Boxing Challenge: Joshua Dropped, Tsyzu retires Spence

      No upsets over the weekend, but the biggest news came from a near-upset as unknown Kristian Prenga dropped former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua twice in the first round before Joshua would return the favor by stopping Prenga in the second.

Joshua's next opponent, Tyson Fury, won his warm-up fight over veteran Mariusz Wach when Wach was unable to answer the bell for the eighth round.

Fury and Joshua are scheduled to meet sometime in the fall.

In Australia, former junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu won a unanimous decision over comebacking former welterweight champion Errol Spence.

Spence announced his retirement after the fight.

Former junior middleweight and middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade won his ring return with a first-round KO of Douglas Ataide.

Josh Kelly retained his IBF junior middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Caoimhin Agyarko, and Hamzah Sheeraz kept his WBO super middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Simon Zachenhuber in two boring fights on the Joshua-Prenga undercard.

Edgar Berlanga stopped Steven Butler in seven rounds in the Zuffa main event from New York City.

Richardson Hitchins won a unanimous decision over Ricardo Salas, and Jalil Hackett earned a unanimous decision over Sergey Dereyvanchenko in the supporting bouts.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 85 Pts (13)

Ramon Malpica: 70 Pts (10)

Vince Samano: 58 Pts (12)

Boxing Challenge

    Due to time constraints (Ruby and Work), here is the boxing challenge with just the facts.

Boxing Challenge

Heavyweights. 12 Rds 

Anthony Joshua vs Christian Prenga

Ramon Malpica: Joshua KO 8

TRS: Joshua KO 5
Vince Samano: Joshua KO 7

WBO Super Middleweight Title. 12 Rds

Hamzah Sheeraz vs Simon Zachenhuber

R.L: Sheeraz KO 9
TRS: Sheeraz KO 2
V.S: Sheeraz Unanimous Decision

IBF Junior Middleweight Title 12 Rds

Josh Kelly vs Caoimhin Agyarko

All: Kelly Unanimous Decision

Middleweights 12 Rds

Errol Spence vs Tim Tszyu

R.L: Tszyu KO 9
TRS: Tszyu KO 10
V.S: Spence KO 7

Junior Lightweights 12 Rds

Stephen Fulton vs Liam Wilson

All: Fulton Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights 10 Rds

Edgar Berlanga vs Steven Butler

R.L: Berlanga Split Decision
TRS: Berlanga KO 5
V.S: Butler KO 8

Welterweights 12 Rds

Richardson Hitchins vs Ricardo Salas

R.L: Hitchins KO 9
TRS and V.S: Hitchins Unanimous Decision

Middleweights 10 Rds

Sergiy Dereyvanchenko vs Jalil Hackett

R.L and TRS: Dereyvanchenko Unanimous Decision
V.S: Hackett Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge

   The boxing weekend starts early on Fridaty with two former world champions making returns to the ring.

In Thailand, former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will try to stay busy before an expected match with Anthony Joshua later this year.

Fury will meet veteran Mariusz Wach, who once challenged Wladimir Klitschko for the heavyweight title but in recent years has become a journeyman.

The fight isn't live-streamed as it is going to be shown eventually on Fury's Netflix reality show.

In Uncasville, Connecticut, former junior middleweight and middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade returns for the first time since his first defeat, a knockout loss to David Benavidez.

Andrade will face unknown Brazilian Douglas Ataide, who has been stopped in three of his five losses.

Boxing Challenge

Heavyweights. 10 Rds

Tyson Fury vs Mariusz Wach

All: Fury Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights 10 Rds

Demetrius Andrade vs Douglas Ataide

Ramon Malpica and Vince Samano; Andrade Unanimous Decision

TRS: Andrade KO 6

Boxing Challenge: Pacheco stops Aleem

    The Matchroom card from Carson, California, didn't look to be thrilling or competitive, and it wasn't.

In the main event, unbeaten super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco stopped veteran Immanuel Aleem in the eleventh round.

Pacheco wore down the durable Aleem with a commitment to body work that had been missing in his recent fights, and his aggression looked more like the rising prospect than the more tentative boxer/puncher, who had settled for decision victories in his last three wins.

Lightweight contender Andy Cruz knocked out late replacement Abraham Montoya in the third round,

Cruz announced after the fight that he was going to move down in weight to the junior lightweight division.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 72 Pts (2) 

Ramon Malpica: 60 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 46 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge

     It's an uninspiring card from Carson, California, from Matchroom, in the only action in the boxing challenge.

Unbeaten super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco meets trialhorse Immanuel Aleem in the main event.

Pacheco hasn't been exciting in his recent wins, and he's not facing a top contender in Aleem, who lasted the distance with Lester Martinez but was pounded in a lopsided loss.

Former Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz returns to action for the first time since his majority decision defeat in an IBF lightweight title attempt against Raymond Muratalla against late replacement Abraham Montoya.

Montoya is replacing Albert Bell, who was allowed to drop out of the bout to face WBO champion Abdullah Mason.

Boxing Challenge

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds 

Diego Pacheco vs Immanuel Aleem

All: Pacheco Unanimous Decision

Lightweights 10 Rds

Andy Cruz vs Abraham Montoya

All: Cruz Unanimous Decision

Devils sign Anthony Mantha

    The New Jersey Devils wanted a top-six forward during the offseason, and after the Utah Mammoth matched the Devils' offer sheet to Barrett Hayden, New Jersey's shopping for that player continued.

The Devils found their new addition in right wing Anthony Mantha, who signed a two-year, $ 9.5 million contract to move to New Jersey.

The soon to be 32 year old Mantha is coming off the best season of his career, scoring 33 goals with 31 assists (both career-highs) with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Devils will be the sixth team for Mantha (Detroit, Washington, Las Vegas, Calgary, and Pittsburgh) after a career that has been solid but somewhat disappointing for a player with his size (6'5 240 pounds) and skills.

A first-round pick by Detroit in 2013, Mantha looked to be a potential star when he notched 48 points in back-to-back seasons with the Red Wings, but until his one season with Pittsburgh, Mantha never lived up to his potential.

Mantha has good hands, is a strong skater, and plays with more finesse than a player of his size should; he is likely to be on the first or second line next season.

If Mantha can match his production with the Penguins, the Devils may have found exactly the player that they needed on the wing, but it's fair to question if Mantha isn't coming in at his highest value after a career season.

I'm tentatively optimistic with this signing, but it could go either way.

Cleaning out the Inbox: Non-Sports Edition

    I continue catching up with tributes to those who have recently left us with this edition from the non-sports world.

Goodbye to Anthony Head at the age of 72. 

Head was famous for his acting and singing in the United Kingdom, but his two most memorable roles for me were his recent role as West Ham owner "Rupert Mannion" in the Apple series "Ted Lasso", and of course as "Rupert Giles", the "watcher" in "Buffy The Vampire Slayer".

He also had many roles in voice work, including narrating documentaries and voice work for audiobooks, video games, and animation.

Goodbye to Charles Cioffi at the age of 90.

The long-time character actor was known as the police lieutenant in the 1971 film "Shaft" and appeared in more television series and movies than I can note.

Cioffi also had supporting roles in two of my favorite 80s films as Tom Cruise's father in "All the Right Moves" and as the lead villain (George Grove) in "Remo Williams".

Goodbye to Donald Gibb at the age of  71.

The hulking Gibb was usually cast in roles that made effective use of his size, such as bouncers, bikers, and athletes.

Gibb's most recognized role was as "Ogre" in the Revenge of the Nerds movie series, but he also played linebacker "Dr.Death for all seven seasons of the HBO series "First and Ten".

Goodbye to Joe Negri at the age of 99.

A long-time music teacher at various universities in the Pittsburgh area, Negri's claim to fame was in his recurring role in Mister Rogers ' Neighborhood as "Handyman Negri" in the program's "Land of Make-Believe".

Negri appeared on the program first in 1968 and was a regular until the show's final episode in 2000.

Goodbye to Claudine Longet at the age of 84.

Longet was a singer and actress who appeared on many network television shows in the sixties and seventies, and was a singer who had two top forty hits.

Longet was married to singer and television host Andy Williams before a 1970 divorce and a controversial role in the death of Olympic skier Spider Sabich in 1976.

Longet was convicted of negligent homicide but would only serve thirty days and pay a small fine. 

Cleaning out the Inbox

      We clean out the inbox with some interesting articles from around the world.

We begin with the Athletic's piece on former ABA players who are still trying to receive some pension payments from the NBA, fifty years after the NBA absorbed four ABA franchises.

The current list of twenty-three former ABA players who don't qualify for the "recognition payments" that ABA players agreed to four years ago includes Artis Gilmore, Julius Erving, Rick Barry, and Dan Issel, and they won't get the extra payments because the NBA says they already receive an NBA pension.

The four players I mentioned likely don't need the money, but I'd bet some of the others could certainly use the supplemental help.

The Smithsonian writes of an attempt to help the Eastern Box Turtle by radio telemetry.

The strategy is to track, capture, and release turtles to see how far they travel, and what are some of the issues they face in the wild, to try to figure out a strategy to stop the population decline.

I remember as a child seeing box turtles all the time, but I haven't seen one in the wild for years.

My favorite potato chips in the world used to be Jones Potato Chips, located in Mansfield, Ohio, but a 2017 regulation change forced the company to stop using partially hydrogenated oil, and it changed the flavor.

When I visited Ohio after the change, the chip that catered to Jones's fans was Ballreich's, but in recent years, Ballreich's disappeared from the shelves when I visited and was replaced by Conn's from Zanesville, Ohio, which I thought was even closer to the old Jones flavor.

I buy plenty of Conn's to bring home (Original Wavy for the Boss, Salt and Vinegar for me) on trips, but a Facebook post about an article from the Richland Source grabbed my interest.

Commenters on the article said the old taste was back with Jones (as referenced in the article), and I'm anxious to buy some to see if the former champion has a chance of reclaiming their crown as the best chip in the world!

Our next note comes from the Athletic, which discusses the future of the Seattle Kraken as the NBA expands to the Emerald City in the coming years.

The Kraken have missed the playoffs in four of their five seasons and haven't managed a foothold as an organization, as the Las Vegas Golden Knights have done in their existence.

Seattle is a basketball city first, and the Kraken's best chance was to grab success before the NBA returned.

Boxing Challenge: Mason stops Bell in final round

    On a night that saw boxing's return to cable television on TNT, Abdullah Mason saved a less-than-exciting show and his WBO lightweight title with a twelfth-round stoppage of Albert Bell in Cleveland.

Mason gave away the first half of the fight to Bell, who fought somewhat cautiously but effectively in picking Mason apart from the outside, but Mason began to work the body of Bell, and it was Mason dominating the second half of the fight.

Mason led on the three official scorecards entering the final round, but I had the fading Bell ahead by one point, with his early lead being whittled to a point.

Mason would drop Bell twice in the first forty seconds, with the referee ending the fight without a count after knockdown number two.

The stoppage was thought to some to have been a little early, but I don't think Bell had the legs to survive for another two and a half minutes anyway.

Mason has become a can't-miss champion with his explosive punching power, somewhat questionable chin, and ability to rally from behind.

Top Rank still shouldn't be in a hurry to match him against the elite in the division, but I think they have a coming star in Abdullah Mason.

In the co-feature, touted Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington made his first defense of the WBC featherweight title a successful one with a unanimous decision over Rene Palacios, but didn't dazzle in the victory.

In fact, the most exciting part of a dull twelve rounds was when Palacios buzzed Carrington in the eighth round, with Carrington hitting the floor after what was ruled a punch to the back of the head.

Carrington was the easy victor 118-110, 117-111 (my score), and 116-112, but he may have caused more questions than answers.

Boxing Challenge:

TRS: 70 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica: 58 Pts (4)
Vince Samano: 44 Pts (0)

Devils sign David Rittich

      When the New Jersey Devils traded Jacob Markstrom to the Florida Panthers, it was assumed that the Devils would be adding someone to the goalie group, and they did just that when they signed veteran David Rittsch to a one-year contract valued at one million.

The Devils will be the seventh team in the soon-to-be thirty-four-year-old Rittsch's career, and he's generally been the second or third goalie on the roster, as he is expected to be in New Jersey.

Rittsch started last season well with the New York Islanders, but faded as the season progressed.

The fast start helped Rittsch's statistics, finishing with a record of 14-10-3 with two shutouts in thirty games.

Rittsch finished with a goals allowed average of 2.76 and a save percentage of .894 for the 2025-26 season.

Rittsch joins veteran Jake Allen and prospect Nico Daws in the Devils goalie room, and honestly, I'm not confident that is enough to get it done between the pipes.

If I'm New Jersey, I'm not giving up on adding to this position because I think it needs it.

Boxing Challenge

   Boxing debuts on TNT from Cleveland on July fourth with young powerhouse Abdullah Mason defending the WBO lightweight title against fellow Ohioan Albert Bell.

Bell replaced former IBF junior lightweight champion Joe Cordina, when Cordina wasn't allowed to enter the country due to a previous criminal conviction.

Mason is entering this fight off a tremendous victory in a war over Great Britain's Sam Noakes last November.

Bell is unbeaten but is stepping up in quality competition, and in his twenty-eight wins, he has stopped only nine opponents.

I think Bell will win a few rounds and show his skill, but eventually Mason's power will wear Bell down and stop him in the late rounds.

Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington will also be making the first defense of his title, the WBC featherweight champion, against unbeaten Rene' Palacios.

Carrington stopped Carlos Castro in nine rounds in January to win the vacant title.

The unbeaten Palacios won his biggest fight last time out with a split decision win over Suliaman Segawa.

Boxing Challenge

WBO Lightweight Title. 12 Rds 

Abdullah Mason vs Albert Bell

Ramon Malpica; Mason KO 8
TRS: Mason KO 10
Vince Samano: Bell Split Decision

WBC Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Bruce Carrington vs Rene' Palacios

R.L: Carrington Unanimous Decision
TRS: Carrington KO 8
V.S Palacios Split Decision

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

     We've fallen behind on our tributes due to personal issues, so I'm working on another post to catch up.

Goodbye to Bob Horner at the age of 68.

The power-hitting infielder was the first overall pick in the 1978 draft by the Atlanta Braves from Arizona State and was moved directly to the majors without playing in the minors.

Horner not only avoided struggling, but he was also named National League Rookie of the Year, hitting twenty-three homers in eighty-nine games.

Horner would hit 218 homers in nine years with the Braves before a contract dispute saw Horner sign with the Yakult Swallows for one season before returning with the St.Louis Cardinals. Still, shoulder injuries held him to only sixty games in the final year of his career.

Goodbye to Dave McGinnis at the age of 74.

McGinnis was a long-time assistant coach before taking the head job with the Arizona Cardinals midway through the 2000 season.

Despite an overall record of 17-40, McGinnis was popular with players and fans with his exuberance and energy. McGinnis was fired following a 4-12 season in 2003.

McGinnis would be an assistant with the Titans and Rams from 2004-2016 before moving into the color analyst position on the Titans radio network.

Goodbye to Charle Young at the age of 75.

Young made the Pro Bowl in his first three seasons after the Eagles took him in the first round of the 1973 draft from USC, and was named either first or second team All-Pro in those years.

Young's receptions were never the same after the Eagles traded him to the Rams before the 1977 season for Ron Jaworski, but he was a solid player for the Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks in the final ten seasons of his career, winning a Super Bowl with the 1981 49ers.

Goodbye to Tony Davis at the age of 73.

Davis left Nebraska in 1976 as the school's all-time leading rusher and in 1973 became the first 1,000-yard rusher under Tom Osborne.

Davis was taken by the Bengals in round four of the 1976 draft and spent three seasons with the Bengals, three with the Buccaneers, and one with the USFL's Boston Breakers.

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

  It's time for another series of tributes, and we start with an underrated all-time great in his field.

Goodbye to Dennis Condrey at the age of 74.

"Loverboy" Dennis Condrey was part of the greatest tag team in the history of professional wrestling (my opinion) with partner "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and manager Jim Cornette to comprise the Midnight Express.

Condrey was a veteran of the three Tennessee territories before getting his big break in 1983 with Mid-South Wrestling, with Eaton and Cornette using the name "Midnight Express" for their team, which Condrey and Randy Rose had used before the move to Mid-South.

Condrey and Eaton would win and lose the NWA world tag team titles against the Rock N Roll Express before Condrey's famous 1987 disappearance, which would lead to Stan Lane as Condrey's replacement in the Midnight Express.

Condrey returned to wrestling with Randy Rose in the AWA, winning the dying federation's tag team titles as the original Midnight Express before moving to the NWA with their famous studio attack on the Jim Cornette version of the Express.

Goodbye to Miguel Canto at the age of 78.

The long-time holder of the WBC flyweight title in the 1970s, Canto defended his title fourteen times from 1975 to 1979.

Known for his silky smooth boxing, Canto lacked any type of power and scored only fifteen knockouts in his sixty-one victories.

Canto lost his title in South Korea to Chan-Hee Park in 1979 but nearly regained it in the rematch, also in South Korea, drawing with Park in a controversial decision.

Goodbye to Claude Lemieux at the age of 60.

The scrappy and controversial Lemieux was known for his ability to get under his opponents' skin and for his excellent play in the postseason.

Lemieux won four Stanley Cups, two with New Jersey and one each with Colorado and Montreal, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for the 1995 champion Devils.

Lemieux was an underrated scorer, scoring 25 goals or more nine times in his career, with a high of 41 in 1991-92 with New Jersey.

Lemieux scored 379 goals in his career, with eighty more in postseason play.

Goodbye to John Garrett at the age of 74.

Garrett played for four teams in the WHA and three others after the merger with the NHL and finished his WHA career with a record of 148-151, the most losses for a goaltender in league history.

Garrett became an analyst after his retirement with the Vancouver Canucks. In recent years, Garrett covered other teams for Rogers Sportsnet.

Goodbye to Stacey King at the age of 59.

An All-American at Oklahoma, where he led the Sooners to the National title game. King was a firsr round draft choice by the Chicago Bulls in 1989.

King would play for three championship teams with the Bulls and would play for four other teams before retiring in 1999.

King has spent the last twenty years in various roles with the Bulls local broadcast team as a beloved figure in the Chicago area.

Devils trade Jacob Markstrom to Florida

      The New Jersey Devils will be starting a new era in net as the Devils traded Jacob Markstrom to the Florida Panthers along with forward Angus Crookshank for three forwards: Evan Rodrigues, former Devil Jesper Boqvist, and Ben Steeves.

Markstrom was acquired from Calgary to give the Devils stability in the net, but instead delivered erratic play in his two New Jersey seasons.

Markstrom played well in his first season, but wasn't good at all last season, finishing with a 3.07 GAA and a .883 save percentage, and will turn 37 in January.

The Devils will likely test the market for a veteran goaltender as only Jake Allen remains on the roster.

Crookshank played only last season in Newark, joining the team from the Ottawa Senators and scoring one goal in eight games.

Crookshank spent most of the season with AHL Utica, where he scored 24 goals in sixty games.

The thirty-two-year-old Evan Rodrigues is a solid two-way forward who scored eleven goals with twenty assists in sixty-nine games, and Jesper Boqvist returns to the Devils after a four-goal and nine-assist season in Florida.

Ben Steeves scored twenty-three goals last season for AHL Charlotte and, at twenty-four, has time to break through for the Devils and, at a minimum, will be a key contributor for AHL Utica.

The versatility of Rodrigues will allow him to plug in as a third-line center and penalty killer, and he can move up and down the lines if injuries become a factor.

Boqvist will likely take over the role of  Paul Cotter on the fourth line after Cotter was allowed to leave via free agency.

Former GM Tom Fitzgerald signed Markstrom to a two-year contract extension last year, and trading him allows the Devils to take his entire contract off their books.

Trading Markstrom now for a decent return could be a good idea, as a slow start for Markstrom could have made him untradable, which would have stuck the Devils with a large cap blow.

New Jersey also signed Utah Mammoth center Barrett Hayden to a one-year offer sheet valued at 4.7 million.

Utah will have one week to match Hayden's offer.

Hayden scored ten goals with fifteen assists last season with the Mammoth.

Boxing Challenge: Boots stops Zayas

    The boxing weekend saw Jaron "Boots" Ennis do more than just snatch the WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles from Xander Zayas. Ennis solidified himself as a star in the sport and did it excitingly as Ennis stopped Zayas in seven rounds in Brooklyn, New York.

Ennis dropped Zayas in the first and fifth rounds before finishing Zayas in the seventh, but was forced to survive in the third round when Zayas appeared to have Ennis in trouble.

While Ennis was far ahead on my card at the time of the stoppage (59-53), Zayas had his successes as well in a fight that will be considered for fight of the year.

Ennis's promoter, Eddie Hearn, stated Zayas has a rematch clause should he activate it, but before the fight, Zayas stated he was likely to rise to 160 pounds, so a rematch is not guaranteed.

Ennis seems most likely to meet IBF champion Josh Kelly in a unification fight unless a more lucrative ( and long-awaited) fight against Vergil Ortiz.

Kelly is also promoted by Matchroom.

Two prospects notched impressive KO wins as the co-features as Emiliano Vargas stopped Bryce Mills in four rounds and Ben Whittaker swatted Richard "Popeye" Rivera aside in two rounds.

In the main event from Zuffa on Paramount Plus, former WBC junior welterweight champion Jose Valenzuela avenged a 2022 knockout loss to Edwin De Los Santos with a second round stoppage.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 67 Pts (5)

Ramon Malpica: 54 Pts (4)

Vince Samano:  44 Pts (2) 

Devils draft Alexander Command

      The New Jersey Devils held the twelfth selection in the first round of the NHL Draft and selected Alexander Command, a center from Sweden.

The eighteen-year-old Command is 6'1 and spent last season with Orebro of the Swedish Under 20 league, scoring seventeen goals and twenty-seven assists in thirty games.

 I've often written that I go by others in reviewing the NHL Draft, as I haven't seen enough of these players to form a knowledgeable opinion, but it seems that some see this as a mild surprise, as the Devils were mocked with several other players.

Command's offensive stats last season belie his reputation as an excellent two-way player, and known for physical play, which some compare to the Devils captain, Nico Hischier.

Command will likely return to Sweden for next season.

Boxing Challenge

   Boxing finally has a top-notch fight to discuss as Xander Zayas defends his WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles against former welterweight champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis in New York City.

Zayas has won his titles in his last two fights, winning the vacant WBO title over Jorge Perez and adding the WBA strap with a win over Abass Baraou.

Ennis knocked out Uisma Limia in one round in his first bout at the weight.

The difference to me seems to be that Zayas lacks the power to keep Ennis at bay and eventually would be worn down by the pop of Ennis.

The undercard features two prospects on the verge of the top ten in their divisions, with junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas facing Bryce Mills and light heavyweight Ben Whittaker meeting Richie Rivera.

Sunday, former champion Jose Valenzuela meets Edwin De Los Santos in a rematch of their 2022 where De Los Santos stopped Valenzuela in three rounds, handing him his first loss and establishing De Los Santos as a division contender.

Boxing Challenge

WBA and WBO Junior Middleweight Titles, 12 Rds

Xander Zayas vs Jaron "Boots" Ennis

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Ennis Unanimous Decision
Vince Samano: Zayas Split Decision

Junior Welterweights. 10 Rds

Emiliano Vargas vs Bryce Mills

R.L: Vargas KO 7

TRS: Vargas KO 4

V.S:  Mills Unanimous Decision

Light Heavyweights. 10 Rds

Ben Whittaker vs Richie Rivera

All; Whittaker Unanimous Decision

Lightweights. 10 Rds

José Valenzuela vs Edwin De Los Santos

R.L: De Los Santos Unanimous Decision

TRS: De Los Santos Split Decision

V.S: Valenzuela Unanimous Decision

Devils add Chisholm and Lombardi

  No, not Shirley Chisholm or Vince Lombardi, but on the eve of the NHL Draft, the New Jersey Devils have added two players who should compete for back spots on the roster and, at minimum, help the Devils AHL affiliate in Utica.

The Devils traded their fourth-rounder in this draft to the Detroit Red Wings for forward Amadeus Lombardi, and their fourth-rounder in the 2027 draft to the Washington Capitals for defenseman Declan Chisholm.

Chisholm (pictured) has played for three teams (Winnipeg, Minnesota, and Washington) and played in only twenty-six games, scoring one goal with six assists as the seventh defenseman.

Chisholm will compete for the six/seventh defenseman spot on the roster, but could also bring a veteran presence to a young defensive corps in Utica who could be called to the big club if injuries deem it necessary.

The more intriguing addition is Amadeus Lombardi, for reasons beyond an unusual name, as the twenty-three-year-old center has been very productive at the AHL level and might just need a chance to break through to the NHL.

Lombardi is reported to be a two-way player and has yet to make his NHL debut, having spent the past three seasons in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Lombardi scored sixteen goals with twenty-six assists in forty-seven games for the Griffins and will compete for the center spot on the Devils' third or fourth lines.

Sometimes, a young player who is blocked by better players just needs a chance to prove themselves with another organization, and Lombardi might be one of those players.

Cavaliers select Meleek Thomas

    The Cleveland Cavaliers seem to have made a strong move by trading out of the first round and dropping five spots into the second round after their opening draft night deal with the Sacramento Kings.

Cleveland's selection of Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas added one of the better shooters in the draft and one who, at nineteen, has the potential to eventually be a key contributor down the road.

The 6'5 Thomas played one season in college at Arkansas for John Calipari, averaging just under sixteen points per game, shooting forty-three percent from the floor and an impressive forty-one percent from three-point distance.

Thomas was a five-star recruit for Arkansas after playing his high school basketball in Pittsburgh and entering the draft. He was rated by most as a mid to late first-rounder, so on talent, Thomas would seem to be a steal in the second round.

Thomas is regarded as an excellent shooter, has been described as a "Gifted Scorer", and his offensive game made me think of Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson, the Detroit Pistons sixth man in the late eighties and early nineties.

Thomas does have some flaws, as he's been noted to play out of control and needs major league work on the defensive end, but at only nineteen, Thomas's potential is worth taking in the second round.

I'd park him with the G-League's Cleveland Charge for as many games as possible and hope he can improve enough to be a key contributor and an offensive catalyst off the bench.

Cavaliers trade out of Round One

   The Cleveland Cavaliers were rumored to have been shopping their first-round pick during the first night of the NBA Draft, and I thought they would move the pick.

Not on any brilliance on my part, but because I was very tired, and usually in these situations, the result isn't worth staying awake.

And the Cavaliers didn't disappoint, trading the next-to-last choice in the first round (29th, originally the property of the San Antonio Spurs) to the Sacramento Kings for the 34th pick (the fourth pick in round two) and a "future second-rounder".

I bracketed those words because the pick wasn't specified, but was described to Cleveland.com as "in the distant future".

The deal is uninspiring, but it makes sense because a second-round choice isn't automatically tied to the team's salary structure as a first-round choice would be, and, given the Cavaliers' cap situation, they need to save wherever they can.

Interesting prospects available in round two include center Henri Veesaar of North Carolina, forward Isaiah Evans of Duke, and guards Maleek Thomas of Arkansas, Ryan Conwell of Louisville, and Bruce Thornton of Ohio State