Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin is recovering from surgery to repair his torn right ACL.

The 26-year-old Swede sustained the knee injury in a 6-3 win at Pittsburgh on April 11.

The typical timeline for a recovery from ACL surgery is an estimated six to nine months.

Sandin finished the season with 29 points (five goals, 24 assists) and a plus-4 rating in 73 games. He was third on the team with 127 blocks.

A first-round pick by Toronto in 2018, Sandin has 145 points (25 goals, 120 assists) through 382 career games with the Maple Leafs and Capitals.

–Field Level Media

The Dallas Cowboys will make wide receiver George Pickens play the 2026 season under the franchise tag, chief operating officer Stephen Jones said Wednesday.

“We’ve made a decision,” Jones told reporters in a pre-draft press conference. “… There won’t be negotiations on a long-term deal.”

The Cowboys placed the franchise tag on Pickens Feb. 27, the first time they had done so since 2022 with tight end Dalton Schultz.

Pickens, 25, would earn a guaranteed $27.3 million in 2026 under the tag, which he has not yet signed.

Jones said last week he had not received any trade inquiries about Pickens, who caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards with nine touchdowns in 17 games (15 starts) in his first season with the Cowboys in 2025.

The Steelers selected Pickens in the second round of the 2022 draft and he played his first three seasons in Pittsburgh. Pickens has produced 267 receptions, 4,270 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns in 65 games (55 starts).

–Field Level Media

Ryder Cup organizers are defending nearly doubling ticket prices for the 2027 event in Limerick, Ireland, from the last time Europe hosted the event in 2023.

Daily tickets to Adare Manor Golf Club, which will go on sale to Irish residents Friday before opening for the rest of the world in a ballot June 3, will be the most expensive in European Ryder Cup history at 499 euros ($584.45 USD). That’s a steep increase from the 260 euros ($304.54) that a daily ticket cost for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.

“We acknowledge it’s an increase from Rome,” Richard Atkinson, the European Tour Group’s chief Ryder Cup officer, told BBC.

“That was four years ago and a lot has happened in the world since then. We are lower than Bethpage. We’ve tried to make this as accessible as possible to a wide demographic of people. Our practice day tickets will be from 89 euros and juniors from 20 euros.

“Our prices are proportionate to a global sporting event. This event has grown in stature and profile, it’s one of the biggest sporting events in the world. We’re confident in our pricing but we’ve made it accessible to everyone.”

Daily tickets for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black Golf Course in Farmingdale, N.Y., cost $750 USD (640.34 euros).

This will be the first Ryder Cup in Ireland since the K Club in Kildare hosted the 2006 event. It also has a chance to be a historic one as Luke Donald seeks to become the first captain to lead his team to three straight Ryder Cup titles after Europe became the first visiting side to win since 2012 with its 15-13 victory in the U.S. last year.

Regarding the price hike, Atkinson discussed a number of ways in which officials are attempting to make the 2027 event the most fan-friendly Ryder Cup Europe has ever hosted.

“We have significant focus on the fan experience on site and from the moment the people arrive at 6:30 in the morning, they’ll be entertained not only by 24 of the best golfers in the world but also outside of the ropes, we’ll have an extensive entertainment program to keep the fans engaged,” he said. “We’ll have over 20,000 grandstand seats at Adare, that’s a record for any European Ryder Cup, we’ll have big screens on every hole.”

Higher prices don’t seem to be affecting the interest level. Atkinson told BBC that even before tickets go on sale, demand has been quite high as they expect about 250,000 fans in attendance over the course of the week.

“We’ve already had over a half a million people register their interest for tickets, so that tells you how significant the demand is,” Atkinson said.

“This is likely to be one of the largest we’ve ever delivered and one of the largest events to come to the island of Ireland so we couldn’t be more excited.”

–Field Level Media