Hurricanes reach 3-year, $9.5 million extension with forward Taylor Hall

The Carolina Hurricanes wasted little time in reaching an extension for trade-acquisition Taylor Hall.

The team announced Wednesday that Hall had signed a three-year, $9.5 million contract through the 2027-28 season. That came roughly three months after the Hurricanes traded for the former Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP and with Carolina having advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In a Zoom call with reporters, general manager Eric Tulsky said the two sides had been talking about a deal since January when the Hurricanes acquired Hall in the blockbuster deal centered on Mikko Rantanen’s arrival. The 33-year-old Hall was making $6 million this year with free agency looming.

“Whether it’s playoffs or not, the conversations are happening,” Hall said. “With my family, we have a baby coming in the fall. Just as the playoffs were about to start, I think we were pretty much set on what the deal would look like. So that allowed me to just kind of play int he playoffs with a clear mind.

“And that’s important to me. I want to play as well as I can for this team.”

The announcement came a day after the Hurricanes closed out a five-game series against the New Jersey Devils. Hall scored the first of Carolina’s four second-period goals that helped them erase a 3-0 deficit before winning in double overtime.

Former Wisconsin forward Serah Williams transferring to UConn

STORRS, Conn. >> Former Wisconsin forward Serah Williams says she is transferring to UConn.

Williams posted on social media Wednesday that she had committed to the reigning national champions. Williams had entered the transfer portal after Marisa Moseley stepped down as Wisconsin’s coach last month.

Williams, who is 6-foot-4, averaged 19.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks this past season and was the 2023-2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team all conference selection.

Agassi wins his professional pickleball debut with partner Anna Leigh Waters

NAPLES, Fla. >> Andre Agassi won his professional pickleball debut a day after turning 55, teaming with 18-year-old Anna Leigh Waters to defeat a pair of even younger teens 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 in the mixed pro division at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships on Wednesday.

Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam champion who retired from professional tennis in 2006. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame five years later.

He has participated in made-for-TV pickleball exhibitions with other former tennis players and can be seen pitching pickleball equipment via social media.

Agassi will be a studio analyst for TNT Sports during the semifinals and finals at the French Open this year. He won the title at Roland Garros in 1999 to complete a career Grand Slam.

Pickleball is a mix of tennis and ping pong that uses paddles and a wiffleball. It quickly rose from nearly nothing to more than 13 million players in the United States in just a few years.

— The Associated Press