SPEED SPORT’s Jacob Seelman caught up with young midget racing star Cannon McIntosh, who is taking part in Indiana Midget Week for the first time.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson has undergone groin surgery before becoming eligible for free agency this summer.

The Sharks said Wednesday that Karlsson had the operation last week and has already started rehabilitation. The team said Karlsson is expected to recover fully in the offseason and be ready for the start of the 2019-20 season.

The big question surrounding Karlsson now will be where he plays next season. The Sharks acquired the two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman from Ottawa just before the start of the season. Karlsson is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1 and has given no indication whether he wants to return to San Jose or find a new team.

The 29-year-old Karlsson initially injured his groin in January and missed 27 of the final 33 regular-season games for San Jose. Karlsson returned in the final regular-season game and played in the postseason despite being visibly hampered by the injury.

Karlsson finally wore down at the end of the postseason. He missed most of the second half of the third period in a Game 4 loss to St. Louis in the Western Conference finals, missed the entire third period when the Sharks lost the following game and then didn't travel for the Game 6 loss that ended San Jose's season.

Despite the injury that left him at less than full speed, Karlsson managed to make a major impact in the playoffs. He is tied for the NHL lead with 14 assists this postseason and also had two goals, including the overtime winner in Game 3 against the Blues.

Karlsson got off to a slow start in San Jose following the trade and then was slowed by the injury over the final three months. He finished his first season with the Sharks with three goals and 42 assists in 53 games.

But during a stretch from December to January, Karlsson showed he still has the ability to be the best defenseman in the NHL. He had points in 15 straight games that he played and had 25 points total in that span.

Karlsson then got hurt Jan. 16 in Arizona. He returned to take part in All-Star weekend in San Jose but had to wait two more weeks to play a real game. He got hurt again Feb. 26 in Boston and didn't play again until the regular-season finale.

Karlsson is one of several prominent potential free agents in San Jose this summer, along with captain Joe Pavelski and franchise stalwart Joe Thornton.

If there's one thing that defines the 2019 NHL draft, it's the utter lack of consensus that exists after picks No. 1 and 2.

To that end, this class' risers and fallers are, for the most part, not rising or falling terribly far from where they started. These aren't drastic climbs or tumbles. Rather, these are players who have generated more buzz over the course of the season or players who started with plenty and tailed off.

Here's a look at draft prospects trending up and down coming out of the combine.

Note: Ages are all as of the 2019 NHL draft on June 21.

Jump to prospects trending: |

COMBINE MOVERS

At the NHL combine this past week, players had the chance to meet with teams and showcase their strength and athleticism in Buffalo. In the physical testing segment, top-rated goalie Spencer Knight and prep school defenseman Jayden Struble -- who finished first in five categories -- were among the standouts.

Jayden Struble, a defenseman from St. Sebastian's School in Needham, Mass., finished first in 5 of the 18 fitness tests at the 2019 NHL Scouting Combine presented by adidas.#NHLCombine Top 25 Results: https://t.co/q1bJc7Y2iC pic.twitter.com/vOKvKx7sIc

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 1, 2019

Another interesting note coming out of the measurements was that several players measured a quarter-inch to a half-inch taller. Among them was undersized scorer Cole Caufield, who measured at 5-foot-7.25 after coming in a hair under 5-foot-7 at the midterm.

In the interview stage, sources in the scouting community say defensemen Tobias Bjornfot and Moritz Seider impressed. Seider actually interviewed with all 31 teams and joked "maybe even Seattle soon too" while holding court with the media after physical testing Saturday.

TRENDING UP

Brayden Tracey, LW, Moose Jaw (WHL)

Age: 18 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 177 | Shot: L

Of the prospects in this draft class, Tracey probably had the most dramatic change from the start of the season. Tracey put up 81 points for the Moose Jaw Warriors, second-most among U18 players in the WHL, with a similar points-per-game rate to top-10 prospect Dylan Cozens. Tracey was named WHL Rookie of the Year for his efforts. He's an offensive standout, but he has some grit and edge to him as well.

The 2019 NHL draft class is marked with exceptional talent but not a lot of consensus on the board beyond Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko. There are a handful of polarizing prospects who appear all over team, scout and analyst rankings heading into the June 21 draft.

We picked five especially interesting draft-eligible players -- Arthur Kaliyev, Bowen Byram, Dylan Cozens, Nicholas Robertson and Ryan Suzuki -- and asked an anonymous NHL scout for an Eastern Conference team for an honest assessment of their games. Then we gave the players a chance to critique the critiques, and I provided my own analysis to round it out.

Note: Ages are as of the June 21 draft date.

Jump to:
Kaliyev | Byram | Cozens | Robertson | Suzuki

Arthur Kaliyev, RW, Hamilton (OHL)

Age: 17 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 190 | Shot: L

Player profile: A projected first-rounder, Kaliyev led the OHL with 51 goals this season and had 102 points, which was good for sixth in the league and most among draft-eligible players in major junior. He is one of the draft's most polarizing prospects, and he ranked No. 12 on my early May board.

What a scout said: "He's an elite goal scorer with size and doesn't need a lot of space to score. He can score from bad angles and doesn't need a perfect pass -- he can shoot from anywhere."

Kaliyev: "I've been working on my shot since I started playing hockey, every day. Before practice, after practice, I practice getting passes. I work on one-timers every time."

Peters: "Kaliyev has the best one-timer in the draft, as far as I'm concerned. He also has incredible net sense, showing he can score from anywhere. He has a shooter's mentality."

Scout: "Skating for him, can he play a high-tempo game? His quickness and his pace need to show up. For a big guy like that, you probably wish he was a little more involved physically and a little grittier. For him, maybe he's looking at us saying I'm not playing a gritty game, and I'm still scoring 50 goals, and I'm big."

Brazil striker Neymar limped off with an ankle injury early in a friendly international against Asian champions Qatar on Wednesday in Brasilia.

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Neymar left the field in the 17th minute and was carried to the dressing room with his right ankle wrapped in ice.

Brazil, hosts of the Copa America tournament, which kicks off June 14, were leading 1-0 when Neymar left the pitch.

Neymar was accused of rape last weekend, a charge that he has strongly denied. The woman told Sao Paolo police that the assault took place on May 15 in Paris. Police are investigating but have not filed charges.

A hodgepodge group of players, one of them ineligible to play in the coming Gold Cup tournament, bumbled their way through a 1-0 loss for the United States against Jamaica on Wednesday night at Audi Field in Washington, DC. Nominally a Gold Cup warmup, the game was mostly an audition for the last few roster spots.

Head coach Gregg Berhalter chose a fully experimental group and rolled out a formation that was a sharp departure from the U.S. setup in his first four games in charge before reverting to his preferred system with a half hour to go. The Americans struggled in both formations.

Positives

Finding positives is difficult, both because of the result and because of the makeup of the team. If there is one, it's the experience gained by a handful of younger faces and the chance for Berhalter to see them on the field in an international setting. The introduction of Duane Holmes to the team was a late boost, though the Derby County man couldn't save the Americans from the loss.

- When is the CONCACAF Gold Cup?
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Negatives

Many. The Americans edge in possession never resulted in any real danger in front of goal and a disconnected midfield allowed the Jamaicans to quickly build into the game. Individual performances were mostly bad across the board and any confidence fostered by Berhalter during the early part of 2019 took a hit with a loss to a middling CONCACAF team.

Manager rating out of 10

3 - It's tempting to give Berhalter a "question mark" for his rating, if only because his motivations play such a large part divining the context of his choices. He started a player in Jackson Yueill who isn't eligible for the Gold Cup (he was not on the 40-man provisional roster) and used a formation (a 5-4-1) that he hadn't not previously deployed. The loss is a black mark, even if it was a friendly, for that aforementioned damage it will do to the team's confidence.

Player ratings (1-10; 10=best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Zack Steffen, 4 -- Had a horrible giveaway in the first half that put the U.S. under pressure. Made several comfortable saves, but was unable to do anything on the Jamaica goal.

DF Paul Arriola, 4 -- Committed no egregious errors deployed as a wing-back, but failed to create any real danger in attack. Defended well at times.

DF Matt Miazga, 4 -- Perhaps the most capable of the group that started as a back three without excelling in any particular area. Unable to connect passes on the ground as was desperately needed.

DF Omar Gonzalez, 4 -- Strong in the air. Occasionally victimized by Jamaica's speed and forced to scramble back to recover. Settled for long balls when passing lanes proved unavailable or too difficult.

DF Tim Ream, 4 -- Part of a backline that looked disjointed and uncomfortable from the outset. Bailed out by a missed header over the bar when beaten in the air in the first half.

DF Antonee Robinson, 2 -- Ugly night all around. Poor first touch. No ideas up the field beyond a series of inaccurate crosses. Looked uncomfortable and unsure.

MF Wil Trapp, 3 -- Gifted Jamaica the ball in the defensive third more than once, leading to a chance for the opposition. Passed competently, but lacked the aggressiveness needed.

MF Jackson Yueill, 4 -- A relatively calm presence in the middle of the field and the most accurate passer for the Americans through an hour of play, in part because of of an inability or unwilling to play the ball forward.

MF Cristian Roldan, 5 -- The most active and aggressive of the American front four without any end product. Had good ideas that didn't come off, largely an indictment of his teammates.

MF Djordje Mihailovic, 3 -- Missed passes all night when attempted to play in behind the Jamaican back line from his playmaker position. Unable to convert the best American chance of the game on a breakaway with time winding down.

FW Josh Sargent, 4 -- Looked lost with positioning. Limited touches. Had scuffed shot saved by a diving Andre Blake with the Americans chasing the game late.

Substitutes

MF Jonathan Amon, 5 -- Added energy and directness that helped the U.S. create danger in the final half-hour.

DF Nick Lima, 4 -- Clearly not comfortable in the hybrid right-back role. Popped up late with a chance to shoot but put the ball well over Jamaica's net.

MF Duane Holmes, NR -- Strong showing in a little more than 25 minutes. The only American willing to attack pockets of space in front of the Jamaican back line.

FW Joe Gyau, NR -- Got a handful of touches as a late sub.

DF Cameron Carter-Vickers, NR -- Bullied off the ball too easily. Missed a single pass in 18 minutes.

New Zealand 248 for 8 (Taylor 82, Williamson 40) beat Bangladesh 244 (Shakib 64, Henry 4-47) by two wickets

As it happened

Kane Williamson is not a man who telegraphs his emotions too readily. But the look of self-recrimination and fury in the eyes of New Zealand's captain was unmistakable after the most fleeting moment of arrogance in a supremely humble career managed to turn a calm and collected victory cruise into an agonising scramble across the line.

His side made it … just, by two wickets and with 17 balls to spare, as the bespectacled Mitchell Santner did his best Daniel Vettori impression to ride out a wave of Bangladeshi emotion - on the pitch and in the stands - piercing the covers one last time to end the agonies of the more senior batsmen in the pavilion and seal New Zealand's status as the first team in this competition to win back-to-back matches.

But the drama that preceded that moment of Kiwi catharsis had to be lived to be believed. The upshot may not have been the encore that the tiger-striped denizens of South London had been rooting for - once again they turned The Oval into a home-from-home to rival the West Indian support here in the 1970s and 80s - but there was plenty in their team's performance from which to take heart … not least the heart itself.

Broadly speaking, the rivalry between Bangladesh and New Zealand is characterised by mutual respect. They play one another more often than many sides, drawn together - as they are - by their relative lack of status compared to the big boys of their respective hemispheres. And for the best part of 80 overs of another slow-boiling epic at The Oval, New Zealand appeared to have successfully killed their opponents with kindness.

They had played a canny game in the field after winning the toss and bowling, going hard with the new ball as befits one of the most potent attacks in the game, before easing back through the middle overs and allowing Bangladesh the leeway to make their own mistakes. A steady drip of wickets stymied their initial hopes of another 300-plus total, and left them grateful to reach 244.

And then, in reply, New Zealand produced a similarly quick-slow approach with the bat - a pair of tub-thumping cameos from Martin Guptill and Colin Munro gave way to a poised and dignified 105-stand between Williamson and Ross Taylor, the side's elder statesmen whose eye for a gap in the covers just about managed to offset their ropey running - Williamson, on 7, ought to have been run out to leave New Zealand wobbling at 60 for 3, only for Mushfiqur Rahim to break the stumps in his eagerness to gather a shy that was set to do the job for him.

It looked at the time like a critical error, and for the next 100 runs, Bangladesh could only rue what might have been. At 160 for 2 after 31 overs, New Zealand needed 85 more in 19 overs, and the jeopardy of the contest appeared to have long since dissipated. But then, back into the attack came the flighted offspin of Mehedy Hasan, and something in Williamson's icy demeanour melted.

Perhaps he fleetingly allowed his thoughts to stray to that old chestnut, Net Run Rate - given the tightness of the table so far, some unlucky team is bound to find themselves ruing it at some stage. Or perhaps he simply under-estimated the whip of his own elastic wrists. But when Mehedy tossed one into his toes, Williamson succeeded only in a pinpoint flick to deep midwicket, and the ghost of a contest had been stirred.

By the end of the same over, New Zealand were 162 for 4, with Tom Latham gone as well for a duck, stunningly caught by the diving Mohammad Saifuddin at deep midwicket as he got greedy on a long-hop but failed to pick his spot. And suddenly Taylor, so fluent in reaching his 40-ball half-century, was patting back half-volleys and guarding his wicket with his life.

So long as he endured, New Zealand had the game more or less in their control. But on 82, having ground 13 runs from 24 balls since the start of the jitters, Taylor tickled a leg-stump turner from Mosaddek Hossain into the hands of Mushfiqur behind the stumps to deepen his team's gloom, whereupon Saifuddin took his own cue to rattle the lower-middle order.

Colin de Grandhomme had no answer to a brilliant slower-ball bouncer from Saifuddin, reflexively seeking to ramp it but toe-ending a vertical take-off for the vertically challenged Mushfiqur, and after Mosaddek had lured Jimmy Neesham into a death-or-glory slap to long-off without addition, Saifuddin stormed in once more, swinging a low full toss into Matt Henry's middle stump with seven runs still needed for victory.

Saifuddin's hurricane blew out soon afterwards, however. Back-to-back wides, the latter a misdirected yorker, gave way to a slender edge through third man to bring the scores level, whereupon Santner, as cool as the atmosphere was fervent, rifled his drive to finish on a vital 17 not out from 12.

There was disappointment, but little in the way of despondency, from Bangladesh's players at the end. In previous World Cup campaigns, they would have rued their ill-luck and chastised themselves for crucial missed moments, but they left the field knowing that they had hounded New Zealand every step of the way, and proven beyond any remaining doubt that they are no makeweights in this ten-team draw.

If there was any cause for regret in the post-mortem, it was that their batting had failed to ignite in the manner that it had done in their ODI-record total of 330 in the victory over South Africa. At 82 for 2 after 20 overs, they had laid an impressive platform and withstood the attentions of Trent Boult in particular, whose initial five-over spell was tight but wicketless.

But thereafter, they were stymied by the relentless dot-to-dot discipline of Santner's left-arm spin, whose ten overs for 41 were dented by a last-ball slap for six, before being pegged back by Matt Henry's aggressive four-wicket haul. Shakib Al Hasan top-scored with 64 before loosely chopping a long-hop to the keeper, but none of his top eight team-mates managed to emerge beyond the 20s - including Mushfiqur, whose run-out for 19 ended a 50-run stand for the third wicket that briefly had Bangladesh eyeing up 300.

But with a brilliant win and now a very near-miss against two of their apparent superiors, Bangladesh remain every bit as well placed for the semi-finals as any of the teams around them - including the one that has now broken out of the pack to record the first back-to-back wins of the tournament.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza defended Mushfiqur Rahim after he hit the stumps with his elbow when trying to run out Kane Williamson. The incident took place in the 12th over of the New Zealand innings when the Ross Taylor - Williamson partnership was at an embryonic stage.

As the two batsmen got involved in a mix-up, Tamim Iqbal threw the ball from mid-on with Williamson still well short of the crease and almost given up. But Mushfiqur took the ball in front of the stumps, with his feet behind, and tried to break the stumps. Straight away Tamim and Shakib reacted in a way that suggested they knew what had happened, while the rest of the stadium were cheering the big wicket.

Williamson and Taylor went on to add 105 runs for the third wicket, that set New Zealand in the right path.

Mashrafe, who was also following the ball closely during that incident, said that he wouldn't blame Mushfiqur for the mistake and expects him to bounce back from it quickly. He said that with the catches he had taken off Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme, Mushfiqur had already started to make amends.

"I don't think we need to go after Mushfiqur," Mashrafe said. "He was also trying hard to get him out. That throw was straight, but as a keeper it was hard to know if it was straight or not. Suddenly the stumps hit his elbow, but it happens. Mushfiqur is a professional player. He knows how to handle all of this. It is not as if this was the first mistake in Mushfiqur's life. Every player makes mistakes.

"For example, in the last match Soumya dropped a catch, but he has caught many difficult ones before that. I think that it can happen with Mushfiqur, and that it may happen again is a normal thing. We are not here to blame anyone, we are here to give our best. Even after that, the catches that Mushfiqur took off Ross Taylor and Grandhomme, those could have been turning points.

"I don't think there is a need to create pressure for anyone and neither do I think that he needs to think about this. If everything goes well in the next match, you will see that everything is fine again."

Mashrafe said that falling 30 runs short of their desired total was a bigger problem on the day. He said that Mushfiqur himself getting run out after a mix-up with Shakib, after they had added exactly 50 runs for the third wicket, was also a crucial point in the game.

"If you don't score big, you have to take all those chances. It happens in cricket. No one wants to make mistakes. I think the bigger mistakes was when we batted. If we managed to score 30 more runs, it could have been a different game.

"That run out [of Mushfiqur while batting] was the turning point. They both got set in that moment. Again, Shakib and Mithun had their partnership broken when they were putting it together. If any of those two partnerships had gone into eighties or a hundred, things would have been different," he said.

First ball of spin. Martin Guptill lifts Mehidy Hasan with the spin and wide of long-on, between the only two men allowed outside the circle. Six. This is the second over of the innings.

First ball of the next over of spin. Guptill sweeps a full ball from in front of the stumps, and beats the inner ring. Four. This is the fourth over of the innings.

First ball of the next over of spin. Guptill tries to hit Shakib Al Hasan inside-out with the spin, but the ball holds up and doesn't turn and runs off the inside half of the bat straight to long-on for a simple catch. Wicket. This is just the sixth over of the innings. Despite the scoreboard that says 35 for 0 in five overs in a chase of 245.

Colin Munro tries to slog-sweep Shakib early doors and is caught. Most out of character is how Kane Williamson ends up chipping a lob to deep midwicket after getting in.

There is nothing wrong per se in attacking spin. Sometimes you can lose wickets doing so, which comes with the territory, but you need to look within where the attacking shots came from. This chase - on a day that New Zealand bowled and fielded superbly to restrict Bangladesh to 244 in conditions that suited the opposition more - might suggest these shots came out of a lack of assurance against spin. Out of fear that Bangladesh could bowl 30 overs of it if they didn't get stuck into them early. They still ended up losing six wickets to spin 28 overs of spin that brought them 127 runs.

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All three of the shots Guptill played were low-percentage options even keeping in mind the field restrictions. More importantly they came without an assessment of what the pitch was doing, if the ball was stopping or gripping.

New Zealand's top-scorer, Ross Taylor, and Mitchell Santner, who scored a crucial unbeaten 17 to see them home, admitted they were put under pressure by the Bangladesh spinners. You could put James Neesham's dismissal down as one brought about by that pressure. Taylor and Tom Latham were slightly unfortunate: Latham hit a long hop down the throat of deep midwicket. Guptill and Munro seemingly didn't trust themselves to just milk the bowling. Williamson played a rare loose shot.

It will be disappointing for a side that countered India's wristspinners well in Indian conditions not too long ago. Other teams are watching. Expect Afghanistan, their next opponents, and India and Pakistan later to bowl a lot of spin at New Zealand. Especially if the pitch is as slow as the one at The Oval. It was slower than it looked it would be, and it was also slower than the one New Zealand played their warm-up game on.

"At the toss we thought the pitch would play quicker than it did," Santner said. "It was slower than we thought, and obviously when a side has world-class spinners like Bangladesh do, you have to take that into account. It is [about] the way we are able to rotate the spinners and then put some pressure back on by hitting the bad ball. I guess through the middle there it might have been [about] soaking up a bit more pressure than we did and then try to cash in later. But credit has to go to Bangladesh, the way they bowled."

And this was a pitch that didn't really have much turn; it was just slow. "If Taunton spins, it is right up Afghanistan's alley," Santner said. "We have to reflect on the way we played against spin tonight and then try and move on and find ways to counter what happened. Nice to get over the line today but we have to park that and move on pretty quickly."

Compare it to how India approached a similarly small run chase on the same day 80 miles southwest of The Oval, at the Hampshire Bowl. If this pitch was slow, that pitch was in theory more difficult to bat on with the help it had for the seamers. India chose to ride out the storm because they believed South Africa had only one wicket-taking threat in Kagiso Rabada. Chris Morris's effectiveness must have come as a surprise to them but India didn't look to hit out against either of them.

In the end, India achieved a clinical win by six wickets, a word Taylor used often in his press conference. In that New Zealand were not as clinical as they would have wanted to be. The difference here, perhaps, was that New Zealand knew Bangladesh had three spinners. They might have got lucky with an lbw call in the dying moments, but generally they were at the wrong end of it.

On another day Taylor would have clipped that wide down the leg side for a couple to fine leg instead of edging it for a catch at the wicket, and New Zealand would have won by six wickets. There wouldn't have been the tension of a two-wicket win. They wouldn't have let the crowd back into the game - although when really are Bangladesh crowds out of it? - and wouldn't have had to finish the game off in atmosphere resembling "Chittagong". It is tense if Trent Boult has had his pads on.

But all of this happened, and that should leave New Zealand unhappy with this chase. They batted like a side that didn't believe it had a middling chase under control even though Taylor later said that it was as straightforward as batting out the 50 overs. They will be happy with the bowling effort in conditions not ideal for their style, with the fielding, with the calm they found in the tense finale, but they will be leaving themselves open to reverses if they don't work hard on their batting against spin.