The Utah Mammoth have signed center Logan Cooley to an eight-year, $80 million contract extension, locking in one of their brightest young stars for the long term.

Cooley, 21, leads the Mammoth in goals (8) and is tied for second in points (12) in 11 games, helping to power the second-year team to first place in the Central Division (8-3-0). He is on a four-game point streak with six goals and three assists, including a goal in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers that snapped the Mammoth’s seven-game winning streak.

He became the first player in NHL history to score each of his first eight goals of the season in the first period.

“Choosing to play with this group of teammates was the easiest part of this decision, and living in Utah has been amazing since day one,” Cooley said in a statement. “The atmosphere at the Delta Center in front of our fans is unreal and Ryan and Ashley Smith have given our team every resource to succeed, which is all you can ask for as a player. We have an opportunity to do something special here thanks to the incredible people in the organization. This is an awesome day for me and my family, and I am proud to commit to the state of Utah and to the Mammoth.”

Cooley is playing out the final year of his entry-level deal before the extension kicks in starting with the 2026-27 season, when he would have been a restricted free agent. His $10 million average annual value would be the highest among current Mammoth players next season.

He had 25 goals and 40 assists last season for the Utah Hockey Club. Overall, Cooley has 53 goals and 68 assists in 168 NHL games with Utah and Arizona, which drafted him third overall in 2022.

“Logan is elite in every sense of the word,” Mammoth governor Ryan Smith said in a statement. “He’s one of the most exciting young players in the league, and the fact that he’s chosen to plant roots here in Utah says everything about what we’re building. He is part of an incredible core of young players that will have a major impact on the future of this franchise. Logan choosing to put his roots down here and commit for the long-term is another important milestone in building a championship-caliber team.”

Cooley is the second major signing for general manager Bill Armstrong within Utah’s young core. Forward Dylan Guenther, 22, inked an eight-year deal with an average annual value of over $7.1 million in September 2024, locking him in through 2032-33. Forward JJ Peterka, 23, was signed through 2030 ($7.7 million AAV) after Armstrong acquired him from the Buffalo Sabres in the offseason.

LOS ANGELES — It was a swing that could turn the World Series.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got a hanging sweeper from all-world pitcher/hitter Shohei Ohtani in the third inning of Game 4 of the World Series — and blasted it into the night sky just moments after the Los Angeles Dodgers had taken a 1-0 lead.

It was a critical swing for the Blue Jays mere hours after they lost a heartbreaking, 18-inning affair, putting Toronto behind in the series for the first time — and Guerrero’s homer gave the Jays a Game 4 lead they would never relinquish.

It was the latest in an October full of big moments produced by the face of his franchise, and the fact that it came against the Dodgers’ two-way phenom adds to an evolving storyline: Ohtani isn’t the only superstar in this World Series.

“That swing was huge,” manager John Schneider said after the win that tied the series at two games apiece. “A sweeper is a pitch designed to generate popups…and the swing that Vlad put on it was elite. After last night [Game 3] and kind of all the recognition that went into Shohei individually and he’s on the mound today, it’s a huge swing from Vlad. It’s a huge swing to get us going. I think that gives [us] some momentum.”

Guerrero has been giving the Blue Jays momentum all month, hitting .419 with seven home runs this postseason. But don’t just label him a free-swinging slugger. Though that description might fit his famous dad, the younger Guerrero is much, much more — and his teammates have taken notice throughout the postseason ride.

‘Grabbing some popcorn and watching him do his thing’

Max Scherzer is a future Hall of Famer pitching in the World Series for a fourth different franchise, and even the 41-year-old right-hander is impressed by what he has seen from Guerrero on a nightly basis.

“He’s just locked and loaded,” Scherzer said. “He’s such a force. To me, his greatness is beyond his offense. It’s his defense and baserunning too. He’s an all-around great player.”

But nothing else Guerrero has done this season compares to the show he has put on with the bat in his hands. Even his hitting coach, David Popkins, often finds himself watching his star like a fan would.

“It’s pretty much enjoying the show, grabbing some popcorn and watching him do his thing,” Popkins said with a laugh. “He’s ahead of every adjustment before we can get to him. I learn from him every day.

“And when those things click, it’s on like Donkey Kong.”

It’s a common theme from those playing with him this October.

Closer Jeff Hoffman said he is “on the edge of his seat” every night, waiting for Guerrero to do something special. Sometimes it comes with a big home run to left field and other times it’s just shooting the ball the other way for a single, as he also did in Game 4. Guerrero is the embodiment of spraying to all fields.

“It’s a quality at-bat every time,” third baseman Ernie Clement said. “It doesn’t have to be a homer. He is battling up there and seeing pitches and just making it really, really hard on the opposing pitchers.

“This postseason as a whole is just the most amazing baseball I’ve ever seen from him. And that’s saying something because he hit like .400 in the second half last year. This is the best version of him.”

‘Helping my team win some games’

On the heels of signing a massive $500 million contract that will keep him with the Blue Jays through the 2039 season, many of Guerrero’s teammates point to the extra pressure on their superstar’s shoulders to deliver this month — but he just keeps on living up to the expectations.

He hit .529 in the division series, .385 in the ALCS and is hitting .368 in the World Series so far. Guerrero was asked what has impressed him most about his own play after his Game 4 home run against Ohtani.

“That I am helping my team win some games,” he responded through the team interpreter. “That’s what I’m impressed with right now.”

The effects of his play were echoed throughout the locker room after the latest in a month of heroics.

“He never settles,” Popkins said. “He’s really grounded in who he is as a hitter and what his foundational beliefs are based off how he was raised. He’s special in that manner.”

‘I’d probably pitch around him’

Another regular spectator for “The Guerrero Show,” Jays reliever Eric Lauer, was asked how he would pitch to Guerrero. He paused before answering, shaking his head as he thought about it.

“I’d probably pitch around him,” Lauer said with a laugh. “His bat path is so smooth and long, I feel like he can get to anything.

“Whenever he comes up, we’re just like ‘Hang a slider or a curveball. Hang something. Or throw a fastball down the middle and see how far that goes.'”

“The cool thing about Valddy is he’s not a home-run-or-bust kind of hitter,” Hoffman added.

Even Guerrero could take a moment to appreciate his home run off the best player in the game. It came one night after Ohtani stole all the headlines, reaching base a record nine times in Game 3. The Dodgers star was denied a second straight night of glory, thanks to the second-best player on the field. On Tuesday, it was Guerrero who stole the show, giving his underdog Jays a chance to upset the defending champions.

“It was very important for me to hit that home run, and from that point on, we got going,” Guerrero said. “And I know basically myself and him [Ohtani], we are the talk of the series, but when we are between those two lines, we’re competing.

“It felt good that I could hit that homer against him.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty has been scratched and will not run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday after catching a fever this week, taking the favorite out of the $7 million world championship race.

Trainer Bill Mott announced the decision Wednesday to scratch the country’s top 3-year-old horse. Mott had previously said Sovereignty not racing was a possibility.

Sovereignty opened as a heavy 6-5 morning line favorite in the field of 10, which also includes Derby and Belmont runner up and Preakness winner Journalism. The Breeders’ Cup Classic was expected to determine the horse of the year.

Mott and ownership have made it clear over the past several months that they would play it safe with Sovereignty, including the call to skip the Preakness after he won the Derby and looked like a legitimate Triple Crown candidate.