The final mock ahead of the NHL draft is always the most difficult to pin down. At this stage, teams are tightening up their information, with smokescreens and misdirection thrown out into the public space to shake things up. And the wide range of opinions on this 2019 draft class makes it even trickier.

Here's my final prediction for how Friday's first round will go, not necessarily how I think it should go. The Devils are on the clock ...

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1. New Jersey Devils

Jack Hughes, C, USA U18 (NTDP)

The Devils get their franchise center and an easily marketable star all wrapped into one. The temptation of Kaapo Kakko is real, but Hughes' elite skating and skill are too tantalizing to pass up.

2. New York Rangers

Kaapo Kakko, RW, TPS (Finland)

The Rangers land a franchise cornerstone with an NHL-ready game. With high-end hockey sense and a frame that allows him to win a lot of battles in the hard areas, he could be an instant-impact player.

3. Chicago Blackhawks

There are two basic ways for teams to reconfigure their rosters during the NHL offseason. The first is the time-honored tradition of overcompensating veteran players through unrestricted free agency while refusing -- through a gentlemen's agreement among general managers or outright fear of repercussions -- to dabble in restricted free agency for younger talent via offer sheets.

The other way is through the trade market.

In theory, a combination of both is the right recipe. Look no further than the Stanley Cup champions. The St. Louis Blues signed Tyler Bozak, David Perron and Patrick Maroon to free-agent deals prior to last season, and then they swung for the fences with a multiplayer deal for Ryan O'Reilly, whom you may remember from winning the Conn Smythe Trophy. (We don't speak about that Chad Johnson signing from last summer. Hey, they can't all be home runs.)

With Jacob Trouba off the board after a trade to the New York Rangers as of Monday, here's a look at the trade asset tiers for the coming week and beyond.

Note: Players are sorted alphabetically within each tier.

Jump ahead: C: Game-changer | C: Other targets
W: Game-changers | W: Other targets
D: Game-changer | D: Other targets
G: Game-changer | G: Other targets
Problem contracts | Wild cards

Centers: Game-changer

Nazem Kadri, C, Toronto Maple Leafs

Stats: 16 G | 28 A | 31 Pts | 44 games
Contract: $4.5 million AAV (average annual value) through 2022; submits 10-team trade list

Kadri isn't that far removed from back-to-back 30-goal seasons, which puts him in rarefied company for a 200-foot center. There are teams that are going to covet that, and there's no question they'll sense an opportunity this summer because the Leafs are facing cap headaches and because Kadri can't stop getting himself suspended in first-round playoff series against the Bruins. Toronto is probably a better team with him as their third-line center, but if a chance to improve the blue line arises, could they consider it?

Real Madrid's new signing Rodrygo is aware of the huge competition for places and said on Tuesday that he was prepared to spend time in the reserves as he beds into his new surroundings.

Rodrygo, 18, agreed to join Madrid last year on a €45 million deal shortly after breaking into the first team at Santos, the Brazilian club that produced Pele and Neymar.

When asked about his playing style, he said he identifies with Neymar and former Real Madrid player Robinho.

"I am a fast forward, I score and make plays, I'm Brazilian and that's how we are, like Robinho, Neymar ... I identify a bit with them," Rodygo said at his presentation at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

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Last year he became the youngest player to score in the Copa Libertadores, South America's equivalent of Europe's Champions League, missing school to net for Santos against Uruguayan side Nacional.

Rodrygo joins Madrid a year after fellow Brazilian teenager Vinicius Jr moved to the Spanish capital, storming into the first team after spending his first few months with Real's reserve side Castilla in the third tier of Spanish football.

Madrid's latest arrival said he was prepared to do the same.

"Madrid will always have the best players in the world and I'm ready to do whatever the club wants, to play in the first team or Castilla," Rodrygo said.

"Here the pressure is bigger than anywhere else and Vinicius has told me that I have to be patient. But I'm young and I will be. Things are going to develop naturally."

Rodrygo said he did not expect his first season at Madrid to be plain sailing but was excited to be joining the 13-times European champions.

"I'm in my first season in Europe and there might be difficult moments but I'm prepared for that and I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of happy moments," he added.\

Real Madrid president Fiorentino Perez called the youngster "one of the emerging stars from Brazil."

"Our strategy is the search of emerging talent and to incorporate youth who want to make their mark at Real Madrid," Perez said. "[Rodrygo] is already admired for his play in a country where football is a form of life."

Rodrygo is the fifth player to join Madrid in the close season as part of an ambitious squad rebuild that has already cost more than €300 million.

Real are looking to make amends for a woeful last campaign in which they finished an unprecedented 19 points adrift of La Liga champions Barcelona.

Coach Zinedine Zidane has signed Brazilian defender Eder Militao for €50 million, Serbian striker Luka Jovic for €60 million, French right-back Ferland Mendy for €48 million and Belgian forward Eden Hazard for €100 million.

The influx of new talent has put into question the futures of current stars such as Gareth Bale.

Bale's agent said on Sky Sports on Tuesday that "it would take something exceptional" for the Wales captain to leave the Spanish capital. Bale has been rumoured with return to Tottenham Hotspur or a loan to Manchester United.

"He could fit in there [at Manchester]. I think he could do very well -- he is still one of the best players in the world. But it is very unlikely," Jonathan Barnett said of his client Bale.

Barnett had told ESPN FC on Monday that a rumoured move to Bayern Munich was "rubbish."

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

Manchester United's to-do list already looks full for the offseason, but Paul Pogba's comments on Sunday in Japan during a promotional tour have compounded their problems.

"After this season and everything that happened this season, with my season being my best season as well," Pogba told reporters, "I think for me it could be a good time to have a new challenge somewhere else. I am thinking of this: to have a new challenge somewhere else."

Is this a real desire to leave the Premier League giants or is this simply a ploy to speed up negotiations for a new contract, as some reports have suggested? Is this just Pogba having fun or Pogba sending a message? ESPN FC writers Gab Marcotti, Mark Ogden and Rob Dawson weigh in, along with ESPN FC editor Alex Shaw as to what this latest message could mean and how United should handle it.

Should Man United entertain Paul Pogba's latest 'desire' to leave?

Gab Marcotti: It's never a good idea to keep a player against his will, but United need to evaluate whether he wants to leave or whether there's a specific destination he finds more appealing. They're not the same thing.

Every indication is that he's happy and settled at Old Trafford when it comes to everything bar the football. And, obviously, that needs to improve and he has to be part of that improvement. But it's pretty evident that when he looks around at United's other two world-class players, Marcus Rashford and David De Gea, and sees that both have serious contractual issues and, at the same time, if a very big club comes in for him and they can offer Champions League football and better teammates, sure, it's going to be appealing.

All that said, he's entering the fourth year of a five-year deal (albeit with a club option for a sixth) and that's the natural time to talk about extensions. That may have something to do with Pogba's latest comments as well.

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Mark Ogden: Yes. Quite simply, Pogba is the right player at the wrong time for Manchester United, and it would be best for both parties if he moved on. Pogba is a supreme talent but only when he is surrounded by players of a similar standard. At United, where the squad lacks top quality, his shortcomings are exacerbated and he can be a liability when opponents are on top.

Pogba's lack of defensive awareness and his reluctance or inability to put in the hard yards is exposed repeatedly at United, but in a better team, other players would do the jobs he is ill-equipped to perform, leaving Pogba to focus purely on hurting opponents with his attacking skills. If he's unhappy at United, the negativity from Pogba would only make matters worse at Old Trafford, so United should sell.

Liverpool cashed in on an unhappy Philippe Coutinho 18 months ago and reinvested the £142 million fee on Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, so there can be an upside to selling your most high-profile player.

Rob Dawson: It is a difficult situation. No club wants to keep a player who doesn't want to be there, but on the flip side, selling Pogba makes United's huge rebuild even bigger.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has enough problems to fix without having to replace his best player and the club may have to work out some kind of compromise to buy himself some time. It may be that Solskjaer tries to convince Pogba to stay for another season on the understanding they will listen to offers next summer. The difficulty there, though, is that fans are already unhappy Pogba has publicly stated he wants to leave and might get a rough ride at Old Trafford next season.

In the end, it may come down to Solskjaer's judgement. If Pogba is going to sulk, he should go. If he's going to get his head down, work hard, play well and get the fans back onside, then that's something Solskjaer can work with -- even if it's only for a year.

Alex Shaw: If United had a defined structure, culture and good reputation for making smart transfers, they should cash in on Pogba. Unfortunately, they don't and of the 28 players to have signed in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, only three players (Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Zlatan Ibrahimovic) have been qualified successes. The rest, including Pogba, have either flopped spectacularly or not delivered enough.

Pogba is definitely in the latter camp but executive vice chairman Ed Woodward has proven to be out of his depth when it comes to matters on the field. Every manager he has appointed has failed, the transfers have verged from misfits to has-beens to never-weres and a director of football still has not been appointed.

United are a total mess and need all the help they can get and that includes Pogba. Even when he's distracted or off his game, he still has more natural talent than the rest of his midfield teammates.

If they decide to cash in, what kind of price should they hold out for and what should they do with the money?

Marcotti: It depends who the buyer is and how badly he wants to leave. I think given the fact that he's 26 and given some of the other fees out there, something in the £130m range isn't unrealistic. And let's cut to the chase: very few clubs can even contemplate that fee so you're talking about Real Madrid and maybe one or two others. Given their financial situation, maybe you think of a player-plus-cash deal, but like I said, I wouldn't sell him unless he really, really wants to go.

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Ogden: United paid a world record £89m fee to sign Pogba from Juventus in August 2016 and although many would argue that he has not repaid that figure, the reality is that the transfer market has rocketed and it would now cost at least £120m to sign the France midfielder. At 26 and with three years remaining on his contract, Pogba is at the height of his value to United: the £142m spent by Barcelona on Coutinho in January 2018 and Real Madrid's move for the 28-year-old Eden Hazard (which could be worth up to £130m) will be used as benchmark's for Pogba.

Dawson: United signed Pogba for £89m in 2016 a year before the Neymar deal sent player valuations through the roof. He is under contract until 2021 and United hold an option to keep him for another 12 months. He is a World Cup winner and one of the most recognisable players in the world who, at 26, should be at the peak of his powers.

If Ed Woodward decides to sell -- and there's no indication at this stage that he has -- he would be well within his rights to hold out for a fee of between £130-150m. Hazard is two years older than Pogba and was entering the final 12 months of his contract at Chelsea, but Real Madrid were still convinced to pay a fee that could rise to £130m. Woodward will be looking for more.

Shaw: Any fee would have to be north of £100 million to tempt United into selling. The jarring thing from the fans' perspective is when the player talks of wanting a "new challenge." He hasn't even completed this challenge yet, falling way short of the level you expect from a player that cost a then-world-record £89.3m when he joined in 2016.

What do Man United need most this summer outside of Pogba?

Marcotti: First and foremost, sort out Marcus Rashford's contract and figure out what you want to do with David De Gea. It's pretty grotesque that it's gotten to this stage, with their undisputed No. 1 having less than a year to go on his current deal. In terms of positional needs, they could use a right-back, a central defender and two central midfielders while also upgrading their winger/attacking midfield corps: it would be a tall order for a club that's run well to tick all these boxes.

Ogden: Solskjaer could quite easily improve every position in his United team this summer, from goalkeeper to centre-forward, so it is not a case of identifying one or two priorities. But United can't buy 11 new players. Therefore, they must rectify their most glaring weaknesses and hope that the rest of the squad raises their game.

Defensively, United are desperate for reinforcements: a commanding centre-half and reliable right-back are the top priorities. They also need creativity, goals and energy in midfield -- qualities that Pogba has, but ones he has only shown in fleeting glimpses. Up front, United are well-stocked with talent but too many of their forwards are not showing their best, so a new, proven goalscorer should also be high on Solskjaer's hit-list.

Dawson: There is an argument that Solskjaer needs to improve every area of his squad but that's not possible over one transfer window. He needs a centre-back and right-back and moves are underway to secure both. On top of that, there has been a gaping hole on the right wing for too long. Last season, United conceded too many goals and did not score enough, which says everything about the scale of the task facing Solskjaer this summer.

Shaw: Where do you even start? A director of football is paramount, as Woodward has failed time and time again to improve matters on the pitch. A shift in transfer strategy is also important, with United too often suckered into signing stellar names rather than players who fit a system.

Nottinghamshire 208 for 4 (Nash 67, Patel 42*) trail Kent 309 (Crawley 111, Stewart 59, Pattinson 6-73) by 101 runs

Wily Nottinghamshire veterans Chris Nash and Samit Patel dug in throughout much of the late afternoon gloom in Tunbridge Wells to edge their side into the solid position of 208 for 4 at the mid-point of their Specsavers County Championship match with Kent.

Responding to Kent's first day total of 309 at The Nevill Ground, Nottinghamshire moved on cautiously by adding 178 runs for the loss of four wickets on a day reduced to only 71 overs of action by rain and bad light.

Patel reached 42 not out after an uncharacteristic 139-minute stay, while Nottinghamshire captain Steven Mullaney was unbeaten with one having survived the final three deliveries of the day.

Kent had winkled out Nottinghamshire's first-wicket partners during a hard-fought morning of cut-and-thrust cricket as openers Ben Duckett and Ben Slater resumed on their overnight score of 30 without loss.

The pair were perhaps fortunate to survive an overcast opening hour as Kent all-rounder Grant Stewart sent down a muscular 'hit-the-pitch' stint from the Railway End, while Harry Podmore bowled fuller lengths and swung the ball from the Pavilion End.

The two seamers each beat the outside edge on three or four occasions apiece, but the visiting left-handers survived to post their 50-run stand within 17 overs.

Kent's leading wicket-taker Matt Milnes replaced Stewart to breakthrough in the 20th over of the innings by running one back in from around the wicket to trap Duckett on the back foot and flush in front of his stumps.

After a useful and luckless seven-over stint, Podmore gave way for third change Wiaan Mulder to strike in his second over by finding Slater's outside edge for a catch behind the stumps.

Just one wicket fell in the rain ravaged mid-session, that of Joe Clarke who fell for a painstaking 12. Fending outside off to a Milnes away-swinger, the right-hander edged low to see Ollie Robinson, the Kent keeper, dive to his right to snaffle a low chance that would not have carried to slip.

Patel came in with the game truly in the balance and sensibly kerbed his attacking instincts by taking a more measured approach.

The 34-year-old might have gone with four against his name, but, after edging a Mulder leg-cutter to Ollie Rayner at second slip, he was saved by umpire Steve O'Shaughnessy's call for a no-ball.

Patel batted for 62 minutes for five runs when he finally middled a back-foot force through extra cover off Mulder for the first boundary of his stay.

Another shower took the players in for an early tea leading to a scheduled 40-over third session during which Nash reached a cautious half-century from 94 balls and with eight fours.

Kent hurried through to the second new ball by bowling spinners Joe Denly and Rayner in tandem and, by the 80th over, Nottinghamshire had reduced the match deficit to 102 runs with seven wickets still in hand.

The third delivery with the new cherry broke a stand worth 90 runs when Nash, on 67, edged to the keeper off Podmore and marched off in high dudgeon complaining he had been distracted by a white cloth that had fallen from the bowler's pocket just before his delivery stride.

Three balls later, and much to Nash's chagrin, all the players trooped off for bad light marking the end of a fascinating if rain-interrupted day.

Glamorgan 274 for 9 (Lloyd 59, Labuschagne 51, Cullen 50, Finn 5-64) trail Middlesex 410 (Stirling 138, Robson 107) by 136 runs

Middlesex and Glamorgan look destined to share the spoils in Radlett's inaugural County Championship fixture after rain restricted them to 48 overs on day three.

The prospects of a positive result rested mainly on Middlesex forcing the visitors to follow on, but Glamorgan's ninth-wicket pair scrambled beyond that landmark to close on 274 for 9, still 136 runs adrift of their hosts' total of 410.

Captain David Lloyd led the way with a knock of 59, ably supported by Tom Cullen in a sixth-wicket stand of 86 before Graeme Wagg's unbeaten 37 hauled Glamorgan away from danger.

Middlesex made it difficult for Glamorgan, with their attack spearheaded by a hostile display of fast bowling from Steven Finn, who recorded his first five-wicket haul of the campaign.

Glamorgan resumed at 112 for 3 in the morning, but soon found themselves under pressure after Finn captured two early wickets in a ferocious opening spell.

The Middlesex seamer unleashed one rising delivery that almost cut Billy Root in half before his next ball, a gem of a yorker, uprooted both the off and middle stumps. In his next over, Finn persuaded Owen Morgan to edge an outswinger into the gloves of John Simpson, reducing Glamorgan to 118 for 5.

However, Cullen looked lively as he dispatched George Scott through the covers twice and, with Lloyd also scoring freely, the pair thwarted Middlesex's hopes of getting among the tail.

The Glamorgan skipper progressed to his half-century, but his was the only other wicket to fall before lunch as he attempted to pull Finn and spooned the ball into the hands of Tom Helm.

Cullen followed after a brief rain delay, completing his third Championship half-century in five games before Paul Stirling's introduction brought about two wickets in an over.

The off-spinner produced a ball that climbed on Cullen, who could only send it looping into the hands of close fielder Stevie Eskinazi, and he then tempted Marchant de Lange into a big heave that was taken at deep mid-wicket.

At that stage, Glamorgan were still 28 runs short of avoiding the follow-on, but Wagg and Lukas Carey dug in and gradually brought that deficit down.

Wagg began to cut loose, driving Nathan Sowter over cover for six, but the leg-spinner was unlucky not to remove Carey in his next over, with the diving Sam Robson unable to cling onto a sharp chance at slip.

The pair ran two to finally banish all threat of the follow-on and, although Finn snatched his fifth wicket when Carey slammed him to Scott at backward point, the heavens opened again soon afterwards. Umpires Graham Lloyd and Neil Bainton eventually abandoned play for the day at 5pm.

Gloucestershire 41 for 3 (Abbas 3-10) trail Leicestershire 487 (Dexter 180, Azad 137, Ackermann 56*) by 446 runs

Mohammad Abbas took three quick wickets before rain ended play early in Gloucestershire's reply to a formidable Leicestershire first innings on the second day of the County Championship match at the Fischer County Ground.

Abbas, moving the ball prodigiously through the air and off the pitch, dismissed Miles Hammond caught behind, James Bracey leg before and Gareth Roderick caught behind before the weather closed in, leaving the Pakistan international with 3 for 10 from seven overs.

Resuming on 343 for 5, the Foxes had quickly lost nightwatchman Chris Wright, driving at a delivery from Chad Sayers and edging a straightforward catch to first slip.

Harry Dearden joined Colin Ackermann in compiling a partnership of 46 for the seventh wicket before Dearden was also caught off an edged drive, this time by Roderick off the bowling of Josh Shaw, a fifth catch in the innings for the Gloucestershire wicket-keeper.

Ackermann was joined at the crease by the busy Lewis Hill, and after enjoying one piece of good fortune when he edged Ryan Higgins at catchable height straight between the wicketkeeper and first slip - neither of whom moved a muscle towards the ball - Hill went for his shots, hitting seven boundaries before hooking a David Payne bouncer into the hands of Graeme van Buuren at deep backward square.

Dieter Klein saw Ackermann through to a half-century before being dismissed leg before by Shaw, and last man Abbas did not last long, bowled through the gate by the occasional off-spin of Chris Dent.

When Gloucestershire began their reply, however, Abbas responded in kind. Swinging the ball away from the visitors' left-handed opening pair, he repeatedly beat the bat before Hammond finally edged a catch through to Hill behind the stumps.

Bracey too was beaten on several occasions before being dismissed leg before, and Roderick went first ball to a delivery which bounced and took the edge.

Benny Howell survived a concerted leg before appeal, and he and Dent would have been relieved men when the occasional showers, which had already seen the players leave the field twice, settled into steady rain and prevented any further play for the day.

Sussex 185 for 6 (Brown 64*, Parnell 4-59) v Worcestershire

Kidderminster Cricket Club last staged County Championship cricket during the floods of 2008 and this time last week had no reason to suspect they would be hosting another match any time soon. Then came the deluge that left New Road under three feet of water.

They had only four days' notice that they were to be an accidental out ground yet organised themselves so well you could be mistaken for thinking they had been planning for months. The refurbishments to the charming 94-year-old pavilion carried out this spring might have been with this week in mind.

Almost inevitably, half the day fell victim to the weather, rain arriving on the stroke of three o'clock. Enough play, though, for it to be a day to remember for 19-year-old Adam Finch, given his chance by an injury to Josh Tongue, who claimed his maiden senior wicket in only his second appearance.

Finch shared the new ball with his clubmate Dillon Pennington in England's side in the Under-19 World Cup last winter and has been pushing for a step up for some little while, Pennington having stolen a march on him with a breakthrough last season. Skipper Joe Leach trusted him with the new ball here and he made an impressive start, striking in his third over to have Will Beer edging behind.

Beer had again opened in place of the injured Phil Salt, having made 97 in his makeshift role at Arundel last week. There was to be no such prosperity this time.

Indeed, there were but slim pickings for anyone in the top order. Ben Brown, the Sussex skipper, opted for a coin toss but ended up batting anyway when Leach won it and chose to field. It looked like Leach had made the right decision. There was clearly something in the pitch and on a relatively warm, humid morning, the home side had the best of things.

South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell drew the biggest benefit, dismissing Luke Wells, Harry Finch and Laurie Evans during an initial spell of 3 for 22 from six overs and returning after lunch to account for David Wiese. In between, Leach found a way past Stiaan Van Zyl's defensive push and Sussex were 102 for 6.

Wells had looked the most likely to establish himself, only to clip one of Parnell's least threatening deliveries straight to mid-wicket.

Sussex, third in the table going into this match, have aspirations to be back in Division One next season, yet this is not an unfamiliar scoreline. They were in similar trouble - somewhat worse, actually - at Northampton earlier in the season, where they crumbled to 68 for 6.

Then came an extraordinary partnership of 309 between Brown and Chris Jordan. Ominously for Worcestershire, the same pair are at the wicket now and they had added 83 when the rain arrived. Jordan might have gone first ball, edging Parnell in the air perilously close to backward point, where Ed Barnard got half a hand on it but no more.

Jordan is unbeaten on 44 with Brown, who is in a rich vein of form. Since his 156 at Wantage Road, the wicketkeeper-batsman has two more hundreds to aggregate 551 in the space of half a dozen innings.

Worcestershire, who need to make up some ground if they are to claim one of the three promotion spots on offer this year, will need to shift him early on day two, although the weather prospects are not especially encouraging. Days three and four are better. Prospective spectators, though, should be mindful of the common outground drawback of very limited seating and maybe toss a couple of garden chairs in the boot.