Sports Express | November 3, 2026: Kucherov Seeks $20M AAV and a Trade Out of Tampa Bay

1. Kucherov Seeking $20M AAV as He Pushes to Leave Lightning

Source: theScore

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov is looking for a six-year deal with an average annual value of at least $20 million on his next contract, league sources told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

Kucherov has told the Lightning he won't re-sign and wants to be traded, with news of his request first reported Friday. Tampa Bay offered a four-year deal at a $15-million AAV in the first week of July and extended the length to six years in September without raising the AAV. After the huge deals signed this summer by Leo Carlsson, Macklin Celebrini and Cale Makar, there was reportedly no scenario in which Kucherov would accept less than $20 million.

LeBrun also reports that Kucherov won't sign with Tampa Bay even if the club meets his asking price. The 33-year-old said Monday his trade request stemmed from “poor communication and respect,” noting his camp and the club have spoken only twice in the last four months. He is in the final season of an eight-year contract with a $9.5-million AAV and won his second Hart Trophy in 2025-26 with 44 goals and 130 points.

Source

2. Ryan Wedding's $40M Motorcycle Collection Headed to Auction in Mexico

Source: CBC

A $40-million US collection of rare and high-performance motorcycles seized from Canadian alleged drug lord Ryan Wedding will go up for auction next week in Mexico.

The 61 bikes include models from Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, MV Agusta, Suzuki and Yamaha, and some were previously used in professional racing. They were uncovered during raids in the Mexican capital and nearby Mexico state last December at addresses linked to Wedding. The former Team Canada Olympic snowboarder was arrested in Mexico City in January 2026 and flown to the U.S., where he remains in custody.

Mexico's asset-return agency INDEP shared pictures of the motorcycles ahead of the auction without naming Wedding, saying the bikes were subject to forfeiture after being seized last December; proceeds typically fund social services. The FBI said the operation was carried out with Mexican authorities, the RCMP and the Los Angeles Police Department. MotoGP journalist Simon Patterson said about 10 or 15 of the bikes are “literally the two-wheeled equivalent of Formula 1 cars.”

Source

3. Finland Says Its National Teams Won't Play Russia in Hockey Tournaments

Source: CBC

The Finnish Ice Hockey Association said Monday its national teams won't play against Russia in international tournaments as long as the war in Ukraine is ongoing. The stance follows a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling last week that the International Ice Hockey Federation must reinstate Russian teams beginning with the world juniors that open in late December in western Canada.

Finnish association spokesperson Henna Malmberg said the organization does not believe it is alone among countries interested in boycotting games against Russia. Media reports in Latvia said that nation's teams would not play Russia, citing legal reasons. The IIHF did not immediately return a message seeking comment; its rulebook says that in the event of a forfeit “supplementary discipline will be applied by the proper authorities at their discretion.”

Germany's national hockey federation is weighing whether it can continue as host of the men's world championship next year, and chief executive Frank H. Lutz is heading to Berlin this week for talks with political figures. Swedish furniture company AJ Products, a world championship sponsor since 1989, plans to ask that its logo not be displayed at the tournament, chief executive Enock Johansson told broadcaster TV4 on Monday.

Source

4. Blue Jays' Cease, Varland Named Award Finalists

Source: Sportsnet

Dylan Cease was announced Monday by MLB and the Baseball Writers Association of America as a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award, while Louis Varland is a finalist for AL Reliever of the Year. It is the Blue Jays' first Cy Young finalist in three years and a chance at their first Reliever of the Year Award. Winners will be announced next week.

Cease, 30, signed a seven-year, $210-million contract with Toronto last off-season and posted a 2.40 ERA with 239 strikeouts and 78 walks over 169 innings in his first season with the club. In July he took two no-hit bids into the late innings of games three starts apart: he carried a no-hitter into the ninth against the San Francisco Giants before Heliot Ramos singled, then threw a complete-game one-hitter at Fenway Park 17 days later.

Cease threw 118 and 120 pitches in those two starts, and his four-seam fastball averaged 97.4 m.p.h. before the July 25 complete game and 95.5 m.p.h. afterward. His first pitch of his final outing was the slowest fastball of his career at 91.1 m.p.h.; after lasting 2.2 innings with six walks against the Texas Rangers, he went on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation and was shut down for the season.

Source

5. Six Teams Pursuing Jonathan Taylor as Trade Deadline Nears

Source: Cincy Jungle

The Cincinnati Bengals are among the teams heavily pursuing Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, according to a Monday report from Jordan Schultz. On The Pivot Podcast, Schultz named the Giants, Packers, Broncos, Seahawks, Bengals and Vikings as five to six teams aggressively chasing the All-Pro running back.

Schultz did not name a favorite but said he expects a deal to get done, making it a matter of when rather than if. He believes it will take at least a second-round pick plus additional compensation, and that Taylor would be open to a fresh start. The NFL trade deadline is November 10, one week away.

The Bengals won in overtime against the one-win Titans on Sunday, but the performance did little to inspire confidence. The article argues that Cincinnati needs more firepower, because a team playing like that will have a hard time merely reaching the playoffs, let alone making a Super Bowl run.

Source

6. Raptors Rally Past Clippers as Leonard Misses Reunion

Source: Sportsnet

The Raptors rallied to beat the Clippers 125-118 in Inglewood on Monday. Hours before tip-off, Clippers fans lined up outside Intuit Dome to exchange their Kawhi Leonard No. 2 jerseys for new ones — Leonard spent seven seasons with the team, won no playoff series in his last five, missed more than 40 per cent of their games and left amid a salary-cap scandal.

An NBA investigation determined the Clippers circumvented the salary cap to Leonard's benefit, requiring the team to forfeit five first-round picks, pay a $30-million fine and suspend several key personnel, including owner Steve Ballmer. Leonard returned to the Raptors this season but left the team last week after his left knee began swelling; he is receiving treatment elsewhere, an update is expected Tuesday and he is likely at least two weeks from playing.

Short Leonard and without Jakob Poeltl for a second straight game, the Raptors trailed by 13 with two minutes left in the third quarter. They held the Clippers to 30 per cent shooting and forced six turnovers in the fourth, with Immanuel Quickley scoring 14 of his game-high 27 points in the final frame, Scottie Barnes adding 22 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists and RJ Barrett scoring 26. Toronto improved to 4-3; the Clippers fell to 1-6.

Source

7. Curry Scores 34 as Warriors Erase 17-Point Deficit, Win Fifth Straight

Source: NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns 116-113 at Chase Center on Monday, erasing a 17-point deficit for their fifth straight win. Golden State opened the season 0-3 and did not have a single five-game win streak all of last season.

Playing the second night of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights, the Warriors got Stephen Curry and Draymond Green back from a night of rest. Green was ineffective and was ejected in the third quarter, while Curry shook off a slow start to score a game-high 34 points. He has now scored 44, 31 and 34 in his last three games and is averaging exactly 30 points at age 38 in his 18th season.

Brandin Podziemski added 20 points, Charles Bassey scored a career-high 19 off the bench and Yaxel Lendeborg followed his 37-point game with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists. Curry had nine points on 2-of-7 shooting at halftime, then scored 18 in the third quarter as Golden State tied the game entering the fourth.

Source

8. East Texas A&M Stuns Oklahoma 68-64 in Season Opener

Source: Yahoo Sports

East Texas A&M stunned Oklahoma 68-64 in Norman on Monday night to open the 2026-27 season. It was the Lions' first-ever win over a power conference program, and the Sooners had closed as 28.5-point favorites.

According to ESPN, the upset is the second-largest in Division I over the past three decades, behind Eastern Illinois beating Iowa as a 30.5-point underdog in 2022. Oklahoma managed only 25 points in the first half, and the Lions went up by 16 after Mohamed Diakite and Alonzo Dodd hit back-to-back 3-pointers out of the break.

Pop Isaacs cut the lead to two possessions with an and-one layup with 25 seconds left, but Tyler Hendricks missed a 3-pointer and Bo Aldrich sealed the win with two free throws, finishing with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. “The only thing I know what to do is apologize to the fan base, and to get better,” Sooners coach Porter Moser said afterward.

Source

9. Dodge Announces Return to NASCAR Cup Series in 2027

Source: Motorsport.com

Dodge announced Monday evening at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas that it will return to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027 as the fourth manufacturer alongside Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford. The timeline is a year earlier than most projections, and the car will be unveiled at the Snowball Derby in December.

Dodge will partner with Kaulig Racing, which currently runs Chevrolets at the Cup level and also fields five Ram 1500s in the Truck Series, where Stellantis brought Ram back ahead of the 2026 season. “Everyone said it was impossible to get back in one year. We said, ‘watch this,’” Kuniskis said in the announcement.

The Dodge entries are expected to use engines built by ECR, and Kaulig is expected to retain A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 16 and Ty Dillon in the No. 10. Dodge first entered NASCAR in 1950, won manufacturer titles in 1970 and 1975, and Richard Petty drove a Dodge to three of his seven Cup titles; Brad Keselowski's 2012 championship came in Dodge's last year of competition before this revival.

Source

10. NHL Power Rankings: Oilers Up to No. 2 as McDavid's Point Streak Hits 15

Source: Daily Faceoff

With the first full month of the 2026-27 season complete, Daily Faceoff's fourth power rankings keep the Hurricanes at No. 1 with a 12-2-2 record and a plus-27 goal differential, ranking first in three of the model's six categories. The Oilers jumped from ninth to second at 11-2-2.

Connor McDavid has points in 15 consecutive games to start the season and sits at 39 points after a goal and an assist in Edmonton's 4-1 win over the Rangers on Sunday. The article suggests he is on pace to narrowly eclipse Wayne Gretzky's single-season points record and could become the second player in NHL history to reach 200 points; his career high is 153.

Evan Bouchard is on a similarly historic pace, projected for 145 points against Bobby Orr's record of 139 by a defenseman in 1970-71, and 44 goals, four short of Paul Coffey's 48 in 1985-86. The Wild sit third at 10-3-3, with Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes driving the offense.

Source