Right-handed defensemen with size and offensive upside in their mid-20s are rarely made available for trade, but Jacob Trouba appears to be an exception.

The Winnipeg Jets have engaged in trade talks with multiple teams about the restricted free agent blue-liner, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli.

Trouba is coming off a breakout 50-point season in 2018-19. The 25-year-old logged nearly 23 minutes per game while racking up 171 blocked shots, 112 hits, and a career-high 48 takeaways.

Trouba's camp and the Jets have never seen eye to eye in contract negotiations, which could lead to the end of his tenure in Winnipeg.

After his entry-level contract expired prior to the 2016-17 campaign, Trouba didn't sign his next pact until over a month into the season, agreeing to a two-year bridge deal. Once that expired, he and the Jets needed arbitration to settle on a one-year, $5.5-million deal this past summer. The two sides were reportedly $3 million apart before the hearing.

The Jets hold a projected $25.4 million in cap space, but RFA forwards Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor are due for significant raises. Andrew Copp, Nathan Beaulieu, and Joe Morrow round out the team's list of RFAs. Winnipeg also faces a glut of pending UFAs, including forwards Brandon Tanev and Kevin Hayes, and defensemen Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot.

Dustin Byfuglien and Tucker Poolman are the Jets' only right-handed shooting defensemen under contract for next season.

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NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly released a statement on Friday regarding Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov after a video circulated online appearing to show the Russian beside two lines of cocaine.

Following the release of the video, Kuznetsov said he "never used drugs" and has no intention to "get into it." He also said the video was more than a year old and was taken after the Capitals' Stanley Cup victory in 2018.

On Friday, Kuznetsov apologized for his involvement in the video.

"While I have never taken illegal drugs in my life and career, I would like to publicly apologize to the Capitals, my teammates, our fans, and everyone else for putting myself in a bad situation," he said, according to the team. "This was a hard lesson for me to learn."

The Capitals also posted a statement on Friday accepting Kuznetsov's apology.

"In addition to doing our own due diligence, we met with Evgeny to discuss the video circulated on social media. While we are disappointed by his presence in the video, we accept his explanation and apology for putting himself in an unfortunate situation," the team said. "Evgeny has been a terrific player and an active member of our community, and we expect him to learn from this experience and uphold both the standards the organization has for him as well as his own."

Kuznetsov has been a key piece of the Capitals' core, recording 70-plus points and 50-plus assists in three of the last four campaigns.

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The National Women's Hockey League is canceling its plans to add two Canadian expansion teams with a long-term goal of a sustainable league in mind.

"As we said in April, we secured the investment required to add at least two teams. However, to expand properly, as we did in Minnesota, time, cooperation, and preparation is required. We would love to have more teams in 2019-20 and will make it happen if there is a spirit of partnership from all sides. Unless there is a change of heart soon, we will revisit expansion for the 2020-21 season," the league said in a statement Thursday.

Just two days after the Canadian Women's Hockey League announced it was folding after a 12-year run, the NWHL said it was expected to add teams in Toronto and Montreal.

However, a lot has changed since.

Earlier this month, over 200 women's hockey players announced they will be boycotting professional hockey this season until a plan for a viable league is in place.

While there is uncertainty surrounding the rosters for the upcoming season, the NWHL is open to the creation of a new league.

"If any individuals or groups come forward and declare they are ready to start and invest in a new league where women can receive a substantial full-time salary and medical insurance, we would be ecstatic to have a conversation about a partnership or passing the torch."

Professional women's hockey players were making as little as $2,000 a season with no health benefits.

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St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist has been suspended one game for his hit on Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.

More to come.

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With multiple players to sign and limited cap space with which to work, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas might face some competition from other clubs looking to poach one of his young stars.

Leafs forwards Mitch Marner, Kasperi Kapanen, and Andreas Johnsson are all set to become restricted free agents July 1. As RFAs, all three would be eligible to sign offer sheets from other clubs should they be presented with them.

Dubas is prepared for that eventuality.

"You have to be realistic. You have to look around and identify which teams have the (draft) capital, which teams have the cap space, and which teams have the combination of both," Dubas told Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com.

Any team that submits a successful offer sheet for an RFA must provide compensatory draft picks to the player's original club based on a predetermined league-wide scale, with larger salaries carrying heavier draft-pick compensation.

"We want to be prepared as much as we possibly can," said Dubas, adding that some teams are non-factors due to a lack of cap space, lack of draft picks, or both. "We don't want to leave ourselves exposed to the actions of an irrational actor in the marketplace, another team that has the ability to do something that's crazy."

The young GM hopes to prevent any such situation by signing his players in an efficient manner.

"As a management group, our focus has been on finding contract resolutions with Mitch and Johnsson and Kapanen," he said.

Marner, Kapanen, and Johnsson all had career years in 2018-19. Marner led the Leafs with 94 points, while Kapanen and Johnsson each reached the 20-goal mark.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and defenseman Nikita Zaitsev are working together to find the 27-year-old a fresh start, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

More to come.

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St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist will have a hearing with the league after boarding Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced on Thursday.

The hit occurred with 2:03 to play in the first period, and Sundqvist was given a two-minute minor for boarding.

Grzelcyk was injured on the play and didn't return after logging 4:29 of ice time in the opening frame. The blue-liner is in concussion protocol and will not travel with the team to St. Louis on Thursday afternoon, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed.

The 25-year-old Sundqvist has not previously faced supplementary discipline through two full NHL seasons.

Following the contest, Bruins forward David Backes said he doesn't think the collision was "a hit that we want in our game."

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Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand is taking responsibility for his line's slow start to the Stanley Cup Final after the team's 3-2 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues in Game 2 on Wednesday.

“We need to be better,” Marchand said of his line, according to The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa. “Personally, I wasn’t good the last two games. We can’t be playing like that.”

The Bruins' top line of Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron has been productive this postseason, but through two games against the Blues, the trio has combined for just one empty-net goal, one assist, and a minus-7 rating.

Boston's top line has fallen off against the Blues at five-on-five compared to its production against previous opponents.

TOI= Time on ice
CF%= Corsi For (Shot attempt share)
SCF%= Scoring chance share

Marchand and Bergeron have also uncharacteristically combined for eight turnovers through the first two contests, contributing to the Blues' 16 takeaways.

“They just competed hard,” Marchand said. “They won a lot of battles in our zone. They have really good sticks. So they turn a lot of pucks over and created some offense off that.”

The Blues erased a pair of deficits en route to the victory, stealing home-ice advantage with Game 3 set for Saturday in St. Louis.

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