shown enough that the takeover could begin in earnest this season. Don’t be surprised if he ends up chasing for the Kings lead in fantasy points among forwards.

Matty Beniers, C, Seattle Kraken (228.3 ADP): While we’ve had four seasons of Beniers for evaluation and the end result is more “meh” than “wow,” he is still only 22 years old. But it’s definitely go time. He should be angling to be deployed as a true, No. 1 center with 20 minutes per game, surrounded by snipers on the wings. This is the season where Beniers will break through or show us he’s destined as a No. 2.

Cole Perfetti, LW, Winnipeg Jets (224.6 ADP): With Nikolaj Ehlers gone, someone has to soak up those top-six minutes and power-play touches. Perfetti got plenty of it last season, but will move one more rung up the depth chart ladder now. Consistent power-play time should mean a 60-point floor.

Jeff Skinner, LW, San Jose Sharks (229.9 ADP): Skinner’s not the same as he was in his prime, but he doesn’t need to be. The Sharks are climbing out of their rebuild doldrums, and Skinner’s signing signals they want some veteran offense now. He should play bigger minutes here than he did in Edmonton and he’s never been shy about putting pucks on net.

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Valeri Nichushkin, RW, Colorado Avalanche (208.8 ADP): In the post-Mikko Rantanen era, the Avs will need Nichushkin more than ever to flank Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. When everything clicks, he’s a fantasy standout you can get after pick 200.

Jimmy Snuggerud, RW, St. Louis Blues (229.6 ADP): The Blues just give me good vibes this season. There’s always that team that just feels like they have all the ducks in a row to break out of the mushy middle with a surprise campaign. For me, that’s this St. Louis team that ran the table with coach Jim Montgomery at the end of last season. Snuggerud got a handful of games in, looked NHL ready and will surely be in the mix for a top-six role.

Want to test out different approaches? Try out the ESPN Mock Draft Lobby.

Late defense

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Jamie Drysdale, D, Philadelphia Flyers (229.3 ADP): There’s a clear path for Drysdale to quarterback the Flyers’ top power-play unit, which is half the battle for fantasy relevance. Health is always a question, but the talent and opportunity line up perfectly here.

Cam Fowler, D, St. Louis Blues (228.6 ADP): Another defender with a straight shot at PP1 duties and part of a Blues squad that feels primed for a big season. If he fully takes over quarterback duties from Justin Faulk, Fowler could flirt with a career-high 40 assists.

Alexander Romanov, D, New York Islanders (219.3 ADP): Romanov won’t wow with scoring, but he’s a multi-category plug-in who racks up hits and blocks while staying durable. Despite only 20 points, his 2.1 fantasy points per game ranked 17th among defensemen last season, tied with Adam Fox, Josh Morrissey, Seth Jones, and Evan Bouchard — proof that counting stats matter.

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Late goalies

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John Gibson, G, Detroit Red Wings (220.5 ADP): Finally out of Anaheim, Gibson has a chance to stabilize behind a team with playoff aspirations. Even league-average goaltending from him in Detroit makes him a sleeper bench goalie with upside.

Karel Vejmelka, G, Utah Mammoth (221.4 ADP): The Mammoth are on the upswing, and there’s no other ‘tender in line to challenge Vejmelka for the crease. Volume is half the game in fantasy netminding, and he’s poised to get it.

Jeremy Swayman, G, Boston Bruins (203.8 ADP): Swayman handled the full-time starter role last season, and while the Bruins struggled, he showed he can carry a heavy workload. Admittedly, the Bruins stabilizing is a tall “if,” but he has all the puzzle pieces to outperform his late-round ADP and give you solid, starter-level numbers.

Late-round picks don’t always hit. That’s the nature of taking swings after pick 200. But what matters is targeting players who actually have a reason to pop, whether it’s power-play time, a new team or just being next in line for more opportunity. These aren’t lottery tickets you stash and forget; they’re calculated bets with clear upside.

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — J.J. Redick showed he could handle the job in his first season as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach, leading the team to 50 wins and the No. 3 seed.

That was enough for general manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers organization to give Redick a contract extension, Pelinka announced Thursday.

“Confidence and belief,†Pelinka said as to why he wanted to give his coach an extension after just one season. “We think heâ€s a special coach with a special voice thatâ€s really helping us to continue to define the culture of Lakers excellence. We just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what weâ€re going to lean into, and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.â€

There were no details on the extension, but Redick had three years remaining on the contract he signed just more than a year ago. A good guess is that this aligns Redickâ€s contract with Pelinkaâ€s.

“I think it starts with just a high level of gratitude to the Lakers, to Mark [Walters, incoming team owner], Jeannie [Buss, team governor], and Rob for having that confidence in me,†Redick said. “And itâ€s not lost on me the sort of rarity of a first-time head coach getting an extension. Like I recognize how fortunate I am to be with an organization that supports me that way.â€

Redick also discussed what he learned in his first year on the job, and how he plans to approach it in the future.

“I thought about a lot of things. You certainly reflect on the previous season, both successes and failures, and you do a lot of self-assessment, and that was really where I spent a lot of the first probably four to six weeks, was on sort of self-assessment,†Redick said of his offseason. “But I would say the two words that immediately, when you ask that question, pop into my mind are philosophy and methodology, the philosophy of how we want to play, the methodology as a coach of how I want to teach that. And so thatâ€s where I spent a lot of time this summer.â€

Redick and Pelinka talked all things Lakers for more than half an hour at the Lakers practice facility in the days before training camp opens next Tuesday. Among the topics covered:

• LeBron James†future in Los Angeles. Entering his 23rd season, when he will turn 41, LeBron remains a crucial part of the Lakers†attack this season. He will also be a free agent after this season. Will he return to the Lakers? Retire?

“The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is just give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years heâ€s going to continue to play,†Pelinka said. “Heâ€s earned that right.â€

Pelinka added, as he has before, that he would love LeBron to retire a Laker. Whether that happens or not is another question.

• Luka Doncicâ€s leadership. The Lakers signed Luka Doncic to an extension, and as part of that process, Pelinka and Buss traveled to Poland to meet with him and watch him play in a EuroBasket game for Slovenia. Outside of Doncic looking fit, it was his leadership that impressed Pelinka.

“I think the thing that probably stood out among many things… just his overall leadership tone and how he not only led by example, but he was very demonstrative in the practice in terms of his expectations of the team, how they played, their togetherness,†Pelinka said. “And I think just seeing that continued evolution and growth with him is not only a leader by example, but a leader with his voice really stood out to me, and I think itâ€s something thatâ€s going to carry into camp this year.â€

Doncic was shocked when he was traded in the middle of last season, then landed on a team with the commanding presence of LeBron in the locker room. Understandably, Doncic didnâ€t walk in the door a vocal leader, but that may change this season.

As for his improved conditioning, Redick said this is not just a one-summer thing, but rather a new routine.

“I get the sense from talking to him all summer or spending time with him, not only just here but at the Backstreet Boys, that this is his life now,†Redick said. “This is his routine. This is just a daily commitment to the new standard that heâ€s set for himself.â€

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Logan Paul doesnâ€t have a ton of fans in the world of wrestling, and in a recent interview, fellow pro wrestler Ricky Saints had just one compliment to pay him.

During a recent episode of the Going Ringside podcast (via Fightful), Saints spoke briefly about Paul. The NXT star didnâ€t have much to say, but had a few compliments for the breakout WWE star.

“I love Logan Paulâ€s wrestling gear, I think it looks really cool,†said Saints. “Heâ€s very athletic too.â€

On Paulâ€s athleticism, Saints wasnâ€t too shocked by it, but believes many in wrestling are pretty athletic.

“No, I wasnâ€t surprised. I donâ€t know, I feel everyone is athletic, it just taking the time to unlock that ability to see how far you are athletically,†Saints said. “I say that with an asterisk, Iâ€ve seen people who couldnâ€t even jump over a broomstick. So, thereâ€s that. Ethan Page. Iâ€m not surprised at all by how athletic he is.

“I do love his wrestling gear. Thatâ€s it for compliments for me out of Logan Paul.â€

READ MORE: WWE Legend Believes Logan Paul Will Be A Huge Babyface

Do you agree with Ricky Saints? Are you a fan of Logan Paul? What does Paulâ€s future hold in the world of WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.

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