To cap off our Hockey Week in America celebration and lead into the weekend's 40th anniversary of Team USA's Miracle on Ice, we gathered our NHL team to answer some questions about the state of United States hockey. We're exploring:

• The best moment in U.S. hockey history (outside of the Miracle on Ice)

• The most underrated American player of all time

• Potential U.S.-born Hart Trophy winners on the horizon

• Challengers to Cammi Granato for the greatest American women's player ever

• Winners of a theoretical 2020 international best-on-best men's competition

Let's jump in.

Aside from the 1980 Miracle on Ice, what is the best moment in U.S. hockey history?

Greg Wyshynski, senior NHL writer: The U.S. women's national team winning gold in the 2018 Winter Olympics in a shootout against Canada. The Monique Lamoureux-Morando tying goal in the third. The Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson shootout winner. Maddie Rooney's incredible goaltending. Finally overcoming their archrival after heartbreak in Vancouver and Sochi. And doing so after their battle for equality against USA Hockey, in which they made the case that their success mandated the same levels of support the men's team received. It was all just absolutely inspiring, in every way.

Emily Kaplan, national NHL reporter: Team USA winning the inaugural Olympic women's hockey gold medal in 1998, upsetting the Canadians. That team inspired the next generation of hockey stars in this country -- Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield et al -- and set a new standard for the American program. Consider this: The entire team was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

Chris Peters, hockey prospects analyst: I agree with Emily on that '98 team, and I also think the 1960 Olympic men's team deserves a shoutout for its win in Squaw Valley 60 years ago. That said, for a child of the 1990s, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey -- still the only U.S. victory in a best-on-best tournament -- was a touchstone moment in American hockey. Beating Canada twice in Montreal to win the tournament was the biggest statement of arrival the U.S. could have made. And the American presence in the NHL has grown dramatically since that tournament.

Dimitri Filipovic, hockey analytics writer: The fact that the Americans lost in both the semifinal and bronze-medal games without scoring a single goal takes some of the shine off the accomplishment, but I still fondly remember T.J. Oshie's shootout heroics in Sochi like it was yesterday. Scoring four out of six times is one thing, but doing it against the reigning Vezina Trophy winner on his home turf made for great theater.

Who is the most underrated American hockey player ever?

Wyshynski: Tim Thomas. I know it's hard to call a guy with two Vezina Trophies and a Conn Smythe underrated, but I don't think there's enough appreciation for his run from 2007 to 2012 as one of the greatest for any NHL goalie in history, and especially one who was already 33 years old at the start of the run. He was on the plus side of goals saved above average in each of those seasons, including a bonkers 45.77 GSAA in the Bruins' championship season of 2010-11. He had a .933 save percentage and a 2.07 goals-against average in 50 playoff games for Boston.

Kaplan: Pat LaFontaine. Easy. No American player, active or retired, averaged more points per game than LaFontaine's 1.17. He was a playmaker who could do it all, but we'll always wonder how productive he could have been if not for injuries. He was limited to 22 or fewer games three times over his last five seasons, and his career was cut short at age 33 due to concussions.

Peters: Phil Housley. Yes, he's in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but it isn't all that well known that he's fourth all-time among defensemen in NHL history with 1,232 points. Housley retired as the top American-born scorer in NHL history before Mike Modano passed him years later. He never won a Norris Trophy because he played in the same era as Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and Al MacInnis, but he finished top five in voting four times. Housley entered the NHL directly from high school, put up 66 points as an 18-year-old rookie and had 31 goals the following season at 19.

Filipovic: Phil Kessel. He's at the very least going to end his career with 400-plus goals, 1,000-plus points and two Stanley Cup rings (one of which he very easily could've taken home the Conn Smythe for, too). Not bad for a player who beat cancer, got traded three times and was the brunt of many jokes just because he had a different personality and didn't look like a typical peak athlete.

Who is the next American to win the Hart Trophy?

Wyshynski: Jack Eichel. The minute the Sabres get into a wild card, the hockey community will throw a pity party for the Buffalo star and find a way to get the Hart Trophy into his silky mitts.

Kaplan: My head says Auston Matthews, but my heart says Eichel. I know things aren't looking rosy for the Sabres right now, but in the next two to three years, I see Eichel literally dragging his team into the playoffs, which will earn him the trophy.

Peters: I think the Maple Leafs are better positioned for near-term success than the Sabres, so that leads me to Matthews. Both he and Eichel have improved both their goals-per-game and points-per-game averages in each of their NHL seasons. They'll both be chasing Connor McDavid for most of their careers, but I think Matthews lands it at some point. Goals are kind of important, and he scores a bunch of them.

Filipovic: Matthews. He should already be in the discussion for what he has accomplished this season, and that's with his former coach having actively held him back for the first 25 games of the season. Now that he's being properly used, the sky's the limit for him as both a goal scorer and the best player on a team that's a good bet to remain competitive for years to come.

Are there any current players who will eventually pass Cammi Granato as the greatest American women's player of all time?

Wyshynski: Current? No. But the thing about Granato is that she inspired so many of the current USWNT players to pick up a stick -- like Hilary Knight, who picked her number to honor Granato. And those players will in turn influence subsequent generations to do the same. All of those dominos will fall until some brilliant young player -- maybe even from a nontraditional market -- eventually surpasses the American G.O.A.T.

Kaplan: I'm not sure Kendall Coyne Schofield will surpass Granato in individual production (in 54 career international games, Granato has 54 goals and 42 assists for 96 points). But between becoming the first woman to participate in the NHL skills competition to emerging as a leader with the PWHPA in its fight for a sustainable pro league, I think Coyne Schofield could become the highest-impact American women's player of all time.

Peters: Granato was a transcendent figure for the women's game, and winning gold in 1998 is a hard moment to beat. Only one woman can ever say she was captain of the first gold-medal team for women's hockey at the Olympics. It's hard for me to say she'll be topped, but she will, and it'll probably be soon. Younger players like goalie Maddie Rooney, who won at the Olympics in 2018, and is still finishing up college, or defender Megan Keller, have a chance to reap the benefits of battles waged for league stability and better benefits by the veterans, and more time to grow into it.

Filipovic: I don't know how much longer she'll play to add more to her résumé, but what Knight has already accomplished as part of this golden generation of American women's hockey is awfully impressive. She has won at every single level she has played at, including three national championships in the NCAA, seven world championships, Olympic gold, the Clarkson Cup in the CWHL and the Isobel Cup in the NWHL. There's very little left for her to conquer at this point.

What country would have won a hypothetical 2020 World Cup of Hockey?

Wyshynski: The Americans, all day. We've been waiting decades for the moment where it all comes together. Centers like Matthews and Eichel. Wingers like Patrick Kane and Matthew Tkachuk. A defense that would include John Carlson, Seth Jones and likely Quinn Hughes. And either Connor Hellebuyck, Ben Bishop or John Gibson in goal. Yes, Canada would have been loaded, but the Americans would be the ones hoisting the giant paperweight in the end ... provided Team USA's executives iced a lineup that was talent-driven and not "grind one out against Canada" driven.

Kaplan: As much as I stan for Team USA, Canada's roster would be hard to beat. I mean, imagine assigning a top six with a talent pool that includes McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, Mark Scheifele, Patrice Bergeron, John Tavares and Mitch Marner. Ryan O'Reilly and Jonathan Toews might be considered fourth-line grinders on this team.

Peters: I'm here for chaos, so let's consider Russia. Its defense would be severely lacking, but it'd have among the best goalie depth of any country right now with Andrei Vasilevskiy probably getting the nod. And how much do you think it burns Alex Ovechkin that his countrymen won Olympic gold without him in 2018? You've got the KHL players you can filter in, but Artemi Panarin, Nikita Kucherov, Evgeni Malkin and Evgeni Kuznetsov dominate the offense. But chaos aside, the real answer? Canada.

Filipovic: It has to be Canada. Crosby is arguably Team Canada's third-best center. You could put all of us in the wing positions, and it wouldn't matter. (That's basically what the Penguins have to do with all of their injuries this season anyway, and it's worked out just fine for them.)

As we approach the NHL trade deadline on Monday, there's some mild trepidation around the league that player movement on deadline day could be slower and less consequential than in years past. There are any number of reasons for that.

The standings currently look like the type of abstract art where paint is randomly splashed all over the canvas, resembling one jumbled mess, making it difficult to get a good read on where things stand. The byproduct of that? While we know that the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins are good, and that the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings are bad, the majority of the league is crammed like sardines into a murky middle that can talk itself into at least being in the mix. The Chicago Blackhawks are a good example of this. By any objective measure they should be a seller, but they're close enough to a wild-card spot that they can't internally justify waving the white flag on the season.

The other complicating factor is that most of the highly intriguing big-name rentals who would otherwise be garnering all of the attention already find themselves on contenders, taking them out of consideration. The list of who's available has been whittled further by the moves we've already seen, with a number of teams getting their shopping done early.

That's not to say there aren't other meaningful moves to be made, because there always are when you're not paralyzed by fear. You wouldn't know it judging by how many teams seem to have "bottom-pairing defensemen in their 30s" atop their deadline wish lists, but there are a number of creative trades contenders can make if they freed themselves from the constraints of the status quo.

We're going to help nudge them in the right direction by cooking up a series of trades that make sense for teams that are either going for it this season, or are in a unique position to improve their teams in the long run.

These aren't necessarily trades that will happen or have been rumored. We're instead playing matchmaker for trades that should happen, largely for entertainment purposes, because this is supposed to be a fun time of year, after all. Don't get bogged down by minor details such as conditions on picks being exchanged or whether it should be a round higher than listed, because that's far less important than the general thought process itself. For the sake of facilitating trades, we also take liberties with players waiving no-movement clauses.

We did this same exercise ahead of last season's deadline, and the results were largely encouraging. We nailed the Kevin Hayes and Matt Duchene deals, and Marcus Johansson to the Bruins was one that we considered including before ultimately being left on the cutting room floor. The Sharks probably wish they had acquired a goalie, but they'll get another chance, albeit under wildly different circumstances (more on this later). The Predators eventually wound up paying a steep price for a former Senators star forward, but unfortunately for them it turned out to be the wrong one.

Here are the trades we'd like to see between now and Monday's deadline, in no particular order. Stats are courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey and Cap Friendly.

Jump ahead:
Palmieri to EDM | Kreider to COL
Athanasiou to DAL | Lehner to VGK
Pageau to BOS | Georgiev-Labanc
Trocheck-Ristolainen

Edmonton Oilers-New Jersey Devils

Oilers get: F Kyle Palmieri (half of his salary retained by Devils)
Devils get: F Jesse Puljujarvi's rights, Oilers' first-round pick in 2020 (lottery-protected), F Sam Gagner's expiring contract

The bar the Oilers need to clear to improve their supporting cast and ease the offensive burden off their top two centers is low, but acting on it at this point isn't necessarily that cut and dried.

Largely because of the financial situation his predecessor left him, Oilers general manager Ken Holland's hands are somewhat tied when it comes to improving the roster. He'll need to be creative in maneuvering around the cap, identifying situations where he can add a piece that moves the needle without actually taking on extra money.

The Devils make for a good trade partner in that respect, because they have loads of cap space, and have long ago signalled that they're willing to unload win-now assets in exchange for future capital by already trading Taylor Hall, Andy Greene and Blake Coleman.

They don't necessarily need to move Palmieri by the deadline. He's a productive player who's on a team-friendly deal for next season, and is a useful trigger man for Nico Hischier and/or Jack Hughes. But he's also going to be on the wrong side of 30 by the time he's due for his next contract, and considering the established price for players with term left on their deals, this could be their window to maximize a potential return for him.

Saying Palmieri would be a good fit next to Connor McDavid isn't exactly newsworthy, considering all the players we've seen thrive next to the best player in the world. But his skill set is one that would flourish in that role. He's already shown that he can thrive alongside a speedy puck carrier -- as he did with Hall -- and that would be his likely assignment in Edmonton. He excels in sniffing out soft spots in defensive coverage, and converting at an above-average rate.

It's easy to envision him scoring goals in bunches for the Oilers. Holland has already made it clear he doesn't want to mortgage future assets for a rental, which makes Palmieri doubly appealing. At a very manageable price tag and with a highly complementary set of skills, he improves the Oilers' chances for a long playoff run both this season and next.

Colorado Avalanche-New York Rangers

Avalanche get: F Chris Kreider
Rangers get: Avalanche's first-round pick in 2020, Avalanche's second-round pick in 2021, F Vladislav Kamenev and F Sampo Ranta

The Avalanche approach a crossroads at the deadline, trying to strike a balance between giving themselves a chance to make a run this postseason while maximizing the number of years they'll be able to continue a run with this core of young players.

GM Joe Sakic and the Avalanche have done a masterful job of drafting and accumulating a treasure chest of assets over the past couple of years, and they've afforded themselves the luxury of contending now and later. Part of the calculus has to be that the West seems wide open this season, without a single team in the way that doesn't have legitimate flaws.

The other is that we had an extended glimpse of what Nathan MacKinnon looks like in a playoff format last season, and it was devastating. His ability to eat minutes without losing steam is almost superhuman, and it hits any opponent with all sorts of problems. Adding a player with Kreider's skill set would be doubling down on what makes the Avs special, because he's a solid stylistic fit. Not only does he fit perfectly with the north-south rush style, but he's one of the few wingers in the league who can fly with MacKinnon while also matching his rare combination of speed and power.

For the time being, he'd also help cover for much of what they're missing with Mikko Rantanen on the shelf, helping to solidify their seeding in the Central as they jockey for home-ice advantage. When Rantanen eventually returns, coach Jared Bednar will have even more options to creatively mix and match. Rantanen's passing, alongside Nazem Kadri's shooting, would make for an intriguing secondary scoring line, as would the physicality of Kreider and Kadri pairing. Looking ahead to the playoffs, it would enable the Avalanche to match with any type of opponent, regardless of size and speed.

If Kreider is such a terrific power forward, then why would the Rangers trade him? They're hoping to be where the Avalanche are now in the near future, as they're in the final stages of the asset accumulation process. They've done a masterful job of replenishing their prospect pipeline over the past two drafts, making 18 picks in that short period after years of essentially punting the draft. A trade like this allows them to add to the nine they already have this coming summer, and could be the last time they're making a trade to stock their cupboard for a while.

But as they showed last offseason, draft picks are ultimately just a form of currency, and you don't necessarily have to use them to improve your team. Having extras allows you to be active in the trade market, and it allows you to jump at situations when players such as Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox become available.

Dallas Stars-Detroit Red Wings

Stars get: F Andreas Athanasiou
Red Wings get: Stars' second-round pick in 2021, D Julius Honka's rights

The list of players having nightmarish seasons in Detroit isn't short, but arguably no one has felt the brunt of the team's decision to fully bottom out more than Athanasiou. The 31 goals he scored last season seem like a distant memory, as he's on pace for just 18 while easily leading the league with the NHL's worst plus/minus.

The minus-43 he sports is an eyesore, but it says just as much about his environment as it does about him. At 5-on-5, he has been on the ice for just 16 goals for the Red Wings, compared to 46 against, both because his individual shooting percentage has been sliced in half from last season, and also because the Red Wings goalies have managed to stop just 85.7% of the shots they've faced with him out there.

This isn't to say that he's blameless, because Athanasiou is a flawed player. He's the hockey version of baseball's designated hitter -- playing no defense. That's often blown out of proportion with skilled offensive players, but in his case, it's the truth. He's constantly looking to blow out of the zone and get on the attack, which would be fine if the Red Wings ever actually had the puck.

But it's up to good teams to identify imperfect talents and put them in a position to succeed while minimizing what they do poorly. What he does as well as almost anyone in the league is attack off the rush and push defenders back with his speed.

The Stars could certainly use more of that dynamic, considering only the Red Wings and Kings score less frequently at even strength. Athanasiou would be a tantalizing fit alongside Denis Gurianov (who creates rush chances at the ninth-highest rate among all regular skaters), given the similar traits he possesses. Those two coming downhill with the puck is something no defense would like to see, and together they could create the type of easy offense off the rush that the Stars need.

As for the other side of the ice, the Stars are one of the stingiest defensive teams in the league when it comes to structure, and if anyone is equipped to insulate Athanasiou's deficiencies, it's them.

Vegas Golden Knights-Chicago Blackhawks

Golden Knights get: G Robin Lehner (half of his salary retained by Blackhawks)
Blackhawks get: Devils' second-round pick in 2021, conditional pick based on how many games Lehner plays and how far Golden Knights advance, second-tier defensive prospect, F Cody Eakin

There's some revisionist history going on about last season's Blues and their improbable run going from last place to winning the Stanley Cup. Whether it's willful ignorance or simply trying to make a narrative fit, they were hardly just a team that got lucky and rode a hot goalie to the title. Having a competent goalie step in surely didn't hurt, but the facts suggest that the Blues were a genuinely dominant puck-possession team from the net out.

From Jan. 1 through the end of the regular season, the Blues were arguably the best 5-on-5 team in the league. In that 45 game sample they were:

• Second in shot attempt share (behind the Bruins)

• First in shot on goal share

• First in high-danger chance share

• First in expected goal share

The reason to point this out is that it's an important reminder when we point to the Blues as an example of how unpredictable the postseason can be, and how if you get in you have a chance to go on a miraculous run. Surprises like the Blue Jackets sweeping the Lightning can still happen, but there's a reason 5-on-5 play has been both the best descriptor of current excellence and the best predictor of future success.

The closest resemblance to that Blues team are the Golden Knights, who have trudged along in up-and-down fashion. They find themselves in a fight for Pacific Division seeding, which doesn't line up with their underlying numbers.

They're the NHL's No. 1 team in controlling shot attempts, and only the Lightning are responsible for a larger high-danger chance share at 5-on-5. While they're first in expected goal share, they're only 22nd in actual goal share, largely due to suspect goaltending. When you look at it from that perspective, Gerard Gallant's sudden firing was less surprising. If you sort by team save percentage, every team near the bottom that either isn't openly tanking or didn't have a first-year coach has made a similar in-season change.

There aren't many logical improvements available on the market, but there's one who checks a lot of boxes: Lehner. Of the 61 qualified goalies who have appeared in 15 games, here's how Lehner stacks up to both Golden Knights goaltenders and his peers:

• Robin Lehner: .918 save percentage (12th), plus-10 goals saved above average (10th), plus-3.1 goals saved above expected (15th)

• Marc-Andre Fleury: .905 save percentage (44th), minus-5.9 goals saved above average (47th), minus-12.8 goals saved above expected (53rd)

• Malcolm Subban: .893 save percentage (57th), minus-8.4 goals saved above average (51st), minus-4.8 goals saved above expected (36th)

Fleury would still be the No. 1 given what he's done for the Vegas franchise and the financial commitment over the next two seasons, but some healthy competition wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Especially considering how mightily the Golden Knights have struggled to find a complementary backup, and how important each game will be the rest of the way. They can't afford to throw away any remaining points, nor can they justify leaning on Fleury to carry that burden.

As for the Blackhawks, should they decide to throw in the towel on the season and start to accrue assets, they're positioned to help facilitate trades with teams that are in financial bind. With Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan on long-term injured reserve, they have roughly $13 million worth of cap space at their disposal.

They'd be wise to use both that and the fact they have the two best rental options at goalie to their advantage, recouping some useful future assets. Lehner has been tremendous, proving he can produce regardless of the surrounding defensive environment. But if they decide to deal him, it would hardly preclude them from bringing him back on a long-term contract in free agency.

Boston Bruins-Ottawa Senators

Bruins get: F Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Senators get: Bruins' first-round pick in 2020, a conditional pick in 2021 based on how far Bruins advance this postseason, F David Backes' contract

The Bruins should be proactive by accomplishing two equally important things with one move right now:

• Add to a group that's currently the No. 1 seed in the East and looks poised to make another long playoff run

• Clear out the remainder of Backes' cap figure so they have the means to cover not only the pay raises of their restricted free agents (Jake DeBrusk, Matt Grzelcyk and Anders Bjork), but also put in a competitive offer to retain Torey Krug once he hits the open market

In terms of roster upgrades, the natural inclination is to look for someone who can bring a similar element to what Marcus Johansson brought last spring. His ability to serve as a secondary playmaker was a much-needed shot in the arm for a team that's constructed like Boston. He thrived at transitioning the puck through the neutral zone, helping get the Bruins into dangerous areas on the ice.

When I was thinking of ideal trade targets for the Bruins this go-around, Pageau admittedly wasn't my first choice. Tyler Toffoli would've been a candidate, but the Canucks swooped in and nabbed him for themselves already. That's a shame for Boston, because this year's crop of playmakers who are also rentals isn't particularly impressive in quality or quantity. Taking a home run swing at Kreider is also an option, but the Bruins' prospect pipeline isn't particularly flush with talent, which would complicate making a move of that magnitude.

Where Pageau does fit in with the Bruins is that he's an ace defender in his own zone and can win puck battles. In a way, that's the first step in any type of transition attack, so his services there would come in handy. He'd also provide them with another center, which would give Bruce Cassidy some added flexibility when it comes to taking some of the grunt work off David Krejci's plate and allowing him to focus on his own playmaking.

Pageau is a risky long-term investment this summer because of his inflated shooting percentage, but in the short run, a player who can provide offense akin to his 14 5-on-5 goals would give the Bruins some extra punch offensively. Not only have the trio of David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron combined for over 46% of the team's total offense, but Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk (each with 11) are the only other Bruins with more than eight 5-on-5 goals on the season.

When you think of who would be particularly interested in a contract that's structured the way Backes' is, Eugene Melnyk and the Senators are the first to come to mind. The $6 million cap hit is actually a luxury item for a team like the Senators, who are going to legitimately struggle to reach the mandated cap floor given all of the money they have coming off the books this summer. If he remains on the team, he gets paid $4 million in real dollars for the final year on his deal because of the back-diving nature of the contract. If he gets bought out this summer, the cap hit stays, but Melnyk will pay out $2 million total spread over two seasons.

The only real obstacle is that Backes has an eight-team trade list built into his deal that allows him to control his eventual destination. Playing for the Senators presumably isn't particularly appealing to him given the stage of his career, but whether it's serving as a veteran presence there or being bought out and going elsewhere, it's likely his best bet for getting back into the league at this point.

New York Rangers-San Jose Sharks

Rangers get: F Kevin Labanc
Sharks get: G Alexandar Georgiev

The trade is one-for-one. When running this trade proposal by people in the league, I couldn't shake the feeling that one of the teams would need to attach some kind of draft pick sweetener to even up the value. But, I couldn't decide which one would need to do so, which means we've stumbled upon something intriguing for both sides here. The main issue is that opinions on young goalie assets such as Georgiev vary wildly, making it tough to get a good read on what the market is.

The Sharks need to do something to make sure this season doesn't happen again. Their porous defensive system is one thing, but it's pretty clear that expecting Martin Jones to be able to turn his performance around individually isn't happening at this point. We're running on over 100 games of this being his new standard, and it hasn't been pretty.

The issue is that they're financially locked into Jones for the foreseeable future, which means it's imperative that they find a cost-controlled alternative that has the realistic upside to come in and give them a better chance to win games despite the aforementioned defensive flaws.

That's exactly what Georgiev is at this stage of his career. While his raw .912 save percentage this season (and .914 career mark) aren't particularly eye-popping, those numbers need to be adjusted because he's been playing in one of the few environments in the NHL even more challenging for goalies than the one San Jose has been.

His 4.1 goals saved above expected this season is the league's ninth-best figure, coincidentally sandwiched by teammates Igor Shesterkin (plus-4.9) and Henrik Lundqvist (plus-3.8). Georgiev is 24 with limited tread on his tires, and the Sharks should theoretically be able to lock him in to a reasonable contract (he's a restricted free agent this summer). At the very least, he's shown that he'll be able to hold up under the fire of the high quality and quantity of shots, without completely caving in the way Sharks goalies have these past two seasons.

The Rangers are dealing from a clear position of strength here, currently blessed with an embarrassment of riches at the goalie position. But they also need to do something to clear the path for Shesterkin to get as many starts as he can handle, and Lundqvist likely isn't going anywhere between now and the end of next season. Even if Georgiev shines for the Sharks (or elsewhere) down the line, the Rangers have a blue-chip young goalie in Shesterkin to make up for any seller's remorse.

Brooklyn native Labanc is a fascinating player because no one's bank account took a bigger hit than his did when he decided to help the Sharks out with the cupcake one-year, $1 million dollar prove-it deal he signed last summer. It raised eyebrows, and it serves as a valid reminder of why every player should try to get what's theirs while they can.

Not that he's been especially effective this season, but things have been such a mess in San Jose from the jump with injuries and precipitous declines of its aging stars that it's nearly impossible to accurately evaluate his play in a vacuum. He's only 24 as well, is quite gifted as a playmaker, and could neatly slide into the potential openings the Rangers might have up front.

With both players hitting restricted free agency this summer -- and needing deals that'll presumably see them receive significant pay raises -- it makes sense for each team to pull the trigger on a deal now more so than waiting until the offseason. That way they can bring them in, see how they fit in their new surroundings, and get a head start on the negotiations.

Buffalo Sabres-Florida Panthers

Sabres get: F Vincent Trocheck
Panthers get: D Rasmus Ristolainen

I have to confess something: I don't totally understand the logic behind why Trocheck would be so publicly available, but considering that we've heard multiple reports that suggest that's the case, let's run with it.

Part of it surely has to do with the fact that the Panthers have already shown themselves to be a reactionary organization that makes personnel decisions on a whim, and they're presumably underwhelmed with Trocheck's pace of 14 goals and 50 points, both of which would mark personal lows over the course of a full season.

While Trocheck has understandably struggled to return to full form since his gruesome ankle injury two seasons ago, things outside of his control have changed, too. With Trocheck on the ice at 5-on-5 this season, the Panthers are still winning the territorial battle. Part of why he shows up as a minus player is because the goalies behind him have stopped just 88.7% of the shots they've faced, which ranks in the bottom 10 of nearly 500 qualified skaters this season.

But the biggest differentiator between this current version of Trocheck and the one who broke out with 31 goals and 75 points in 2017-18 is usage. Back then he led the team in ice time on the power play, taking advantage of that to score 13 goals and 27 points with the man advantage. At 5-on-5, he played roughly 500 minutes with Jonathan Huberdeau, easily his most talented linemate.

Compare that to this current season, where he's not on the top power-play unit (which is one of the best in the game), while being flanked most frequently with Brett Connolly and Noel Acciari at 5-on-5 (and recently with a literal defenseman, in Mark Pysyk). While Trocheck has never been a high-efficiency shooter, he's currently down at 7.1%, which is the 12th-worst figure of any forward with north of 100 shots. Even if he were in the ballpark of the 10% at which he converted during his career season, that would add another five goals to his total right now.

While it's distinctly possible that he'll never be able to replicate the production he once had, it's fair to question how much of that is on him and how much of it is on the position the team has put him in. If the medical records check out and it's more of the latter, then it presents a perfect opportunity to buy low for someone who can properly value and utilize his skill set.

Enter the Sabres.

Above all else, Buffalo GM Jason Botterill's biggest failure in his time running the team has been his inability to find viable help for Jack Eichel to ensure the Sabres can stay afloat when he's not on the ice. That's been particularly true ever since they panic-traded Ryan O'Reilly last summer, opening a revolving door down the middle beyond Eichel.

Botterill drafted Casey Mittelstadt with the hope he would be the long-term answer, but thus far he's proved quite inadequate. Botterill's biggest move last summer was signing Marcus Johansson, who has shown himself to be much more effective as a winger. He also drafted Dylan Cozens, but it looks like it'll be a while before Cozens can fill that role.

Opportunity knocks for Botterill and the Sabres, especially if they can kill two birds with one stone by salvaging some value for Ristolainen before the window to do so is fully shut. By doing so, they'd be dealing from a position of surplus to address a legitimate area of weakness on the depth chart.

Ristolainen is the prototypical example of the divide between what the eyes tell you and what the results say. If you catch him on the right play, he looks terrific, but for whatever reason it doesn't necessarily add up the way you'd think it would. There are people around the league who still seem to be blinded by his physical tools and occasional flashes of brilliance he displays with the puck, but the Sabres are worse off with him out there. At age 25 -- with nearly a 500-game sample at this level -- it's long past time to start coming to terms with the reality that this is just the player he's going to be at this point.

Whether it's buying low or simply acknowledging a sunk cost and moving off of it, these are the types of situations on which GMs around the league should be pouncing. I picked the Sabres as an example, but there are any number of teams that should be trying to take advantage of a glorious opportunity that appears to be materializing here.

I'd also include the Sharks, who should be proactively trying to make sure this dreadful season was a one-off, and not a sign of things to come, by shedding any big-money investments they have on declining players. Marc-Edouard Vlasic would be an ideal candidate, because it's scary to think what he'll look like over the next six seasons when he's still making $7 million per season, if he already looks the way he does at 33. The same goes for the Blackhawks with Duncan Keith, although similar to the Sharks with Vlasic, they'd need to find a compelling way to get the player to waive the no-move clause he wields.

While we might look at those players and their contracts and shudder, public opinion of how valuable they once were as defenders hasn't necessarily caught up to the present-day reality of how much they have left in the tank in 2020. With these things, all it takes is one team to throw caution to the wind and desperately double down on the situation it has already created for itself.

That person might very well be Panthers GM Dale Tallon, who has shown no real regard for the future, or what it'll look like in Florida based on the way he threw money around last summer. Otherwise he surely wouldn't have given $70 million to a goalie in his 30s during a time when the rest of the league is going in the complete opposite direction. Having already hitched his wagon to this particular group of players, all Tallon cares about is trying to make it work right now. If he thinks a player can help accomplish that, concerns about future value won't be as much of a concern.

Someone could get themselves a promising young player in Trocheck for a bargain-bin value.

LA Galaxy manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto denied a report that he had inquired about bringing Barcelona star Lionel Messi to Major League Soccer last December, but said "we have a relationship with him that opens the door."

A Radio Continental report early this week claimed that Schelotto reached out to Messi's father, Jorge, last year to see if there were any possibility of making a move to MLS after the club lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

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"Absolutely not," the Argentine coach said when asked whether talks with Messi had taken place. "Obviously, we would love to [sign him] and the fact that we have a relationship with him opens the door, but we have never had any contact with him about it."

On Thursday, Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo published an interview with Messi, in which the Argentina forward denied any unhappiness with the Catalan club, although it has been fairly well documented that things have not been going smoothly between Barcelona and Messi recently.

Two weeks ago an outburst on Instagram raised the possibility of his leaving the club.

Messi's contract reportedly features an exit clause that allows him to leave at the end of each season, which would leave him free to join the Galaxy -- or any other club -- this summer.

LA already have three designated players in Javier Hernandez, Cristian Pavon and Jonathan dos Santos, which means the five-time MLS Cup champions would have to find a creative way to fit Messi under the league's salary cap.

ESPN Argentina reports that the Galaxy want to make Pavon's loan move from Boca Juniors permanent in a deal worth around $20 million.

Middlesex have signed Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh as one of their overseas players for this year's Vitality Blast. Marsh is expected to be available for the duration of the competition, including the knockout stages if Middlesex qualify.

Marsh enjoyed a productive 2019-20 Big Bash League, scoring 382 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 145.24, and subsequently being recalled to the Australia T20I set-up for their tour of South Africa. He has also featured for three different teams in the IPL, but this will be his first Blast stint.

Middlesex reached the Blast quarter-finals last year and have retained Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, but Marsh's signing means that AB de Villiers will not be returning.

"It's great to have Mitch with us for the Blast this season," Middlesex's head coach, Stuart Law, said. "The experience he's had in different T20 competitions around the world will be a real plus for our dressing room.

"Mitch is a hard-hitting batsman, steady medium fast bowler and athletic in the field. I'm looking forward to seeing the big man contribute to our season in a positive way. As a tremendous team man and such a loveable character, I'm sure he'll fit in well with our group."

Marsh, 28, has plenty of experience of playing in England, as part of two Ashes tours and also during the 2013 Champions Trophy. He was due to play county cricket in 2018, having signed for Surrey, but had to pull out of the deal in order to undergo ankle surgery.

"I'm very excited to play for Middlesex in this year's Vitality Blast," Marsh said. "The opportunity to play at this great club with an exciting list of players is something I'm very proud of and hopefully we can play some great cricket and entertain the fans along the way."

Bangladesh will retract from their all-spin plan at home, with head coach Russell Domingo announcing they will field two quicks and two spinners in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe. In their last Test at home, the 224-run defeat to Afghanistan last year, Bangladesh did not field a frontline pacer, much as they hadn't against West Indies in the home Test before that. While the nature of the spin-friendly surfaces is unlikely to change overnight, the move is the first firm step in Domingo's broad plan to help Bangladesh become a consistent Test side that travels well.

Domingo said that playing with one pace bowler - or none - is a self-defeating decision that hurts them the moment they play overseas Tests. He has called for better pitches, where batsmen, pace bowlers and spinners can all have an equal part to play.

It is a departure from Chandika Hathurusingha's preferred plan since the 2016 England series of having pitches stacked heavily in favour of spinners. In a little over the last four years, Bangladesh have defeated England and Australia once each, also beating West Indies twice, at home. However, Domingo felt that Bangladesh needed to develop a game suited to good wickets, rather than relying just on spinners to win them home Tests on raging turners, which also stunted the growth of batsmen and pacers, besides giving the spinners a false sense of security about their skills.

"For Bangladesh to improve in Tests, we can't play on raging turners all the time," Domingo said. "We pick one seamer, and then we go to India, South Africa or Australia, we wonder who our three seamers are because they haven't played any cricket. It is a fine balance. We know the strength of the team is playing on spinning wickets particularly when you play teams like Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. You want the wickets to spin. But we also have to learn how to play on good wickets, so that our seamers can be in the game.

"If we play on a tough wicket, the batsmen can't get big hundreds. It also puts the bowlers in a false sense of security that they think they are great bowlers because the wicket is spinning. It is a tough thing for the team to come to grips with, but it is something that I am pretty strong about. We need to play on good wickets so that we can develop our game not just in Bangladesh but outside too."

ALSO READ: Domingo the 'in-between guy' for BCB and players

Domingo said he wants a healthy contest between bat and ball, where the seamers and spinners would have specific roles to play at different times during the game.

"I want good cricket wickets. We want our seamers to be able to bowl on day one, and the spinners come into the game in days three, four or five. Batters must work hard in the first session and then it gets better to bat on, and then hard to bat on.

"For sure, Bangladesh have done well when the wickets have spun, particularly against Australia, England and South Africa, and that's important for us. But for the holistic development of the team, we need to have a bigger picture in mind as well," he said.

Domingo was also adamant that he has passed on the message to both Mahmudullah and Mustafizur Rahman about their future in the Test team. Mahmudullah was dropped from the Test side, for the first time since 2017, and was even told to consider his future in the format so that he can solely focus on white-ball cricket. According to Domingo, Mahmudullah said he will fight for his spot.

"He is out of the team at the moment. I put it to him to consider his future. I see him very much part of our white-ball cricket. Riyad [Mahmudullah] is adamant that he wants to fight back into the Test side. He has played 49 Tests and has been a fantastic performer for Bangladesh. At the moment, there isn't a place for him [in the Test side]. He is one of our main players in white-ball cricket. It is good to have that sort of determination and fight to get back to the team.

"It is not for me to tell a player to stop playing. A player who has played for that long and with that sort of success, he deserves the right to decide when he is finished trying to play for his country. I have to give him that benefit of the doubt."

About Mustafizur, Domingo said that he was recalled in the Test squad to only work closely with new bowling coach Ottis Gibson, and will have no part to play in the one-off Test. Mustafizur has to work on bringing the ball back into the right-hander, which Domingo believes is the key for the left-armer to get back into the Test side.

"I know there's been a bit of miscommunication regarding the Mustafiz situation. I don't think he is ready for Tests until he does some technical work, so that it allows him to swing the ball back into the right-hander. Getting him back into the squad is the start of that process that he can spend some time with our new bowling coach.

"He was put back into the squad not to play, but to train and get some shape back. To get a connection with Ottis [Gibson], develop a bit of trust and relationship. He will stay with the team. Mustafiz is not playing this Test match. He is going to be bowling every day, and I have told him that, to make sure that he gets the shape that's required as that benefits him in Tests and white-ball cricket," he said.

Domingo was also critical of Bangladesh's recent scheduling, particularly for the Pakistan tour, which has been split over three legs. It left Bangladesh with just one day of training in Rawalpindi before the Test, which they lost badly. Domingo said the same will happen in Karachi next month, but he wants to ensure that his side gets more training sessions ahead of a Test in future.

"Winning is of paramount importance but we do need to develop a Test culture within the playing group," he said. "The way we prepare and schedule Tests… I am going into this Test as a coach more confident that any other Test because we have been together for 4-5 days. I have never had a Test match where we flew into a place, practice a day and played a Test.

"The next schedule in Pakistan: we fly in, play a one-dayer, practice and then play a Test match. No serious Test team has scheduling like that, and we have to change that.

"It is a cultural thing. We have to pay a lot more attention to Tests. I have been impressed with this group of players. There seems to be a big desire to do well in the Test arena."

England Lions have added Essex seamer Sam Cook to their squad for the two remaining four-day matches in Australia. Cook, who has been playing Grade cricket in Melbourne, will provide cover after Richard Gleeson and Lewis Gregory picked up injuries in their previous match.

Lancashire quick Gleeson has returned home after suffering a shoulder injury in the game against Cricket Australia XI in Hobart, while Gregory, who was captaining the side, hurt a calf and was only able to bowl four overs. Neither player took the field on the final two days of the match.

The Lions will also be without Saqib Mahmood, after he experienced knee soreness while involved with England's white-ball squads in South Africa. He has returned to the UK, rather than fly out to Australia as expected.

Cook has impressed at county level since his debut in 2017, playing a part in both of Essex's title wins and averaging 24.63 in first-class cricket.

The Lions will next take on a strong Australia A side, featuring full internationals such as Usman Khawaja, Moises Henriques and Marcus Harris, in a day-night game starting at the MCG on Saturday. In Gregory's absence, Keaton Jennings will captain the side.

Former Houston Astros pitcher Mike Fiers has acknowledged he's received death threats after he exposed Houston's 2017 sign-stealing scheme.

"Whatever, I don't care. I've dealt with a lot of death threats before. It's just another thing on my plate," he told The San Francisco Chronicle.

Fiers revealed to The Athletic in November that the Astros were stealing signs illegally, using cameras during their 2017 World Series championship season. Fiers was a member of that team. He joined the Detroit Tigers as a free agent after that season and was later traded to the Oakland Athletics.

"If I'm worried about any retaliation, I'm not going to be ready for the season," he told the paper.

On Tuesday, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said, "We will take every possible step to protect Mike Fiers wherever he's playing, whether it's in Houston or somewhere else."

Fiers told The Athletic on Wednesday that "I can defend myself," and that he doesn't need extra security from Major League Baseball during the 2020 season. But he told The Chronicle that he is concerned about the safety of his family.

The Athletics spoke to MLB vice president and deputy council Bryan Seely about threats made against Fiers in January, according to the newspaper.

"I said from the beginning, 'I'm not away from this. I was part of that team, I was one of those guys,'" Fiers said. "Suspensions, fines - I'm willing to take as much punishment as they do. If they ask me to (return the ring), it's not the end of the world."

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Francisco Lindor didn't sound like a man who had been shopped around all winter and was approaching the end of his time with the Cleveland Indians. He sounded genuinely upbeat about the potential of a franchise that has spent the past two offseasons reducing payroll. He sounded sincere when he addressed reporters after Monday's workout and said, "I wanna win here. I wanna stay here."

In the end, as is always the case, money will be the deciding factor. Twenty months from now, Lindor will become eligible for free agency and will command a contract that could exceed the eight-year, $260 million deal Nolan Arenado signed to stay with the Colorado Rockies. The Indians probably won't go there. You could argue they can -- that practically every billionaire owner has the financial resources for such a commitment -- and Lindor would agree.

"The team is not broke, the league is not broke," he said. "There's money."

But the reality is Lindor's free-agent years could ultimately absorb about a quarter of the Indians' budget, and that ratio doesn't necessarily yield sustainable success in the sport. Indians president Chris Antonetti was adamant about his desire to keep Lindor when he spoke at the start of camp, but he also acknowledged the inherent difficulties.

"When you look at the economics of baseball, and the realities of building championship teams in a small market, it gets really tough," Antonetti said. "The interest is there, the desire is there, on both sides, to try to get something done. And whether or not that's possible, we just don't know."

Consider this a plea to play it out, regardless of where that leads. If the Mookie Betts trade taught us anything, it's that attaining equal value for generational talents is unrealistic -- especially if they're nearing free agency, even more so in a time when front offices are so protective of their prospects.

Rival evaluators believe the Boston Red Sox did well in their trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, considering Betts is only a season away from free agency and that they also wanted to offload David Price's contract. But it might not have been worth all the blowback. It might not have been enough to justify all those days -- 81 of them, at least -- when fans will sit in the stands at Fenway Park and not see Mookie Betts play.

Few executives were surprised Lindor wasn't traded this offseason. Many believed the Indians were mainly trying to get a sense for his market value, open to being blown away by an offer but mostly gathering intel for a potential trade in July. Given the urgency of teams vying for a spot in the postseason, the return might be better then than it would have been this past offseason. But if the Indians wait until the 2020-21 offseason, when only a year would separate Lindor from free agency, trading a franchise pillar might no longer be worth it.

In short, the Indians may reach that proverbial fork in the road in about five months.

"Our first priority would be if we could find a way to extend Francisco's term here," Antonetti said. "If that's not possible, then we have to look at alternate paths. And one of those paths is Francisco staying here till the end of his contract or term with us and leaving as a free agent. That could happen. That's happened with players here in the past. And there have been other situations in which we've traded them. It's really dependent upon a lot of factors that would play into those decisions. But our clear preference would be for him to be here beyond 2021."

Lindor, who won't turn 27 until November, accumulated 23.2 FanGraphs wins above replacement from 2016 to 2019, sixth highest in the sport. During that time, he batted .284/.346/.495, hit 118 home runs, stole 81 bases, played in four All-Star Games, won two Silver Sluggers and took home a couple of Gold Gloves at shortstop. The Indians are 72 years removed from their last World Series championship. They may never employ someone as good, as magnetic or as exciting as Lindor -- and they're still in a position to win with him.

The Minnesota Twins look like legitimate contenders and the Chicago White Sox suddenly loom as threats, but the Indians have the pitching depth to sustain the loss of Corey Kluber and still possess the talent to recapture the American League Central. The window is still open, even if only slightly, and who knows when it might be again? The Indians can hold on to Lindor for these remaining two years, give it their best shot, then live with the results of it. His talent justifies impracticality.

"I'm not sure we're gonna win 105 games or 100 games, but we're gonna compete, and it's gonna be a fun year," Lindor said. "We'll surprise a lot of people. A lot of people are not counting on us. I am."

Publicly, at least, Lindor and Antonetti continue to hold out hope for an extension.

The question is whether the Indians can consistently field a winning team with Lindor on their payroll.

"That's the biggest challenge," Antonetti acknowledged. "It's not the desire."

Antonetti said both sides have made "meaningful efforts" in their pursuit of an extension. Lindor understands his value and understands the business components that make trading him a possibility. The Dodgers, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds were all linked to him over the winter, but Lindor said he "didn't really pay much attention" to the rumors.

"Single, no kids, two dogs," he noted. "I can just pack up and go."

Perhaps he should just, you know, stay.

World marathon record-holder Brigid Kosgei also beats old global mark but finishes a distant second behind Yeshaneh’s 64:31

Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh stormed to a world record-breaking victory at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on Friday morning, beating Kenya’s world marathon record-holder Brigid Kosgei with her historic winning time of 64:31.

The fact that Kosgei finished 18 seconds behind but was still inside the previous world record set by Joyciline Jepkosgei is further proof of just how impressive Yeshaneh’s time is.

Jepkosgei had clocked her record 64:51 in Valencia in 2017.

In Ras Al Khaimah Kosgei had led, running behind pacemaker Geoffrey Pyego, and 5km was passed in 15:07 before further 5km splits of 15:11 and 15:23.

Only Yeshaneh remained with them at this point but over the next couple of miles the Ethiopian started to pull away.

She covered her second 10km split in 30:54 and went on to cross the finishing line in 64:31 to turn the tables on Kosgei, who had beaten her to Chicago Marathon victory in October when the Kenyan broke the world record with her winning time of 2:14:04 ahead of Yeshaneh’s 2:20:51.

Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru finished third in 65:34 for the fastest ever debut women’s half-marathon, with the next five women to finish also going sub-67 minutes.

“I didn’t imagine this result,” said Yeshaneh. “I am a world record-holder!”

ababel birhane set the new half marathon world record 64.31!!

Kosgei in 2nd place 64.48 under the previous world record ???

Simply amazing race!!#RAKHALF2020 pic.twitter.com/TuVVdZRr3x

— RAK Half Marathon (@rakhalfmarathon) February 21, 2020

Kosgei said: “Even if I did not win, I’m happy for this great race with Ababel. She is a friend and we have the same manager, so I’m very happy also for her.

“A good result to continue on my way to the London Marathon in April.”

Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie won the men’s race in 58:58, finishing 18 seconds ahead of his compatriot Alexander Mutiso.

The pacemaker had taken the leaders through 5km in 14:03 before 10km was passed in 28:07.

Munyao led through 15km in 42:01 but recent Kenyan cross-country champion Kandie came through to eventually win with a 21-second PB.

Ethiopia’s London Marathon third-placer Mule Wasihun was third in 59:47.

European record-holder Julien Wanders was 11th in 60:46.

The Scottish 800m man hopes the changes he has made continue to pay off as he targets another national title on his road to Tokyo

From Oreo biscuits, pizza and ‘winging it’ to a new nutrition plan, training set-up and structure, Guy Learmonth says the new decade feels like a fresh start – one in which he is happy, healthy and hopeful.

After a tough few years, the turn into 2020 and a looming Olympics prompted the 2017 world 800m semi-finalist to make some changes as he targets Tokyo.

While still guided by his long-time coach Henry Gray in the Scottish borders, Learmonth is now also working with Justin Rinaldi of the Fast 8 Track Club in Melbourne, while his brother Jack has taken on a stronger coaching role.

The changes seem to be paying off so far, as a third place in the AIT Grand Prix 600m in Athlone in 1:17.77 was followed by finishing in the same position over 800m at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow a few days later. It’s to the Emirates Arena where Learmonth will return this weekend as he targets a third British indoor title in front of another home crowd.

“I have been quite notorious for winging things,” says the 27-year-old who has an outdoor PB of 1:44.73 and an indoor best of 1:46.98. “But things were going wrong last year and I needed a solid structure, I needed everything in place and routine. That’s what we put together at the end of last year. I brought a lot of people in and everyone knows their role around me.

“Jack and Justin are really working together and putting things in place. We’ve kind of merged our training plans together, refined and refreshed things. It’s not been drastic changes but there’s a lot more structure around the whole programme.”

The 27-year-old’s growing team also includes his girlfriend and fellow athlete Jazmin Sawyers and, as a result, he says his life now also has a lot more calm and tranquility.

“Jaz doesn’t like taking any credit but I’ve told her the last few months, obviously she has played a huge role. She’s got me in these states of zen. I’m a lot more relaxed and calm. There were times that I would fly off the hinges every now and then. She has really brought a lot of calm, peace and tranquillity to my life.

“She knows how much potential I have but she knows at the same time that you can’t keep winging things, you need to have a lot of structure and put things in place. You need a game plan all year round not just a game plan for a couple of weeks.”

Those lessons have also crossed over into Learmonth’s nutrition, with the Lasswade runner now much more conscious about how he fuels himself.

“I’ve always been able to cut my weight very well but, at the same time, I can gain weight overnight as well,” he says. “I would go on crazy diets and then shed a tonne of weight a few weeks out from a big competition. You just feel really weak, it was a stupid thing to do. The position I put myself in, it wasn’t smart but it’s what I did.

“Probably the annoying thing is I had a lot of success out of doing that as well, so you kind of have this false sense, this confidence, that what you’re doing is working.

“I’m very in tune with my body so I know what I need to do but I needed a solid approach and structure to cut the weight as the weeks were going by as opposed to cutting 4 or 5kg a couple of weeks out.

“I got down to race weight very early this year and then just maintained it,” Learmonth adds. “I’ve been training at that weight so I’ve not been getting weak as opposed to cutting 4/5kg within a few weeks, having a one-off race, sometimes running well, sometimes running poorly and scratching my head and wondering why. I think that has had a big, big impact on how I have felt with training all this year and how I have felt in these races the last few weeks.

“It’s my own fault. I knew what I needed to do but, at the same time, it’s Oreo biscuits and pizzas and stuff – they are very tempting as well! I’m the sort of person that thinks I can eat that and run amazing the next day, that’s my downfall! I have to be realistic with myself. It’s something I’ve had to tighten up on.

“It’s Olympic year. Last year I almost pulled it off but I fell short, I didn’t reach Doha (world championships), and I want to make sure that doesn’t ever happen again. I want to be in finals, I want to be contesting for medals at major champs, and this is something that I needed to do, I needed to sort it out properly.”

After going through tough periods over the last few years and not enjoying his athletics – he lost his grandfather, one of his best friends was paralysed after a car crash and others close to him have suffered issues with alcohol – Learmonth still remained passionate and motivated in a sport he could never give up on. Now, he feels back to his old self.

“Just going out there with my mind and my body feeling free, back to how I felt when I was 17 or 18 and just having fun and running,” he adds.

“It has been three or four years of a painful time for me and my family with everything that has gone on. I feel like I have finally got over everything. It’s a new decade, it sounds a bit… but it’s a fresh start, isn’t it. Hopefully it can continue for the next 10 years.”

Running back on home soil in Glasgow this weekend will also give him the opportunity to settle unfinished business, he adds, with GB’s 2019 European Indoor Championships team captain having crashed out of that competition after a collision with Mark English during the semi-finals.

“One of the main reasons I wanted to race back in Glasgow this year was because of everything that happened with the indoors last year, with falling over and stuff,” he says. “I really do feel like I’ve got unfinished business.

“I could have easily just scrapped this indoor season and never raced back in the Emirates ever again because I was scared of falling over or failing, but that’s not who I am.

“It’s not built into my DNA to shy away from anything so I can’t wait to get back out there, have an amazing race.

“The crowds in the UK, the crowds in Scotland, they are just incredible. I really get a big lift and a big buzz from the energy in the Emirates Arena. It never ever disappoints. It’s amazing being able to engage with everyone.

“I think Glasgow will put on a big show and hopefully I can play a small part in that.”