Nikita Kucherov Set to Become Extension Eligible on July 1
William EspyTue, June 30, 2026 at 9:16 PM UTC·1 min readWhile Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois has quite a bit of work to get done as he looks to improve the Bolts ahead of the 2026-27 season, he'll have another major piece of business to attend to as well. As of July 1, star forward Nikita Kucherov will officially enter the final year of his current contract, meaning he'll be eligible to sign a new contract extension.
Kucherov will likely receive quite a pay raise from his current cap hit of $9.5 million. At 33 years of age, the term will likely be much shorter than his current deal, but as we've seen with players like Brad Marchand in Florida, some players well into their 30s can still demand long-term contracts.
Kucherov has been winning quite a bit of hardware since entering his 30s, as he's won the Art Ross Trophy in two of the last three seasons and was most recently named the winner of the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.
LeBron James’ incredibly sneaky tactic to protect Bronny’s future before blockbuster Lakers decision
What LeBron James leaving Lakers means for Bronny James- US News
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Skip to main content NBALeBron James’ incredibly sneaky tactic to protect Bronny’s future before blockbuster Lakers decision
By Ryan Anderson Published June 30, 2026, 6:35 p.m. ETSee more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The California Post on GoogleLeBron James made it clear he wanted to play in the NBA with his son. The Lakers made that happen by drafting Bronny James. Now that LeBron is leaving Los Angeles, Bronny’s future with the Lakers is suddenly much less clear.
With LeBron informing the Lakers that he will play elsewhere during the 2026-27 season, attention quickly shifted to what the decision means for his son. Bronny is entering his third NBA season and remains under contract with Los Angeles after the remainder of his salary for next season became fully guaranteed.
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That detail matters.
Bronny is set to make more than $2.2 million next season on the four-year deal he signed after the Lakers selected him with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. While his future has always been viewed through the lens of playing alongside his father, the Lakers are not required to move him just because LeBron is leaving.
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In fact, keeping him may be the simpler option.
Bronny has made gradual progress since entering the league. After spending much of his rookie season developing with the South Bay Lakers, he appeared in 42 games during the 2025-26 season and earned limited playoff minutes against the Rockets and Thunder. His numbers remain modest, but his 3-point shooting improved, and he has shown signs of becoming a useful defensive guard off the bench.
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For a Lakers team now moving forward around Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, cheap backcourt depth still offers plenty of value. Bronny is not expensive, is still only 21 and has a team option for the 2027-28 season.
The more complicated scenario would involve Bronny joining LeBron’s next team.
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Golden State has been heavily linked to LeBron, especially after Draymond Green declined his player option to help create flexibility. If the Warriors also make a push for Anthony Davis, they would likely need inexpensive contracts around a top-heavy roster built around Stephen Curry, LeBron, Davis and Green. In that case, Bronny’s low salary could make theoretical sense.
But the Lakers would have to cooperate in a trade. And they are no longer in the business of keeping James content.
For now, the most likely outcome is that Bronny stays in Los Angeles and continues trying to carve out his own NBA role.
LeBron’s Lakers chapter is over. Bronny’s may not be.
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Three players the Rangers could target in NHL free agency
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Three players the Rangers could target in NHL free agency
By Michael Blinn Published June 30, 2026, 6:31 p.m. ET
Three players the Rangers could target when NHL free agency opens on Wednesday, July 1 at noon ET:
Teddy Blueger, Center
In need of a fourth-line center following Sam Carrick’s departure via trade last season, the Rangers could turn to a reliable two-way skater in Blueger. He would boost the penalty kill and the team’s faceoff percentage.
Mats Zuccarello, Right Wing
There has yet to be a better winger for Mika Zibanejad than Zuccarello, who played alongside the Swede for multiple years before the team entered a rebuild and he was traded to Dallas in February 2019. At 38, Zuccarello has proven he can still produce, and a one-year deal is feasible for the Rangers.
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Woman secretly livestreamed more than 700 hours of her ex-husband using his Ring cameras
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Inset: Rayna Bell in court. Background: Ring camera footage showing Rayna Bell's ex-husband being spied on in his California home (KNSD/YouTube).
A California woman has admitted to using her ex-husband's Ring cameras to spy on him, with court documents saying she livestreamed more than 700 hours of the man and his family from inside his home.
Rayna Bell pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor charge of eavesdropping using an electronic device, according to court records. She was ordered to pay restitution as part of the plea deal and must serve one day in custody, with credit for time served and one year of probation.
Sign up for the Law&Crime Daily Newsletter for more breaking news and updatesA request for a "domestic violence restraining order" filed by the ex-husband, obtained by local NBC affiliate KNSD, accused Bell of "unlawfully accessing" her ex's private Ring camera system last year and linking his account to half a dozen Amazon Alexa devices that were registered to her.
"[Bell] viewed video footage for approximately 44,640 minutes — an average of 12 hours per day — over the span of two months," the request said. "These devices include cameras inside and outside my home, including our children's rooms. Her unauthorized access violated both my privacy and the safety of my household."
The ex-husband and his family told KNSD they first noticed something was wrong after hearing a voice coming from one of the cameras.
"It was his ex-wife's voice," recounted the man's fiancee, Acacia Young. "We tried so hard to try to restore the peace, the security, the privacy. Once you are robbed of that, it's almost impossible to try to restore that in your home."
According to the restraining order request, the footage that Bell "live viewed" and recorded included "deeply personal and private moments, such as my fiancee breastfeeding our newborn, nudity and partially undressed footage of our children … in vulnerable settings."
The recordings were "deeply invasive" and deemed as possible child exploitation by the ex-husband, according to KNSD.
"[Bell] also accessed and recorded confidential household conversations, including private discussions between my fiancée and me regarding our finances, credit card numbers, banking details, Social Security information, medical records, medical health history, and other protected health and identity-related data," the request charged. "Her conduct constitutes a serious invasion of privacy and potential identity theft."
Bell did not respond to KNSD's requests for comment. Her ex-husband plans to take legal action against her in civil court.
"You're always going to feel like they can do it again," Young said. "Or if they had the opportunity, they would do it again."
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Brendan Sorsby will not pursue path to NFL in 2026, QB to prepare for 2027 draft
Former Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is accepting the consequences for his gambling problems and will sit out both the collegiate and NFL seasons in 2026.
After his effort to join the NFL in a supplemental draft this summer failed, Sorsby will not seek litigation against the NFL and will be eligible for the 2027 NFL Draft, per CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones. The league won't punish Sorsby further for his known gambling conduct on top of what's unofficially a one-year suspension from football. Per the settlement between the NFL, the NFL Players' Association and Sorsby, he will be allowed to take part in the Senior Bowl, pro day and team visits in the lead up to the 2027 like any other draft-eligible prospect, per ESPN.
Sorsby released the following statement on the decision:
"There has been a lot of news about me out there, and I want to share this statement to make sure things are clear. I accept 100% responsibility for my actions. I did not have control of my gambling problem, and it took getting caught for me to realize that, but it was truly the best thing that could've happened to me. Because of this, I have been able to get the help I need and fully focus on my recovery.
"The news about the supplemental draft changes nothing about my recovery journey. I will continue to take it one day at a time. Focusing on making myself better throughout this process and making sure to share what I have learned and will continue to learn with others going forward. I am fully committed to being the best version of myself that I can be while getting ready for the 2027 draft. God makes no mistakes, and I look forward to seeing the good that is to come from this."
Sorsby's 2026 has been a winding road to lead up to this decision. He transferred to Texas Tech as the transfer portal's No. 2 overall prospect, per 247 Sports on Jan. 4, after earning first-team All-Big 12 honors at Cincinnati in 2025, thanks to leading the conference in passer efficiency rating (155.1). The NCAA then alerted Texas Tech of Sorsby's gambling activity on April 14, which led to the quarterback entering a gambling rehab facility in Arizona on April 27. He then filed for his collegiate reinstatement on May 18 after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA for thousands of bets placed during his four-year college football career. On June 8, he found a Texas judge willing to grant him an injunction to the NCAA's decision to make him ineligible, which appeared to clear a path for him to play for Texas Tech in 2026. Sorsby then decided to walk away from his college career to join the NFL via a supplemental draft this summer, after the Big 12 pursued legal action against him and Texas Tech on June 15.
| 45-plus pass TD and 1,000-plus rush yards in two-year span, Big 12 history | Two-year span |
|---|---|
Brendan Sorsby (CIN) | 2024-2025 |
Sam Ehlinger (TEX) | 2018-2020 |
Kyler Murray (OKLA) | 2017-2018 |
Trevone Boykin (TCU) | 2014-2015 |
Robert Griffin III (BAY) | 2010-2011 |
Colt McCoy (TEX) | 2007-2008 |
Zac Robinson (OKST) | 2007-2008 |
CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson views Sorsby as a potential first-round talent, and he now has a year to prove his worth through a year of training on his own while staying squeaky clean off the field.
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