The Ottawa Senators are investigating an issue that prompted the wife of team captain Erik Karlsson to file an order of protection against the fiancee of teammate Mike Hoffman, alleging that she harassed the couple, including remarks about the death of their child.
In the May 4 application for a peace bond that was obtained by multiple media outlets, Melinda Karlsson alleges that Monika Caryk has harassed Karlsson and her husband online since November 2017.
"Monika Caryk has uttered numerous statements wishing my unborn child dead ... uttered that she wished I was dead and that someone should 'take out' my husband's legs to end his career," the document said.
The Karlssons' child, their first, was stillborn in March.
The Senators issued a statement Tuesday that read, "We are investigating this matter in cooperation with the NHL and will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the safety and privacy of our players and their families."
Melinda Karlsson's application added that "Monika Caryk has posted over 1,000 negative and derogatory statements about me as a professional."
Reached by the Ottawa Citizen, Hoffman denied the allegations.
"There is a 150 percent chance that my fiancee Monika and I are not involved in any of the accusations that have been pursued [that are] coming our way," he told the newspaper. "We totally understand there's no place for cyberbullying.
"We've offered to cooperate and do anything it takes to find out who is doing this, and support [the Karlssons]. Obviously this is a tough time that they're going through, and we want to find out who is doing this, because for some reason it's coming into our court, and it's 150 percent that it's not us. We have nothing to hide. We're willing to cooperate in any way to solve this and figure it out and prove that it wasn't us."
According to Canada's Department of Justice website, a peace bond is a protection order that requires a person to keep the peace and be on good behavior, and is used when that person appears likely to commit a criminal offense, but there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offense has actually been committed.
Karlsson and Hoffman have been teammates on the Senators since 2011-12. Hoffman, 28, has scored more than 20 goals the last four seasons. Karlsson, 28, is a four-time All-Star and two-time Norris Trophy winner. His contract is up after next season, so he has been the subject of trade speculation.
The Senators came within one game of going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, losing to the Penguins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. Last season they tumbled to the second-worst record in the league.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.