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The world's best teams to watch for 2025 NHL draft prospects
The 2024-25 NHL season is only a month old, but a few front offices might be more focused on how to prepare for the future, with Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz dropping the "rebuild" hint on local radio.
In other words, let the watch begin for the 2025 NHL draft class.
Draft-eligible players are in leagues all over the world, so we've created a guide of which teams or areas to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
United States National Team Development Program
This was the easiest pick of the bunch. On any given night, you will see various NHL GMs, front office employees and 20-plus scouts at the NTDP games. It is the most highly concentrated pool of top prospects in the world. The team stays together for the duration of the season and plays in international tournaments.
The program has pumped out prospects at a good clip over the past decade, and this season should be no different.
Of this current group, William Moore, Charlie Trethewey, Jack Murtagh and L.J. Mooney are drawing significant attention as possible first-round picks.
Beyond those top four, Cole McKinney, Conrad Fondrk and Mason Moe are drawing interest at forward. Donato Bracco, Asher Barnett, Carter Amico and Drew Shock have drawn significant interest from scouts on defense.
Arne Slot not surprised by Liverpool's strong start
Liverpool boss Arne Slot is not surprised by his team's fine start to the season, saying he was well aware of the strength of the side he was inheriting when he arrived at Anfield as Jürgen Klopp's successor.
Slot's team, who have won 14 of 16 games across all competitions since he took charge, look to remain top of the Premier League table when they host Aston Villa on Saturday. Liverpool have a two-point lead over holders Manchester City.
They also top the Champions League table as the only team with four wins in four games.
"I don't think surprise is the right word to use because I knew the quality of our team," Slot told a news conference on Friday. "But quality is one thing and consistency is another. I am not surprised because I saw the energy my players put in on a daily basis.
"Sometimes a bit of luck comes with that as well. Most of our results were deserved but some have been a close call," he added. "[Also] when I started working with them I saw how much effort they put in to get these results."
Slot does not expect forward Diogo Jota, who has not played since Liverpool's 2-1 win over Chelsea on Oct. 20 due to injury, to return until after the international break, but would not divulge any details about his injury.
"There is privacy about this," he said.
"He will be back one or two games after the international break."
Curtis Jones, who was named in interim England manager Lee Carsley's squad for the upcoming international break, has shone for Liverpool in recent weeks, playing a sumptuous through ball for Luis Díaz to score in Tuesday's 4-0 Champions League rout of Bayer Leverkusen.
Slot said Jones has taken his game to another level since the birth of his daughter Giselle on Oct. 13.
"Since the moment he became a father, he started putting great performances in," Slot said.
"He has a lot of qualities on the ball, when he has it he's never afraid to do something special.
"Sometimes he is a bit too over-confident but confidence is important. He also has an incredibly high work-rate and we can trust him defensively."
Carsley has included Jones in both his England squads but he has yet to make a senior appearance for his country. That could change when they travel to Athens to take on Greece on Thursday. England then face Ireland three days later at Wembley.
Sources: Rice (broken toe) doubt for Chelsea clash
Arsenal are weighing up whether Declan Rice can play through the pain after tests revealed he had a broken toe, sources have told ESPN.
Rice sustained the injury in Arsenal's Premier League defeat at Newcastle last weekend and subsequently missed their midweek 1-0 Champions League loss at Inter Milan.
Mikel Arteta's side travel to Chelsea on Sunday and a source has told ESPN that Rice is hopeful of being able to manage the issue and start at Stamford Bridge in a game of huge significance to Arsenal.
The north London side are seven points behind leaders Liverpool and five adrift of defending champions Manchester City. Another defeat -- which would be their fourth in seven games across all competitions -- would be a damaging blow to their title hopes.
Rice has also been named in Lee Carsley's latest England squad for upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and Republic of Ireland.
It remains to be seen whether Rice actually joins up with the group at St George's Park but the source told ESPN that the 25-year-old is keen to continue representing club and country if his body allows.
Israel to repatriate fans after clash at Ajax game
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered two rescue planes be sent to the Netherlands on Friday after violence targeting Israeli football fans broke out in Amsterdam overnight.
Videos circulating on social media showed street clashes and riot police intervening.
The order to send planes was taken after "a very violent incident" targeting Israeli citizens following the game between Ajax, traditionally identified as a Jewish club, and Maccabi Tel Aviv, his office said.
An eyewitness captured a video verified by Reuters showing a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and assaulting other men, as police sirens sounded.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was "horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens. This is completely unacceptable."
In a statement on X he said he had spoken to Netanyahu on the phone and assured him "that the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted,"
Local police said 57 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff stadium, even though the city had forbidden a protest there.
Police said fans had left the stadium without incident, but clashes erupted overnight in the city centre.
The Israeli military said it is preparing to immediately deploy a rescue mission with the coordination of the Dutch government after the football game, in which Ajax defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 5-0.
"The mission will be deployed using cargo aircraft and include medical and rescue teams," the IDF said.
The Gaza war has sparked protests in support of both sides across Europe and the United States and Arabs and Jews have been attacked.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens arrive safely at the airport, Saar told his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp in a phone call on Friday.
Harris 'pretty well-equipped' to open against India in Perth
"They just said that I'll open in the first game and we're not really sure what's going to happen with the second game. So I don't know if that was the plan"
Marcus Harris on the communication from the selectors
Harris was asked after play on day two whether he felt he had done enough to earn a call-up and he was typically pragmatic about it. "I don't know, it's a good question," he said. "I think, externally obviously this game was getting built up a lot, which is fair enough. I feel like I've been batting well, but so have lots of other people.
"So if I get called upon I feel like I'm ready to go, and if I don't, then so be it. I feel pretty well-equipped. I think maybe if I was in this position 12 months ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to perform the way I have at the start of this season. My results last year probably said that. So I've been proud of that."
"They just said that I'll open in the first game and we're not really sure what's going to happen with the second game," Harris said. "So I don't know if that was the plan."
Harris said the second game had provided a few more clues on the selectors' thoughts but he was not reading too much into it given his previous experiences with Australia A and Prime Minister's XI selection.
"It was probably pretty obvious what was happening," Harris said. "You'd have to ask them, to be honest. You never know. Like last year, for example, we had the bat-off in Canberra, and they picked Renners [Matt Renshaw] who was batting at three. So, yeah, I don't know."
"No, honestly, it hasn't," Harris said. "I think this time I've probably embraced it a little bit more than what I have before. I think in the past I've probably tried to really try to avoid it. That probably builds it up a little bit more, whereas this time, I've probably just taken it as it's come at me and accepted it for what it is. I think I might have said maybe a couple weeks ago at the Junction Oval, I could probably write all the articles that are going to be written in the next couple of weeks. So none of the stuff that comes out is surprising, which, I think, anytime you go through things more often, you get more used to it, more equipped to deal with it. I'm probably just more experienced at it."
"If the wicket's doing a little bit, [he said] you don't always have to look to hit it for four, look to hit it for two. And it was just something simple that sort of resonated with me a little bit," Harris said. "I think a lot of the times when you do well on wickets like that, you actually spend a lot of time down the other end."
Harris did note he needed some luck, having played and missed a lot and edged one short of the wicketkeeper on the opening night. He also had a huge slice of luck when he was given not out on 48 - he tried to turn offspinner Tanush Kotian to the leg side and the ball deflected to slip. India A were convinced it came off the edge but the umpire thought it was pad.
"I hit my pad on the way through," Harris said. "Hence why I stood my ground. Then the umpire gave it not out, so I was like, I don't know. But then we watched the replay and I think the boys said they watched it 20 times and you couldn't really tell. So the god's honest truth was I wasn't sure. But if they reviewed it and said you'd hit it and got caught, I would have [thought] fair enough.
"It just went my way."
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
Alice Capsey omitted from T20Is as England name South Africa tour squads
Capsey, who made her England debut aged 17 in 2022, is regarded as one of the brightest talents in the women's game, but is in the midst of a prolonged form slump. She made a top score of 19 in three innings at the World Cup, and has since managed a further 27 runs in five innings for Melbourne Renegades in the Women's Big Bash League.
The tour is seen as a vital opportunity for England to reset their ambitions against a team that has now reached each of the last two T20 World Cup finals.
The selected players, minus those currently competing in the Big Bash, have been training at Loughborough in the build-up to the series, with the T20I squad due to leave for South Africa on November 16, with the ODI and Test squads following on November 27.
Knight's team had entered the World Cup as one of the leading contenders after an unbeaten home summer, but were subjected to some intense criticism after their early exit, not least from the former World Cup winner-turned-commentator, Alex Hartley, who called into question the team's fitness levels.
In an interview with The Cricketer this week, however, Jon Lewis, England Women's head coach, hit back at that suggestion.
"We work incredibly hard on our physical preparation, the players are in really good shape. We individualise really well around people's programmes.
"I would like Alex in particular to quantify exactly what she means by that, because I just don't see it. She needs to be more specific about what she's saying. There are lots of parts of physical fitness, and you have to be careful when you call a team unfit - we are not an unfit cricket team.
"I've seen the team training in Loughborough, and we're moving forward across the board. There are lots of different parts of physical fitness. It was a really broad statement, and I don't agree with what she said at all. I am more than happy to have a chat to her about it and be more specific."
While significant in its own right, the South Africa tour is seen as a vital staging post for England ahead of their next key objective, the Women's Ashes in Australia in January.
Connor also addressed the heightened scrutiny that the players had been under in the wake of the World Cup, and the sense that they had collapsed under the pressure, particularly in a key period in the field the wake of Knight's injury in Dubai.
"We welcome the same degree of scrutiny over performance as an England men's team, or equivalent, but the learning curve is steep," Connor said.
"It's fascinating from a performance perspective that we went into that tournament in the vein of form that we did, and New Zealand went into that tournament with 10 consecutive defeats, and they won it.
"It's hugely disappointing that we didn't make the semi-final stage. But we will obviously be looking at how we build in that resilience to pressure, and decision-making and skill retention under pressure. Because, for 45 minutes, we did lose our skills and our way."
England Women IT20 squad: Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Paige Scholfield, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
England Women ODI squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
England Women Test match squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
'Where does Australian cricket play?' Queensland Cricket renews talks over Gabba future
A frustrating wait over the Gabba's future has prompted a joint plea for a new 2032 Olympic stadium from tenants Queensland Cricket and AFL club Brisbane Lions.
A letter has been sent by the sporting bodies to Premier David Crisafulli urging him to reconsider his new stadium ban, backing a proposed AU$3.4 billion Victoria Park venue as the Brisbane Games centrepiece.
They now want to meet with the premier to discuss the Gabba's future, seeking assurances over a venue plan to ensure both sports will survive and "doesn't send us broke".
Mr Crisafulli threw out Labor's Olympic venue plan after winning the October 26 election, with an independent body set to launch a 100-day review and provide a new 2032 blueprint.
However the Liberal National Party leader has repeatedly ruled out building a new Olympic stadium.
Queensland Cricket and the Brisbane Lions are unfazed, saying they hope "common sense will prevail" when they speak with the premier after enduring an anxious wait over the Gabba's future.
"We're hoping to meet with the new premier and his team over the next couple of weeks," Queensland Cricket CEO Terry Svenson told reporters on Friday.
"[It is] just really to talk about what our expectations are but I guess more the frustrations that we have had over the last 18 months."
The Gabba was initially set to be knocked down and rebuilt for AU$2.7 billion under the Labor government for the 2032 Games before that was scrapped amid a backlash over rising costs.
It was then set for a $600 million Olympic facelift under Labor before plans went back to square one under the new LNP government.
Mr Svenson said "everything is on the table" for their government talks but backed the proposed 55,000-capacity Victoria Park stadium pitch.
An independent Olympic venue review earlier this year claimed the Gabba would reach the end of its life in 2030 and was in "poor condition".
Mr Svenson said Queensland Cricket and the Lions wanted a decision on the Gabba's fate sooner rather than later so they could plan for the future.
Both sporting codes would need to find another home venue if the Gabba is revamped or replaced, with Queensland Cricket alone facing up to AU$40 million in displacement costs.
"If displacement is back on the table we actually need to have that conversation with the government," Mr Svenson said. "If this place gets knocked down and rebuilt where do the Lions play, where does Australian cricket play? It's important for us to have certainty that it doesn't send us broke."
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie on Friday said he had not seen the letter but was "happy to look into it".
However, he backed its 100-day review, sticking with the government's "no new stadium" mantra.
Opoku-Fordjour leads England's new prop star generation
Maybe because Opoku-Fordjour does not fit the old tight-head mould, he has also appeared on the opposite side of the scrum.
While he plays tight-head for Sale, he switched to loose-head for England Under-20s, where Gloucester's Afolabi Fasogbon and Bath's Vilikesa Sela give England mammoth depth at three.
The trio were hugely impressive in the team's age-grade World Cup win in the summer, with set-piece dominance splintering France in the final.
They are not the only reasons to be cheerful.
Harlequins' 22-year-old Baxter made his Test debut in the summer. Team-mate Nathan Jibulu, 21, is poised to pressure central contract-holder Theo Dan, 23, at hooker.
Northampton's Tarek Haffar and Emmanuel Iyogun, both 23, are two more promising prop prospects.
In all, England hope they have a golden generation lined up behind Marler and Dan Cole, who are nearing the end of their careers, and Ellis Genge and Will Stuart, 29 and 28 respectively.
West believes that, once the transition is finished, Opoku-Fordjour would prefer to end up back at tight-head.
But in modern Test rugby, versatility can be the key that unlocks the next level and a place in a squad.
West and Titterrell's day was different. Replacements were rarer. Specialists stayed put. And the set-piece was more chaotic.
Footage from their playing days provides amusement, rather than education, to their young charges.
"The lads laugh now when they see the footage of the games we played in," says West.
"Back then the referee did not have much involvement in the engagement at scrums - you got together and got on with it.
"There was more impact, a lot more scrums ending up on the floor and there was a certain amount of brutality involved in that.
"Even so, the players now are so much bigger and probably stronger than we were in the past. It is totally different things they do nowadays."
Differing styles, but identical destinations. Opoku-Fordjour and the rest are arriving fast on the international scene and, as in the scrum, will take some shifting once they are in place.
Utd players want Van Nistelrooy to stay on - Onana
Ruud van Nistelrooy's future at Manchester United is up in the air ahead of the arrival of Rúben Amorim as manager but goalkeeper André Onana said the players are keen for the Dutch coach to remain with the club.
Van Nistelrooy stepped into his role as interim manager following the sacking of Erik ten Hag and is unbeaten in his three games in charge, guiding United to a 2-0 win over PAOK in the Europa League on Thursday -- their first win in Europe in over a year.
A former United striker, Van Nistelrooy has said he would like to remain part of the club's restructured management team after his interim stint ends on Sunday with a Premier League home game against Leicester City.
Asked if United's players wanted the same, Onana told TNT Sports: "100%. He's a very good guy, a very good coach.
"He has so much experience and he advises us a lot.
"It's fantastic what he's doing and the players are happy. But at the end of the day, it's not something we can decide. The club make the decision and we have to accept it."
Van Nistelrooy said his sole focus was preparing the team for his last game in charge.
"I'm only busy with one thing in my mind," he said.
"I want my last game as an interim, I want to prepare it as good as I can and give the players everything they need to get the best performance out of them ... And other than that, I don't look too far ahead, to be really honest."
IPL auction 2025 - everything you need to know about the mega auction
When is the IPL 2025 auction happening, and where?
Why is the IPL 2025 auction a 'mega auction'?
Every three years, the IPL franchises undergo a reset of sorts. They are allowed to retain only a small number of players - a maximum of six this time - and must rebuild their squads at the mega auction. In other years, in between mega auctions, teams can retain as many players as they like before a 'mini auction', which takes place over the course of one day. Mega auctions take two days because the number of players up for bidding is much higher than at mini auctions.
So how many players are there in the IPL 2025 auction?
Will there be a marquee set of players like in the previous two mega auctions in 2018 and 2022?
There is no confirmation on that at present, but the IPL is likely to kick off the forthcoming auction with a set of marquee players.
Who are the big names expected to be in the IPL 2025 auction?
There are plenty. Among the Indian players, there's Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, T Natarajan, Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and many others.
The overseas list will include David Warner, Jos Buttler, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis, Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, Devon Conway, Tim David, Rachin Ravindra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and many more.
How much money do teams have to form their squads at the IPL 2025 auction?
Each team has a total purse of INR 120 crore but some of that has already been spent on retaining players before the IPL 2025 auction. Punjab Kings have the biggest purse - INR 110.5 crore - to spend at the mega auction, followed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who have INR 83 crore, Delhi Capitals (INR 73 crore), Gujarat Titans (INR 69 crore), Lucknow Super Giants (INR 69 crore) Chennai Super Kings (INR 55 crore), Kolkata Knight Riders (INR 51 crore), Mumbai Indians (INR 45 crore), Sunrisers Hyderabad (INR 45 crore), and Rajasthan Royals (INR 41 crore).
And how many players can the teams buy at the IPL 2025 mega auction?
The size of each franchise's squad is a maximum of 25 (minimum size is 18) and there are ten teams - so a maximum of 250 players in total. Forty-six players have already been retained by the teams, leaving a maximum of 204 slots to fill during the IPL 2025 auction. Each squad can have a maximum of eight overseas players so there are 70 slots for overseas players at the auction.
- CSK: 20 slots (7 overseas)
- RCB: 22 slots (8 overseas)
- SRH: 20 slots (5 overseas)
- MI: 20 slots (8 overseas)
- DC: 21 slots (7 overseas)
- RR: 19 slots (7 overseas)
- PBKS: 23 slots (8 overseas)
- KKR: 19 slots (6 overseas)
- GT: 20 slots (7 overseas)
- LSG: 20 slots (7 overseas)
Why do teams have varying number of slots to fill at the IPL 2025 auction?
Mumbai Indians
Players retained: Jasprit Bumrah (INR 18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (INR 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (INR 16.30 crore), Tilak Varma (INR 8 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped player
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Players retained: Heinrich Klaasen (INR 23 crore), Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore), Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore), Travis Head (INR 14 crore), Nitish Kumar Reddy (INR 6 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped player
Chennai Super Kings
Players retained: Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 crore), MS Dhoni (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One capped or uncapped player
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Players retained: Virat Kohli (INR 21 crore), Rajat Patidar (INR 11 crore), Yash Dayal (INR 5 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 3
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped player and two capped players, or three capped players
Delhi Capitals
Players retained: Axar Patel (INR 16.50 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (INR 13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (INR 10 crore), Abishek Porel (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 2
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped player and one capped player, or two capped players
Kolkata Knight Riders
Players retained: Rinku Singh (INR 13 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (INR 12 crore), Sunil Narine (INR 12 crore), Andre Russell (INR 12 crore), Harshit Rana (INR 4 crore), Ramandeep Singh (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: None
Players eligible for RTM: None
Rajasthan Royals
Players retained: Sanju Samson (INR 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (INR 18 crore), Riyan Parag (INR 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (INR 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (INR 11 crore), Sandeep Sharma (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: None
Players eligible for RTM: None
Gujarat Titans
Players retained: Rashid Khan (INR 18 crore), Shubman Gill (INR 16.50 crore), Sai Sudharsan (INR 8.50 crore), Rahul Tewatia (INR 4 crore), Shahrukh Khan (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: One
Players eligible for RTM: One capped player
Lucknow Super Giants
Players retained: Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (INR 11 crore) Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (INR 4 crore), Ayush Badoni (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One capped player
Punjab Kings
Players retained: Shashank Singh (INR 5.5 crore), Prabhsimran Singh (INR 4 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 4
Players eligible for RTM: Four capped players
What does this Right-to-Match option at the IPL 2025 auction mean?
The IPL teams were allowed to retain up to six players this time - of which a maximum of five can be capped and a maximum of two can be uncapped. The six could either be retained outright ahead of the auction, or can be bought back using Right-to-Match (RTM) options at the auction, or a combination of both.
So here's how the RTM options work: If a player has been bought by another franchise at the mega auction, the franchise that he was part of in IPL 2024 can step in at the end of the bidding process and buy back their player using the RTM option by matching the highest bid. After that, the franchise that made the winning bid will be given another opportunity to raise the bid to whatever amount they wish. In that case, the player's previous team will have to match the increased bid to buy back their player.
Having retained just two players, PBKS have the most RTM options (four) at the auction. RCB, who retained three players, have three, while Delhi Capitals, who retained four players, have two. Five teams - MI, CSK, GT, SRH and LSG - retained five players each and have just one RTM option at the auction, while RR and KKR have no RTM options.
There is of course no limit on the number of players a franchise can buy back if they place the highest bids for them during regular bidding at the auction.
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