LOS ANGELES — UCLA coach DeShaun Foster said Tuesday that the Bruins just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get “the No. 1 player in the portal” in former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

In his first comments since Iamaleava’s tumultuous transfer was announced Sunday, Foster said he and the rest of his staff were able to sift through the noise surrounding Iamaleava’s exit from Tennessee, which included reports of increased financial demands from his representation and missed practices.

“You just have to go with your gut and with the people that you trust,” Foster said. “You can’t just read everything on social media and come to a conclusion from that. You have to do a little bit more homework. So I think we did a good job in vetting and figuring out what we wanted to do, and we were able to execute and now we’re here.”

Iamaleava, a five-star prospect from Long Beach, California, was recruited by UCLA out of high school. He entered the portal last Wednesday, and Foster said the familiarity between the two parties helped facilitate the process.

“If it wasn’t a local kid, it would’ve been a little bit more difficult,” Foster said. “But being able to see him play in high school and evaluating that film at Tennessee wasn’t hard to do. A lot of the kids on the team know him and have played with him.”

Foster said Iamaleava won’t be able to join the Bruins until this summer.

Iamaleava was earning $2.4 million with the Vols under the contract he signed with Spyre Sports Group, the Tennessee-based collective, when he was still in high school. The deal would have paid him in the $10 million range altogether had he stayed four years at Tennessee.

Sources told ESPN’s Chris Low that Iamaleava’s representatives wanted a deal in the $4 million range for him to stay at Tennessee for a third season.

When asked to characterize Iamaleava’s NIL deal with UCLA, Foster simply called it “successful” and added that he did not think money played a role in any player staying or going.

“I don’t know what he was looking for or whatnot,” Foster said of Iamaleava’s NIL package. “I know that he accepted our contract and he wants to be a Bruin, so that’s all I’m focused on. He wants to be here, and we’re excited.”

Foster said that once the commitment was secured, he informed quarterback Joey Aguilar, who had transferred to Westwood from App State and was seemingly in line to take over as the Bruins’ starting quarterback this season. According to Foster, Aguilar’s NIL package was not needed to fulfill Iamaleava’s own deal, and he provided Aguilar with the opportunity to stay and compete for the starting job.

Aguilar entered the transfer portal Monday and, according to ESPN sources, is set to transfer to Tennessee.

“When I was in the NFL, they drafted a running back every year,” Foster said. “Every year I was [at UCLA] as a running back, they recruited more running backs to come here. So, this is a competition sport for coaches, players, everybody.”

As college football begins to more resemble the NFL model, Foster said he expects multiyear deals between players and programs to become an eventual reality. For now, he credited the program’s main collective “Bruins for Life” for allowing UCLA to be in conversations with players they could not be in before.

“I haven’t lost anybody this portal to money. We’ve been able to actually offer people the same amount or even more than what other people have offered them,” Foster said. “You want to be in conversations, you want to play big-time ball, you want to have haters, you want all of this stuff because that means that you’re trending in the right direction.”

UCLA is coming off a 5-7 season in which its offense struggled. The Bruins finished 14th in scoring offense and 12th in total offense in Big Ten play. At Tennessee, Iamaleava threw for 2,619 yards and 19 touchdowns last season and helped lead the Volunteers to a spot in the College Football Playoff.

“This is a good buzz for us,” Foster said. “Keeping the local kids here — a big-time recruit — letting them know that you don’t have to go to certain conferences to be successful and make it to the NFL. You can do it right here in California.”

Cincinnati freshman football player Jeremiah Kelly, an early enrollee who went through spring practice with the team, died unexpectedly Tuesday morning at his residence.

The school didn’t disclose a cause of death.

Kelly, an 18-year-old offensive lineman from Avon, Ohio, helped his high school team to a 16-0 record and a state championship last fall.

“The Bearcats football family is heartbroken by the sudden loss of this outstanding young man,” Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield said in a statement. “In the short time Jeremiah has spent with our team, he has made a real impact, both on the field and in our locker room. My prayers are with the Kelly family and those who had the pleasure of knowing Jeremiah.”

Cincinnati completed its spring practice session last week.

“We’ve suffered a heartbreaking loss today,” Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham said in a statement. “All of us at UC send our love and prayers to the Kelly family and we will do everything that we can to support them and our Bearcats student-athletes in the difficult days and weeks ahead.”

Seven of eight first-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and No. 8 gets rolling on Tuesday.

The Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers begins anew (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with both clubs looking like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender if they can survive the intrastate showdown.

Cats-Bolts is the third game of four Tuesday on the ESPN family of networks, following New Jersey–Carolina (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Ottawa–Toronto (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), and preceding the nightcap, Minnesota–Vegas (11 p.m. ET, ESPN).

What are the key storylines heading into Tuesday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?

Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down Monday night, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.

Matchup notes

New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 2 (CAR leads 1-0) | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN

Game 1 sure did not go as planned for the Devils. A win at the legendarily loud Lenovo Center would’ve been stretching it, but losing Brenden Dillon, Cody Glass and Luke Hughes to injury was not an ideal outcome either.

They’ll hope to rebound Tuesday before the series shifts to Newark. Closing the shot attempt differential might help, as the famously possession-savvy Hurricanes held a 45-24 edge on shots on goal in Game 1.

For years, the knock on Carolina was that it lacked that one goal scorer who could get the Canes over the hump in the playoffs. Many observers thought the Canes had acquired such a player in Mikko Rantanen in January. Ironically, it was the player Carolina acquired in its subsequent trade of Rantanen to Dallas — Logan Stankoven — who scored two goals in Game 1. Will he add to that total in Game 2?

Of note heading into Tuesday’s game, the Devils have come back to win a playoff series after losing the first game 11 out of 26 times (42%); that figure drops to 20% if they fall behind 0-2. The Hurricanes have won six of their past seven series after winning Game 1.

Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 2 (TOR leads 1-0) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2

The atmosphere was intense for Game 1, and the Maple Leafs’ “Core Four” led the way: Mitch Marner (one goal, two assists), William Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Auston Matthews (two assists) each filled up the scoresheet. A continuation of that output will obviously help Toronto overwhelm its provincial neighbor.

Slowing down the Maple Leafs could depend on discipline, according to Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. “We took too many penalties, they scored on [them] and that’s the game,” Tkachuk told reporters after Game 1. “So that’s on us. We’ve got to be more disciplined.”

The Sens will also need to capitalize on their chances. According to Stathletes, Ottawa had five high-danger scoring chances in this game, and produced only two goals.

Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 1 | 8:30 p.m ET | ESPN

This is the fourth time that the two Sunshine State franchises have met in the postseason, and all four of the meetings have occurred since 2021.

In each instance, the winner of the series has gone on to reach the Stanley Cup Final — Lightning in 2021 and 2022; Panthers in 2024 — while the 2021 Lightning and 2024 Panthers won it all.

Unsurprisingly, Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay’s leading scorer against Florida, with 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 15 games. Aleksander Barkov is the Panthers’ leading scorer against the Lightning, with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 15 games.

The two teams split their meetings in the regular season, with the Lightning winning the most recent, 5-1 on April 15.

Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 2 (VGK leads 1-0) | 11 p.m. ET | ESPN

The underdog Wild set a physical tone to the series in Game 1, outhitting the Golden Knights 54-29, but the hosts emerged with a 4-2 victory. Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden (two) were the goal scorers for Vegas, and Matt Boldy was responsible for both Minnesota goals.

Howden, who had never scored double-digit goals until his 23 this season, earned praise from coach Bruce Cassidy after Game 1. “He didn’t change his game,” Cassidy told reporters. “He played physical. He’s part of our penalty kill. He’s always out when the goalie’s out, typically one of the six guys we use a lot because of his versatility. He can play wing. He can take draws as a center. He’s been real good for us all year and good again tonight.”

Sunday’s game was the NHL debut for 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium, who just finished his season with the University of Denver. He played 13 minutes, 37 seconds and finished with one shot on goal.

Arda’s Three Stars of Monday

The greatest goal scorer in NHL history just keeps finding the back of the net. He had two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Caps take Game 1 3-2 despite a valiant third period effort from Montreal to send it to the extra frame.

Connor had the game-winning goal in the third period for the second straight game, as Winnipeg takes both games at home for the 2-0 series lead on the Blues.

Further proof that the Oilers are never out of the game, McDavid helped erase a 4-0 deficit with a goal and three assists, despite the Oilers falling 6-5 late in a thrilling Game 1.

Monday’s scores

Capitals 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)
Washington leads 1-0

Much of the regular season was spent focused on Alex Ovechkin‘s “Gr8 Chase” of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record, and he scored historic goal No. 895 on Sunday, April 6. It turns out, Ovi likes the spotlight. The Capitals superstar opened the scoring in the game, and bookended it with the overtime winner — his first ever, believe it or not — as the Caps survived a thriller in Game 1, following Nick Suzuki‘s tying goal with 4:15 remaining. Full recap.

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Alex Ovechkin’s OT goal wins Game 1 for Capitals

Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game is an overtime winner that gives the Capitals a 1-0 series lead vs. the Canadiens.

Jets 2, Blues 1
Winnipeg leads 2-0

Game 1 between the two clubs was tightly contested until the Jets took over in the third period. That trend took hold again on Monday — the score remained tied into 1-1 the third period, when Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor scored at the 1:43 mark, and the Jets were able to hold the Blues off the scoreboard for the duration. Connor’s linemate Mark Scheifele assisted on the game-winner and opened the scoring, giving him a league-leading five points this postseason. Full recap.

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Kyle Connor scores clutch goal to put Jets ahead in 3rd period

Kyle Connor extends Winnipeg’s lead after a clutch goal early in the 3rd period vs. St. Louis.

Stars 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)
Series tied 1-1

The series that every observer thought would be the closest in the first round didn’t look that way in Game 1, as the Avs ran over the Stars en route to a 5-1 win. Game 2 was much more in line with expectations, as the two Western powerhouses needed OT to settle things. Colin Blackwell was the hero for Dallas, scoring with 2:14 remaining in the first OT period. Full recap.

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Colin Blackwell comes up with big OT winner for Stars

Colin Blackwell sends the Stars faithful into jubilation with a great overtime winner to tie the series at 1-1 vs. the Avalanche.

Kings 6, Oilers 5
Los Angeles leads 1-0

Monday’s nightcap was a delight to those who like offensive hockey and were willing to stay up late. The Kings roared out to a four-goal lead late in the second period before Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored to pull within three with six seconds remaining. The two teams traded goals to start the third, before the Oilers notched three in a row to tie up the festivities with 1:28 remaining on Connor McDavid‘s first of the 2025 playoffs. L.A.’s Phillip Danault sent his club’s fans home happy, scoring the pivotal goal with 42 seconds left. Full recap.

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Kings retake lead on Phillip Danault’s goal in final minute

Phillip Danault restores the lead for the Kings with a goal vs. the Oilers in the closing moments.