Sports briefs 10/13
Pens get defenseman
The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired defenseman Ryan Johnson from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Caleb Jones and Daniel Laatsch on Monday.
Johnson is signed through the end of the 2027-28 season and his contract carries an average annual value of $875,000.
Johnson, 25, has split the first three-plus seasons of his professional career between the Sabres and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In 47 career NHL games with Buffalo, the defenseman has tallied seven assists, all coming in his rookie season when he skated in a career-high 41 games in 2023-24.
Pitt-Miami time set
Pitt football’s Oct. 24 road game at Miami will kick off at noon and be nationally televised on either ABC or ESPN, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced Monday.
College sports
James Madison is leaving the Sun Belt Conference for the American Conference in 2028.
James Madison’s board of directors voted unanimously Monday to make the move no later than July 1, 2028.
The Dukes will compete in the American Conference in 17 of the 18 sports the school sponsors, with women’s field hockey remaining in the Mid-American Conference.
The Dukes are 6-0 this season under former Florida coach Billy Napier.
The addition of James Madison will give the American Conference 14 full members in football. The Sun Belt currently has 14 football-playing members.
NFL
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw was suspended for one game after head-butting Seattle’s Ernest Jones IV following a late hit on the Seahawks sideline.
The NFL issued the suspension on Monday, saying the headbutt of a player without a helmet during Sunday’s 32-29 win against Seattle was “contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship.”
Greenlaw will miss San Francisco’s game next Monday night against Washington pending an appeal.
NHL
Chicago Blackhawks captain Connor Bedard is on the brink of making his season debut after being sidelined by a left shoulder injury.
Bedard has been ramping up his rehab process, practicing with the team on Sunday. The center could be in the mix for one of three upcoming home games depending on the results of a follow-up medical appointment.
Bedard, 21, got hurt while skating with a group of NHL players in western Canada. He had surgery on June 24.
The Blackhawks are off to a 1-5-0 start without Bedard, who led the team with 45 assists and 75 points last season. They host Pittsburgh tonight.
• Dallas Stars veteran forward Matt Duchene is expected to miss about three months after the team said that he had surgery to repair a core injury.
Duchene hasn’t played in a game this season after dealing in training camp with what had been called a lower-body injury. The 35-year-old forward, who has played 17 NHL seasons.
NBA
A game-worn, autographed Michael Jordan road jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals has been privately sold for $14 million, an auction house announced Monday, calling it the highest price ever paid for a piece of basketball memorabilia.
Pennsylvania-based Hunt Auctions announced the private treaty sale and identified the buyer as Miami real estate investor Ron Firman. The red jersey is the one Jordan wore in Game 2 of that series on June 5, 1998; he and the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz that night to even the matchup at a game apiece.
Jordan and the Bulls would go on to win the series in six games, the sixth and final title of his Hall of Fame career.
WNBA
The Atlanta Dream will be hosting two games of the WNBA Finals next week, but it’s still not known where those contests will be played. The Dream, who will face the Golden State Valkyries in the best-of-seven series that begins Saturday, will host Games 3 and 4 on Oct. 22 and 24. Atlanta would love to host those games at State Farm Arena, where the Hawks play, because it seats over 17,000 fans. But that site isn’t available because of a concert by singer Sombr the same night as Game 3. The Hawks have their home opener the evening of Game 4.