Ducks Vaakanainen, Benoit, Eriksson Ek land new contracts

Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek’s lengthy summer to-do list got a little shorter Friday afternoon, when he signed defensemen Simon Benoit and Urho Vaakanainen and goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek to new contracts on Friday. Benoit, Vaakanainen and Ericksson Ek were restricted free agents.

A fourth restricted free agent, center Isac Lundestrom, has an arbitration hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Vaakanainen’s contract is for two years and $1.7 million. He played 14 games for the Ducks after the March 19 trade that sent defenseman Hampus Lindholm to the Boston Bruins. Overall, he has played 45 career games in the NHL for the Ducks and Bruins, recording eight assists.

The contracts for Benoit and Eriksson Ek are each for one season. Benoit had one goal and four assists in a career-high 53 games with the Ducks this past season. Eriksson Ek has yet to make his NHL debut, playing 41 career games with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL.

Eriksson Ek is the younger brother of the Minnesota Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek.

• Winger Patrik Laine signed a four-year, $34.8 million contract to stay with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets made salary cap room for Laine by trading forward Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Seattle Kraken for a third- and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft.

Ganassi, McLaren claim Palou for next season

IndyCar champion Alex Palou insisted he wasn’t lying last month when he told The Associated Press he was happy driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, wasn’t talking to any other teams, and was set to return to the No. 10 car next season.

Well, something dramatically changed in the four weeks since Palou tried to remove his name from the rumor mill of drivers headed to Arrow McLaren SP next season.

Now both Ganassi and McLaren Racing say they believe they have the 25-year-old Spaniard under contract for next season in a fight likely to be decided by lawyers. Chip Ganassi last week said he picked up the exclusive option he held on Palou, while McLaren head Zak Brown said he’s signed Palou to drive for him.

Palou told AP on Friday at Iowa Speedway that his c omments made June 3 in Detroit “is not a lie” and he remains content at Ganassi.

“I’m super happy in the 10 car,” Palou said.

So then why does he want to drive for McLaren?

“Opportunities. The future,” Palou said. “I agree with you that I would never have said being a champion and being part of Chip Ganassi Racing, I would ever consider something (else).”

And now Palou, who is in just his third season of IndyCar and second season driving for Ganassi, is doing his best to focus on finishing this season. He heads into the doubleheader today and Sunday at Iowa ranked third in the standings and only 37 points out of the lead in his pursuit of a second consecutive title.

But he’s embroiled in a bizarre situation not seen very often in IndyCar with all his competitors waiting and watching in anticipation to see how Palou’s contract predicament gets settled. McLaren has given no indication it will pay to buy Palou out of his contract with Ganassi because McLaren signed him under the assumption he was a clear free agent.

If Ganassi requires payment to release Palou, the cash would have to come from Palou’s side.

But the situation is so much more complicated than that. Scott Dixon, his teammate and the sixtime IndyCar champion, has been openly critical of Palou’s handling of his situation and told AP he didn’t speak to Palou all weekend in Toronto.

Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson said he sent Palou a text ahead of Toronto, but has otherwise been avoiding his IndyCar teammate to stay removed from the drama and tension. Only Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson said things have been status quo between him and Palou, and both Palou and Ganassi have acknowledged they’ve yet to speak to each other despite sitting in engineering meetings together last weekend.

And, Palou said Friday that while his communication with the No. 10 crew remains steady, he’s been denied access to team data while at his home.

“I don’t have the access I had before to the data and all that stuff from home,” he said. “When I’m here, I have it. Not from home like the same I had before. Which I understand. It’s normal. I think I’d do the same if it was my team. It changed. But I understand it. It’s not that I’m out of meetings and stuff like that.”

The resolution of Palou’s contract will trigger a domino effect that is currently holding other drivers in limbo. Felix Rosenqvist, for example, doesn’t know if he’ll return to McLaren next year in IndyCar or be shifted to Formula E to make room for Palou.

Rinus VeeKay, in a contract year at Ed Carpenter Racing, doesn’t know if the No. 10 might be open next year. He said he’s in discussions on an extension with Carpenter, but has no idea what other seats might open for next year.

VeeKay was in North Carolina last Tuesday on the Chevrolet simulator when he saw on social media that Palou’s option had been extended. By the time he checked his phone again when he returned home to Florida, Palou had issued a series of tweets refuting his return to Ganassi and McLaren had announced it had signed the driver.

“My whole Uber ride home, my mouth was just hanging open reading my phone,” VeeKay said. “Every driver is reading every article trying to learn more because it’s definitely not your usual situation.”

NCAA: Vols committed 18 major violations

The NCAA charged Tennessee with 18 major rules violations involving allegations of providing impermissible cash, gifts and benefits worth about $60,000 to football recruits and their families under former coach Jeremy Pruitt. The school has until Oct. 20 to respond to the Level I violations, the most serious by NCAA standards.

Kontaveit, American Pera in Hamburg final

American Bernarda Pera will play top-seeded Anett Kontaveit in the women’s final of the Hamburg (Germany) European Open of tennis after they won their semifinals in straight sets.

• Jim Lynch, the hardhitting linebacker who helped the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings in the 1970 Super Bowl following a standout career at Notre Dame, died Thursday. He was 76.

• Sweden broke down Belgium’s dogged resistance with a goal in the second minute of stoppage time to win 1-0 and set up a semifinal against host nation England in the Women’s European Championship.

Linda Sembrant smashed home a loose ball from inside the 6-yard box following a corner after Belgium goalie Nicky Evrard made a scrambling save in Leigh, England.