With his future playing status still up in the air, St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong shared he would love to hire Jay Bouwmeester to work with his organization at some point in the near future.

"I would love to work with him. I would love to get him into some scouting for us in the future," Armstrong said on the "Cam & Strick Podcast."

"He's one of those guys, he's got a great hockey mind - and also, retirement's great until you're home all the time. Now I'm not saying that he's going to want to travel like a pro scout and do four games in five nights in five cities, but he can go into Calgary, go up to Edmonton, go to Vancouver, he can come in when we're there."

Bouwmeester suffered a cardiac episode during a game in February and subsequently underwent a heart procedure to install an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, causing him to miss the rest of the 2019-20 season and playoffs.

The Edmonton, Alberta, native spoke to the media late in February while he recovered and stated he didn't make any decisions at the time about his playing future. He's currently an unrestricted free agent and has not retired officially.

Bouwmeester had an illustrious career to date after the Florida Panthers selected him third overall in the 2002 draft. The 37-year-old was named to two All-Star Games, won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, and won five gold medals with Team Canada in various international tournaments including the 2014 Olympics. He has appeared in 1,240 regular-season games during his 17-year career, tallying 424 points.

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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is refuting reports that the league is looking to renegotiate the recently established CBA with the players' association as the sides work toward a plan for the 2020-21 campaign.

"We've been absolutely unequivocal with the players that we're not trying to renegotiate," Bettman said Wednesday, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

Instead, the league is looking for ways to avoid "stresses on the system," Bettman adds, as players would be paid more than 50% of revenue under the deal that was established before the NHL's restart in August.

"Under our deal, and the one we've had for more than a decade with the players' association, whatever the revenues are the players only get 50%," Bettman said, according to Johnston. "And if we overpay them and they don't pay us back in the short term, they have to pay us back over time.

"There will be stresses on the system and we've had discussions about what those stresses are and how they might be dealt with, but we're not trying to say 'you must do X,Y, and Z.' We're trying to look for ways to continue to work together."

Before the league's August return, the sides agreed to 10% salary deferrals for the 2020-21 campaign and to cap escrow at 20% before lowering it each campaign until 2022-23.

Players have reportedly grown frustrated after the league offered two unfavorable financial proposals in an attempt to renegotiate. The first reportedly asked players to defer 20% of their salaries while escrow increases to 25%. The second asked them to defer 26% for next season, but escrow is left alone until Years 4-6 of the current collective bargaining agreement.

"I know it's been portrayed as something else and it's unfortunate and it's inaccurate, because at the end of the day, if the system gets stressed, it's going to be stressed for us both," Bettman continued.

He also noted the league's target start date of Jan. 1 for the 2020-21 campaign is a "work in progress, influenced largely by medical experts," according to TSN's Frank Seravalli.

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Warning: Story contains coarse language

After challenging YouTube star Jake Paul to a boxing match last week, San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane has now drawn the attention of Jake's older brother, Logan Paul.

"Put him on the list. I'll do it," Logan Paul said on his podcast "Impaulsive." "There's fighting in hockey, I get it. ... It's boxing. It is a sport. There's strategy, there's technique. ... He's probably tough as hell, man's probably tough as nails. I bet his chin's not. Most people's aren't."

Kane publicized his desire to fight Jake over the last several days after the YouTube star knocked out ex-NBA player Nate Robinson in a boxing match on Saturday. Kane took to Twitter once again to show he's not afraid to take on either brother after hearing Logan's comments.

Logan expressed concern about Kane's popularity but seemed to entertain the idea of actually being on board with organizing a bout - whether it involves him or his brother.

"Does Jake Paul vs. Evander Kane - is that a headline fight? How many buys does that get? How many people?" Paul said. "Or does he just do it because he'll get another fantastic fucking knockout?"

With Kane seemingly not backing down from his challenge, the ball now looks to be in the Paul brothers' court.

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Warning: Story contains coarse language

After challenging YouTube star Jake Paul to a boxing match last week, San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane has now drawn the attention of Jake's older brother, Logan Paul.

"Put him on the list. I'll do it," Logan Paul said on his podcast "Impaulsive." "There's fighting in hockey, I get it. ... It's boxing. It is a sport. There's strategy, there's technique. ... He's probably tough as hell, man's probably tough as nails. I bet his chin's not. Most people's aren't."

Kane publicized his desire to fight Jake over the last several days after the YouTube star knocked out ex-NBA player Nate Robinson in a boxing match on Saturday. Kane took to Twitter once again to show he's not afraid to take on either brother after hearing Logan's comments.

Logan expressed concern about Kane's popularity but seemed to entertain the idea of actually being on board with organizing a bout - whether it involves him or his brother.

"Does Jake Paul vs. Evander Kane - is that a headline fight? How many buys does that get? How many people?" Paul said. "Or does he just do it because he'll get another fantastic fucking knockout?"

With Kane seemingly not backing down from his challenge, the ball now looks to be in the Paul brothers' court.

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North Dakota defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker and forward Jasper Weatherby plan to kneel while the national anthem plays before they begin their 2020-21 schedule Wednesday.

"We believe racial injustices and the (poor) treatment of minorities and people of color in this country needs to stop, and it needs to be improved all over America and all over the world," Weatherby told the Grand Forks Herald's Brad Elliott Schlossman. "For us, being able to have a platform in a place where there aren't a lot of people of color in hockey or in Grand Forks, it's a really interesting position for us to be in. It's a great platform."

The players made a point of declaring their intentions prior to kneeling so their message is clear, according to Schlossman.

Weatherby expects some people to disapprove, but that won't deter them from doing it.

"I think change is uncomfortable for a lot of people," he added. "If this (demonstration) is uncomfortable for you, it's a great opportunity to educate yourself and look inside and ask yourself, 'Why does that upset me?' and, 'Why is someone from my hometown doing this?' We hope the hockey community knows that we stand with people of color and we are not OK with the way people are being treated in this country."

Bernard-Docker emphasized his ties to the military and said kneeling is, in fact, a way of showing solidarity.

"I have the utmost respect for the military and people who have served," he said. "I have no disrespect to veterans. I have two grandpas who fought in world wars. They have passed away now. But I have no doubt they would support what I'm fighting for, which is the right to be treated equally. People fought for our country so citizens could have fundamental rights. This is what the military fought for."

Weatherby said they currently plan to kneel only before Wednesday's game.

Both players are entering their junior seasons and are assistant captains for the Fighting Hawks. Bernard-Docker is an Ottawa Senators prospect, and the NHL club selected him 26th overall in the 2018 draft. The San Jose Sharks chose Weatherby in the fourth round that same year.

North Dakota will open its NCHC schedule against the Ohio-based Miami University on Wednesday at 4:35 p.m. ET.

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The Montreal Canadiens are optimistic blue-chip defensive prospect Alexander Romanov will make an instant impact as a rookie this season.

"Obviously we have to let him have a chance to come in and earn that spot and prove it, but it's there for him to do that," assistant coach Luke Richardson said, according to NHL.com's Jon Lane. "We've evaluated players before and you've seen them come out of the world juniors as stars and do very well in the NHL, so we're expecting nothing less than that for Romanov."

"He's a very excitable player, exciting to watch," Richardson continued. "He plays with the passion and excitement. That's always fun and that'll look really great on a Saturday night in the Bell Centre."

The Canadiens drafted Romanov 38th overall in 2018, and they signed him to a three-year, entry-level contract in July. He joined the Habs in Toronto for training camp before the NHL's return to play, but Romanov wasn't eligible to suit up in the qualifying round and playoffs.

Bringing him over to North America burned a year of Romanov's entry-level deal. But that was worth it for Montreal, as head coach Claude Julien is already thinking about the Russian rearguard's spot in the lineup.

"If he's that good, he'll be a second pairing before you know it," Julien said. "But I think we allow him to develop and gain some experience at a comfortable pace and allow him to showcase what he's able to do.

"He's a very confident individual. Who knows where he's going to be once the season starts? This is a guy who can surprise a lot of people just because he's got those attributes, but he's also got the confidence to go with it, so he may be pushing a lot of people before you know it."

Romanov has spent the past two seasons with CSKA Moscow in the KHL. His offensive production as a teenager in Russia's top league was pedestrian, but Romanov has established himself on the international stage. He was named to the Media All-Star Team at the 2019 and 2020 world juniors, and the blue-liner earned top defenseman honors at the former tournament.

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