The San Jose Sharks have gone out of the box in looking for front-office talent, adding former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti as a scout.

"Ned has an extensive background working in professional sports and talent evaluation and he will bring a fresh perspective to our organization's evaluation process," Sharks GM Doug Wilson said in announcing the move. "This was a unique opportunity to add someone of Ned's experience to our staff."

Colletti, 65, had a 35-year career in baseball, working in the Cubs front office and as an assistant GM for the San Francisco Giants before being named general manager of the Dodgers from 2006-14. He later left to join the Dodgers broadcasting team.

But before that, Colletti covered the Philadelphia Flyers as an NHL writer for the Philadelphia Bulletin in the early 80s. Bobby Clarke was the captain of those Broad Street Bullies, and Billy Barber, Reggie Leach and Rick MacLeish were all on the squad. Colletti says he has maintained close connections with several key figures in the sport. A native of Chicago, Colletti grew up as a Blackhawks fan.

"It was the Original Six era, and Bobby Hull and Mikita and Glenn Hall, Kenny Wharram, Doug Mohns, I remember most of the team to this day," he told LAKings Insider in 2013. "It just became something that I loved doing. I loved watching and playing and played into my later years, for a long time... I played in leagues really into my late 30's, early 40's."

There are few sports that provide as rich and diverse a development pool as hockey does. As a global sport, there are so many routes for players to take on their way to the NHL. There's no real "right way" to get to there. If a player is good enough, it's almost impossible for him to slip through the cracks, and if someone is not found in his draft year, there's always free agency for the late bloomers. One way or another, the best players get there.

But what are the most-traveled routes? Which leagues and teams produce the top prospects? We looked at 15 years of data to find the most common prospect tracks for NHL talent. To get a pool of players to look at, we first eliminated anyone draft-eligible before 2005. Then we set the following criteria for inclusion:

• A forward who registered at least 0.5 points per game in his career (minimum 82 games)

• A defenseman who averaged 19 or more minutes (minimum 82 games)

• A goaltender who made a minimum of 62 career appearances

That provided a list of 286 players -- from Sidney Crosby to Rasmus Dahlin -- with only a few who I'd subjectively term as outliers. The goal was to provide a snapshot of players you could easily say provided a measurable impact to their team, as a relatively consistent offensive producer, top-four defenseman or starting goalie. Let's look at where those top NHL talents came from.

Note: As a caveat to all of this, players move around after their draft, so there is room for debate for which teams get to lay claim for actually developing the talent. Statistics come directly from the NHL's website, and the teams and leagues utilized in this report are those provided by the NHL's draft records database.

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It's not shocking that 148 players, or nearly 52% of 286 players who meet the criteria, were first-round draft picks. Nearly 41% of the players (117) were selected in Rounds 2-7, and 7% (21) were never drafted. It's perhaps less shocking that 121 of the 286 players are Canadian, leading the way in nationalities.

Michael Owen has told ESPN FC that Mohamed Salah is a "selfish" striker, but the former Liverpool forward said the Egypt international's recent spat with teammate Sadio Mane will not disrupt the pair's prolific partnership.

Mane reacted angrily after being substituted during Liverpool's 3-0 Premier League victory at Burnley last Saturday, with the Senegal forward unhappy at Salah's failure to pass to him on at least one occasion when in a goalscoring position at Turf Moor.

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Manager Jurgen Klopp played down the incident after the game and Owen, who scored 158 goals in 297 appearances for the club during a seven-year spell at Anfield, said the Liverpool boss must ensure Salah and Mane find a way to set aside any differences.

"When you look at Liverpool's front three, you have Roberto Firmino, who is probably the most unselfish player in the world -- he would lay on anything -- so would be a dream to play with," Owen told ESPN FC.

"At the other end of the spectrum, you have Mo Salah, who is just focused on scoring and wanting to be the goalscorer. Then you have Sadio Mane, who sits in between -- he likes scoring and is selfish when he needs to be -- but he's also quite generous in his passing.

"I think you have a great balance there, but it just boiled over the other day. I was doing the [Burnley-Liverpool] game for television and I said at the time, 'Have you seen that? There are a couple of times he [Salah] should have been passing.'

"Of course, it all blew up and I saw it coming in many ways. These problems happen all the time and it's Jurgen Klopp's job to smooth them over. But I do think that, as a striker, there is a balance in everything.

"There has to be one that's unselfish and one who is selfish, otherwise you are never going to get any goals. I was always at my best with Emile Heskey -- he was really unselfish and I was a really selfish so-and-so.

"But put me with another selfish player -- another striker who was hungry for goals -- and you wouldn't necessarily hit it off the same."

Salah and Mane both won the Premier League Golden Boot last season, with the two forwards netting 22 goals to share top spot alongside Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Salah is one ahead of Mane so far this season, with the former Roma man scoring three league goals, while his teammate has two. Manchester City's Sergio Aguero tops the charts with six goals.

And although the Liverpool pair are likely to battle it out for the Golden Boot once again, Owen said he believes that Salah will be more aware of Mane next time the chance arises to tee up his strike partner.

"I don't think it will be a problem that will last," Owen said. "Next time Salah gets the ball, he will probably be more conscious that he has to pass sometimes, if there is a better opportunity.

"If he does, I guess it will be forgotten about, but these players are playing right on the edge at the very highest level and little things can just happen like that. It's fine. These things happen all the time in every dressing-room -- you get arguing all the time.

"Unfortunately for Jurgen Klopp, it happened in front of the cameras and he had to dampen it down, but things like that happen all the time at every club. Sometimes having an argument is quite a good thing because it keeps everyone on their toes.

"You are talking about 25 men in a squad who live in each others pockets for nine-10 months a year, so you are always going to have arguments, scuffles. Not everyone will get on, but it's the manager's job to piece it all together."

With or without Carlos Vela, LAFC will look to bounce back from a rare defeat when they face Orlando City SC, while the Seattle Sounders are once again finding their late summer groove as they head to the Colorado Rapids, plus it's a crucial clash between the Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City in the Pacific Northwest.

Must-win time in Portland

It's a topic that has been discussed before on these pages, but it has to be said once again that the Portland Timbers face another must-win contest, this time with Sporting Kansas City coming to town on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET, stream on ESPN+).

Despite a 1-0 win at home over Real Salt Lake, last season's runners-up are still on the outside of the MLS Cup playoffs looking in, as they sit two points behind the Galaxy for the seventh and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The home-friendly run-in favors the Timbers and it was certainly a good sign that Diego Valeri found the back of the net against RSL.

Also aiding Portland's task is that the international break will hardly make a dent. Renzo Zambrano is the lone call-up, but he would have missed out anyway due to his late red card against Salt Lake. Such is the luxury of having an Argentine-heavy squad in MLS, a league that has only supplied one player to the Albiceleste in its history: Atlanta United's Pity Martinez last spring.

Sporting KC also come in off a home win, 1-0 against the Houston Dynamo, but coach Peter Vermes will be missing six players due to the FIFA window. Five points back of the Galaxy, Sporting will need one of the best performances of the season to get a result to stay in the playoff chase.

LAFC's Vela quandary

In last weekend's home date with Minnesota United, LAFC head coach Bob Bradley made the decision to rest star striker Carlos Vela after the Mexican winger suffered a hamstring injury a week prior in the 3-3 draw with the LA Galaxy. It was a smart move for the long term, especially with the hefty cushion that LAFC have in the Western Conference, but nevertheless, it likely has to feel disconcerting for LAFC supporters to see how the team limped to a 2-0 defeat.

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Accepting that LAFC is a weaker team without Vela is logical, but Sunday night provided a glimpse as to how things might go if any future injury issues arise for Vela. Brian Rodriguez looked plenty dangerous after replacing Vela against the Galaxy, but the newly arrived Uruguayan was a non-factor against Minnesota and was hauled off at halftime.

Hamstring injuries are not ones to mess with, especially when dealing with a cross-country road trip to humid Central Florida to take on Orlando City on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, stream on ESPN+), so another DNP for Vela would not come as a shock. At the same time, that could be just the thing that helps LAFC shake off last week's defeat.

They still dominated possession, but lacked the cutting edge. With another week of training to fine tune a potentially Vela-less attack, LAFC stand to be sharper.

Familiar refrain in Seattle

Just when you think that the Seattle Sounders won't pull off their summer Houdini act because of a defense that looked like Swiss cheese during the bulk of July and August, here they come yet again with a late-season charge that suddenly has them second in the Western Conference. But is it a false dawn?

They are still letting in goals -- four in those two wins -- so maybe it is a bit premature to begin conjuring memories of 2016 when they catapulted up the table in the final three months to eventually win MLS Cup.

The best indication of whether it is déjà vu all over again in Seattle will come with Saturday's visit to Colorado to face the Rapids (9 p.m. ET, stream on ESPN+). Under new boss Robin Fraser, Colorado did what few teams have done and that's walk out of Red Bull Arena with a clean sheet victory, a 2-0 final that raised plenty of eyebrows.

Of the two sides, Seattle is likely to suffer more from the international break, with Cristian Roldan, Raul Ruidiaz, Jordan Morris and Xavier Arreaga all with their respective national teams, while Kei Kamara and Diego Rubio will be absent for Colorado. With key pieces missing, Seattle's defense must show up.

Matteo Guendouzi has always been looking forward. Even when he was 16 and one of the most promising talents in the Paris Saint-Germain academy, the midfielder was never satisfied with what he had already achieved -- he wanted to progress even more.

That meant leaving PSG for Lorient in 2014 to have a clearer path to the first team. It didn't take Guendouzi long to establish himself there, but within two years he had another goal to aim for: getting into Arsenal's senior side.

Arriving at the Emirates in July 2018 as a virtual unknown outside his home country, at the tender age of 19, the Frenchman quickly went about impressing his new fans and has become a fixture under Unai Emery ever since. But his ambition is still burning strong. After making a name for himself in the Premier League, getting into the France national team became the next goal.

The World Cup winners already have a quality midfield, but Guendouzi was named as a replacement for the injured Paul Pogba ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifying clashes against Albania and Andorra this week and couldn't be more pleased.

"It was always a dream to be called up one day for the national team," he told ESPN FC. "I have played in all the youth teams since I was 16-years-old. I have worked so hard to get here, with the France A team. It is maybe a bit of surprise that he has arrived so quickly but I knew that if I was performing with Arsenal, one of the biggest clubs in Europe, then I would have a chance. My chance is now and I want to take it."

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Injuries to Pogba, Tanguy Ndombele, N'Golo Kante and Houssem Aouar certainly fast-tracked Guendouzi's call-up a bit, but there were plenty of other players that coach Didier Deschamps could have called on instead. The 20-year-old has earned his place.

"I was with the France under-21 squad at Clairefontaine, having a nap, when the coach rang me and said that I had to leave to move next door to the castle where the senior players are staying! I could not believe it at first," he said. "I thought it was some sort of a dream!"

Guendouzi quickly made his way next door and Deschamps was waiting for him with a little joke up his sleeve, as always. "I was told that you wanted to see the castle, so here you are!" the head coach said with a smile before wishing him well.

Deschamps has been carefully watching the midfielder develop for the past two seasons, including in last Sunday's 2-2 draw against Tottenham in which Guendouzi was the best player on the pitch.The 1998 and 2018 World Cup winner has been impressed by the youngster's ability to play as a complete midfielder -- capable of defending, attacking, picking a pass and dictating the tempo. But, most importantly, it is Guendouzi's character (as shown with his fine initiation song below) which has earned him his place in the squad.

Comme le veut la tradition, Matteo Guendouzi et Jonathan Ikoné ont dû chanter devant le groupe hier soir ! ??? #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/RWpsiQdiM5

— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) September 4, 2019

"I have a strong temper with a lot of determination," he said. "I believe in myself and in my qualities. I don't take anything for granted because I know that only hard work pays off. That's why I am here. I really feel that I have improved massively in the last year or so. Tactically, I am more mature, technically and physically, I have taken my game to the next level."

This week, at training, Guendouzi has not looked out of his depth at all. In fact, a source told ESPN FC: "It looks like he has been in the setup for ever. He is comfortable, trains well and is a good character to have in the dressing room." Many of France's senior players have welcomed him with opened arms, too.

The hardest part has probably been to answer all the messages of congratulations that he has received after his call-up, including from his two closest friends and de facto big brothers at Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

"I am sorry for all the people I haven't got back to yet, he smiles. It has been crazy," he added. "It was overwhelming because you see how happy and proud your family and friends are for you. You speak to them on the phone, they cry, they scream! It was a dream to wear this shirt and I will never forget this day."

On Saturday evening, the national anthem at the Stade de France before the game against Albania will be a very special moment for Guendouzi as a Paris born-and-bred kid who used to go there to watch his idols play.

Now his own moment has arrived. Of course, he will be hoping to get his first cap, even just for a few seconds in front of all his family and friends, but he will have another chance to do so on Tuesday, still at the Stade de France, against Andorra. And if it doesn't happen this time, Guendouzi will keep working hard to make sure he is back in the squad for the next round of qualifiers.

Just 18 months ago, he was playing for Lorient in the French second division. Now he's a star for one of the biggest clubs in Europe, set to make his debut for his national team at 20-years-old. Once he achieves that, one can only wonder what his next goal will be.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Friday's friendly at MetLife Stadium between the U.S. and Mexico doesn't come with a ton of emotional baggage or themes of revenge. The historic animosity between longtime rivals is present, but both sides will be looking to get something a bit more meaningful out of their latest friendly.

ESPN's Tom Marshall and Noah Davis preview the match from both perspectives.

U.S. point of view: Biggest test yet for the "kids"

The point of sport is to win, of course, but perhaps it's also to learn. That's especially true for a national team, who plays endless friendlies that present learning opportunities intermingled with the qualifiers and tournaments in which victory is always the ultimate objective. When the USMNT takes the field against Mexico on Friday, a rematch in name if not in reality off the back of El Tri's 1-0 Gold Cup final win in July, U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter will be seeking forward momentum more than balls in the back of the net.

"A very consistent theme since we've been together is to just keep progressing," he said in the lead-up to the game. "We got to a certain point in the Gold Cup. We want to analyze where we got to, and now can we build on that in this next game, in this next phase?"

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Continuing to build on "that," the style and philosophy Berhalter brought to the team after his December 2018 hire would be a welcome sight for American fans who watched the squad flounder in an awkward limbo for a half-decade. Early returns have been decent if not spectacular, most notably a strong Gold Cup in which the Americans dominated until they didn't and never looked overmatched.

Against Mexico (and Uruguay in St. Louis on Tuesday), Berhalter has close to a full-strength roster -- Tyler Adams, DeAndre Yedlin, Tim Weah and Matt Miazga are missing due to injury -- and 180 minutes to test ideas, theories and combinations. "Every player on the team is a puzzle piece," said defender Aaron Long, one of the last year's biggest success stories.

The most important puzzle piece is where Christian Pulisic best fits. It's not a new conundrum. Both Jurgen Klinsmann and Bruce Arena tried -- and succeeded/failed in equal measure -- to figure out where to play the American's most dynamic attacker. Berhalter's choice about Pulisic will dictate a great deal of the rest of the formation. The Chelsea acquisition is listed as a forward on the latest roster, as opposed to the midfield role he occupied in the pre-Gold Cup releases. This might mean that the coach sees his young star playing farther up the field, likely out on a wing with Josh Sargent in the middle, or it might mean that Pulisic will play farther back and that an "F" or an "M" next to his name means little.

It's also a chance to continue integrating the next generation into the national team.

"The youth wave for the U.S. is coming," FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon said. "I feel like I'm having gray hairs in the back of my head at 21. I don't know why. But I'm always excited about this youth."

The fact is simple: a roster comprised of American players 24 and under would be the favorite to beat a starting XI of guys 25 and up. Making this transition as seamlessly as possible needs to be a priority. Mexico and Uruguay, two quality but beatable sides, present wonderful opportunities to find out who of the newer crew can hang in Berhalter's proactive style.

The coach understands this. He knows how valuable the games, and the trainings are for the future prospects. For example, there's a shot for Atlanta United FC center-back Miles Robinson. "It's a chance for us to get an up-close look at him," Berhalter said. "We know he has the physical talent. We know he's a competitor. We know he's had a great season so far for Atlanta. It's nice to get him in our environment and see how he can adapt to our style of play." It's high praise for the 22-year-old, and Berhalter could offer similar sentiments about at least a half dozen players in camp.

2022 World Cup qualifying begins in roughly a year. The process, as always, continues.

-- Noah Davis

Mexico point of view: Stay perfect under Martino

A victory for Mexico over the United States in a noncompetitive game would exorcise the stat that El Tri hasn't defeated the Stars and Stripes in a friendly since 1999. Also at stake is Mexico head coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino's undefeated record in his first 10 games in charge.

Obviously, the Gold Cup final was the big one for the rivalry and a victory for the U.S. wouldn't change that or bring much in the way of revenge. In fact, it would possibly fuel the perception -- at least for El Tri fans -- that Mexico tends to be the team that wins when it matters. The stats in games since 2000 may be 14 wins, eight losses and six draws but in official competition, Mexico has won eight of the past 15 games (8-6-1).

Mexico does head into this game as a significant favorite. Martino has 31 players in camp and the return of Hector Herrera, Jesus "Tecatito" Corona, Javier Hernandez, Hirving Lozano and Miguel Layun means that El Tri is much stronger than it was during the Gold Cup. The victory over the U.S. in the final came without arguably Mexico's best two players (Herrera, Lozano) and the national team's all-time top scorer (Hernandez). Martino himself said "we will be better" after the Gold Cup final and referenced those absentees.

- Martino brings strong Mexico squad to U.S.

The big question mark is which starting XI Martino will put out on Friday given the number of players in his squad and a game against Argentina coming up on Tuesday in San Antonio. More than the result, Martino will be looking closely at what those returning players can bring.

Martino is thought to be delighted with the progress of the younger players, particularly at how they have adopted his methods. The thinking is that Mexico will play the group stage of the CONCACAF Nations League (Bermuda, Panama) with the younger group, with a few of the more experienced players sprinkled in. Therefore, these games against the U.S. and Argentina will be used by Martino to figure out which players of the Europe-based players will be best suited for CONCACAF Nations league action.

For example, there seems to be little point in bringing both Raul Jimenez and Hernandez to play away against Bermuda given that one is guaranteed to be on the bench in Martino's 4-3-3 system. (It'll probably be one of Andres Guardado or Erick Gutierrez.) Equally, the Pulisic vs. Lozano angle -- mainly pushed in the Spanish-language media -- may not have any legs given both aren't exactly the most brash personalities willing to trash-talk, but it will nevertheless be of interest to see two of CONCACAF's best attacking on the same field and on opposite teams. Having such quality has to be good for the rivalry, especially given both are now playing for European clubs that are expected to be fighting for titles.

Lastly, this should be an entertaining game. Mexico has usually been the protagonist in this rivalry in terms of having the ball and taking the game to the U.S., something that's continued under Martino's aggressive style, but with Berhalter as coach, it seems like Stars and Stripes are now looking to play more front-foot soccer, meaning there should be plenty of space for the attacking talents on both teams to shine.

-- Tom Marshall