LOS ANGELES -- Reliever Blake Treinen's 2024 club option was exercised Monday by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The complicated option's price appeared to be $1 million because of shoulder surgery he had last November.

The 35-year-old right-hander has been limited to five major league innings since the start of the 2022 season as the result of shoulder issues that required the surgery, which involved the labrum and rotator cuff repair.

Treinen began a minor league rehab assignment in August, but only threw 2 1/3 innings over three appearances.

He first signed with the Dodgers in December 2019. Treinen is 36-31 with a 2.86 ERA and 79 saves in nine seasons with Washington (2014-17), Oakland (2017-19) and the Dodgers.

The Buffalo Sabres recalled one of their top prospects, forward Matthew Savoie, from a conditioning stint with the AHL's Rochester Americans, the team announced Monday.

Savoie, 19, was drafted ninth overall in 2022. He had been expected to challenge for a roster spot to open the season but was sidelined by a shoulder injury suffered in the final game of September's Buffalo Prospect Challenge.

Savoie debuted with the Americans on Oct. 25 and had five points in six games.

Last season with the WHL's Winnipeg Ice, Savoie notched 95 points (38 goals, 57 assists) in 62 games and added another 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 19 playoff games.

Savoie will take the roster spot of forward Brandon Biro, who was placed on injured reserve Monday with an undisclosed injury.

Biro scored two goals in his season debut in Wednesday's 5-2 win at Philadelphia and skated 23 shifts in Friday's 5-1 loss to the visiting Flyers.

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is progressing well from back surgery and eyeing an early return to the lineup.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper updated the media Monday on Vasilevskiy's condition, saying the rehab is going well and could put the netminder back in the crease by Thanksgiving.

That would track slightly ahead of Vasilevskiy's original recovery schedule. The 29-year-old was slated to miss eight to 10 weeks following his successful microdiscectomy on a lumbar herniation early last month. He was spotted on the ice again at Bolts' practice in late October and now, Cooper said, he'd be "disappointed if [Vasilevskiy's return] is in early December."

Having Vasilevskiy available again will undoubtedly boost the Bolts. The 2019 Vezina Trophy winner has been Tampa's backbone throughout a successful five-year run that included back-to-back Stanley Cup championships (the latter of which, in 2020-21, earned Vasilevskiy Conn Smythe Trophy honors) and another Cup Final appearance in 2021-22 in a losing effort against Colorado.

All that work eventually caught up to Vasilevskiy. Last season, his numbers (34-22-4 record, .915 SV%, 2.65 GAA) were below his usual high standard, and when the playoffs rolled around Vasilevskiy and the Lightning were ousted in a six-game first-round series against Toronto.

Vasilevskiy said after the fact his biggest mistake was to keep "pushing myself to the limit," which also likely played a role in his eventually needing surgery prior to this season getting underway.

"The first 30, 35 games felt as usual," Vasilevskiy said in the spring of his 2022-23 campaign. "But then just me and my body probably wasn't on the same page. All those small injuries came out at the same time. My mistake was that I didn't really pay attention to recovery."

While Vasilevskiy has been focused on his recovery this season, the Lightning have relied on Jonas Johansson to carry the load and he has done well, posting a 5-1-3 record with a .916 SV% and two shutouts. Matt Tomkins (0-2-0, .891 SV%) has been Johansson's backup.

Tampa takes on Toronto for the second time this season Monday night. The Lightning previously lost in overtime to the Maple Leafs at home in October.

The NCAA has joined Central Michigan in investigating a man resembling former Michigan staff member Connor Stalions who appeared on the Chippewas' sideline in team-issued gear for their Sept. 1 season opener at Michigan State.

Athletic director Amy Folan, in a statement to ESPN, confirmed that Central Michigan "continues its review of the matter in cooperation with the NCAA."

Folan announced last Tuesday that Central Michigan would investigate the man after receiving photos of him one day earlier. Stalions, at the center of the NCAA's investigation into Michigan for off-campus scouting and signal stealing, resigned from his position Friday after initially being suspended with pay, pending the outcome of the investigation.

The man in the images wore the same attire as Central Michigan's coaches and other sideline personnel, as well as sunglasses for the night game at Spartan Stadium. Stalions appeared on the Michigan sideline Sept. 2 for the Wolverines' opener against East Carolina.

Chippewas coach Jim McElwain said last week that Stalions' name did not appear on any list of credentials for the Michigan State game. According to NCAA rules, the "team area" during games includes a maximum of 50 non-squad members "directly involved in the game." Those not in full uniform wear special credentials assigned to the team area that are numbered 1 through 50. NCAA rules prohibit any other credentials in the team area.

"We obviously are aware of a picture floating around with the sign-stealer guy," McElwain said on Oct. 31. "Our people are doing everything they can to get to the bottom of it. We were totally unaware of it. I certainly don't condone it in any way, shape or form. I do know that his name was on none of the passes that were [given] out. Now we just keep tracing it back and tracing it back and try to figure it out."

The NCAA's involvement likely will extend the timeline for the investigative process and any potential discipline. Its findings could be included in a larger notice of allegations for Michigan, which has yet to be sent.

Anil Jain, a distinguished professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State and a nationally recognized facial recognition expert, believes it's "highly likely" that the images of the man wearing sunglasses and a hat on the Central Michigan sideline and a photo of Stalions on the Michigan sideline are the same person.

At ESPN's request, Jain and Steven Grosz, a Ph. D. student, used state-of-the-art commercial face recognition system to compare the two photographs. The system compared the images based on several facial characteristics -- Jain said they are trade secrets -- to provide a similarity score in the range of zero to 1. The higher the similarity score, the more likely is the two faces being compared are the same person.

Jain said the system produced a similarity score of 0.6 when comparing the two photographs. To validate that score, Jain and Grosz compared Stalions' photo to a database of more than 4,500 photos of white males.

"The reason why it's 0.6 is because there's a disguise," Jain told ESPN. "If I take an identical photo, it would be one. Even changes in the pose, illumination, expression, sunglasses, the match will never be perfect. Based on this analysis, the two images are of the same person with high confidence."

ESPN's Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.

MIAMI -- With his former team's "Heat Culture" slogan painted at halfcourt in front of him as he rested on a baseline seat after shootaround Monday, LeBron James reflected on what his time with the franchise meant to his career that's now spanned more than two decades.

"I think I would still be at this level no matter if I would've came here or not," the Los Angeles Lakers star, now in his 21st season, said. "Let's not get it twisted: the four years I was here, it was amazing. I loved everything about it. Loved this franchise, this franchise is top tier, it's one of the best franchises in the world.

"But as far as my career, my career was going to be my career as far as individually, because I know how much I put into the game and I know how much I strived to be as great as I can be. [But] as far as what I was able to learn here was second to none, that's for sure."

James was 25 years old when he arrived in South Beach in 2010. He had zero championships, two MVPs and one NBA Finals appearance to his name through his first seven seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers. By the time he left Miami in 2014, he had boosted those totals to two titles, four MVPs, five trips to the Finals, two Finals MVPs and was instrumental in the Heat reeling off 27-straight wins in 2012-13 -- the second-longest win streak in league history.

"I came here for one reason and one reason only, and that was to win championships," James said. "That was my only goal. That was the only reason I teamed up with [Dwyane] Wade and [Chris] Bosh. Because I felt like I couldn't do it in Cleveland. We couldn't. ... I tried to recruit guys to come to Cleveland. I tried to go and help the upstairs and it wasn't happening. So I had an opportunity to be a free agent so I did what I thought was best, not only for my career but for me at that point in time."

James said that it was a formative time in his life, not only in his career, as he uprooted himself from the only home he'd ever known in Northeast Ohio to settle in South Florida.

"It was a culture change for me," James said. "People talk about 'Heat Culture,' it was a culture change period. I was changing everything about my life for the first time in my life. To be able to be here and be able to learn and be alongside D-Wade, UD [Udonis Haslem] and Spo [Erik Spoelstra] -- those guys who had won it already -- it definitely was great to be a part of, for sure."

Miami will don its "City Edition" uniforms when they host the Lakers, with "Heat Culture" stitched on the jerseys to complement the specialized court they'll play on that includes a message painted in block letters in the lane: "Hardest working. Best conditioned. Most professional. Unselfish. Toughest. Meanest. Nastiest team in the NBA."

James, who put the Heat on a short list of what he considers to be the model franchises across all sports -- including the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs in the NBA and Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots in the NFL -- said that a strong team culture can only exist if players buy-in.

"Obviously it starts from the top, but at the end of the day it's the guys that are in the locker room holding guys accountable," he said. "You can have the messaging come from the top, but if guys are not abiding by it or doubling down on it in the locker room and then applying it on the floor and applying it off the court and being model citizens, or whatever the case may be, then it still doesn't matter."

It was not the first time James evoked the Steelers name this season. When the Lakers started off their road trip with a 120-101 loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday to drop to 3-3, he likened L.A.'s early-season seesaw to Pittsburgh's performance so far.

"We're like the Pittsburgh Steelers right now," James said. "The Pittsburgh Steelers right now have not outgained or outscored any of their opponents in this season right now, and yet they got a winning record."

Indeed, Pittsburgh is 5-3 but has been outscored 163-133 overall and has accumulated 2,228 yards on offense while allowing 3,018 yards on defense. Similarly, the Lakers might be .500, but they've been outscored by 61 points in the first quarter -- the worst points differential through six games by any team since the Detroit Pistons in 1964-65. L.A. also ranks 29th in 3-point percentage (29.7%) and 28th in both catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage and wide-open 3-point percentage, according to data compiled from Second Spectrum.

The New York Mets are hiring Carlos Mendoza as their new manager, sources told ESPN on Monday.

Mendoza, 43, comes to Queens after spending 15 years with the Yankees in multiple roles, including managing in the low minor leagues in 2011-12, and the past four seasons as Aaron Boone's bench coach.

The Mets were a top suitor for Craig Counsell, who chose to leave the Brewers for the Chicago Cubs, sources confirmed to ESPN. With Counsell off the board, the Mets moved quickly to snap up Mendoza, who also had interviewed with Cleveland and San Diego for their managerial openings.

A minor league player for more than a decade, Mendoza transitioned into a coaching role with the Yankees and quickly impressed the organization with his knowledge of the game and ability to impart his wisdom to players. He joined the major league staff in 2018 and was Boone's right-hand man, a role he also served for Team Venezuela in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

He takes over for Buck Showalter, who was fired after a season that started with World Series hopes ended with a 75-87 record despite the largest payroll in the history of the sport. The Mets, who also have a new president of baseball operations in David Stearns, return a number of key players -- including shortstop Francisco Lindor, first baseman Pete Alonso, center fielder Brandon Nimmo, right-hander Kodai Senga and closer Edwin Diaz -- and are expected to be active in free agency, pursuing star two-way player Shohei Ohtani, among others.

After making a splash by hiring Showalter before the 2022 season, the Mets opted for a lower-profile hire in Mendoza. He distinguished himself in interviews, according to sources.

In previous years, Mendoza had interviewed for managerial jobs in Detroit (which chose A.J. Hinch), Boston (Alex Cora) and Chicago (Pedro Grifol). He ends up with arguably one of the best jobs in the big leagues, as the Mets plan to carry among the highest payrolls in baseball for the foreseeable future under owner Steve Cohen and are looking for their first championship since 1986.

It is also a job that recently has had a short shelf life. The Mets' past three managers -- Showalter, Luis Rojas and Mickey Callaway -- were fired after two years.

Craig Counsell is leaving the Milwaukee Brewers to become the manager for the Chicago Cubs, sources confirmed to ESPN.

It's a blockbuster move for Chicago, which had David Ross as its manager but will now go with Counsell, who had spent the previous decade with their National League Central rival Milwaukee. Ross was under contract for the 2024 season.

Counsell, 53, had also interviewed for the New York Mets and Cleveland Guardians managerial openings. The Guardians hired Stephen Vogt as manager and sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan that the Mets are hiring New York Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza as their manager.

In nine years with the Brewers, Counsell won three NL Central titles and managed Milwaukee to the postseason in five of the past six years, including a division-winning 92-70 mark in 2023.

The Cubs finished 83-79 last season, finishing second behind the Brewers.

The news was first reported by The Athletic.