Nashville Predators general manager Chris MacFarland hasn't done himself any favors by trading Luke Evangelista.
A forward who just had a career season as a 24-year-old? A unanimous fan favorite, once named one of Nashville's 25 "Most Beautiful People"? A key piece of the top-six forward group and a supposed part of the team's future?
And you trade him for two draft picks?
"This decision was not made lightly," MacFarland said after news of the trade with the New Jersey Devils broke in the evening of Sept. 1.
"These are some of the toughest moves that you have to do," he said. "A good player that has a lot of cachet with the organization for a few years, a dang good person, and he's done a good job here playing hockey for the Predators."

#good #predators #forward #evangelista

The Devils traded a conditional first-round pick and a second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft to the Nashville Predators to acquire forward Luke Evangelista on Tuesday night, the team announced.
Evangelista had a career-high 56 points (12 goals, 44 ******* ists) in 81 games last season in his fourth year with the Predators who drafted him in the second-round (42nd overall) in 2020. In 253 career games, the 6-foot, 183-pounder has 142 points on 45 goals and 97 ******* ists with a plus-6 rating.
The 24-year-old will be owed $3 million this season for the final year of his contract.
As for the details of what New Jersey is sending Nashville, the conditional draft pick belongs to the Colorado Avalanche. If the Avalanche do not transfer their 2027 pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs or the choice in 2028 is in the top 10, the Predators' pick will be in 2029.

#pick #evangelista #Avalanche

Longtime Nashville sports radio personalities Greg Pogue and Darren McFarland are teaming up for a new sports talk radio show.
The "Greg Pogue & Darren McFarland Show" will air weekdays from 10 a.m. CT until noon on ESPN Radio 94.9-FM The Fan starting Aug. 24.
Between the two, Pogue and McFarland have more than 50 years of sports talk radio experience in Nashville. The show will cover local sports from high schools to the pros.
Along with serving as a host or co-host on several shows over the years, Pogue handles play-by-play for the Tennessee State football team and Middle Tennessee State women's basketball team.
McFarland has served as a pregame and postgame host on the Nashville Predators Radio Network for a decade. In 2011, he was host of the first daily sports talk show on 94.9's sister station 102.5 The Game, which will celebrate its 15th year on Aug. 29.

#mcfarland #show #nashville #talk

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's statement against Elon Musk has sparked political career rumors. According to an expert, the ***** ss of Sussex could allegedly be trying to move into politics with this move. Previously, the Sussexes released a lengthy statement through their charitable organization, Archewell Philanthropies. In it, they criticized the trillionaire's company X for failing to protect women and kids from online "predators."
Meghan Markle sparked rumors about opting for a political career after the Elon Musk statement. During a News24 interview, TalkTV host Samara Gill questioned if the ***** ss is "trying to sort of launch a political career." The discussion started when reporter Danica De Giorgio asked her opinion on the Sussexes intervening in the Minnesota lawsuit drama. They questioned why Markle would grab attention through a controversial statement when she often reportedly requested "privacy."
Gill claimed that Markle and Harry "constantly invade their own privacy." Furthermore, she wondered why the Sussexes got "so political" with their statement berating Musk's move against the Minnesota lawsuit. "Is Meghan trying to sort of launch a political career potentially? Is this her going for governor of California?"
On the other hand, Gill also thought that Markle and Harry might just have wanted to have "an opinion about absolutely everything." She and Giorgio then advised the non-working royals not to intervene in the political matter.
For those unversed, Harry and Markle released a statement, more like an article, on their official Archewell Philanthropies website. The ***** le read, "Can we all agree technology should not enable predators to target children?" Meanwhile, the content was about Minnesota passing a "ban on AI 'nudification' apps." They also mentioned a "trillionaire leader of the tech company responsible for X's Grok" trying to stop the law. Although they didn't name Musk directly, the line made it evident.

#markle #statement #meghan #trying

DONNAS, Italy (AP) — The iridescent green beetles native to ******* an have become a growing menace in Italy, swarming through orchards and vineyards and leaving behind devastating lattice patterns in leaves that weaken the plants and reduce production.
The Popillia ******* onica, or ******* anese beetle, is a familiar pest in the United States, where it arrived more than a century ago.
But it is a relative newcomer to the European continent, first detected near Milan's Malpensa airport in 2014. In Italy, it has already swarmed through the northeastern regions of Lombardy, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, where it appeared last year in terraced vineyards above the town of Donnas.
"We're seeing the popillia steadily advance from terrace to terrace across our historic vineyards," said Luciano Zoppo Ronzero, a winemaker who produces Nebbiolo from the terraced vines. "We're now about the 10th terrace and can already see the popillia attacks. This means they're consuming and gradually moving up the mountain."
With no natural predators and an appetite covering over 300 plants and trees, the ******* anese beetle has made the European Union's list of priority pests, meaning that efforts must be made to contain and eradicate outbreaks.

Chris MacFarland was busy on July 1, adding three players in his first free agency day as Nashville Predators general manager.
After adding forwards Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Nils Hoglander, and Adam Edstrom in June, MacFarland added center Mavrik Bourque, defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and winger Alex Kerfoot when free agency opened. The Predators now have seven new faces in the locker room headed into the 2026-27 season.
But while MacFarland made the Predators deeper and more talented, he has invited a new problem. With at least 26 players under contract for next season, how do you get down to 23 by opening night?
"It's going to require some tough decisions," MacFarland told reporters at Bridgestone Arena on July 1. "Moving some players that maybe you wouldn't normally look to move in order to improve key areas of the ice."
Here are three candidates for Nashville to trade, ranked by likeliness to be moved.

Chris MacFarland was busy on July 1, adding three players in his first free agency day as Nashville Predators general manager.
After adding forwards Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Nils Hoglander, and Adam Edstrom in June, MacFarland added center Mavrik Bourque, defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and winger Alex Kerfoot when free agency opened. The Predators now have seven new faces in the locker room headed into the 2026-27 season.
But while MacFarland made the Predators deeper and more talented, he has invited a new problem. With at least 26 players under contract for next season, how do you get down to 23 by opening night?
"It's going to require some tough decisions," MacFarland told reporters at Bridgestone Arena on July 1. "Moving some players that maybe you wouldn't normally look to move in order to improve key areas of the ice."
Here are three candidates for Nashville to trade, ranked by likeliness to be moved.

NHL free agency begins at 11 a.m. Central on July 1 with a class lacking at the top.
The available free agents have been pared down over the last couple weeks from a perceived weak class. Alex Tuch (Washington) and Darren Raddysh (Toronto) each signed new deals with teams following trades before July 1.
Notable names in the class include goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, defensemen John Carlson and Rasmus Andersson and forwards Alex Ovechkin, Anders Lee and Patrick Kane.
The Nashville Predators open free agency with $17.8 million in cap ***** e, according to Puckpedia. Erik Haula is the most notable Predators player headed to free agency. Nashville has shored up its forward depth with a couple trades over the 10 days, including acquiring and extending center Jack Drury.
Across the league, the most notable news might come from the trade market. Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski reportedly nixed a trade to Dallas, Sportsnet reported on June 30, by invoking the no-movement clause in his contract.

NHL free agency begins at 11 a.m. Central on July 1 with a class lacking at the top.
The available free agents have been pared down over the last couple weeks from a perceived weak class. Alex Tuch (Washington) and Darren Raddysh (Toronto) each signed new deals with teams following trades before July 1.
Notable names in the class include goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, defensemen John Carlson and Rasmus Andersson and forwards Alex Ovechkin, Anders Lee and Patrick Kane.
The Nashville Predators open free agency with $17.8 million in cap ***** e, according to Puckpedia. Erik Haula is the most notable Predators player headed to free agency. Nashville has shored up its forward depth with a couple trades over the 10 days, including acquiring and extending center Jack Drury.
Across the league, the most notable news might come from the trade market. Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski reportedly nixed a trade to Dallas, Sportsnet reported on June 30, by invoking the no-movement clause in his contract.

Michigan State hockey's 2026-27 roster just got a massive boost. During development camp with the Nashville Predators, defense commit Tommy Bleyl mentioned that he would be joining the Spartans roster this upcoming fall.
Bleyl was selected with the No. 31 overall pick in the first round of last weekends NHL Entry Draft. A 6-foot, 190 pound right shot defenseman, he is a native of Schenectady, New York. This past season with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL, Bleyl finished with 13 goals and 68 ***** ists in 63 games.
It was expected that Bleyl was going to return to Moncton for the 2026-27 season, before heading to East Lansing in 2027-28, but it now appears that those plans have changed.
Contact/Follow us The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on X Rex_Linzy
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU hockey's roster to receive massive boost from NHL first rounder

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville Predators signed forward Jack Drury to a five-year, $22.5 million contract on Sunday night, four days after he was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche.
The 26-year-old Drury had a career-high 10 goals last season and matched his personal best with 27 points while playing in all 82 regular-season games for the Avalanche.
He was acquired by the Predators on Wednesday along with forward Chase Bradley and a third-round pick in the 2029 NHL draft from the Avalanche for forwards Zachary L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov.
“Jack Drury is a hard-working, reliable, full-sheet of the ice center who can handle the tough **** ignments while being elite in the faceoff circle,” Predators general manager and president of hockey operations Chris MacFarland said after the trade. “His addition to our forward group bolsters our depth in the middle of the ice, and we’re thrilled to have him.”
Drury established himself as one of the NHL's top faceoff players by winning 58.1% of his draws — the fifth-highest percentage among players who took at least 900 faceoffs last season. He also had three goals and two **** ists in 13 playoff games while helping the Avalanche reach the Western Conference Final.

The Nashville Predators have made a third trade in the 2026 NHL Draft.
After trading up to get Tommy Bleyl on Day 1, then adding forward Adam Edstrom from the New York Rangers, the Predators have traded the No. 160 pick (fifth round) to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fifth-round pick in the 2028 draft.
This is a simple pick swap, with the Predators punting the pick to next year.
The Predators now have nine picks in the 2026 NHL Draft. Here's every pick as they happen:
No. 10 (1st round): RW Wyatt Cullen (U.S. National Team Development Program)

The Nashville Predators, Tennessee **** ans and Nashville Soccer Club have partnered to build a massive sports-focused development in Franklin, according to a June 23 news release from the lead developer.
Brentwood, Tennessee-based BLVD Capital has proposed plans to build a hockey facility, football, soccer and lacrosse fields, a golf course and driving range at Brownland Farm. The 233-acre property is currently an equestrian facility.
The project, to be named The Banks at Brownland, would also include a partnership with Christ Community Church to provide a permanent facility for GraceWorks Ministries, a faith-based nonprofit organization serving Williamson County.
“Brownland Farm is a Franklin treasure, and we are pleased to bring forward a potential plan that would allow the property to be used for youth sports and fill a void for these types of facilities in Williamson County,” BLVD Capital Principal Jim Darter said in a news release.
According to the development team, the owners of Brownland are partners on the project and are working to relocate their equestrian facility offsite. Other partners include Landon Gibbs of Altitude Real Estate and David Atchison of The Riverstone Group.

The Nashville Predators have acquired center Jack Drury from the Colorado Avalanche in a trade that includes forwards Zach L'Heureux and Fedor Svechkov.
In the trade, the Predators are getting Drury, a 2029 third-round pick, and forward Chase Bradley. The Avalanche are getting Svechkov and L'Heureux, both former first-round picks by the Predators.
This story will be updated.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. He never uses artificial intelligence when developing or drafting stories. Contact Alex atjdaughertygannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators acquire Avs' Jack Drury for Fedor Svechkov, Zach L'Heureux

RIO RANCHO — Zack Stortini wasn’t naive. Certainly not to the business of professional hockey.
Before the 2018-19 season came to an end, the right-winger, the one who made his livelihood as an enforcer protecting his team’s best player and punishing whoever was across the ice, knew his playing career was coming to an end.
“More days behind you than ahead of you,” reminisced Stortini, the 40-year-old who was introduced Saturday as the first coach of the expansion New Mexico Goatheads, the East Coast Hockey League minor-league affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche at a fan event hosted by The Block in Rio Rancho.
Experience — 14 professional seasons of it — taught him that. From the parts of the six he spent in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers and the Nashville Predators to the hodgepodge of American Hockey League stops that had him crisscrossing North America.
He spent time in Des Moines, Iowa; Milwaukee; Hamilton, Ontario; Springfield, Massachusetts; Oklahoma City; Norfolk, Virginia; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Birmingham, Alabama; San Jose; and Charlotte, North Carolina and countless other cities in between.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter Laviolette will be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The ***** ociated Press on Monday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Kings hadn't yet announced the results of their lengthy search for a permanent replacement for interim coach D.J. Smith, who replaced Jim Hiller in March.
The 61-year-old Laviolette is expected to get a three-year contract to take over his seventh NHL team. The Kings have made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, but they've also endured five straight first-round exits under three head coaches and two general managers.
Laviolette is returning to the NHL after being fired by the New York Rangers in April 2025. He has also led the New York Islanders, Carolina, Philadelphia, Nashville and Washington during a 23-year head coaching career highlighted by a Stanley Cup championship with the Hurricanes in 2006.
Laviolette's teams have reached the postseason in 11 of the past 14 seasons he finished behind a bench, and he also led the Flyers (2010) and the Predators (2017) to the Stanley Cup Final. His 1,594 career games coached are the ninth most in NHL history.

Assistant general manager and director of hockey operations Brian Poile is leaving the Nashville Predators, the team announced on June 5.
Poile is the son of former general manager David Poile. A team spokesperson told The Tennessean that David Poile, the team's first ever GM who retired in 2023, will remain a senior advisor with the team.
The news comes two days after Chris MacFarland was introduced as the team's president of hockey operations and general manager.
"On behalf of the entire Predators organization, I want to thank Brian for his commitment and contributions to our franchise for almost 16 years, including the last eight as ***** istant general manager," MacFarland said in a team release.
Brian Poile joined the Predators in 2010 as director of hockey operations, then was named ***** istant general manager in May 2018. According to the team, Poile was responsible for fiscal and strategic planning; player and staff personnel decisions; and player contract negotiation and salary arbitration. He also ***** isted in managing the roster, player payroll, team budgets, salary cap, ***** ytics, and collective bargaining agreement compliance.

Naming Chris MacFarland president of hockey operations and general manager on June 2 begins a new era for the Nashville Predators.
After a lengthy search, majority owner Bill Haslam secured his top target in MacFarland, hiring him away from the Colorado Avalanche, where he served as general manager since 2022.
MacFarland didn't reveal much about his short term intentions for the Predators. Frequently referencing an upcoming "deep dive" into the roster, he anticipates meeting with the team's front office and scouting staff in the coming weeks before the 2026 NHL Draft on June 26.
MacFarland also talked about meeting the Predators' coaching staff, including Andrew Brunette. What he said could suggest his strategy in the coming months.
Though both MacFarland and Brunette have been involved in the NHL to some degree for over 26 years, somehow the two never connected professionally prior to now.

Naming Chris MacFarland president of hockey operations and general manager on June 2 begins a new era for the Nashville Predators.
After a lengthy search, majority owner Bill Haslam secured his top target in MacFarland, hiring him away from the Colorado Avalanche, where he served as general manager since 2022.
MacFarland didn't reveal much about his short term intentions for the Predators. Frequently referencing an upcoming "deep dive" into the roster, he anticipates meeting with the team's front office and scouting staff in the coming weeks before the 2026 NHL Draft on June 26.
MacFarland also talked about meeting the Predators' coaching staff, including Andrew Brunette. What he said could suggest his strategy in the coming months.
Though both MacFarland and Brunette have been involved in the NHL to some degree for over 26 years, somehow the two never connected professionally prior to now.

The post A Major Revision to the Story of Large Shark Evolution appeared first on A-Z Animals.
Large-body sharks in the Lamniformes family appeared 15 million years earlier than science previously claimed.
Understanding shark evolution can be difficult because sharks are cartilaginous, so only their vertebrae and teeth survive fossilization.
A richly biodiverse ocean during the Late Cretaceous period allowed gigantic sharks to coexist with other apex predators.
As a shark tooth and fossil hunting enthusiast, I often have people ask me why I find fossils so fascinating. To me, the answer is

Dogs are humanity's best friend, and this is partially because we've bred them to better suit our preferences and needs. The Alaskan Malamute and Komondor, for example, were intentionally bred to serve specific roles (pulling sleds across the Arctic and guarding sheep from predators, respectively, in these two cases). It's not just breeding that can produce new types of dogs, though. The harrowing damage to the ecosystem left in the infamous Chernobyl disaster's wake may be contributing, too.
The April 1986 calamity caused ecological damage so severe that it will continue to scar the land for

Every animal with a brain needs sleep — and even a few without a brain do, too. Humans sleep, birds sleep, whales sleep and even jellyfish sleep.
Sleep is universal “even though it’s actually very risky,” said Paul-Antoine Libourel, a researcher at the Neuroscience Research Center of Lyon in France.
When animals nod off, they're most vulnerable to sneaky predators. But despite the risks, the need for sleep is so strong that no creature can skip it altogether, even when it's highly inconvenient.
Animals that navigate extreme conditions and environments have evolved to sleep in extreme ways —