before making his decision.Yahoo Sports first reported thee agreement.ddddddddddddThe Heat agreed to terms on a four-year, $98 million contract with center Hassan Whiteside on Friday, and W

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- With defenseman Hampus Lindholm finally under contract, the Anaheim Ducks will seek their fourth win in five games when they play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night at the Honda Center.Lindholm, a restricted free agent, signed a six-year contract worth $31.5 million on Thursday. The agreement makes Lindholm the Ducks highest-paid defenseman after he led the team with 115 blocked shots while scoring 10 goals last season.Im really happy to be back in Anaheim, Lindholm said on a conference call from his native Sweden. Theres where Ive been all my career so Im really happy to be back with the team and everyone.But before Lindholm rejoins the team, the 22-year-old Swede must get a work visa while general manager Bob Murray resolves the salary-cap problems resulting from the deal.Capfriendly.com calculates that Anaheim exceeds the salary cap by $1.4 million, even after placing defenseman Simon Despres and center Nate Thompson on long-term injured reserve. Nevertheless, Murray believes re-signing Lindholm was imperative to maintaining the Ducks status as contenders.It solidifies this organization, Murray told NHL.com. Hampus is a really good young hockey player. Hes part of the future of this franchise. Hes only going to get better.Murray also implied that Lindholms signing represents at least the beginning of the Ducks last stand with their current roster.We wanted to get it at a fair number for the organization so we could try to move forward with this group as best we can, he told NHL.com. I wanted to give this group another shot. Im going to do everything in my power to keep it that way.That includes managing the salary cap while concentrating on winning the teams second Stanley Cup.Its going to be an interesting experience, Murray told NHL.com. But Im going to do the best I can to give this group one last shot at this.Another recently signed restricted free agent, center Rickard Rakell, practiced with his teammates for the first time Wednesday. Rakell agreed to another six-year contract worth $22.8 million on Oct. 14. But Rakell will not be ready for Friday nights game. Center Ryan Getzlaf might miss his second consecutive contest after a shot hit him in the left forearm Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks.Columbus enters the game after Thursday nights 3-1 loss in San Jose. The Blue Jackets 2-3-1 record provides a radical contrast from last years 0-8 start, and reflects a renewed emphasis on conditioning to deal with the NHLs increasing speed.Everybody looks quicker, Columbus forward Nick Foligno told the Columbus Dispatch. To a guy, you definitely feel quicker and lighter on your skates. But its more than that, too. Its the way were playing. Were trying to play faster and think faster and be faster with our heads, not just faster with our feet.Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella believes mental quickness can compensate for physical speed.If youre even a little bit slower than the other teams -- as far as just foot speed -- but you have a mindset of playing quick, I think you can be a quick team, Tortorella told the Dispatch. Were certainly trying to play quick.That quickness begins with the Blue Jackets defensemen sending the puck up the ice more rapidly and avoiding lateral passes. Tortorella described his goal using a metaphorical compass.Were just trying to be as north-south as we can, he told the Dispatch, and try to get away from going D to D and traveling east to west as much.USA Soccer Store . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Fake USA Soccer Jerseys . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/ . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Cheap USA Soccer Jerseys . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record.Tyler Johnson, who was undrafted two years ago, is about to become a $50 million man.A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Johnson has agreed to sign a $50 million, four-year offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets later this week.The talks are ongoing and nothing is finalized, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract cannot be signed until Thursday. Once its signed, the Miami Heat -- the team that Johnson has played with for the last two seasons -- would have three days to match the terms, which would appear unlikely given the way the deal is currently structured.Johnson would make about $6 million annually in the first two years of the deal, then average about $19 million in each of the final two years of the contract. He met with several teams in Chicago in the past few days before making his decision.Yahoo Sports first reported thee agreement.ddddddddddddThe Heat agreed to terms on a four-year, $98 million contract with center Hassan Whiteside on Friday, and Whiteside quickly congratulated Johnson on the still-not-completed deal when word came Sunday of the agreement.Whiteside wrote, man i going to miss you bro.Johnson responded, crazy how the world works.Johnson made an average of about $500,000 in each of his first two NBA seasons, yet in this never-before-seen era of a massive $94.1 million salary cap for this coming season -- with more increases to come -- he will soon become locked into life-changing money.Johnson was undrafted out of Fresno State two years ago and has averaged 7.4 points in 68 games with the Heat over two seasons. Johnson shot 49 percent last season, up from 42 percent in his rookie year. ' ' '