NHL

The St. Louis Blues announced Tuesday they signed Jordan Kyrou to an eight-year, $65 million extension.

"I'm so thankful to the Blues organization for putting their trust in me and giving me the opportunity to wear the Blue Note for the foreseeable future," Kyrou said of the deal. "Being able to call St. Louis my home is amazing. I can't say enough about how much I love the city. And to the best fans in the League, I can't thank you enough for always showing me love and support."

The 24-year-old is coming off a breakout 2021-22 season. He had 27 goals and 48 assists, with his 75 points the fourth-highest on the team. The 2016 second-round pick continued to deliver in the postseason, chipping in nine points (seven goals, two assists) across 12 games as St. Louis reached the second round.

The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn thought Monday's deal can turn into a great piece of business:

The Blues are now counting on Kyrou and Robert Thomas to lead the attack for the long term. Thomas, who turned 23 this summer, signed his own eight-year, $65 million extension in July after scoring 20 goals and assisting on 57 more in 2021-22.

Building around Kyrou and Thomas makes plenty of sense but raises some questions for general manager Doug Armstrong.

Ryan O'Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko and Ivan Barbashev are all due to hit unrestricted free agency in 2023.

Assuming they hit the open market next summer, O'Reilly and Tarasenko will have no shortage of suitors, and re-signing them will become more difficult with the salary cap when Kyrou and Thomas combine to make almost $16.3 million.

Look ahead to 2024-25 and the Blues will have just five forwards under contract: Kyrou, Thomas, Brayden Schenn, Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad. That could present a challenge for Armstrong in terms of getting the necessary depth.

Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion announced Wednesday that the team signed Tim Stützle to an eight-year extension worth $8.35 million annually.

In just his second season in the NHL in 2021-22, Stützle had 22 goals and 36 assists in 79 games.

"Reaching a long-term agreement with Tim represents another significant step forward for this organization," Dorian said. "Tim is a dynamic offensive player who utilizes an exceptional blend of speed and skill to be a consistent difference-maker. He's electrifying and has quickly become a fan favorite for good reason."

After the Senators finished next to last in the Atlantic Division last year, the GM has been aggressive in making sure Ottawa not only makes the playoffs in 2022-23 but also is set up for the long term.

The team acquired Alex DeBrincat, who turns just 24 in December, from the Chicago Blackhawks and added more veteran experience by trading for Cam Talbot and signing Claude Giroux.

The deal for Stützle also follows fellow forwards Brady Tkachuk (seven years, $57.5 million), Josh Norris (eight years, $63.6 million) and Drake Batherson (six years, $29.9 million) getting long-term deals within roughly the last calendar year. Defenseman Thomas Chabot is tied down with an eight-year, $64 million contract as well.

The Senators are already seeing Dorion's aggressive approach pay some dividends.

"I can tell you that the season-ticket membership is the highest it's been in years," team president Anthony LeBlanc told Sportsnet's Wayne Scanlan. "We've seen a significant, significant increase—and it all started, really, around the time when Pierre started making some trades."

LeBlanc said Wednesday season-ticket sales have climbed 60 percent.

The Senators still need to see all of their young talent make a breakthrough together, but it's impossible not to get excited about the future of the franchise.

New York Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho was arrested in Sweden for drunk driving on August 13.

Norran, a Swedish-language newspaper, first reported the arrest. It has since been confirmed by Ethan Sears of the New York Post, who also noted that Aho's driver's license was suspended as a result.

Per Sears, Aho and his wife visited friends the night before while on vacation. He was arrested at 10:30 a.m. local time after being stopped at a checkpoint.

"I deeply regret and learn from this mistake and will definitely never drive again the next day," Aho told Norran (h/t Sears).

Claude Lemieux, who is Aho's agent, provided a statement via text to the Post.

"He had no idea he would still be over the limit by the next morning and felt 100 percent, but unfortunately he made a mistake and he is very sorry!" Lemieux wrote.

Aho was also fined 40,000 Swedish Krona ($3,769), per Aftonbladet (h/t Sears).

Islanders president of hockey operations and general manager Lou Lamariello released an official statement Wednesday.

"We were made aware immediately of the situation regarding Sebastian Aho. We have a copy of the police report indicating that he registered a 0.03 blood alcohol content, which is .01 over Sweden’s legal limit of .02.

"Sebastian apologizes for his mistake and as an organization we will work with him to make sure this never happens again."

Aho posted two goals and 10 assists in 36 games for the Isles last season. The 25-year-old re-signed with the team on a two-year deal over the offseason.

James Dolan is shutting down any speculation that he's looking to sell the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.

Speaking to TMZ Sports about the rumors, Dolan laughed them off and said "no" about selling the two sports franchises.

The rumors began earlier this week when MSG sports analyst Jonathan Boyar said on CNBC's Closing Time that it's "likely" Dolan would sell the teams after the construction of MSG Sphere, a music and entertainment arena being built in Las Vegas, is completed in 2023.

There have been rumblings in the past that Dolan was looking to sell the iconic New York franchises.

Aaron Elstein of Crain's New York reported in June 2018 that Dolan "may be laying the groundwork" to sell the clubs after announcing he "was exploring a spin-off that would separate the Knicks and the Rangers from the rest of Madison Square Garden."

One analyst told Elstein that Dolan wanted to "be more Elon Musk than George Steinbrenner."

MSG released a statement denying there was any interest in selling:

Dolan is the executive chairman of Madison Square Garden Sports and Madison Square Garden Entertainment. He is also the executive chairman of MSG Networks, which is the main broadcast home for Knicks and Rangers games.

After Cablevision, which Dolan was CEO of from 1995-2016, bought out ITT Corp. in 1997, the Dolan family gained full control of the Knicks. Dolan was named MSG chairman in 1999 after taking over for his father, Charles.

Dolan has been running the Knicks and Rangers since 1999. Madison Square Garden Company also used to be the governor of the WNBA's New York Liberty from 1999 until Jan. 2019 when the franchise was sold to Joseph Tsai.

Per Mike Ozanian of Forbes, the Knicks' $5.8 billion franchise valuation is the highest among all NBA teams. The Rangers are currently the only NHL team with a franchise value of at least $2 billion.

The Knicks have made eight playoff appearances under Dolan's leadership, including an appearance in the 1999 NBA Finals. The franchise's two worst seasons by winning percentage have come in the past eight seasons (.207 in 2014-15 and 2018-19).

The Rangers have made 13 playoff appearances since the 1999-2000 season. They have also won two division titles and reached the Stanley Cup Final after the 2013-14 season, losing to the Los Angeles Kings in five games.