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New Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Chayka has begun his very busy offseason. It started with a stroke of luck and winning the draft lottery. His next move was to fire head coach Craig Berube. Could a player like William Nylander be on the docket next?

Insider Chris Johnson said on his podcast Tuesday that everyone except their captain is at the negotiating table.

One of the things that other teams have told me is that the message that has come from the Leafs front office is that they are willing to discuss any player on their roster, except for Auston Matthews. They’re willing to listen to you talk about any player except Matthews.

Wait… does this mean William Nylander is available? Obviously it is so.

“I found it interesting that they were willing to listen to a lot of players who maybe, in the past, were not in the previous administration.”

Even MLSE CEO Keith Pelley publicly identified Nylander, along with Matthews, as the ‘foundational pieces’ he believed the Maple Leafs to have.

However, we must keep in mind that Nylander has a full no-move clause, so it’s not like Chayka could send him out as they see fit. But this is the first time, as CJ said, that the Leafs have ever suggested (even indirectly, in this case) that Nylander might be available.

If this becomes a thing, Toronto could land a big deal for a player of Willey’s caliber. He had three consecutive 40-goal seasons this year, and although he dropped off significantly, down to only 30 goals, he was limited to 65 games. He had not missed a game of an 82-game schedule for three years prior to this.

Nylander has six years remaining at an $11.5 million cap hit. Not that any club trading for him would get a team-friendly deal by any means, but at least, it’s cost certainty in an era where the salary cap is constantly rising, and who knows where the contracts are going to go.

If Matthews is the only ‘untouchable’, who else are the Leafs listening to?

But Nylander isn’t the only name Chayka would like to hear. Based on the ‘only Matthew is untouchable’ parameters, that list can now extend to Matthew Nease and Easton Cowan, among others.

The story could still change regarding how Toronto’s new front office feels about Matthews. They are working on meeting the Captain face-to-face in Arizona in the next little while. The big question we have about that meeting will be: Who should interview whom?

Ryan Pulock could not help the New York Islanders reach the Stanley Cup playoffs despite his injuries.

Pulock reflected on his injury-plagued 2025–26 campaign and explained why multiple ailments hampered him during this period, even though he still played his final nine games. He made regular changes as the Isles lost seven of their final eight games and fell out of making the playoffs.

The 31-year-old defenseman played in 76 games and finished with three goals and 27 points. He finished second on the Islanders in average time on ice (20:49), behind rookie Matthew Schaefer.

Ryan Pulock battling knee, shoulder injuries

Pulock admitted to dealing with an upper body injury, which GM Matthew Darche confirmed as a shoulder injury that affected him throughout the season. But Pulock also suffered a knee injury during the Islanders’ 7–3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on March 21, causing him to miss two games and the rest of the season.

“I give Ryan Pulock credit, because he hung on by a thread at the end,” Darche said during his season-ending media availability on Wednesday. “He was playing with a knee brace and a shoulder brace. So he didn’t play [the Isles’ season finale vs Carolina]”

Although he was disappointed with how the Islanders’ season ended – they missed the playoffs, losing seven of their final 10 games – Pulock seemed grateful to recover before taking the ice again.

When Pulock was asked Wednesday how he was feeling, he said, “It’s still not a good day, but I have time to take care of things.” “Obviously, this is going to be an important offseason for me to recover, rehab and get myself stronger in a good place to start next year.”

Neither Pulock nor Darche seemed concerned about the defenseman’s knee injury, but the shoulder was still a different story. They were still assessing whether he would need a surgical procedure or whether he could do with rehabilitation alone.

“We are still evaluating whether [surgery] “Needs to be done,” Darche said. “But again, all credit to him, because he missed a game here and there, but you see what he does to play because we needed him.”

Ryan Pulock ‘hopes to be ready’ for Islanders training camp

Shoulder surgery may require several months of recovery time, but Pulock is not expected to miss the start of training camp in September.

“I haven’t had all these conversations or made any decisions or anything,” Pulock said. “But whatever path I take, I hope I’ll be prepared.”

Neither he nor Darche will use injuries as an excuse for their struggles in 2025-26. Although Pulock finished with his most single-season points since 2019–20, he scored his fewest goals in a season of more than 60 games and had only one power-play point.

“You’re never really 100 percent healthy; you’re always struggling with little things,” Pulock said. “For me, trying to compete every night was a little tough sometimes. I had to play through some things, but I’m not going to sit here and make any excuses.

“I wish I was better, especially at the lower levels.”

Pat Pickens is an award-winning sports writer and author who has covered the NHL since 2013. He reveals more about Pat Pickens.

After being selected with the 144th overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft last year, Cleveland Browns quarterback Chedure Sanders finally earned the starting job and was selected to the Pro Bowl. However, recent comments from the front office suggest it could be an uphill battle to reclaim the starting job in 2026.

Speaking to reporters, including Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said it is “completely realistic” that the club will spend one of its picks in the 2026 NFL Draft on a quarterback.

RELATED: Cleveland Browns trade proposal nets team’s top WR

“Our inclination would be that if we add somebody to the quarterback room, it would be somebody that’s probably a young player. But I can’t tell for sure because I don’t know what happens over the next few weeks.

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry on potentially adding a QB

He also acknowledged that he has met with former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson and would like to spend more time meeting who many view as the second-best passer in the class.

Some believe Simpson will be a first-round pick in April. There is a possibility he could be available to Cleveland with the 24th overall pick, which they acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars, or they could move up from Round 2 (39th overall) to the end of Round 1 to try to land Simpson.

RELATED: Latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft

One thing Berry made very clear is that whichever young quarterback Cleveland brings in, he will “compete” for the starting job. If the Browns see someone whose skill set translates immediately to playing in Todd Monken’s offense, they are willing to draft him and allow him to compete for the starting quarterback in 2026.

This isn’t the only bad sign for Sanders’ hopes of becoming the Browns’ starting quarterback this season. If Berry proves himself performance-wise and outperforms Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, Berry would not rule out signing Deshaun Watson to a new deal.

While Sanders finished ahead of Gabriel on the Browns’ depth chart at the end of the season, a change at guard looks very likely. Watson will be given a real chance to earn the job, and it now seems plausible that another young quarterback could be added through the 2026 NFL Draft.

Just two months after Sanders was named to the Pro Bowl and a few weeks after his connection with Monken, it seems likely the second-year quarterback won’t see much of the field this fall.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The topic of NBA teams tanking has been a constant topic of discussion for the past few weeks, but it was uncertain whether the league would do anything about it. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, it looks like NBA commissioner Adam Silver has stepped in, and he plans to set some new rules for next season regarding anti-tanking.

“Commissioner Adam Silver informed the league’s 30 general managers on Thursday that the NBA is planning to make changes to the anti-tanking rule for next season, sources told ESPN. Stakeholders have stepped up conversations about how to deal with tanking,” Charania, formerly of the X, wrote on Twitter.

During the meeting, several topics were discussed on ways to curb tanking, including first-round picks being protected only in the top-4 or top-14+, lottery chances being frozen at the trade deadline or at a later date, a team no longer being allowed to pick a top-4 pick in consecutive years and/or after consecutive bottom-3 finishes, teams not being able to pick a top-4 the following year after making the conference finals, two years The lottery has been expanded to include all play-in teams, and the odds have been leveled for everyone. All Lottery Teams.

Over the past few weeks, teams like the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers were fined. The Jazz were fined after sitting Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen in the fourth quarter of two games, and the Pacers were fined after sitting Pascal Siakam in their game against the Utah Jazz after the league learned he could play.

Benedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell were also fit to play in the game but sat out.

There have been other situations throughout the league where some people suspected some type of tanking was taking place. Anthony Davis will likely miss the remainder of the season for the Washington Wizards, and Trae Young will likely be on that list.

Meanwhile, for the Sacramento Kings, both Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis have been shut down for the remainder of the season.