Heres our weekly look at the fortunes of some of the games brightest young stars. Behold, the latest under-24 player rankings.HotMitch Marner, RW,?Toronto Maple LeafsAuston Matthews?ongoing scoring woes are dominating the conversation, but that goalless slump (now at 11 games) has been nicely counterbalanced by the play of right winger Mitch Marner, 19. Marner has four goals and four assists in his past six games and scored one of the prettiest goals youll see in Thursdays 6-1 drubbing of the Florida Panthers. Marners 16 points are second among all rookies.Damon Severson, D,?New Jersey DevilsThe surprising Devils hold down the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 9-4-3 record. But with Taylor Hall out for a month because of a knee injury, the pressure will be on the young Devils not to let their good start go to waste. One of those youngsters, Severson, 22, has been a pleasant surprise. The 60th-overall pick in 2012 had 12 points through Thursday, putting him in the top 10 among all defensemen. Hes also tied for the team lead in points. New Jersey wondered how it would fill the void created when Adam Larsson was dealt to the?Edmonton Oilers?for Hall. Severson has gone a long way toward answering that question.J.T. Miller, LW,?New York RangersEvery week its a challenge trying to determine which of the Rangers high-flying young stars to highlight. Why? Well, the 13-4-0 Rangers are arguably the best team in the NHL, top to bottom, and lead all teams with a whopping 4.24 goals per game -- almost a full goal per game ahead of their nearest competitor. Leading the way for a speedy, talented forward corps is Miller, a 23-year-old left winger who leads the team with 17 points -- and has the sixth-highest point total in the league. The 15th-overall pick in 2011 has continued to earn coach Alain Vigneaults confidence and has been a model of consistency. Miller has never gone more than one game without picking up at least a point.NotNathan MacKinnon, C,?Colorado AvalancheIts hard to think of the 2013 No. 1 overall pick as a kid because it feels like MacKinnons been around forever. But he is just 21, so periodic dry periods are to be expected. Regardless, its been a struggle for both MacKinnon and the Avalanche to achieve liftoff under rookie head coach Jared Bednar. MacKinnon, who is coming off a terrific turn at the World Cup of Hockey, did come up with a goal and an assist in a 3-2 loss to the?Dallas Stars?Thursday, but he has just three goals on the season and two in his past 15 games for an Avalanche team that is dead last in the Central Division and in danger of missing the playoffs once again.Sam Bennett, C,?Calgary FlamesThe Flames have been trying to slowly drag themselves out of an early hole, and the struggles of young stars Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau have been well-documented as a key factor in that poor start. Now with Gaudreau is out long-term with a finger injury, that means everyone -- including Bennett, a 20-year-old center -- will have to step up. Bennett has had his struggles too. The fourth-overall pick in 2014 hasnt scored in nine straight games and has just one point over that span. The Flames, who were 7-10-1 and saddled with the NHLs worst power play, are looking for more from a lot of players, including Bennett.Anthony Duclair, LW,?Arizona CoyotesThe good news for the Coyotes is that there is light at the end of the arena tunnel. Plans were announced this week for a new home in Tempe. The bad news is that this is a young team that is playing very much like, well, a young team. The Yotes are dead last in the Western Conference, and their five wins are tied for the fewest in the league. One of the issues has been the slow start for promising young forwards such as Duclair, a 21-year-old left winger who is coming off a terrific rookie season that saw him score 20 goals and collect 44 points. This season has been a grind so far for Duclair, the 80th pick of the 2013 draft by the Rangers, as he has just one goal and three points. He has just one point, an assist, in his past six games, and the Coyotes have won two in a row just once this season.Young guns showdown of the weekZach Werenski?D, Columbus Blue Jackets?vs.?Andre Burakovsky, LW, Washington Capitals,?Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ETThis game has a lot more panache than might have been predicted at the start of the season, thanks in large part to the play of a collection of top-end young players in Columbus, led by Werenski. The sixth-overall pick in 2015, Werenski is very much in the Calder Trophy discussion for rookie of the year. And the 19-year-olds 13 points are one off the lead for all NHL defenders this season. Burakovsky, meanwhile, has a boatload of skill and is just waiting for the tide to come in. Coming off a 17-goal season in 2015-16, the 21-year-old has scored just twice thus far for the defending Presidents Trophy-winning Capitals -- and, in fact, has not scored since his two-goal effort in the season opener against the?Pittsburgh Penguins. Ray Nitschke Super Bowl Jersey ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition. Elgton Jenkins Super Bowl Jersey .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. http://www.officialgreenbaypackerspro.com/Blake-martinez-packers-jersey/ . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Tramon Williams Super Bowl Jersey . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Jaire Alexander Super Bowl Jersey . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Tuesday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EDT:- MOSCOW -- At least 85 athletes from the 387-member Russian Olympic team have so far been barred from the Rio Games in connection with the countrys doping scandal. Seven are ruled out Tuesday.- MOSCOW -- The Belarus Olympic team calls the athletes village in Rio de Janeiro unsanitary, a day after Australia would not allow its athletes to check in because of health concerns.- PHOENIX -- With each new mass shooting, Olympic shooters often find themselves under scrutiny, sometimes even facing death threats.- For the first time since 1980, male Olympic boxers will fight without headgear. Many fighters like the professional look, but some coaches think safety has been compromised.- SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth await the PGA Championship this week, their final chance this year to win a major.- SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Phil Mickelson has reason to feel good about the PGA. He won the last time it was at Baltusrol, and he is two weeks removed from the second-bbest score in British Open history.dddddddddddd- CHICAGO -- One day after landing star closer Aroldis Chapman, the Cubs play a White Sox team that is at home and going for a fourth straight victory. Game starts 7:10 p.m.- BALTIMORE -- Chris Tillman (14-2) tries to become the first 15-game winner in the majors when the first-place Baltimore Orioles face the Colorado Rockies. Game starts 7:05 p.m.- IRVINE, Calif. -- No. 1 pick Jared Goff and his fellow Los Angeles Rams rookies arrive two days ahead of the veterans for the first workouts of training camp in the franchises homecoming season.- INDIANAPOLIS -- Andrew Luck has a new contract and new perspective. After the worst season of his pro career, Luck is out to prove it was nothing more than an aberration -- and so are the Colts.- FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Falcons release star return specialist Devin Hester before the opening of training camp. The three-time All-Pro set an NFL record with 20 career returns for touchdowns. ' ' '