Jackets trade off unhappy Dubois

After Pierre-Luc Dubois was benched for lack of effort two days ago, the Blue Jackets on Saturday traded the unhappy star center to the Jets for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic.

Dubois, the Blue Jacket’ top-line center, made it clear when he signed a two-year contract before the season that he wanted a change of scenery. Laine, an All-Star winger also had been asking for a trade.

Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said the deal had been in the works and wasn’t hastened by the rift between Dubois and Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, who benched the 22-yearold star for loafing in Thursday’s loss to the Lightning.

“We’ve been working on this for a while and we’ve always said that it could take a while until we find the right deal, but if the right deal is on the table we’re ready to move fast,” Kekalainen said. “So just everything came together.”

Dubois is a dynamic center whom the Blue Jackets hoped would be one of their building blocks. But he declined to sign a long-term deal and let it be known he wanted to play elsewhere.

After leading the team in scoring with 49 points last season, Dubois had one goal and no assists in the first five games of 2021.

Laine, a 22-year-old Finnish winger, has scored 36, 44, 30 and 28 goals in each of his four NHL seasons but has grown into a better all-around player in the process. Roslovic, a 23-year-old center who grew up in Columbus, has 26 goals and 41 assists in

180 career games.

NBA: USA Basketball is casting a wider-than-usual net in its roster selection for this summer’s rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, two people with knowledge of the situation said Saturday. Additions to the list in recent weeks include Pelicans’ Zion Williamson, Hawks’ Trae Young, Grizzlies’ Ja Morant, Heat’s Duncan Robinson and Pistons’ Christian Wood. The people told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the final list has not been revealed publicly. The additions mean at least 60 players could be on the player-pool list that will be released by USA Basketball in the coming weeks. Most of those are holdovers from the finalists list that was announced in February 2020 in anticipation of an Olympics last summer. There were 44 players on that list and almost all of them, with the exception of injured Klay Thompson, are expected to remain in the pool this year. ESPN first reported that USA Basketball has sent approximately 60 invitations to be part of the player pool. The U.S. men have won gold at the last three Olympics.

NFL: A person with direct knowledge of the situation says the Lions and quarterback Matthew Stafford have mutually agreed to explore the possibilities of trading him. The person says Stafford expressed an interest in being traded after the season ended and the team responded by tabling the idea until a new general manager and coach were hired.

Skiing: Olympic champion Sofia Goggia is dominating the World Cup downhill season like no woman since ski great Lindsey Vonn. Goggia won her fourth straight downhill on Saturday to tie a World Cup streak by Vonn in 2018. They are the only women to achieve the feat in the last 25 years.