The Washington Capitals started training camp with 65 players and 20 days to whittle the roster to no more than 23. On Thursday afternoon, Washington cut four more players to get the roster down to an even 26 players before the last two preseason games. The Capitals sent forward Travis Boyd, goaltender Pheonix Copley and defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Tyler Lewington down to the American Hockey League. Those four players didn't need waivers to be reassigned. After those moves, Washington has defensemen Madison Bowey, Aaron Ness and Christian Djoos competing for two open roster spots on the blue line. Assuming the Capitals intend to carry just one extra forward, they can keep four forwards from a group of seven that includes Jakub Vrana, Nathan Walker, Alex Chiasson, Tyler Graovac, Anthony Peluso, Devante Smith-Pelly and Chandler Stephenson. Vrana can be considered a lock to make the team, and Chiasson has made a strong case to receive a contract after joining the team on a professional tryout. The Capitals released veteran defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka from his professional tryout Tuesday.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan, The Washington Post
NFL
Tight end Reed expectsto return for Redskins
Tight end Jordan Reed expects to play for the Washington Redskins on Monday night against the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs. Reed missed the Redskins' Week 3 victory over the Oakland Raiders with a chest/rib injury. Coach Jay Gruden says Reed was limited in practice Thursday but took part in some more team drills. The 27-year-old sat out the Raiders game in part because he felt Vernon Davis and Niles Paul healthy gave Washington a better chance to win. Davis had five catches for 58 yards against Oakland. Reed, who has 11 catches for 84 yards this season, says resting helped the pain go down as he felt more strength in his chest. He wants to be able to block before he feels ready to play.
ET CETERA
Keeney planning to retireas Loyola Blakefield AD
Mike Keeney, who is working his 15th year as director of athletics at Loyola Blakefield, plans to retire at the end of the school year. Keeney, a 1965 Loyola graduate, spent 25 years in the manufacturing business before serving as a college counselor at Loyola in 1998. He also has coached middle school and junior varsity soccer, basketball and lacrosse since 1993 and has taught eighth-grade English for the past 20 years. A search for Loyola's new AD will begin this fall.
Major League Lacrosse: The Denver Outlaws agreed to terms with former Boston Cannons midfielder Josh Hawkins (Loyola Maryland). Hawkins, 27, appeared in 13 games for the Cannons last year, totaling three goals, one assist and 30 ground balls in his fifth pro season and third in Boston.
NBA: Prosecutors urged a jury Thursday to convict NBA players Marcus and Markieff Morris of assault charges for their role in the 2015 beating of a former acquaintance in a case that has delayed the start of their season as they stand trial in a Phoenix courtroom with training camps now underway. Marcus plays for the Boston Celtics, and Markieff is with the Washington Wizards. They are accused of helping three other people beat Erik Hood on Jan. 24, 2015, outside a high school basketball game. At the time, they played for the Phoenix Suns.
College cross country: Johns Hopkins is one of just two Division III schools and six schools in all divisions of the NCAA to have both its men's and women's cross country programs ranked in the top five in the nation. Both the No. 1 women's team and No. 3 men's team will race in the Paul Short Race today.
Hopkins administration: Johns Hopkins named Jennifer Baker to its newly created position of senior associate director of athletics. Baker will direct all revenue-generating initiatives and budget planning for the 24-sport varsity athletic program. She was previously an executive at Under Armour.
Men's college basketball: Mount St. Mary's added Harley Fuller as director of scouting and analytics and Mike Wolf as a graduate assistant.
— From Sun staff and news services