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Slovakian hockey player Michal Mrazik, once a promising NHL prospect, has unfortunately been forced to call it a career at the young age of 23 due to a serious injury.
Mrazik was a staple in international tournaments for Slovakia starting from a young age. He first represented the country in the 2017-18 season appearing in the World Junior Championships for under 18s and scored 4 points, including 3 goals as a 17 year-old. That is a very solid performance.
He would continue to represent his home nation on the international stage through the 2020-21 season, when he served as an alternate captain for the WJC under 20 team, this time putting up 3 points including 2 goals.
From that point on, Mrazik ventured into his professional career. He spent time in Europe playing in the ICE hockey league that spans four countries.
He also made a single appearance in the Swedish Hockey League before eventually coming to North America.
In his lone North American campaign, Mrazik appeared in 31 games with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL, scoring 9 goals and 13 points. He did earn a callup to the Tucson Road Runners but only played a single game.
After missing the entire 2023-24 season with an injury he has now revealed that he will not return to the sport in a professional way.
Mrazik made a post to his Instagram page on Halloween, confirming his retirement. He made sure to thank his parents, coaches, and teammates as well as his agent, who got a special shoutout.
It is sad to see a young player cut down in their prime, just as they were potentially working there way into the NHL, which every kid who plays hockey dreams about. Still though, Mrazik got much closer than the vast majority of us did, and can always be proud of that.
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New Third Base Trade Options For Yankees Emerge
The Rolling Stones knew what they were talking about while belting out "You Can't Always Get What You Want." It's very possible New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will find himself humming that tune ahead of the July 31 MLB trade deadline. The Yankees, like several contenders, are shopping for a power-hitting third baseman. Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star slugger Eugenio Suarez sits atop everyone's list. Running a distant second and third are Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon and Pittsburgh Pirates Gold Glover Ke'Bryan Hayes. After that, it could be slim pickings. Should Cashman find himself scrambling to make a deal, here are a couple of new names entering the conversation. "Amed Rosario would be a good fit for Yankees," the New York Post's Jon Heyman reported Monday. "Played a lot of 3B this year. .802 lifetime OPS vs. lefties (.845 this year). Suarez is top target but many would qualify as upgrades." Rosario is hitting .271 with five home runs and 18 RBIs this season for the Washington Nationals. But the nine-year veteran has big-market experience, making his MLB debut with the New York Mets in 2017. The 29-year-old is making $2 million this season and will be a free agent after the World Series, according to Spotrac. But wait, there's more. "Other possible third-base trade targets include Royals All-Star Maikel Garcia — in theory, Kansas City would have interest in one of the Yankees’ outfielders to play left field for them," The Athletic's Jim Bowden reported Monday. Garcia, who made the American League roster for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, is hitting .291 this season with eight home runs and 41 RBIs. The 25-year-old is in his fourth big-league season and is making almost $775,000 this season, according to Spotrac. Garcia still has four years of arbitration eligibility remaining, so he won't come cheap. Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more! MLB Trade Rumors: Yankees Linked To Red-Hot Reliever Yankees Linked to Former Outfielder in Juicy Trade Rumor Yankees Could Land Infielder With World Series MVP Comparison Will Yankees Use Red-Hot Prospect As Trade Bait? Yankees One-Stop Shopping Pirates?
Suns Predicted to Swap Two Veterans For Young Warriors Forward in Offseason Trade
The Phoenix Suns had a busy start to their offseason but since free agency began, they have been very quiet. Of course, the Suns have made multiple moves this offseason to retool their roster around Devin Booker that all started with them sending Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for a package centered around Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the pick they used to select Khaman Maluach. Phoenix also acquired Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets and added Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea in the draft before moving on from Bradly Beal via a contract buyout. The Suns are expected to make more moves this offseason and one player they have recently been linked to is Golden State Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga who they could acquire via a sign-and-trade. With this in mind, Sports Illustrated’s Jackson Caudell and Rohan Raman recently came up with a three-team mock trade that would send Kuminga to the Phoenix Suns. In the trade, the Suns would send Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neal and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to Golden State for Kuminga and Moses Moody. Phoenix would also send Nick Richards to the Atlanta Hawks who would be the third team in this mock trade. For the Suns, adding two more young players in Kuminga and Moody would be beneficial to the future of their franchise and they would also be able to move on from two veterans in O’Neal and Allen who have been in trade rumors since the offseason began. Kuminga would likely have a large role in the Suns’ rotation next season and Moody would be a solid addition to their bench behind Booker and Green. Despite this, the Warriors may be unwilling to move on from both Kuminga and Moody in the same trade without receiving more in return but this trade could be a solid one for the Suns as they try to turn their franchise around.
KOC Vikings nuggets: Dallas Turner, Jalen Nailor, backfield split, more
Prior to the team's first practice of training camp on Wednesday, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell spoke to the media for a second straight day. Whereas Tuesday's session with KOC and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah focused more on J.J. McCarthy and the big picture, this one saw O'Connell asked about more specific topics, including a variety of different players. Let's take a look at some of the quick-hitting areas he touched on. Year 2 Dallas Turner The hype around Turner's second season has been building for quite some time. Back in minicamp, he made an incredible play in coverage 20 yards downfield, showcasing some of the versatility he brings to the table. He showed up to the offseason program looking bigger. He drew praise from teammates and from defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who said he views it as three starters in the outside linebacker room with Turner alongside stars Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard. O'Connell echoed that idea on Wednesday and said he's expecting big things from last year's 17th overall pick. "He came back from the jump, in the offseason program, just his body, the shape he was in, just looks so strong," O'Connell said. "I think he's gained a lot of strength, I think he's gained a lot of understanding of the role. With two Pro Bowlers at the position, to say that we feel like we've got three starters, we really feel like that. That's a testament to the work Dallas has put in. He's gonna get a lot of opportunities, different personnel groupings. ... Dallas has had a great offseason. I'm expecting a huge jump for him, starting today." Contract year Jalen Nailor Nailor, a sixth-round pick in 2022, broke out with 414 yards and six touchdowns last season. It was a strong year as the Vikings' No. 3 receiver, albeit with a few too many drops. This year, heading into the final season of his rookie contract, Nailor showed up to the offseason program in great shape and ready to go. "He had a great year last year," O'Connell said. "There's always gonna be some plays here and there that you want back, but I thought just the ability for him to step in early after Jordan (Addison) gets the ankle (injury) against the Giants, to have the training camp that Speedy did to be able to handle what we asked of him, not only in the weeks that followed but in that game against the Giants, to basically assume multiple roles, I thought that was really a precursor to what was a great year for Speedy, showing such versatility." Sporting a new number (he changed from 83 to 1), Nailor is in line to reprise his role as the Vikings WR3 in 2025. And if Addison ends up being suspended by the league for 1-3 games to start the season, Nailor would find himself in more of an every-down role again. "We'll see how these first few weeks look, what type of personnel we're gonna have for those games when we get all the information on our group back," O'Connell said. "Speedy could be a huge, huge contributor early and often, all season long, and that's my expectation. He's primed and ready to play a huge role in our offense." Backfield deployment One interesting question surrounding the Vikings' offense is how they'll utilize their two main running backs. Aaron Jones set a career high with 306 touches last year during the regular season, but the Vikings don't want him seeing that much usage this year at age 30. That's why they went out and acquired Jordan Mason from the 49ers via trade. The safe assumption is that it'll be a 1A/1B situation in Jones' favor, at least to start the year. "I think you can look at it a lot of ways with looking at Aaron and Jordan, but how I just said it is how I see it, it's Aaron and Jordan," O'Connell said. "We feel like we've got, truly, a combination that will cause a lot of problems, between having two great backs that are different body types, maybe different skill sets, but they're complete backs. "Aaron Jones can run in between the tackles, he can catch the ball, he can block in protection, he can line up anywhere in the formation. Jordan Mason has proven already to be well ahead of new players in this system from a protection standpoint, and clearly, he's got the body type to be a physical presence. So I really see those guys playing off of each other where we can keep them both fresh, keep them both in attack mode when they're in there." O'Connell also mentioned Ty Chandler, who is third on the depth chart but did some good things in the second half of the 2023 season. And there's fullback C.J. Ham, who is in his tenth season and will continue to have some sort of role in the offense in addition to his special teams duties. He even floated the idea of using Jones and Mason simultaneously. "Maybe we activate some two-back groupings where we've got Jordan and Aaron in the game at the same time," O'Connell said. "There's a lot of things, schematically, that we're gonna try." O-line configuration On Tuesday, O'Connell talked about Christian Darrisaw and Will Fries, the Vikings' two starting offensive linemen who are coming off of major season-ending injuries. Both players did enough in the offseason to avoid needing to start training camp on the PUP list, which is encouraging. Still, they're working their way back and won't quite be ready for team drills right away. Thus, with camp beginning, the Vikings' first-team O-line will look the same as it did during the offseason program: Justin Skule in for Darrisaw at LT, Donovan Jackson at LG, Ryan Kelly at C, Blake Brandel in for Fries at RG, and Brian O'Neill at RT. The interesting thing to follow is what happens when Fries is ready to step back into full participation at right guard. Will Brandel be given a real chance to compete with the rookie Jackson at left guard, or will he be used more as a versatile backup? O'Connell seemed to hint at the latter, even mentioning that Brandel could see time at a non-guard spot (presumably left tackle). "Blake is ultra-versatile," O'Connell said. "So however the reps work for Will, for CD, I see Blake seeing as many as three spots this camp and taking reps in every way possible. Because we want to have the best five out there, but we want to have the most versatile, impactful eight or nine guys that we know we can go to bat with that first game and feel great about however it goes."
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