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.

Another team addressed its quarterback situation Friday, as the Giants have reportedly acquired Sage Rosenfels from the Vikings to fill their backup void. A Minneapolis newspaper confirmed the deal, and the NFL Network is reporting a future conditional draft pick is headed back to the Vikings as compensation. New York has been in the market for a qualified backup to Eli Manning since Jim Sorgi was put on injured reserve earlier this week with a shoulder injury. Sorgi was signed in March after six seasons backing up Manning's brother Peyton in Indianapolis. That left second-year pro Rhett Bomar the most experienced QB behind Manning. In Rosenfels, the Giants get a nine-year veteran with 32 games of experience and 12 NFL starts to his credit. His best season came in 2007 while filling in for an injured Matt Schaub in Houston. Rosenfels appeared in nine games and started five, completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 1,684 yards and 15 touchdowns, with 12 interceptions.

Denver Broncos linebacker Elvis Dumervil will be placed on injured reserve and miss the entire 2010 season after undergoing surgery last month to repair a torn pectoral muscle. Friday, Dumervil posted a message to his Twitter followers to confirm that he will not take the field during the upcoming season. The fifth-year pro led the league in sacks last year with 17 and added 49 tackles over 16 games, including 14 starts. The injury occurred just 13 days after Dumervil signed a six-year contract extension thought to be worth $61.5 million with between $41 million and $43 million in guarantees.

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.

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg underwent successful season-ending ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery on Friday. The procedure, more commonly known as Tommy John surgery, will require about 12-18 months of recovery. It was performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum with assistance by Nationals team doctor Dr. Wieme Douoguih. It is a disappointing turn of events for the Nationals and Strasburg, the top overall pick of the 2009 draft. He made his heralded debut in June and was very impressive in 12 starts, going 5-3 with a 2.91 earned run average, with 92 strikeouts in 68 innings. He also dealt with an injury in July, when he went on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.

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 is up 2-0 on Dennis Istomin in the night's final match from Flushing Meadows. Earlier in the day, 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. American John Isner, seeded 18th, also moved into round three with a four-set win over Marco Chiudinelli, while fellow American and 20th seed Sam Querrey needed three sets to top Marcel Granollers. Other high seeds to advance included the 12th seed Mikhail Youzhny and 14th-seeded Nicolas Almagro.

Venus Williams opened the night session by defeating Luxembourg's Mandy Minella in straight sets to advance to the fourth round in the women's bracket. Earlier in the day, defending champion Kim Clijsters was a third- round winner. 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. Williams, the No. 3 seed, is looking to win her third Open title and took another step through the bracket with a 6-2, 6-1 victory. French Open champ and sixth seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy topped Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine, while other winners Friday included fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia, Russian 12th seed Elena Dementieva, 16th-seeded Shahar Peer and the 20th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Zach Johnson and Jason Day share the lead at eight-under par after 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 Geoff Ogilvy and Rory McIlroy are two of eight players who are one shot off the pace at the TPC Boston. Phil Mickelson finished at minus-two, while Tiger Woods finished one-over.