Cross another big name off the list of restricted free agents next summer: Center Nico Hischier and the New Jersey Devils have come together on a seven-year deal worth $50.75 million.

Hischier, 20, was the first overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft. He has two assists in six games this season, having missed Thursday's win over the Rangers with an injury. The Swiss-born center has 37 goals and 64 assists in 157 career NHL games.

"Nico is a special person who possess a team-first mentality combined with an inner drive to succeed," Devils GM Ray Shero said. The entire organization is thankful to him and his family for believing in our future. We are excited that he will continue to play a prominent role with us for many years to come."

The contract carries an average annual value of $7.25 million. The first season (2020-21) has a base salary of $7 million, while Hischier will make $8.5 million in the final season (2026-27).

Hischier joins several young NHL players that have signed contract extensions ahead of restricted free agency in June 2020. That includes Chicago forward Alex DeBrincat (3 years, $6.4 million AAV), Arizona's Clayton Keller (8 years, $7.15M AAV), Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot (8 years, $8M AAV) and Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard (7 years, $5M AAV).

This trend comes after last summer's restricted free agent tension, as several star players waited until weeks before the season to sign. One of those players -- Carolina's Sebastian Aho -- inked an offer sheet with Montreal that was later matched by the Hurricanes.

With Hischier signed, the Devils have secured a part of their foundation, but the question remains whether winger Taylor Hall -- Hischier's linemate -- will remain a part of that foundation. Hall is an unrestricted free agent next summer, and would be coveted if he hits the market.

RICHMOND, Va. - Tommy Tolles closed with a birdie for a 7-under 65 and the first-round lead Friday in the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, the first of three tournaments in the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.

The 52-year-old Tolles had seven birdies in the bogey-free round in cool, breezy conditions on The Country Club of Virginia's James River Course.

''First really good round of the year,'' Tolles said. ''I don't know what I was saving it for, but for the most part, the whole year has just been a write-off, but that right there was something different.

''It was a little bit of everything. Other than the last tee shot, I kept almost all my tee shots in play. Even if I missed a fairway, I missed it on the proper side, was able to still kind of have access to the green. I missed a couple greens, hit some great chips.''

He's winless in three seasons on the 50-and-over tour and entered the week 59th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, with the top 54 advancing to the Invesco QQQ Championship on Nov. 1-3 in Thousand Oaks, California.

''I felt a little bit different out there,'' Tolles said. ''Once you start to get off to a good start, start making birdies on top of birdies instead of birdies and then backing up, obviously you get into a different comfort zone or whatever and it tends to free you up a little bit. ''

Colin Montgomerie and Scott Parel shot 66, and Miguel Angel Jimenez, Retief Goosen and Rocco Mediate were at 67.

Montgomerie also had a bogey-free round.

''It was breezy and cold so a bogey-free round is very good,'' Montgomerie said. ''Delighted with the start. obviously. You would expect, 6 under around there today, you would expect to be leading. It's amazing the scoring around here and what people can do.''

Charles Schwab Cup leader Scott McCarron was at 68 with John Daly, Marco Dawson and Carlos Franco. Instead of the season points being reset, they will be continued through the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, with points counting double.

Bernhard Langer opened with a 70. He entered the playoffs at No. 7, his lowest ranking since the postseason began in 2016.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The best hope for any of the Green Bay Packers' top three receivers to play Sunday rests with Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and he's dealing with a pair of injuries.

Davante Adams won't go for the third straight week because of turf toe, and Geronimo Allison remained in the concussion protocol and was listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders.

That leaves Valdes-Scantling, who did not practice all week but held out hope that his left knee and left ankle injuries would made significant improvements before the 1 p.m. ET kickoff at Lambeau Field.

Otherwise, barring a late roster move, the Packers' receiver group will have three former undrafted free agents (Allen Lazard, Jake Kumerow and Darrius Shepherd) with a combined 18 career NFL catches, plus a veteran signed off the street this week (Ryan Grant) who has never played in a game with Aaron Rodgers.

Valdes-Scantling is listed as questionable on the injury report. When asked Friday which injury was bothering him more, he said, "Both."

Valdes-Scantling returned to Monday night's game against the Detroit Lions after his second-quarter injury and made a 46-yard catch in the fourth quarter of the Packers' comeback win. When asked how he returned, he said, "Adrenaline is a great drug."

He walked through the locker room on Friday with his left ankle wrapped and a small electronic stim machine attached to his knee.

"I was really, really proud of him how he battled and stayed in the game and showed some toughness, because we needed him," coach Matt LaFleur said. "And he definitely provided a huge spark on that catch."

For Adams, the hope is that he can return for next Sunday's prime-time game at the Kansas City Chiefs.

"Next week's not out of the question," Adams said Thursday. "It's going to be day to day."

Last week, Adams said his turf toe "doesn't feel how I want it to feel," but on Thursday, he said it feels "a million times better."

The Packers also could be short-handed at tight end, although Jimmy Graham (ankle) returned to practice Friday and was removed from the injury report. However, fellow tight end Robert Tonyan (hip) was listed as doubtful.

Lazard was the hero of Monday night's win over the Lions with four catches for 65 yards -- all in the fourth quarter -- including his first NFL touchdown. That came after Shepherd dropped a pass near the goal line that ricocheted off his hands and was intercepted.

Grant signed with the Packers on Wednesday and went through a crash course in the offense.

"It's been a grind," said the sixth-year veteran with 123 catches for three different teams. "Really just been honing in on the plays and trying to learn as much as I can for this weekend and just taking it a day at a time and trying to learn as much as possible to help us on Sunday."

METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints' four-game win streak will be put to a serious test Sunday at Chicago. The team has ruled out running back Alvin Kamara and tight end Jared Cook because of injuries.

Kamara (ankle, knee) and Cook (ankle) rank second and third on the team in passing targets behind wide receiver Michael Thomas and are tied for second with two touchdowns apiece. But neither practiced this week after being injured during Sunday's game at Jacksonville.

Replacing Kamara will be veteran backup Latavius Murray, who was a No. 1 back in both Oakland and Minnesota. Veteran tight end Josh Hill will be among those filling in for Cook.

Kamara, who leads the Saints with 649 yards from scrimmage, first showed up on the injury report on Oct. 10 with an ankle injury. But he played through it before also "tweaking" his knee early against the Jaguars, according to coach Sean Payton.

The running back finished the game but was still feeling the effects this week.

Payton was asked if things like the Saints' winning streak and 5-1 record ever factor into decisions about whether to rest injured players. The coach said that's not the case here.

"I'm asked this a lot," Payton said. "[But] we take the medical, the science relative to the player being ready to play or not. And we don't factor in, 'Well, we have a bye, or we have [other circumstances].' It's, 'Is the player healthy to play?' And if he is, then we'll play him. And if he's not, then we won't.

"I think the exceptions to that might be when you get into the postseason. But I think you really try to pay attention to where the player is relative to his recovery and his injury and being smart."

The Saints signed Murray to a four-year, $14.4 million contract in free agency to both complement Kamara and be available for situations like this.

Murray, 29, has 3,836 career rushing yards, 950 career receiving yards and 35 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl with the Raiders with 1,066 rushing yards in 2015, then ran for a total of 1,420 yards over the past two years while splitting time in the Vikings' backfield.

"Look, he's a real good football player. And we knew when we signed him there was a vision and a role," Payton said of the 6-foot-3, 230-pounder. "He runs zone schemes well. He's smart. He knows how to block the pressure and handle some of the third-down situations."

Murray has not played a substantial role with the Saints yet, with 32 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown, plus nine receptions for 67 yards. But his touches have steadily increased each week. He had his best performance to date at Jacksonville last week; it would have looked even better if his 42-yard touchdown catch had not been nullified by a questionable holding penalty.

"I've been feeling good since Week 1, but I just think it's one of those things where the more I'm in this offense, every day in practice, the more comfortable I'm definitely gonna be," said Murray, who ran eight times for 44 yards and caught three passes for 35 yards last week. "For sure, being in this offense and continuing to get the reps has definitely helped."

Cook, who also joined the Saints this year in free agency, will be missed at a time when he was finally starting to find a groove. Over the past two weeks, he caught a total of seven passes for 78 yards with his first two touchdowns of the season.

The Saints ruled out quarterback Drew Brees for the fifth straight game with his thumb injury -- though he is on the mend after starting to throw a regulation-sized football again last week. They also ruled out wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith (ankle) and defensive end Trey Hendrickson (neck).

Major League Baseball is in negotiations with its minor league teams about efforts to "reorganize elements of the system" that could reduce the number of affiliated teams from 160 to 120, according to reports.

The current agreement between Major League Baseball and the minor league teams -- called the Professional Baseball Agreement -- expires at the end of the 2020 season. MLB is looking to make some major changes, according to reports, that would overhaul all levels of the minors, particularly at low Class A and below.

Baseball America was the first to report the proposal and detail the restructuring.

Major League Baseball issued a statement to The New York Times saying that discussions are ongoing.

"We are in discussions with the owners of the Minor League teams to reorganize elements of the system with the goal of improving the working conditions of minor league players," the MLB statement said, "including upgrading the facilities to Major League standards, increasing player compensation, reducing travel time between affiliates for road games, improving transportation and hotel accommodations, increasing the number of off days, and providing better geographical affiliations between the MLB clubs and affiliates."

Other major changes would involve overhauling full-season minor leagues and shuffling teams throughout the Triple-A, Double-A, high Class A and low Class A levels into leagues that are more geographically friendly, according to Baseball America.

According to the reports, the 40 teams at the lower levels that are not included in this venture would be reclassified into a "Dream League," which would be run jointly by MLB and Minor League Baseball and would include players who were not selected in the draft, which under this proposal would be moved to after the College World Series and reduced to 20-25 rounds from the total of up to 40 in its current format.

According to The New York Times, Pat O'Conner, the president of Minor League Baseball, sent a letter warning teams of "significant impending changes" and advised not making any major decisions, including financial commitments, beyond the 2020 season.

Some minor league teams would lose existing affiliations with major league franchises under the proposal, according to the reports.

CC Sabathia said the reception he got from fans was the main reason he got so emotional as he walked off the field for the final time in his career after suffering a shoulder injury in Game 4 of the ALCS. And despite the pain and the eventual Yankees loss, he says he feels blessed and at peace with how he went out. "I threw until I couldn't anymore."

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), along with 24 cosponsors, have reintroduced the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2019 into the Senate.

The bipartisan bill protects Americans’ right to convert street vehicles into dedicated racecars and the motorsports parts industry’s right to sell products that enable racers to compete.

The RPM Act confirms that transforming motor vehicles into race cars used exclusively for competition does not violate the Clean Air Act. This American tradition was unquestioned for nearly 50 years until 2015 when the EPA took the position that converted street vehicles that compete on the track must remain emissions-compliant, even though they are not driven on public streets or highways.

The EPA also maintains that the equipment used to transform a street vehicle into a race car is prohibited.

“SEMA looks forward to working with Congress to enact the RPM Act and make permanent the Clean Air Act’s original intention that race vehicle conversions are legal,” said Kersting.  “We thank Senators Burr and Manchin for reintroducing a bill that will protect businesses that produce, install and sell the parts that enable racers to compete.”

The RPM Act cleared several major legislative hurdles in the previous Congress, including passage by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee. The bill also received hearings in both the House and Senate, which underscored the importance of motorsports as a great American pastime and economic stimulus in communities across the country.

Lawmakers were able to find a pathway to consensus on the language of the bill last session, positioning it to become law in the 2019-2020 Congress.

“American racing runs on traditions,” said Senator Burr. “For more than 50 years, motorsports enthusiasts have purchased cars and modified them to race, off of public roads. However, this tradition was threatened when the Obama EPA attempted to make these modifications illegal. This legislation upholds Congress’ intent of the Clean Air Act and protects motorsports, for professionals and amateurs alike, for years to come. I’m proud to work with my colleagues on this bipartisan legislation, and I look forward to seeing it move through the Senate.”

Motorsports competition involves tens of thousands of participants and vehicle owners each year, both amateur and professional.  Retail sales of racing products make up a nearly $2 billion market annually.

A majority of the estimated 1,300 race tracks operating across the U.S., including oval, road, dirt and off-road tracks, feature converted race vehicles that the EPA now considers to be illegal.

“A big part of the fun of motorsports is the tradition of modifying regular cars into racecars,” said Senator Manchin. “This legislation upholds amendments to the Clean Air Act that exempt modified vehicles and racecars from certain environmental regulations, protecting motorsports for years to come. I am proud to be a part of this bipartisan bill and look forward to the boost it will give to motorsports.”

To write a letter to the U.S. Senate regarding the RPM Act, visit www.sema.org/rpm.

NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees have Giancarlo Stanton back in the lineup for what could be their final game of the postseason.

Stanton is the team's starting designated hitter and will hit cleanup in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Astros, with Houston holding a commanding 3-1 series lead.

The left fielder suffered a right quadriceps strain in Game 1, a 7-0 win for the Yankees, while legging out a single in his first at-bat. Stanton also had a solo home run in the sixth inning of that game.

Manager Aaron Boone said ahead of Game 4, an 8-3 loss for the Yankees, that Stanton was available as a pinch hitter and that he was considering Stanton as the designated hitter for Friday's game.

Boone hopes Stanton's bat will spark a morose Yankees offense that scored a total of six runs in their three consecutive losses against Houston.

Having Stanton at DH meant benching Edwin Encarnacion, who is struggling in the ALCS, hitting .067 (1-for-15) with eight strikeouts.

By sending Encarnacion to the bench, the Yankees were able to keep their best defensive alignment in the infield, with DJ LeMahieu starting at first base and Gio Urshela at third.

Boone said before Game 5 that it would be a tough choice to start Stanton over Encarnacion. "[Encarnacion] is a great hitter that can wreck a game in a hurry," Boone said. "You're trying to kind of walk that line, strike that balance. I would want to feel pretty good about it because if [Stanton] goes in there, it's taking out a good player."

LAS VEGAS — One of the most legendary names in GT racing will soon return to the starting grid at the world’s most prestigious race tracks, with an original new machine designed specifically for track competition.

At a press conference and demonstration event held Thursday at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Saleen Automotive announced it will soon offer specially-built versions of it’s new Saleen 1 turbocharged, mid-engine sports car designed to compete in GT4 racing series worldwide.

The new Saleen GT4 concept model – which will be built at Saleen’s Corona, Calif.-based facilities starting in November 2019 – is based on a dedicated racing version of the Saleen 1 model, which debuted in the 2019 Saleen Cup racing series.

The single-make “arrive and drive” series concludes its inaugural season with a grand finale event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Oct. 18-20.

Saleen’s GT4 concept features distinct changes from the standard production model Saleen 1, including updates designed to comply with GT4 series specifications. The Saleen GT4 concept features updates to the car’s front splitter and fenders, plus new advanced rear diffuser to improve aerodynamics. Per GT4 specifications, a large rear wing is included to add maximum downforce and traction. Saleen’s GT4 concept car also offers front and rear anti-lock braking systems and other GT4-specific equipment.

“We developed the Saleen 1 to be fully capable on the track and easily adapt to racing applications,” said Steve Saleen, CEO and founder of Saleen Automotive. “Our company was founded on racing DNA and the track is where we prove our reputation. We look forward to completing the homologation process with SRO and seeing these cars compete at GT4 events around the world.”

The GT4 category was created by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation in 2007 to offer a championship that featured a wider range of manufacturers and better affordability than other racing series. Starting with a series in Europe, GT4 racing has expanded worldwide, with additional championships in the United Kingdom, North America, Asia and Australia.

“The Saleen Cup has been an important and exciting addition to our race weekends in 2019 and we look forward to the Saleen GT4 joining our Pirelli GT4 America grids in 2020,” said Greg Gill, President and CEO of SRO America.

Boasting innovative chassis design and performance influenced by Saleen’s legendary S7 supercar, the mid-engine Saleen 1 marks the latest in the company’s Saleen Original vehicles line.

With its turbocharged 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine producing 450 horsepower, plus lightweight chassis and carbon fiber bodywork, the Saleen 1 is a formidable track car – even in street form.

“We found during the inaugural Saleen Cup season, our test session lap times were already competitive with the top GT4 times, regardless of the track,” said Saleen Director of Motorsports Gabriele Cadringher. “The performance of the Saleen 1 has exceeded even our high expectations and we expect this car to be very competitive in GT4 next year.”

Once Saleen’s GT4 concept car completes homologation approval and begins production, the expected price for each car will be $225,000.