Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Andreas Johnsson is expected to miss the rest of the season after having knee surgery Wednesday.

The Maple Leafs announced that the surgery was successful, but Johnsson is expected to miss six months.

Johnsson, 25, has eight goals and 13 assists in 43 games this season, his third with Toronto.

The Vegas Golden Knights have acquired defenseman Alec Martinez from the Los Angeles Kings for second-round draft picks in both 2020 and 2021.

Martinez, who was seen as one of the most desirable defenseman possibly available at the trade deadline, has one goal and seven assists in 41 games this season.

This isn't just a rental deal. The 32-year-old Martinez is under contract through the 2020-21 season with a cap hit of $4 million.

The Golden Knights are in a fierce battle in the Pacific Division. They are currently tied with Edmonton for first with 70 points, but Vancouver is only a point behind and Calgary and Arizona only two points back.

After going to the Stanley Cup Final in their first year, the Golden Knights lost in the first round of the playoffs last year and are loading up for another run this season.

Martinez was a fan favorite in Los Angeles after scoring in overtime of Game 7 of the 2014 Western Conference finals against the Chicago Blackhawks and in OT in Game 5 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers to win the Kings' second title in three seasons.

The three players who were involved in the Kings' Cup-winning OT goal in 2014 have all been traded in the past two weeks. Martinez went Wednesday. Tyler Toffoli, who had the primary assist, was traded to the Canucks on Feb. 17. Kyle Clifford, who had the secondary assist, was dealt to the Maple Leafs on Feb. 6.

Martinez did miss more than five weeks of the season at the end of 2019 after undergoing wrist surgery to repair the radial artery and two superficial radial nerves that were damaged when he was cut by a skate.

The Kings sit in last place in the Western Conference and have the second-worst record in the NHL with 47 points through 60 games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- For the first time since October, the Washington Capitals took the ice for practice as something other than a first-place team.

Defensive lapses and a glaring lack of structure have added up to losses in six of nine games and a .500 record over the past 10. It's a struggle for the Capitals now, but they hope a trade for defenseman Brenden Dillon and a few adjustments will shake them out of their midseason doldrums.

"The hard things to do, the defensive things to do, are always kind of the things that go first when you get into these kind of lulls in the season or whatever because they're not the fun things to do," goaltender Braden Holtby said Wednesday. "Bringing a guy like him in, just an energy, a guy that's been known to do those things -- the hard things -- and be a leader that way is good."

Dillon could play as soon as Thursday night against Montreal, but he can't solve everything by himself. Even with Holtby finding a groove, the Capitals have allowed almost 3.5 goals per game during this stretch and have not looked like a group that led the NHL for much of the year.

General manager Brian MacLellan said he probably would have sought Dillon from San Jose regardless of the recent drop in play, but the level of urgency to turn things around has increased.

"I think our team game is off, and that results in poor defensive efforts," MacLellan said. "I don't think we're playing the right way. ... The forwards contribute to it, defense contributes to it, and we got to get all on the same page here and play a tighter game."

Defensemen are getting the bulk of criticism and the blueliners certainly haven't played to expectations. Beyond John Carlson, who's on pace for more than 90 points, the play of Michal Kempny, Dmitry Orlov, Nick Jensen and Jonas Siegenthaler has been inconsistent at best.

Carlson said the Capitals have been "a little disjointed."

"I think some other holes have crept into our details and systems that we all know we are capable of doing," said Carlson, who could soon be Dillon's defensive partner. "Just simple things, whether it is mental or execution or just being out of position a little bit, matters a lot."

Much of the chatter lately has been helping captain Alex Ovechkin score two more goals to reach 700 for his career. Ovechkin, MacLellan and others don't think chasing that milestone has been a distraction, but Washington is 1-4-0 since he reached 698.

"We know exactly what we have to do," Ovechkin said. "It's not a panic. It's just a slump [that] every team goes through all seasons. Some teams go [through it] the beginning of the year. Somebody goes [though it] right now. It's a good thing it's happening now [rather] than in the playoffs."

The Capitals are less than two years removed from their run to the Stanley Cup. They got knocked out in the first round last year and have retooled to try to win it all again.

Dillon, 29, brings the kind of physical play that is valued most in the playoffs. He has plenty of postseason experience and at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds blends right in with Washington's big, heavy identity.

"When you're standing in front of the net with him, it's going to be a battle," winger Tom Wilson said. "That's something we've tried to have with our team. When teams come into D.C., you want them to be like, 'Oh, here we go, it's going to be a tough game,' and he's just another piece that can really add to that."

The Golden Knights added to their defense as they ready for a playoff run, while the Kings added yet more draft picks to their rebuilding effort. Could this Pacific Division trade be win-win?

Golden Knights get: D Alec Martinez
Kings get: 2020 second-round pick (VGS), 2021 second-round pick (STL)

Vegas Golden Knights: A-

MEXICO CITY – Following weeks of speculation, and with nearly all of the game’s top players taking a wait-and-see approach, the first domino has fallen in the mysterious bid to create an alternative global golf tour. 

Last month at Torrey Pines, current world No. 1 Rory McIlroy said he needed to take some time to consider what the Premier Golf League was proposing, but on Wednesday at the WGC-Mexico Championship the Northern Irishman shut the door on the concept.

“The more I've thought about it, the more I don't like it. The one thing as a professional golfer in my position that I value is the fact that I have autonomy and freedom over everything that I do,” McIlroy said. “If you go and play this other golf league, you're not going to have that choice.”

Although funding and corporate structure of the PGL remains a mystery, the proposed tour would feature 12 four-man teams playing an 18-event schedule during the heart of the PGA Tour season. According to league organizers, each event would have a $10 million purse and the final event of the season would be a team competition worth $40 million.

The league has also proposed a team ownership structure for the game’s top players and McIlroy would have been among that group of potential owners.

It remains to be seen if other players will follow McIlroy’s lead. Last week Tiger Woods seemed to leave the door open to the concept when he told reporters, “There's a lot of information that we're still looking at and whether it's reality or not, but just like everybody else, we're looking into it.”

Phil Mickelson was also still mulling the proposed circuit and told reporters last week, “Not really ready to talk about [it]. I’m going to play Bay Hill and Players, I’m going to guess by The Players I’m going to have a pretty good opinion.”

McIlroy acknowledged that money is a primary motivator for some, and he realizes that if all other top players decide to join the PGL he would probably have to follow them, but that doesn't mean he likes the idea. 

“For me, I’m out. My position is I’m against it until there may come a day that I can’t be against it," McIlroy said. "If everyone else goes, I might not have a choice, but at this point, yeah, I don’t like what they’re proposing."

But as he explained during last week's Player Advisory Council meeting, this is about legacy.

“I would like to be on the right side of history with this one, just sort of as Arnold [Palmer] was with the whole Greg Norman thing in the '90s,” McIlroy said. “I value a lot of other things over money, and that's sort of my stance on it at this point.”

In a memo sent to players last month PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan explained that Tour members are limited to three conflicting event “releases” under the Tour’s current regulations and he also references “strict enforcement of the Conflicting Event and Media Rights/Release rules.”

“It doesn’t matter to me, I’m playing on the PGA Tour," Bubba Watson told Golf Channel. "Why go anywhere else, we have the best tour in the world?"

“Our commissioner set us straight, you have to pick which tour you want to play on and the benefits we have on the PGA Tour are pretty hard to beat,” Xander Schauffle said. “For me, how young I am and how early it is in my career all the history is made on the PGA Tour and that’s where I want to be.”

While Patrick Reed's penalty for improving his lie at last year's Hero World Challenge raised plenty of eyebrows in and around the sport, one person who wasn't shocked by the scene was longtime TV golf analyst Peter Kostis.

Speaking on a recent episode of the No Laying Up podcast, the longtime announcer whose contract with CBS was not renewed last year didn't hold back when asked for his perception of Reed's recent brush with the rule book.

"I've seen Patrick Reed improve his lie, up close and personal, four times now," Kostis said.

One such instance came during the final round of The Barclays in 2016 at Bethpage Black, an event that Reed went on to win. After hitting his drive on the 13th hole into thick rough just off the fairway, Reed put an iron down multiple times behind the ball before ultimately hitting a 3-wood, a turn of events that drew Kostis' attention in live time on the broadcast.

"That's the only time I ever shut [Gary] McCord up. He didn't know what to say when I said, 'Well, the lie that I saw originally wouldn't have allowed for this shot,'" Kostis said. "Because he put four or five clubs behind the ball, kind of faking whether he's going to hit this shot or hit that shot. By the time he was done, he hit a freaking 3-wood out of there, which when I saw it, it was a sand wedge layup originally."

Reed's recent antics were back in headlines this week thanks to world No. 2 Brooks Koepka, who likened Reed touching sand behind his ball with his club in a Bahamian bunker to "building sand castles" in a recent interview with SiriusXM.

Kostis shared further specifics on the other instances with Reed, including one on the 17th hole at the Travelers Championship and one from the par-3 16th at Torrey Pines South during an undated edition of the Farmers Insurance Open.

"He hit it over the green and did the same thing, put three or four clubs behind (the ball)," he said. "It was a really treacherous shot that nobody had gotten close all day long from over there. And by the time he was done, I could read 'Callaway' on the golf ball from my tower."

While Kostis did not hold back with his assessment of Reed's recent behavior, he also noted that the actions he witnessed may not have been premeditated or intentional.

"I'm not even sure that he knows that he's doing it sometimes. Maybe he does, I don't know," Kostis said. "I'm not going to assign intent. All I'm going to tell you is what I saw."

The podcast touched on a wide range of topics, including the 72-year-old's recent departure from CBS after a 27-year run and his thoughts on the future of televised golf. But when it came to the specifics surrounding Reed, Kostis was clear that what he perceived as questionable behavior from the former Masters champ was much more the exception on Tour than the rule.

"I think there's always been a player or two throughout history who fudged with their coin marking the ball, who stepped on a spike mark with their foot walking across their line," Kostis said. "But it's rare. It's really, really rare on the PGA Tour, I have to say. I mean, 99.99 percent of the guys play by the rule book, and they're to be applauded for that. That's what's supposed to happen."

Everyone knows that Phil Mickelson has never won the U.S. Open – the only major trophy he's never held.

Most people are aware that he's finished runner-up six times in the national championship.

But of those half-dozen occasions, do you know how many occurred in the state of New York?

Mickelson certainly does.

The USGA's U.S. Open Twitter account posed the question on Tuesday, tagging Mickelson in the process.

Mickelson, ever-present on social media, responded, sad emoji and all.

For the record, that's 2002 (Bethpage), 2004 (Shinnecock), 2006 (Winged Foot) and 2009 (Bethpage). This year's U.S. Open is again at Winged Foot, where Mickelson led by one shot on the 72nd hole and made double bogey to lose.

MEXICO CITY – With a victory on Sunday at the WGC-Mexico Championship, Jon Rahm could become the first Spaniard since Seve Ballesteros in 1989 to move to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. 

The 25-year-old has already enjoyed a brush with the late Spanish legend this week.

On Wednesday, Rahm was presented the Seve Ballesteros Award for being the 2019 European Tour’s Player of the Year, following a season that saw Rahm claim Euro Tour victories, including the DP World Tour Championship, and the Race to Dubai title.

“I was able to make Spanish history that week in Dubai and enjoy my name next to Seve's,” Rahm said. “For me, it's a huge honor. Anybody that knows and follows me, Seve is a huge influence of mine, and to be able to do that is incredible, and now to be awarded something named after him, it's very unique.”

As for how he could reach the top spot in the world ranking, Rahm would have to win this week’s World Golf Championship and current No. 1 Rory McIlroy would have to finish worse than a two-way tie for third. Rahm said he’s focused on his performance on the course, not the byproduct of that play.

“I'm here to win a tournament,” he said. “I'm hoping for the rest of the year it's going to be like that where at some point I'm going to win or have a good performance and get to No. 1 in the world, but the main goal is to win championships, win tournaments, and play my best every week.”

Lionel Messi has said that Barcelona is "my home" amid speculation that he could make a move away from the Camp Nou.

There have been suggestions that Messi has been frustrated on and off the pitch this season but he has appeared to commit his future to the Catalan club.

"I love Barcelona although I really do miss Rosario," he told Mundo Deportivo. "This is my home, I've been here longer than Argentina.

"I love Barcelona, where I live and I really enjoy what I do for a living."

There remains a clause in Messi's contract that would allow him to walk away for nothing at the end of the season, even though his deal runs until 2021.

Messi also said that he found it strange that the club had to deny allegations about paying a third-party company to discredit players, club legends and presidential candidates, among others.

Sources told ESPN that Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu met with Messi, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto in a tense meeting to discuss the situation on Tuesday.

"It caught me a bit of surprise because I wasn't here and I was travelling," Messi added.

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"The truth is that I find it strange that something like this happens. But they also said there would be evidence. We will have to wait to see if it is true or not.

"We cannot say much and wait to see what happens with all this. Truthfully, I find it very strange."

Barca sit in second place in the La Liga table, one point behind rivals Real Madrid.

The Catalans host Eibar in the league on Saturday before facing Napoli in the Champions League round of 16 next Tuesday.

Manchester City put their UEFA woes behind them with a 2-0 victory over West Ham on Wednesday night.

Rodri put City in front on 29 minutes before Kevin De Bruyne added a second on a night where the home fans made their feelings clear about the club's Champions League ban.

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This was City's first match since it was announced that the reigning Premier League champions will be excluded from the Champions League for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns for breaking financial fair play regulations.

While some City fans sung anti-UEFA chants during the match and a "UEFA Cartel" banner was unfurled, Pep Guardiola refused to be drawn on the issue before kickoff but did tell Sky Sports: "Now, focus on what we have to do. We just try to play our games.

"The first moment was impact but after a few hours we cannot control, we support the club 100%.

"They [the players] are exceptional professionals. I don't know [about the fans' reaction]. Hopefully they can help us from here until the end of the season. We have to play for the people here."

Guardiola's men started the match 25 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool and there were plenty of empty seats at the Etihad for a fixture that was re-arranged after the original was postponed due to extreme weather.

Gabriel Jesus should have put his side ahead after five minutes when he broke clear on goal, but after taking the ball round the goalkeeper he took too long to get his shot away and West Ham cleared the danger. The forward then passed up a similar opportunity moments later, much to the despair of the home crowd.

City eventually took the lead when De Bruyne's corner was flicked on by Rodri, whose header beat Lukasz Fabianski, although there were suggestions Aymeric Laporte got the final touch.

Sergio Aguero flashed a shot wide of Fabianski's goal in the second half before De Bruyne smashed a second on 62 minutes to make the game safe.

De Bruyne, speaking about City's Champions League ban, said after the game: "Obviously we were on holiday when the statement happened and we came back and just played football. The situation is what it is. We came back and trained like normal. For us nothing really changed.

"We still have a lot to play for with the two cups and Champions League so let's hope we can find rhythm as quickly as possible and win some titles."

Hammers' January signing Jarrod Bowen came on for the final 10 minutes but David Moyes' side, who had three shots on goal compared to City's 20, never looked like troubling the hosts. They remain in the bottom three, with a trip to leaders Liverpool next up.