Ilya Kovalchuk will finally join the New Jersey Devils after his re-submitted contract was reportedly approved by the National Hockey League. The approval was reported by a Canadian news outlet. Kovalchuk's initial 17-year, $102 million deal with the Devils was rejected by the league on the grounds that it circumvented the league's salary cap. The deal was front-loaded so Kovalchuk could have earned as much money as possible while providing the lowest possible cap hit for the team. His second deal is worth a reported $100 million over 15 years, which provides an annual cap hit of $6.66 million.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has reduced the suspension of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from six to four games after the two met Friday morning. Roethlisberger had initially been suspended in April for violating the league's personal conduct policy after being accused of sexual assault by a 20-year-old woman at a Georgia nightclub. Criminal charges were never filed. Goodell had stated that Roethlisberger's punishment could be reduced if the two-time Super Bowl champion had followed league guidelines. Roethlisberger, who was cleared to participate in preseason practices and games after completing an initial evaluation period, will now miss the team's first four regular-season games and will be unable to participate in any practices with the team until after the October 3 contest against Baltimore. Since the Steelers have a bye the following week, Roethlisberger won't play in his first game of the 2010 campaign until October 17 against Cleveland.

Without Roethlisberger, the Steelers were expected to turn to Byron Leftwich as the interim starting quarterback. However, the veteran injured his left knee during the second quarter of the team's final preseason game on Thursday against Carolina and was expected to undergo an MRI exam. Initial reports are that Leftwich suffered MCL damage, which could leave Dennis Dixon as the starter for at least the season-opener on September 12 against Atlanta.

Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan was suspended for eight games and Florida Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad was given a six-game penalty for their roles in Wednesday's benches-clearing incident. Morgan's stiff penalty, as well as an undisclosed fine, is also the result of actions in previous games. On August 28, Morgan unnecessarily ran into St. Louis Cardinals catcher Bryan Anderson in the bottom of the eighth inning while scoring a run. On August 31 in Miami, Morgan directed inappropriate comments toward the fans during the 10th inning, in the wake of a home-plate collision with Marlins catcher Brett Hayes, who suffered a separated left shoulder as the result of the play. In addition to Morgan and Volstad, Marlins pitcher Alex Sanabia was hit with a five-game suspension for fighting and Gaby Sanchez was suspended three games for his role in the incident and Nationals pitcher Doug Slaten was suspended three games for throwing a pitch at Sanchez in the bottom of the seventh after warnings had been issued.

Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has undergone successful surgery on the navicular bone of his left foot. Pedroia had a screw inserted on Friday to promote healing of the fracture, which occurred June 25 in San Francisco when he fouled a ball off the foot. The procedure was performed by Dr. George Theodore and Dr. Tom Gill at Massachusetts General Hospital. Pedroia returned from a stint on the 15-day disabled list in August, but appeared in only two games before it was determined that the foot had not fully healed. The 2008 AL MVP batted .288 with 12 homers and 41 RBI in 75 games this season.

Former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli will be able to play for the Ole Miss Rebels this season after the NCAA overturned a previous decision that stated the signal-caller must sit out a year. Masoli enrolled in Mississippi's graduate program earlier this month in hopes of being a walk-on this fall. He did not have to sit out a year per NCAA transfer rules because he already has obtained his undergraduate degree. According to NCAA rules, Masoli had to receive a waiver to play for a school other than Oregon, since he received his undergraduate degree there. A two-year starting quarterback for the Ducks, Masoli pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary in March and was later dismissed from the team. He had already been suspended for the 2010 season by Oregon.Ole Miss opens its 2010 season at home against Jacksonville State on Saturday.

The University of North Carolina has declared six players ineligible for Saturday's game against LSU for violations of school or NCAA rules and will keep six others out of the season-opener while the investigation continues. Defensive tackle Marvin Austin, who had already been suspended by head coach Butch Davis for violating team rules, was one of the players ruled ineligible. The others are cornerbacks Charles Brown and Kendric Burney, wide receiver Greg Little and defensive ends Michael McAdoo and Robert Quinn. The six others who will be withheld from Saturday's game are tailbacks Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston, defensive end Linwan Euwell and safeties Brian Gupton, Da'Norris Searcy and Jonathan Smith. The number of games that the 12 players may miss has not yet been determined, as the investigation continues to include both agent-related and academic issues.

Second-round play at the U.S. Open is continuing for the men, and top- seeded Rafael Nadal will highlight tonight's action at Ashe Stadium against Dennis Istomin. Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Andy Murray breezed past Dustin Brown in straight sets, while eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco and 10th-seeded David Ferrer did the same to move on to the third round.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters was a third-round winner Friday at the U.S. Open. The second-seeded Belgian dropped the first three games of her match against 27th-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova, but wound up taking the final 12 games to complete a 6-3, 6-0 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium. French Open champ Francesca Schiavone of Italy topped Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine, while other earlier winners Friday included Samantha Stosur of Australia and Russia's Elena Dementieva. Third-seeded Venus Williams will open the night session against Luxembourg's Mandy Minella.

Zach Johnson, Geoff Ogilvy and Jason Day share the lead at eight-under par in the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship -- the second event of the PGA Tour playoffs. Johnson and Day each carded rounds of 63, while Ogilvy is through 15 holes at the TPC Boston. All three own a one-shot advantage of seven players. Rory McIlroy and Hunter Mahan are among the group tied at seven-under par. Phil Mickelson is minus-one late in his round, while Tiger Woods finished one-over.