#player-performance

#player-performance

The decision to trade for Michael Jerrell felt like throwing a water balloon on a house fire at the time, and that's essentially what it was. Jerrell was a healthy scratch nearly the entire season, minus one game against the Bills. According to PFF, he was the worst-performing Falcons offensive lineman this season, by at least 40 points. These grading systems are subjective, but that's a pretty wide margin.

The 41st game of the season for each NHL team has been played, and there's now been enough time for us to digest that first half of the 2025-26 campaign. So as part of this week's updated edition of the ESPN NHL Power Rankings -- led once again by the juggernaut Colorado Avalanche -- we are identifying the midseason fantasy hockey MVP for all 32 clubs, according to analysts Sean Allen (Eastern Conference teams) and Victoria Matiash (Western Conference teams). And a reminder: It's not too late to sign up for ESPN Fantasy Hockey. New leagues start every Monday, and you can sign up for free today. How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors sends in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday.

Arsenal fans will be delighted to hear that Bukayo Saka is closing in on a new contract at the Emirates Stadium, as per David Ornstein. We were told a few months ago that both William Saliba and Saka would be staying 100%, and a new deal for the French centre-back was later confirmed by the club. More recently, we had further positive Saka contract updates, and now the highly-trusted Ornstein says the new five-year deal is being finalised.

The 21-year-old won just three points and served 20 double faults on her way to a 6-0, 6-0 defeat against German world No 1,026, Lorena Schaedel. Videos shared on social media showed the Egyptian struggling to serve and position herself on the court. While the practice of favouring local players when awarding wildcards is widespread, including in grand slam and WTA tournaments, Abdelkader's level of play has raised question marks about the wisdom of awarding her a place in a tournament sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

It doesn't appear that Bellinger is on the verge of accepting a deal, however. Contract length could be a holdup. Kuty wrote that Bellinger and his representatives at the Boras Corporation were likely looking for a six- or seven-year contract. In an MLB Network appearance, Jon Morosi also suggested that Bellinger continued to seek a deal in the seven-year range. Morosi added that the Yankees unsurprisingly preferred a four- or five-year commitment.

We talked about it at the end of October and reiterated it at the beginning of November: Milan are working on Leao's contract renewal. Clearly, Milan has priorities, especially based on deadlines. Maignan, Tomori, Saelemaekers has already renewed," he said. "Milan began discussions regarding the renewal with adjustments with Rafa Leao at the beginning of October, and negotiations are ongoing. The numbers and everything need to be worked out, but Milan intends to reward Leao for what he's demonstrating on the pitch.

The newly promoted Premier League side needed to sign a quality goalkeeper, and they invested 15 million on the 28-year-old Brazilian. So far, he has not been able to live up to the expectations. His performances have been inconsistent, and he will need to improve to justify the outlay. Leeds United needed an upgrade on Ilan Meslier. Perri has shown glimpses of his quality at the English club, and it will be interesting to see if he can cut out the inconsistencies from his game.

However, it now seems that those clubs will miss out on the talented young Turkey international as he's expected to finalise a new contract with Juventus soon. That's because it seems Juve are set to agree to a big pay rise for Yildiz, bumping up his salary from 1.5m to 6m a year, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. They report of a breakthrough in contract talks, as well as mentioning the interest Yildiz has had from Arsenal, Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

"The reality of what my comments were after Ohio State were, I have two really passionate agendas in regards to this, and that is, I want to be a pioneer of growing the game, period," Close said. "I want to really be a part of the surge that's happening and and I want to be a part of telling these amazing stories that these players have, and they're incredible young women as well as amazing basketball players."

During the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman hinted that Mangiapane could be squeezed out of the Oilers' lineup amid prospects pushing for playing time. Then, more interesting developments hit the airwaves when it was revealed that Mangiapane was a healthy scratch against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night. As my colleague Thomas Williams also reported, Mangiapane's agent has been granted permission to seek a trade.

It would definitely be fair to label Divock Origi a flop at AC Milan, even a mega flop, as the Rossoneri ended up paying a whopping €6.8m per goal scored by the Belgian (!). After the Scudetto season, i.e. 2021-22, Milan felt that they needed someone who could alternate with Olivier Giroud up front given the Frenchman's age. And so, Paolo Maldini identified Origi as the target and secured him on a free transfer, putting a four-year deal on the table.

Returning from his impressive loan spell at Roma, Massimiliano Allegri put him to use, and the situation was made even better by the switch to the 3-5-2 formation. Thanks to his versatility and work rate, the Belgian has quickly won over the fans too, especially since he has proved to be more clinical than in recent seasons with the Rossoneri. So far, he has two goals and four assists.

The New York Islanders have had one heck of a resurgent season. Entering Friday night's action, the Isles are one point off the Metro Division lead. That's a huge difference over last year's frustrating season. That's nothing to sneeze at. It's been the product of several key players turning things around. For instance, Ilya Sorokin is back to his Vezina Trophy-caliber play. Anders Lee looks rejuvenated and reinvigorated. Bo Horvat, recent injury notwithstanding, is playing at career-best levels.

Third baseman Maikel Garcia and the Kansas City Royals are finalizing a five-year contract extension, sources told ESPN on Friday, locking up the Gold Glove winner with the team that saw him develop through its system into an All-Star. The deal, which is pending a physical, includes a club option for a sixth year, sources said. It secures Kansas City one of the best left sides of the infield, with Garcia secured long term and perennial All-Star Bobby Witt Jr. signed through at least 2030.

But with Drouin out of the lineup, Gatcomb has returned to the lineup and has given the Islanders' fourth line a spark. In the four games since his recall, Gatcomb has recorded a team high 22 hits, including nine in Tuesday's OT win against the Vegas Golden Knights, the most for the Islanders since Casey Cizikas back in January. In fact, through five games this season, Gatcomb has registered 22 hits, seventh most of any Islander this season.

There was a lot of optimism that perhaps Giménez could return to the form he had in 2022 when he slashed .297/.371/.466 with 17 home runs in 557 plate appearances. His month of March was encouraging, as he hit three home runs in his first five games, but his play dropped like a rock from there. As a whole, the second baseman slashed .210/.285/.313 with seven home runs in 369 plate appearances for a career-worst 70 wRC+.