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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It didn’t take long for the Vegas Golden Knights to use their newfound cap space Wednesday, with the Stanley Cup champions signing forward Ivan Barbashev to a five-year contract worth $5 million annually.

The Golden Knights were facing a bit of a salary cap conundrum with Barbashev, who told ESPN before the Cup finals that he wanted to remain in Vegas, as a pending unrestricted free agent.

Or they were facing a conundrum until Wednesday afternoon, when they traded veteran forward Reilly Smith and his $5 million cap hit over the next two years to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2023 third-round pick.

A little more than an hour after the Golden Knights traded Smith, the team announced they had signed Barbashev through the 2027-28 season. Barbashev now joins teammates such as Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo and Mark Stone among the eight players on the Golden Knights roster under contract for at least three more seasons.

Barbashev’s acquisition at the trade deadline didn’t garner as much attention as some other deals, but he jumped right into the Golden Knights’ lineup and was a key cog in their run to the Cup.

A Cup champion in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues, Barbashev, 27, finished with 16 goals and 45 points with the Golden Knights and Blues. But he truly added to his free agent résumé in the postseason, where he posted six goals and 15 points in the first three rounds alone and helped Vegas to its second Western Conference title. In the Knights’ title-winning game on June 13, Barbashev scored his first goal of the Stanley Cup Final, as Vegas cruised to a 9-3 win over the Florida Panthers.

Along the way, his asking price skyrocketed from the team-friendly $2.3 million annual cap hit on the two-year contract he signed with the Blues in 2021, and many teams were believed to have been interested.

“He’s a good player for us,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said during the regular season. “He’s a guy who’s not going to get a lot of attention. He’s not flashy.”

Barbashev’s career season came in 2021-22, when he finished with 26 goals and 60 points. A third-liner at certain times in his development with St. Louis, Barbashev is a definitive first- or second-liner now, and is coming off a Vegas run in which he averaged 17:39 time on the ice.

A native of Moscow, Barbashev, a 2014 second-round pick of the Blues, broke into the league in the 2016-17 season.

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No. 7 Georgia Tech down 3 starters vs. Syracuse

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No. 7 Georgia Tech down 3 starters vs. Syracuse

No. 7 Georgia Tech will be without three starters — wide receiver Malik Rutherford, center Harrison Moore and nickelback Jy Gilmore — against Syracuse on Saturday.

All three were ruled out on the ACC availability report after suffering injuries during last week’s win over Duke.

Rutherford is tied for the Yellow Jackets’ lead with 23 receptions and two receiving touchdowns this season and ranks third on the team with 202 receiving yards.

With cornerback Ahmari Harvey out for the second straight week, Georgia Tech will be down two key secondary members against an Orange passing game that is averaging 294.3 yards per game (15th in the NCAA).

The Yellow Jackets are 7-0 for the first time since 1966, while their No. 7 ranking is the school’s highest since 2009.

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UNT QB Mestemaker has record 608 yards in win

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UNT QB Mestemaker has record 608 yards in win

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Redshirt freshman Drew Mestemaker passed for a school-record 608 yards with four touchdowns as North Texas scored 37 unanswered points to beat Charlotte 54-20 on Friday night.

Mestemaker completed 37 of 49 passes with one interception in breaking the record.

He covered 80 yards with three passes — the final one a 41-yard scoring strike to Cameron Dorner — on the game’s first possession to put North Texas (7-1, 3-1 American) up 7-0.

Charlotte (1-7, 0-5) answered with Liam Boyd‘s 24-yard field goal and Grayson Loftis‘ 33-yard touchdown pass to Javen Nicholas to take a 10-7 lead into the second quarter. Loftis and Nicholas then teamed up for a 64-yard score in a one-play drive and Charlotte led 17-7.

Kali Nguma followed with a 29-yard field goal and Mestemaker hit Caleb Hawkins for a 6-yard score to tie it 17-all at halftime.

Charlotte had a drive stall at the North Texas 3-yard line to begin the third quarter and settled for Boyd’s field goal and a 20-17 lead. It was all Mean Green from there.

Mestemaker passed to Tre Williams III for a 30-yard gain to the Charlotte 1 and Kiefer Sibley ran it in on the next play to put North Texas ahead. Nguma added a 41-yard field goal for a 27-20 advantage after three quarters.

Mestemaker connected with Hawkins for a 7-yard touchdown, and Wyatt Young turned a short pass into a 70-yard score and a 20-point lead after the 2-point run failed. Sibley added a 45-yard touchdown run, and Ashton Gray scored on a 32-yard run to polish off the rout.

Young finished with nine receptions for 190 yards. Dorner caught seven passes for 117 yards, and Landon Sides hauled in five for 114.

Loftis totaled 295 yards on 20-for-36 passing for the 49ers. Nicholas had seven catches for 187 yards.

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Utah QB Dampier now probable to face Colorado

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Utah QB Dampier now probable to face Colorado

Utah quarterback Devon Dampier has been upgraded to probable for the Utes’ game against Colorado, according to the updated Big 12 availability report released Friday night.

The junior quarterback has dealt with a lower leg injury this season, and coach Kyle Whittingham said Dampier “got beat up in this game pretty good” after the Utes’ 24-21 loss to rival BYU last weekend.

Dampier was initially listed as questionable Wednesday but progressed throughout the week and took reps in practice, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

The 5-foot-11, 210-pound junior, a transfer out of New Mexico, has started every game despite the injury and ranks sixth in the Big 12 in total offense with 1,375 passing yards, 442 rushing yards and 18 total touchdowns.

True freshman backup Byrd Ficklin played four snaps against BYU and would be in line to start if Dampier is unavailable Saturday against the Buffaloes (10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Utah wide receiver Tobias Merriweather and defensive tackle Dallas Vakalahi were downgraded from doubtful to out against Colorado. Merriweather ranks second among Utes wideouts with 130 receiving yards on eight receptions this season.

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