The NHL said it will investigate an allegation seemingly made by Evander Kane's wife that the San Jose Sharks forward bet on his own games and has intentionally tried to lose for gambling profit.

The league said Saturday night on Twitter that it was made aware of the social media posts and plans to conduct a full investigation.

An Instagram account, appearing to belong to Kane's wife, Anna, posted in a story: "How does the NHL let a compulsive gambling addict still play when he's obviously throwing games to win money? Hmm maybe someone needs to address this."

Jack Eichel's representatives released a statement Friday night saying "the process is not working," deepening the rift between the Buffalo Sabres captain and the team.

In an email to The Associated Press, agents Peter Fish and Peter Donatelli contradicted general manager Kevyn Adams by saying the Sabres went against their own medical staff's recommendation in determining artificial disk replacement surgery was required to repair a herniated disk that sidelined the player for the final two months of the season.

The agents also wrote they fully anticipated Eichel would be traded before the start of the NHL's free agency period, which opened on Wednesday.

David Krejci announced he will not return to the Boston Bruins next season, leaving the NHL after 15 seasons to return home to the Czech Republic.

"Since the end of the season, as I have thought about my future, it has become clear that I need to make a difficult decision for my family and I. At this point in my career and life, I need to return to the Czech Republic and play in front of my family, who sacrificed so much to help me achieve my NHL dreams," Krejci said in a statement Friday. "I want to play in front of my parents, brother and friends. I want my children to live where I grew up."

Taylor Hall is staying in Boston.

The former Hart Trophy winner, who was acquired by the Bruins in April, has signed a four-year deal with an annual cap hit of $6 million, the team announced Friday.

The left winger was an unrestricted free agent.

The New York Rangers traded winger Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues on Friday for forward Sammy Blais and a 2022 second-round pick.

Buchnevich, 26, is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. He played all 301 games in the NHL with the Rangers, who selected him in the third round in 2013. Buchnevich had 79 goals and 116 assists in those games, including 20 goals in 54 games last season.

Blais, 25, has one year left on his deal at $1.5 million against the cap before he reaches restricted free agency, also with arbitration rights.

The Chicago Blackhawks on Friday acquired veteran defenseman Seth Jones from the Columbus Blue Jackets, and sources said they will sign him to an eight-year extension with an average annual value of $9.5 million.

The Blackhawks also received the Blue Jackets' first-round pick (No. 32 overall, used to pick defenseman Nolan Allan) in Friday night's draft, as well as their sixth-rounder in 2022.

Logan Mailloux was selected by the Montreal Canadiens with the 31st overall pick in the NHL draft Friday night, despite the Canadian teenager asking teams not to pick him after he was fined for an offense of a sexual nature in Sweden last year.

Mailloux, 18, was fined by Swedish police for showing a photo to his teammates via Snapchat that depicted him and a woman engaged in a consensual sexual act. The photo that was taken without consent of the the woman, who went to local police.

The Buffalo Sabres selected University of Michigan defenseman Owen Power with the first pick in the NHL Draft on Friday night.

Power, 18, was the No. 1 ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. His selection marks just the fourth time in NHL history that an NCAA player has gone first overall, joining forward Joe Murphy (1986, Detroit Red Wings), goalie Rick DiPietro (2000, New York Islanders) and defenseman Erik Johnson (2006, St. Louis Blues).

The New York Rangers are buying out the player they paid to go away and giving the money saved to a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion they hope will improve team chemistry on and off the ice.

The Rangers put defenseman Tony DeAngelo on unconditional waivers Friday for the purposes of buying out the final year of his contract. Hours earlier, they introduced new forward Barclay Goodrow after he signed a $21.6 million contract.

The NHL released its 2021-22 regular-season schedule on Thursday night, featuring realigned divisions, a rebalanced schedule and a lengthy Olympic break if the league's players participate in the 2022 Beijing Games.

The schedule, which was announced on SportsCenter, returns the NHL to a full 82-game regular season after playing 56 games in 2020-21 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.