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The Toronto Maple Leafs’ new braintrust of John Chayka and Mats Sundin have yet to have their mano-a-mano conversation with captain Auston Matthews. But when they do, they hope to find out what his intentions are. Does he want to stay in Toronto for the remaining two years of his contract? Or does he want out after the club’s tire fire last season?

If Matthews wants to go out, he’ll likely indicate his favorite destinations. Or at least he will be asked. But if the Leafs were to get the best return from their rookie, insider Jeff Marek proposed on DFO Rundown that the Utah Mammoth would be ‘at the front of the line’ to make a deal.

If Toronto has to make a decision on Auston Matthews, we’ll all wonder about Los Angeles. But he does not have property. You know who does? Utah. Utah is uniquely positioned. If that happens (Matthews is asking), you could potentially move Utah closer to, if not the front of the line..

If you’re going to be a team (like the Leafs) that wants to rebuild, and rebuild quickly? Utah has some prime candidates and some excellent young players they can look to.

Marek’s compatriot, DFO Rundown host Jason Gregor, said Mammoth would like to add some size along with skill to his mix. He didn’t mention Matthews, but the 6’3″, 215-pounder is exactly that. His two-way game would be a tremendous headliner for the top of their growing lineup.

Matthews has great connections to the Mammoth staff.

Sportsnet insider Nick Kyprios is another who sees a clear connection between the former Phoenix-based team (home of Matthews) and the Leafs’ $13.25 million man.

“There is speculation in my inner circle that the Utah Mammoth are looking at this situation, as they have some close friends of Matthews’ on their roster, including Clayton Keller.”

Matthews and Keller played together with the USHL Under-18 team in 2014–15. The Leafs captain grew up in Scottsdale and went to Arizona Coyotes games as a young player. Yotes legend Shane Donn was one of Matthews’ heroes growing up. Reuniting with that organization, even if in a new location, will likely be attractive to him.

The Mammoths appear to be a team on the rise, with a number of exciting young players. He took a big step forward this season, leading Utah to the playoffs for the first time with a wild card berth.

The Leafs made a big move today and fired head coach Craig Berube prior to any negotiations with Matthews. We will see how this affects the captain’s thoughts later on.

Jan Ziolkowski has managed to show glimpses of his quality at AS Roma this season and is now attracting West Ham Interest.

earlier this year, sports witness Poland cover claims Newcastle United are looking for a defender. This came amid a decrease in the centre-back’s playing time at Roma, after starting few games towards the end of the year.

That was in the absence of Ivan Ndika, who had left for AFCON with Ivory Coast. His return has impressed Ziolkowski, whose last start in Serie A came in the first week of January.

He has played in the last two games but has only logged eight total minutes.

Preparations are now underway to help him with his exit, with West Ham monitoring the situation.

Middlemen are trying to find a safe exit

romanist A closer look at the potential exit from the Giallorossi. They are likely to be forced to declare capital gains by UEFA FFP before the end of June. Failure to do so could put them at risk of fine or ban.

As things stand, the likes of Manu Kone, Ndika and Miles Swiller are prime candidates to leave. But this does not rule out the possibility of Ziolkowski’s exit.

The 20-year-old is said to be seeking more playing time, with the Premier League being touted as a possible destination. As a result, a mediator has been employed to receive a proposal from England.

Roma want €20 million for his permanent exit, with West Ham leading the race. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side would have no objection to his exit, as the sale of some lesser-known players could help them meet their financial targets by June.

He paid Legia Warsaw for €6 million last year and feels he has got enough of a capital gain.

Our take: Deal could go either way

Ziolkowski has performed well whenever called upon to take up the job at Roma. He is still quite young and hasn’t really played enough games to perform consistently.

This would make a move to West Ham risky, especially if they remain in the Premier League.

Due to Roma’s financial concerns the deal could be done for less than €20m.

Manchester United And Paris Saint-Germain are pursuing FC Nordsjælland’s Prince Amoako Jr. ahead of the summer.

The Ghanaian moved to Europe in February 2025 when the Danish club signed him from the Right to Dream Academy.

His development in Nordsjælland has been noticed by several European clubs, including Manchester United and PSG.

Playing in his preferred role on the left wing, he scored nine goals and six assists in 33 appearances this season.

His league statistics are as follows:

• Appearances: 29
• Start: 28
• Total minutes: 2,199
• Target: 8
• Assist: 5
• Expected goal: 6.07
• Expected Support: 4.04
• Key passes per game: 1.2
• Big chances created: 9
• Big chances missed: 5

Manchester United and PSG keen

from ghana myjoy online Report on the Red Devils and Ligue 1 winners’ interest in Prince Amoako Jr.

Brighton & Hove Albion, SC Freiburg, Feyenoord, AFC Bournemouth, RB Leipzig, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund get mentions. Apart from these, unnamed clubs from Serie A and La Liga are also in the mix.

Despite this, the headline of the report states that Manchester United and PSG are the frontrunners and the report states that both clubs have ‘expressed strong interest’ in the 19-year-old.

It is unclear whether Michael Carrick’s side have registered a strong interest with his club, FC Nordsjælland or both. Either way, there could be a potential battle between the Old Trafford club and PSG for the signature of the young player.

Manchester United, PSG or any other interested party would have shelled out €27-32m for a potential deal in the summer.

options for manchester united

Michael Carrick is using Matheus Cunha as his first-choice left-back and has also used Patrick Dorgu in the same position.

Marcus Rashford could return to Barcelona after his loan spell, but the English club are likely to sell him in the summer. Aston Villa could be an option For Rashford if the La Liga winners decide not to invoke the €30m clause.

Manchester United have no recognized backup for the Brazilian. After qualifying for the Champions League, the Red Devils need more options in attack.

Prince Amoako Jr. could be an option but it is unclear whether they would be willing to spend at least €27m.

CAA represent the Stellar Ghanian and also manage Manchester United’s Kobi Manu
And Luke Shaw.

We were treated to chaos at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon, as a few of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series points leaders went back-and-forth on all three stages to deliver spectacular finishes at Talladega. This also resulted in some movement on the leaderboard.

Here are the latest standings from the NASCAR O’Reilly Series right now after the Ag-Pro 300.

NASCAR O’Reilly Series standings after Talladega

Official: 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series results at Talladega

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 2026 Masters gets underway at Augusta National, with the first round completing on Thursday. The early leaders have emerged after a challenging opening day, with windy conditions testing the field and many of the top contenders making early moves.

Here is the 2026 Masters leaderboard after Round 1 on Thursday.

Masters 2026 Round 1 Leaderboard (Thursday Results)

The first round of the 2026 Masters has been completed at Augusta National. Here are the full standings after Thursday’s opening round.

Top 10 Leaderboard

T1. Rory McIlroy:-5

T1. Sam Burns:-5

T3. Patrick Reed:-3

T3. Jason Day:-3

T3. Curt Distance:-3

T6. Shane Lowry:-2

T6. Justin Rose:-2

T6. Xander Schauffele: -2

T6. Scotty Scheffler:-2

T10. Jacob Bridgman:-1

T10. Brian Campbell:-1

T10. Tommy Fleetwood:-1

T10. Haotong Li:-1

T10. Aaron Rai:-1

T10. Nick Taylor:-1

T10. Gary Woodland:-1

Full Round 1 Leaderboard

T1. Rory McIlroy:-5

T1. Sam Burns:-5

T3. Patrick Reed:-3

T3. Jason Day:-3

T3. Curt Distance:-3

T6. Shane Lowry:-2

T6. Justin Rose:-2

T6. Xander Schauffele: -2

T6. Scotty Scheffler:-2

T10. Jacob Bridgman:-1

T10. Brian Campbell:-1

T10. Tommy Fleetwood:-1

T10. Haotong Li:-1

T10. Aaron Rai:-1

T10. Nick Taylor:-1

T10. Gary Woodland:-1

T17. Keegan Bradley: E

T17. Michael Brennan: E

T17. Windham Clark: and

T17. Sergio Garcia: And

T17. Ryan Gerrard: E

T17. Chris Gotterup: E

T17. Ben Griffin: E

T17. Max Homa: E

T17. Brooks Koepka: Yes

T17. Hideki Matsuyama: E

T17. Matt McCarty: E

T17. Christopher Reitan: E

T17. Adam Scott: E

T17. Jordan Spieth: E

T17. Sam Stevens: E

T17. Justin Thomas: E

T33. Akshay Bhatia: +1

T33. Harris English: +1

T33. Russell Henley: +1

T33. Dustin Johnson: +1

T33. Jake Knapp: +1

T33. Sepp Straka: +1

T33. Cameron Young: +1

T40. Ludwig Aberg: +2

T40. Ethan Fang: +2

T40. Matt Fitzpatrick: +2

T40. Tyrell Hatton: +2

T40. Collin Morikawa: +2

T40. Jose Maria Olazabal: +2

T40. Cameron Smith: +2

T40. JJ Spawn: +2

T48. Corey Connors: +3

T48. Victor Hovland: +3

T48. Zach Johnson: +3

T48. Michael Kim: +3

T48. Woo Kim: +3

T48. Tom McKibbin: +3

T48. Andrew Novak: +3

T48. Charl Schwartzel: +3

T56. Daniel Berger: +4

T56. Bryson DeChambeau: +4

T56. Jackson Harrington: +4

T56. Nikolai Hojgaard: +4

T56. Sungjae Im: +4

T56. Johnny Keefer: +4

T56. Marco Money: +4

T56. Bubba Watson: +4

T56. Danny Willett: +4

T65. Patrick Cantlay: +5

T65. Ryan Fox: +5

T65. Harry Hall: +5

T65 Mason Howell: +5

T65. Casey Jarvis: +5

T65. Maverick McNealy: +5

T65. Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen: +5

T65. Alex Noren: +5

T73. Fred Pairs: +6

T73. Rasmus Højgaard: +6

T73. Min Woo Lee: +6

T73. Jon Rahm: +6

T77. Angel Cabrera: +7

T77. Nico Echavarria: +7

T77. Max Gressermann: +7

T77. Brian Harman: +7

T77. Vijay Singh: +7

T82. FIFA Lopakdi: +8

T82. Robert McIntyre: +8

T82. Carlos Ortiz: +8

T82. Sam Valimaki: +8

T86. Brandon Holtz: +9

T86. Matteo Pulcini: +9

T86. Mike Weir: +9

89. David Riley: +10

T90. Naoyuki Kataoka: +12

T90. Aldrich Potgieter: +12

Masters 2026 Round 1 Highlights and Key Moments

• Rory McIlroy recorded six birdies and one bogey to remain tied for the lead after Thursday’s opening round.
• Scotty Scheffler makes an eagle on Hole 2 and sits three shots behind after Round 1
• Bryson DeChambeau posts triple bogey on hole 11 and ends the day at +4
• Robert McIntyre struggles to +8 after costly quadruple bogey on hole 15

READ MORE: Masters 2026 schedule – Tee times and groupings for Thursday and Friday

Austin Konensky is a sports writer at SportsNut, covering the NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA and college football. His work…More about Austin Konensky