RANGERS TAKE LAFRENIERE WITH TOP PICK
The New York Rangers selected Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere with the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft on Tuesday night.
Lafreniere was the NHL Central Scouting Bureau's top-ranked North American skater. He becomes the first Canadian to go No. 1 since Connor McDavid was chosen by Edmonton in 2015.
From suburban Montreal, the 6-foot-1 playmaking left wing was the first to earn both Canadian Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League MVP honors in consecutive seasons since Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby in 2004 and '05, when he also played for the Oceanic.
New York landed the No. 1 pick for the first time since the NHL established the universal draft in 1969. The Rangers bucked the odds by jumping ahead of the NHL's seven non-playoff teams to win the draft lottery after being swept in three games by Carolina in the preliminary round in August.
They became the first NHL team to select first following a postseason appearance since the then-Minnesota North Stars in 1983, who acquired the No. 1 selection in a trade with Pittsburgh.
The Los Angeles Kings then selected Ontario Hockey League center Quinton Byfield with the second pick. The 6-foot-4 Byfield, whose father moved to Canada from Jamaica, became the highest drafted Black player.
The Ottawa Senators were next and chose top-ranked international forward Tim Stuetzle, who played professionally in his native Germany last year, with their first of three first-round selections.
The Detroit Red Wings, who were bumped to the fourth spot despite finishing with the league's worst record, drafted Swedish forward Lucas Raymond. A little over an hour before the draft, the Red Wings announced general manager Steve Yzerman had to self-isolate in overseeing the draft separate from his staff after coming into contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19.
The draft was held remotely, with teams making selections from their home cities. Commissioner Gary Bettman introduced each team making a first-round selection from a podium at the NHL Network studios in New Jersey.
Bettman said the NHL is targeting a Jan. 1 start for next season.
The draft concludes today with rounds second through seven, before teams turn their attention to the NHL's free agency signing period, which opens Friday.
Teams already have been active in reshaping their rosters and freeing space under the $81.5 million salary cap.
Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader and Montreal defenseman Karl Alzner were placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of buying out the remainder of their contracts earlier in the day. The Canadiens also traded center Max Domi and a thirdround draft pick to Columbus for forward Josh Anderson.
Motorsports
The most coveted seat in NASCAR belongs to Alex Bowman in a Hendrick Motorsports lineup shuff le to replace seventime champion Jimmie Johnson in the iconic No. 48 Chevrolet.
Bowman and crew chief Greg Ives, who won five championships with Johnson as his engineer, will move from the No. 88 into Johnson's ride at the end of the season. The swap makes Bowman just the second driver of the team created in 2001 specifically for Johnson.
Johnson's 19th full season is his last in NASCAR and he will move to a partial IndyCar schedule next year. His retirement opened the door for Bowman to replace a NASCAR superstar for the second time in four years. Two years ago, he replaced Dale Earnhardt Jr.
College football
North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance, who had a record-breaking season last year in leading the Bison to the FCS championship but only played one game this fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said he will bypass the spring season and enter the NFL Draft.
• USC offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker, who made the AllPac-12 first team last season as a sophomore, has opted back into the upcoming season, giving an enormous boost to the Trojans' offense.
Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan is out indefinitely after having surgery on his right foot.
Also
Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19.
Family friend Kim Shiff, Bowden's former publicist, told the AP in a text message that the 90-yearold college football Hall of Famer was “very fatigued,” but had no other symptoms.
Cristiano Ronaldo's legal fight with a woman who accuses the international soccer star of raping her in his suite at a Las Vegas resort more than 10 years ago is heading toward a trial before a federal judge in Nevada.
The New York Red Bulls hired Gerhard Struber as their coach, giving the veteran of Austrian soccer his first U.S. coaching job.