#player-development

#player-development

Anybody who has had to train for an endurance event - or is even vaguely familiar with buzzwords of the corporate world - will know about the concept of getting comfortable being uncomfortable. For athletes, it represents the process of learning to cope with long, draining physical exertions, while in business terms it might be the exposure to new and challenging experiences.

The marathon that is MLB's regular season is nearing its conclusion, with three weeks remaining before the real fun begins in October. For a dozen lucky teams, this month is merely an appetizer of what's to come in the postseason, but for the majority of squads, now's a reasonable time to take stock of the year that was. Our latest power rankings take a look at each team's most valuable player over the duration of the regular season.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Luka Vuskovic has been backed to develop into a superstar in future. The 18-year-old central defender was quite impressive during the pre-season with Tottenham, and he has been sent out on loan to Hamburg. He needs regular gametime in order to continue his development, and former Croatian international Mladen Petric believes that the young defender has all the tools to develop into a future star. He also added that the Tottenham defender reminds him of Josko Gvardiol.

The young player has improved his skills and is more confident than he was when he first joined the team, which is great news and shows that he is developing. However, he is just 20 years old and has time to grow into the player the Toronto Maple Leafs need him to be. This could mean making an appearance in a few preseason games before being sent to the Toronto Marlies for the season. He is a great option to have as a call-up if needed.

According to the NHLPA website, the program is a joint venture between the union and the league, resulting from the collective bargaining agreement reached in 2013. The program's purpose is to educate players early on in their careers on how to enhance life skills, "both generally and as they relate to life in the NHL." Over the course of three training days each summer, players nearing NHL opportunities receive learning material on a wide variety of topics, ranging from "finance to personal branding to sensitivity training."

It is no secret that the Nationals are in a rebuild. Luckily for them, a head start is already underway with many young prospects already with the major league team. Some are already established, while others came up more recently. Three of them, in fact, are thriving as of recent, and they are not named James Wood. The key to the final two months was to see success in the youth, and it is happening.

"Just his all-around game at his age is pretty impressive. He's committed defensively, competes hard. He's got a pretty mature game for his age. I think having that experience at Worlds can only help. I'm sure he built confidence from that. I know, being on the ice with him, and then seeing him out there day-to-day and what he puts into it, I'm sure that's something that's made him a better player right away."

"I would say this -- the manager's job is to look after both today and tomorrow. Historically, a lot of pending free agents, even 10 months out, end up getting deals done. You've got to manage not just for right now or for next summer, but always with the bigger picture in mind," said Treliving. "We're trying to put the best possible team on the ice for 2025-26, but it has to make sense.

The Wichita Thunder, ECHL affiliate of the NHL's San Jose Sharks and AHL's San Jose Barracuda, have announced that they have extended their affiliation agreement with the Sharks and Barracuda for the 2025-26 season. Under the affiliation agreement, the Sharks will be able to designate players within their development system for assignment with the Thunder. The club will also be composed of players who are signed to two-way AHL contracts in addition to those on ECHL contracts (under agreement with the Thunder).

At the start of a new season in January 2022, Emma Raducanu's first full year on the WTA tour, she was swimming in doubt. Not only was she trying to take her next steps forward after a life-changing summer, her off-season had been ravaged by Covid-19, which forced her off the court for weeks in December. In her first match of the season, she found herself up against Elena Rybakina in Sydney. She left the court having lost 6-0, 6-1.

The Washington Wizards have invested a lot in the future of their team over the last few seasons by selecting young talent to add to their roster. Between Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr and now Tre Johnson, Washington has the talent on the roster and the hope that a cornerstone can be found between the three players, if not all three.

To be clear, it's a stretch to say that he's the Raptors' secret weapon, but there's two realistic possibilities exist. One, the Raptors' transition defence remains strong and aggressive defensive schemes allows - or even hides - some of Mamu's defensive weaknesses. Two, he'll be less of a liability on defence as he already has the physical tools - he moves well - but he'll need to make better reads.

But when healthy, Clark's impact is enormous: She stretches the floor with her shooting range, pushes the pace and picks defenses apart with her passing. The 23-year-old brings an unmatched excitement factor every time she's on court, and her confidence spreads to the whole team. She is also the biggest draw on the road of any WNBA player, so her effect on the entire league is huge.

Glozman is one of 35 current or former college players competing in singles at the U.S. Open. A couple of months ago, Wimbledon matched that number, including 26 men, the highest count at the All England Club in 25 years. In New York, the group includes NCAA champions such as No. 10 women's seed Emma Navarro from the University of Virginia, and No. 6 men's seed Ben Shelton from the University of Florida. Simply put, current and former college players are everywhere these days.

The quiet story from the second half of the 2024-25 season, however, was Jaquez's profound leap forward as a shooter. It was right in line with a clear all-around improvement that showcased the extreme nature of his untapped potential. That's great news for the Heat, which have a valid reason to believe that Jaquez can make the leap in year three and live up to his potential as one of the most well-rounded young players in the NBA.

Although their secondary appears to be one of their stronger units team-wide, Reiss believes the Patriots will have a legitimate reason to keep a deep cornerback room beyond starters Carlton Davis III and Christian Gonzalez. In fact, in his latest roster projection, he has the Patriots holding onto six cornerbacks, which is a lot for any team, but it's for good reason and might save them at some point during the season.

MIAMI GARDENS - One of the many things Ollie Gordon II learned during his first NFL preseason came in the immediate aftermath of Saturday night's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Miami Dolphins rookie had spent weeks digesting what rookies must every year, from the game's accelerated speed to the increased physicality to ... "Picking up blitzers," the sixth-round running back said. He stepped up nicely to twice block Jacksonville blitzers in Miami's final preseason game and allowed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to complete passes. "That's something I focused on," he said.

At Spurs I got enough support and time to kind of grow into things, Summanen says. I wasn't just thrown into the deep end right away. I got the right support, right help on and off the pitch to get to where I am now. It didn't just happen overnight, I just slowly, slowly kept building and that's still what I want to do, keep taking steps forward.

The new Head Coach knew he had arguably the worst in the NFL. He wasted no time in signing three stopgap veterans. One has since retired, but two may start. He also used his first round draft pick on the best tackle available, Will Campbell. He then drafted the best center in the draft, who can also play guard, Jared Wilson. Both will start. Lastly, in the seventh round, he drafted tackle Marcus Bryant.

Immanuel Quickley's injury-riddled 2024-2025 season came at an unfortunate time. After getting his payday, Quickley was supposed to take a leap in his career. The Raptors held a press conference in the summer of 2024, announcing the extensions of Quickley and Scottie Barnes to the slogan "The Future Is Now," but both players fell short of those lofty expectations the following year.