The St. Louis Blues may have some good news on the injury front. Veteran centre Oskar Sundqvist expects to begin the regular season on the roster following an ACL injury.
On Friday on 101 ESPN, Blues insider Jeremy Rutherford reported that Sundqvist feels he will be healthy enough to start the season. Sundqvist tore his ACL in a late-season game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Generally speaking, recovering from an ACL injury takes six-nine months. The start of training camp in September is about six months after the injury occurred. As such, it is certainly not a tall order for Sundqvist to expect himself to be ready to start the season. Furthermore, even if he does not return right away at the beginning of camp, he could still return and get some work in before the season starts.
Sundqvist is not the only Blue dealing with an injury. Defenceman Torey Krug was diagnosed with arthritis last month. Furthermore, he could miss the entire season. Krug will be re-evaluated in a few weeks to determine how much time he will miss.
The potential of losing Krug has already shaken up the Blues plans for this season. If the team is able to get Sundqvist back, that will be one less hole to fill. Furthermore, Sundqvist is a veteran who has played 426 NHL games. As the Blues continue their retool, Sundqvist’s veteran presence is an asset to the Blues and younger players who make their way to the NHL roster. Sundqvist is a respected player in the locker room and is loved by Blues fans.
The Blues are not short on depth on their roster. Returning players like Alexey Toropchenko, Nathan Walker, and Nikita Alexandrov are options on the roster. In addition, the team made various moves this summer to bring more forwards to the team. The Blues re-signed Kasperi Kapanen. Furthermore, they made multiple trades and brought in centre Alexandre Texier, centre Radek Faksa, and winger Mathieu Joseph. Should Sundqvist not be ready and miss the start of the season, there are plenty of options to fill in. This does not even include young players like Zachary Bolduc, Zach Dean, and Dalibor Dvorsky.
However, if Sundqvist is able to play, the Blues have more roster flexibility. Sundqvist can centre one of the bottom-six lines. Faksa would likely centre the other. The Blues would then be able to place the others where they fit best. Kapenan, Texier, Faksa, and Joseph are veterans who can play wherever the team needs them. However, while young players like Bolduc and Dean had small NHL time last season, the Blues may not want to slide them in a role that they may not be ready for. Dvorsky, meanwhile, has not played a NHL game. These younger players could be ready for a full-time NHL role, but it would better for their development to ease into it instead of being inserted into the fire because of an injury. Furthermore, if some of these young players were ready for the NHL, Sundqvist would be an excellent mentor to play alongside.
Due to the depth of forwards, the Blues have multiple bottoms-six options. If Sundqvist is able to play, this is how the bottom-six may look:
Joseph-Faksa-Kapenan
Texier-Sundqvist-Toropochenko
These line combinations give the initial nod to veteran players. This gives players like Bolduc, Dean, and Dvorsky more time to develop in the minor leagues. However, should these players prove ready, they may challenge some veterans for the line spots.
Sundqvist has been a key member of the team since coming over in a 2017 trade. He has been a reliable defensive forward who can chip in on offence when needed.
A healthy Sundqvist gives the Blues the opportunity to send out the best team possible to start the season. The fact that he feels ready in early August is a sign that this hope may be a reality.
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With the Dallas Stars finalizing a deal with Glen Gulutzan on July 1 to become their new head coach, all 32 teams have their man behind the bench for the 2025-26 season. Overall, nine teams hired new head coaches, but these four have the best chance of success this season: Adam Foote, Vancouver Canucks In his first NHL head-coaching job, Foote — who played in the league for 20 seasons — gets a team that endured plenty of disfunction last season. The good news for Foote is that his roster includes former Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes, former Vezina finalist Thatcher Demko and No. 1 center Elias Pettersson. Vancouver also re-signed winger Brock Boeser to a long-term deal. However, their center depth may be lacking a bit after its trade of J.T. Miller and the injury histories of Demko and Boeser. Vancouver will face an uphill climb in a tough Pacific Division that includes powers Edmonton, Vegas and Los Angeles. Foote must get the best out of his stars to get Vancouver back into the postseason. The Canucks have made the postseason only twice over the past 10 seasons. Rick Tocchet, Philadelphia Flyers The former Jack Adams Award winner (NHL Coach of Year) was fired by the Vancouver Canucks after a disappointing season and subsequently scooped up by the Flyers, who had fired John Tortorella. Tocchet brings a similar gritty, heavy forechecking approach as Tortorella that seems to fit for the Flyers. Philadelphia features solid, young talent, including budding superstar forward Matvei Michkov and newly acquired winger Trevor Zegras. The Flyers’ biggest issue is goaltending. Philadelphia finished last in team save percentage last season. Tocchet must get better play in the net. Mike Sullivan, New York Rangers The two-time Stanley Cup champion parted with the Pittsburgh Penguins after a third straight season out of the playoffs. New York, the 2024 President’s Trophy-winning team, faltered last season, missing the playoffs after three straight seasons in the postseason. New York traded young defenseman K’Andre Miller, 25, but it signed the top defensive free agent, Vladislav Gavrikov, who should form an elite pairing with former Norris winner Adam Fox. The Rangers also have center J.T. Miller (acquired last January) for a full season and former Vezina winner Igor Shesterkin in net. The Rangers have plenty of talent to compete in a wide-open Metropolitan Division, so Sullivan has a great chance at getting New York back into the playoffs. Glen Gulutzan, Dallas Stars Gulutzan, who coached Dallas from 2011-13, has one of the NHL’s most talented rosters. The Stars re-signed Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn for their forward group, which also includes stars Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson. It may be the best unit in the league. Dallas' defensive core features a star (Miro Heiskanen) and breakout youngster (23-year-old Thomas Harley). They’re backstopped in net by Jake Oettinger, who could start for Team USA at the 2026 Olympics. With all this talent, Gulutzan has the best chance of success of any new NHL coach.
Tyreek Hill was just trying to be a good teammate, but his Miami Dolphins colleague didn't care for the message. On Friday, Hill gave a meaty performance during his media availability, broaching subjects from his mastery of the offense this year to saying he agreed with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that he needed to be a better leader on the Dolphins for the upcoming season. Then he took a shot at running back De'Von Achane. He suggested the Dolphins keep the 5-foot-9, 191-pound back off the field in third-and-short situations. "Take (Achane) out on 3rd-down," Hills told reporters, via the Dolphins. "What? That's my honest opinion. If it's third-and-short, he's not a power back. I've been telling him that in the locker room... I love De'Von, but If I'm being honest, that's why you got Jaylen Wright, that's why you got Ollie Gordon." Achane responded to Hill giving his opinion to the media. "That's how you feel," Achane wrote with a laughing emoji. Achane rushed for 907 yards and six touchdowns on 203 carries last season. That's an average of 4.5 yards per rush. The Dolphins' backfield as a whole struggled in the run game last season, averaging a pedestrian 105.6 rushing yards per contest. Achane certainly didn't thrive on third-and-short, but Hill's comments feel unnecessary. Last season, Hill caught 81 passes for 959 yards and six touchdowns — his worst production since 2019, when he missed four games due to injury. Is Hill ready to admit that he's washed? Miami's offense was bad, and it didn't help that Tagovailoa missed time due to a concussion. Defenses took advantage of the Dolphins' limited and discombobulated offense last season. Miami's training-camp news conferences are becoming a concern. Hopefully for the team, Achane won't take the slight from Hill too personally.
In the aftermath of Austin Hill and Aric Almirola's incident at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27, team owner Richard Childress has made an odd claim about what led to the crash. Hill was suspended for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway after NASCAR ruled that he intentionally wrecked Almirola in retaliation for previous contact. But Childress doesn't see things the same way, instead claiming that Sheldon Creed, who drove for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2022 and 2023, was involved. In an interview on Kenny Wallace's YouTube channel on Thursday, Childress explained what he saw. "I think there was a lot more that once NASCAR, I hope they take a deep dive into it like we have. If you look where the No. 00 (Creed) was, he actually caught the No. 21 car (Hill) and hooked him," Childress said. "It was all so close and happened so fast. ... I think when it went left on him, that's when the No. 00 got into his left-rear quarter panel." Video replay of the incident does not show any contact between the vehicles of Hill and Creed before Hill began to turn left and hit Almirola. Rather, it appears that Hill initially straightened out his No. 21 Chevrolet before deciding to turn left and hook Almirola, wrecking both cars and ultimately leading to his suspension on Tuesday. Hill did hit the right front of Creed's No. 00 Ford, but that contact only occurred after Hill had begun to turn Almirola's No. 19. Dillon will drive the No. 21 RCR Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway on Saturday in place of Hill, who will return at Watkins Glen on Aug. 9.
Caitlin Clark’s extended injury absence has prompted the Indiana Fever’s front office to make a move during this crucial juncture in the season. This came in the form of signing 6-foot-2 forward Chloe Bibby on a seven-day contract on July 25. That short-term deal has now come to an end, which has forced Indiana to make a decision on Bibby’s status with the team. Indiana Fever Sign Chloe Bibby The team announced on Thursday that Bibby will now be with the squad for the remainder of the season. This is after the 27-year-old put pen to paper on a rest-of-season contract. The Fever rewarded Bibby with a new deal after two strong performances. She helped Indiana secure back-to-back wins on Sunday against the Chicago Sky and on Wednesday against the Phoenix Mercury. In her first two appearances for the Fever, the Australian averaged 9.0 points and 2.0 triples in just 12.0 minutes off the bench. Aliyah Boston Reacts to the News Fever fans have been clamoring for a long-term contract for Bibby, and they finally got their wish on Friday. This was met with excitement by the Indiana faithful, which was also the case for Fever star Aliyah Boston. The three-time All-Star took to Instagram to share her reaction to the Bibby news. Boston used just one word to express her excitement. “ wohoo,” she wrote. Bibby has been with the team for merely a week, but she’s already made quite an impact on her new teammates. Boston’s enthusiasm over Bibby’s new deal is a testament to the same. As for her basketball, Boston has needed to step up amid Clark’s absence. While the recent Bibby boost has been great for Indiana, Boston has taken center stage as Clark continues to nurse her re-aggravated groin. In the five games Clark has sat out, Boston has put up averages of 14.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 31.8 minutes per contest. Boston will need to keep her foot on the gas on Friday against Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings if she hopes to help lead Indiana to its fourth straight win.