Rangers win draft lottery, shot at Lafreniere
The New York Rangers won the second phase of the NHL draft lottery, giving them a shot at selecting winger Alexis Lafreniere.
The Rangers were among eight teams that lost in the qualifying round of the playoffs with a chance to claim quite a consolation prize Monday night. The Rangers have the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since 1965 when they selected Andre Veilleux.
The league was forced to make a lot of changes after the COVID-19 pandemic paused the season and the lottery was turned into a two-phase process.
The league’s bottom seven teams had their seasons concluded March 12. Those teams also ended up not winning the lottery in June. The Los Angeles Kings landed the No. 2 pick overall.
The winning placeholder team, which became the Rangers, got the top pick despite a 12.5% chance.
Ottawa ended up with the third selection overall as part of the 2018 Erik Karlsson trade with San Jose along with the fifth pick overall. The league-worst Detroit Red Wings dropped to No. 4 in the first phase of the lottery.
The final 16 spots in the draft will be tied to postseason results.
The sturdy, 6-foot-1 Lafreniere had 114 goals and 297 points in 173 games in the Quebec Major Junior League. The 18-year-old winger also captained Canada’s gold medal-winning team and earned MVP honors at the world junior championships earlier this year.
ZERO POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST RESULTS >> The NHL had no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 7,245 exams administered from Aug. 2-8, the league announced Monday.
Per the NHL, testing was administered on a daily basis to all 52 members associated with the clubs’ traveling parties.
The league has reported two consecutive weeks without any positive cases since it began its Return to Play initiative. This stretch followed more than four months off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Soccer
ORLANDO, PORTLAND VIE FOR MLS CHAMPIONSHIP >> Orlando City and Portland will meet in the MLS is Back tournament finale tonight at Disney’s sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, with the winner hoisting a trophy less than 24 hours before the league resumes its revised regular season in home markets.
The championship will be shortlived, with FC Dallas and Nashville resuming the regular season Wednesday night.
NFL
ALEX SMITH COULD MAKE WASHINGTON QB BATTLE ‘INTERESTING’ >> Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera said Alex Smith could make the quarterback competition an “interesting challenge” if the veteran is
healthy.
Smith nearly lost his right leg following a gruesome injury in 2018 that required 17 surgeries. The 36-year-old is attempting to resume his football career and could put a significant wrinkle in the quarterback battle.
Dwayne Haskins, 23, was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2019 draft. He struggled as a rookie but has been the presumptive starter despite the on-field offseason program being canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Washington has a new offensive coordinator in Scott Turner, and the team also acquired veteran Kyle Allen during the offseason. Rivera is familiar with Allen from their time together with the Carolina Panthers. VIKINGS’ SMITH TO MISS SEASON >> Minnesota Vikings second-year linebacker Cameron Smith will miss the 2020 season because of a heart condition that was discovered after he tested positive for COVID-19 upon reporting to training camp two weeks ago.
The Vikings made the procedural move on Monday of waiving Smith with a non-football injury designation. Upon clearing waivers, he’ll revert to the reserve list for non-football injuries. Smith, who played mostly on special teams as a rookie, was a fifth-round draft pick out of USC in 2019.
Golf
RAHM REGAINS NO. 1 RANKING, MORIKAWA VAULTS TO NO. 5 >> Jon Rahm regained the No. 1 spot in the official world golf rankings on Monday, with Collin Morikawa vaulting to No. 5 the day after his triumph at the PGA Championship.
Rahm improved his score each round at TPC Harding Park, eventually finishing tied for 13th after shooting a 66 on Sunday that helped him climb eight spots on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Justin Thomas settled for an even par 70 and tie for 37th.
That led to Rahm reclaiming the No. 1 spot that Thomas had just taken with a victory at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational last week.
Rory McIlroy remained No. 3 followed by Dustin Johnson.
Morikawa continued his rapid ascent, climbing into the top 10 for the first time in his career. He moved up seven spots from No. 12 with his second
win in his past four starts.
Morikawa turned pro last summer and was ranked 1,039th after a T14 at the RBC Canadian Open in June 2019. He earned his first professional victory at the Barracuda Championship.
Tennis
BOUCHARD WINS LONE MATCH AT RAINY PRAGUE OPEN >> Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard won the first and only completed main draw match at the Prague Open on a rainy Monday. The second European tournament in the WTA’s restart amid the pandemic is following the same rules as the Palermo Open last week: No fans and media, players have to handle their own towels and are not allowed to shake hands. Bouchard eased past eighth-seeded Veronika Kudermetova 6-0, 6-3 for her first win on clay since 2018.
WNBA
SUN HAND DREAM FIFTH STRAIGHT LOSS >> Alyssa Thomas scored 21 points, Jasmine Thomas had 15 points and seven assists, and the Connecticut Sun beat the Atlanta Dream 93-82 inside the bubble in Bradenton, Florida. Shekinna Stricklen scored 18 points — all on 3-pointers in the first half — for Atlanta (26), which has lost five straight. … Skylar Diggins-Smith scored a season-high 26 points, and the Phoenix Mercury rolled past the Dallas Wings 91-79 without Diana Taurasi, who sustained a hip injury Saturday. Brittney Griner recorded her first double-double of 2020 with 22 points and 13 rebounds for Phoenix.