Latest On Morgan Frost
At this early juncture in the 2023-24 NHL season, a look at Philadelphia Flyers center Morgan Frost‘s stat line might raise some eyebrows. Despite putting together a breakout season of sorts in 2022-23 and being entirely healthy so far this year, Frost has played in just three total contests, tied for the fewest among Flyers skaters this season.
This has led to speculation in some parts that the Flyers might be looking to trade Frost, 24, as his six consecutive games spent as a healthy scratch would seem to indicate that he no longer held a place in the Flyers’ long-term plans.
That speculation appears to not be grounded in the reality of the situation, though, according to a report from The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz. (subscription link) Kurz reports from a league source that the Flyers ” aren’t looking to move” Frost to another team, and “haven’t engaged in any serious discussions” on a Frost trade. Moreover, Kurz adds that the Flyers still view [Frost] as one of the young players they want to grow with the organization” as the team continues its rebuilding plan.
It appears that Frost’s lengthy stay in the press box was more due to the newfound depth the Flyers have at the center position rather than any mistake Frost had made in the two games he played to start the season.
With Sean Couturier once again healthy, the Flyers boast a deep group of pivots that also includes veteran Scott Laughton and Noah Cates.
Couturier is inarguably the team’s top center, but the issue for Frost has been more about Laughton and Cates. Both players scored at a comparable rate to Frost last season while also providing considerably more on the defensive side of the equation.
Laughton is a widely respected veteran with a well-known commitment to two-way hockey, while Cates was so impressive in his rookie season that he even garnered consideration on the Selke Trophy ballot.
With offseason signing Ryan Poehling offering more speed and grit than Frost could provide centering Garnet Hathaway and Nicolas Deslauriers on the Flyers’ fourth line, it becomes easier to see why Frost hasn’t been able to crack head coach John Tortorella’s nightly lineup.
Tortorella did get Frost back into the mix for their last game, placing him in the second-line center role between Travis Konecny and Tyson Foerster. That shifted Laughton down to the fourth line and Poehling to the press box, and it’ll be interesting to see whether the Flyers stick with that arrangement or choose to return Frost to healthy scratch status.
In any case, the Flyers’ decent 4-4-1 start has been partly off the back of their increased depth at the center position. It’s that depth — rather than any desire to make a change-of-scenery trade, according to Kurz’s reporting — that has caused Frost’s frequent healthy scratches so far this season.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Ottawa Senators To Forfeit First-Round Pick
The NHL has announced that the Ottawa Senators will forfeit a first-round draft pick for their role in the July 2021 trade of Evgenii Dadonov from the Senators to the Vegas Golden Knights and the subsequent, invalidated March 2022 Dadonov trade between the Golden Knights and the Anaheim Ducks.
According to the league’s announcement, the Senators will have 24 hours after the conclusion of the NHL Draft lottery to determine if they will surrender their first-round pick in that given year, and they will be able to choose between giving up a pick in either the 2024, 2025, or 2026 drafts.
The Vegas Golden Knights issued a statement regarding the Senators’ punishment, stating:
We appreciate the league’s diligence on this matter and respect the decision. The club will have no further comment.
This issue originates from 2021, when the Golden Knights acquired Dadonov from Ottawa. No official statement regarding how exactly the Senators mishandled that trade has been released, but The Athletic’s Jesse Granger writes on X that the issue relates to the Senators’ handling of the no-trade list in Dadonov’s contract. 
While the league did not elaborate on any specifics as to what the Senators did that merited such a punishment, the fact that a first-round pick has been docked sends a signal that the league deemed serious punishment in order for the Senators.
Per the league’s statement, the NHL nor any of the involved clubs will comment further on this matter, meaning no official explanation of the reasons for this punishment will come.
Thankfully, reporting from Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch sheds some light on the situation. Garrioch reported that today’s punishment has come “as a result of general manager Pierre Dorion giving the Knights the wrong information about the existence of Dadonov’s 10-team ‘no move’ clause.”
The Golden Knights, seemingly believing that Dadonov did not possess no-trade protection, attempted to trade the player to the Anaheim Ducks in a move that was eventually vetoed by the league.
Garrioch added: “The Knights were under the impression that Dadonov hadn’t entered a 10-team no-trade list before the 2021-22 campaign so he no longer had one.”
This appears to have been an issue for Golden Knights management, as Garrioch cites a source who said: “Vegas president of hockey operations George McPhee and GM Kelly McCrimmon refused to let this matter go and appealed to the NHL’s head office to look into it,” a move that resulted in today’s punishment.
Garrioch also laid out the Senators’ argument in defense of their actions, stating that at the time of the trade, the Senators “argued that Vegas had the contract on its books for eight months” and had not looked “at the details” of the contract. While it’s true that the Golden Knights had employed Dadonov for quite a bit of time before the trade, it seems this argument was not sufficient to stave off punishment from the league.
This reported chain of events has not been officially confirmed, and the league’s statement today makes clear that no official confirmation is set to come. But regardless of what exactly happened in Ottawa to merit this kind of punishment, the reality the Senators now face is that they have lost a key asset for their future.
Their right to choose which draft pick they surrender does offer them some crucial flexibility in the matter, especially if the team misses the playoffs this season and ends up in the draft lottery. Just a few years after the Senators had to watch the Colorado Avalanche draft Bowen Byram fourth-overall with a draft pick that once belonged to them, the Senators will not want a repeat of that situation.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Boston Bruins Place Matt Grzelcyk On Long-Term Injured Reserve, Recall Three
The Boston Bruins have placed defenseman Matt Grzelcyk on long-term injured reserve, according to a team announcement. As a result, Grzelcyk will not be eligible to play until late November.
In addition to placing Grzelcyk on LTIR, the team has also placed forward Jakub Lauko on traditional injured reserve, and recalled defensemen Mason Lohrei, Ian Mitchell, and Parker Wotherspoon from their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.
Grzelcyk, 29, lands on LTIR after leaving the Bruins’ October 30th contest with an upper-body injury. Grzelcyk has established himself as a top-four defenseman in Boston, having scored at least 20 points in four consecutive seasons and averaged over 18 minutes of ice time per game in his NHL career.
He’s gotten off to a slow start this season, but thanks to his $3.687MM cap hit his LTIR placement provides the Bruins with the financial headroom to make this trio of recalls.
The most noable name in the list of players called up is Lohrei, who ranks among the top prospects in a thin Bruins prospect system. Set to turn 23 in January, the 2020 second-round pick is a rangy, mobile blueliner who scored well across his two-year collegiate career with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
So far, Lohrei has just 15 professional games on his resume. But with this recall, he is now positioned to potentially make his NHL debut on a Bruins’ roster that, before these recalls, boasted just four defensemen eligible to play.
As for Mitchell and Wotherspoon, neither holds the kind of upside or top prospect intrigue that Lohrei has. What they do have that Lohrei doesn’t, though, is significant experience playing pro hockey and some NHL experience. Mitchell, 24, has played 84 career NHL games while Wotherspoon has 12 NHL games and nearly 300 in the AHL.
As a right-shot blueliner, Mitchell is the likeliest candidate to immediately land in the NHL lineup while head coach Jim Montgomery will have to choose between Wotherspoon and Lohrei as to which left-shot defensemen he’ll dress for games.
That being said, the left-shot blueliners may stand a stronger chance at lasting on the NHL roster beyond the next four games. Once Charlie McAvoy‘s suspension ends, a major void on the right side of the Bruins’ defense gets filled.
Meanwhile, Grzelcyk is set for a more extended absence, meaning Lohrei or Wotherspoon could extend their stay on the NHL roster beyond Mitchell, assuming they can handle the NHL minutes thrown their way.
Nicklas Bäckström To Take Leave Of Absence
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Bäckström has decided to step away from the team as he deals with a lingering injury situation, the Capitals announced today.
Bäckström issued a statement on his decision, which reads as follows:
Given my ongoing injury situation, I decided to take some time and step away from the game. This is a difficult decision, but one that I feel is right for my health at this time. I want to thank my teammates, the organization, and fans for their unwavering support throughout this process. I ask for privacy at this time as I determine my next steps and viable options moving forward.
Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan issued a statement of his own, which reads:
We stand behind Nicklas and will support him throughout this process. We know firsthand how hard he has worked and how determined he is to get back to full health. Our organization stands fully behind him while he takes his leave of absence from the team and takes time to evaluate his current health situation.
Bäckström, 35, had hip resurfacing surgery in June 2022, and it was initially believed that the process could cost him the entirety of the 2022-23 season. That didn’t end up happening, though, as Bäckström managed to return to the Capitals’ lineup and skate in 39 games.
To start this season, there was some belief that the hardest phase of Bäckström’s injury-related troubles was behind him, at least based on the fact that he played so many games in 2022-23. The hope was that he would be able to be a full contributor to the Capitals’ efforts to return to the postseason.
But after eight difficult games in which he managed one assist, Bäckström has made the decision to prioritize his long-term health. That’s a reasonable decision for any player dealing with considerable injury issues, let alone a player who has accomplished as much as Bäckström. 
Bäckström has played over 1,100 games in the NHL, and is Washington’s all-time leader in assists.
For years the partner-in-crime to franchise face Alex Ovechkin, Bäckström is a former All-Star, Selke Trophy vote-getter, and a Stanley Cup champion.
As to where Bäckström’s decision leaves the Capitals, rookie head coach Spencer Carbery likely won’t be able to replace what Bäckström brings both on and off the ice.
That being said, he does have some options to help fill the void now created in their depth chart.
Rookie Hendrix Lapierre, the 22nd overall pick at the 2020 NHL draft, is still finding his footing in pro hockey but offers considerable offensive skill. Assuming Sonny Milano can return to the lineup, that return could shift Connor McMichael back to the center position and place him in Bäckström’s vacated third-line center role.
This unfortunate news does pose one minor silver lining for the Capitals, related to their salary-cap situation. CapFriendly writes that the Capitals are likely to place Bäckström on long-term injured reserve, adding the player’s $9.2MM cap hit to their LTIR salary pool. The result is an increased cap flexibility to not only add players from other teams via trade but also activate currently injured players such as Max Pacioretty or Joel Edmundson.
In any case, this is undoubtedly a difficult development for both the player and team side of the equation. For Bäckström, one cannot underestimate how hard it must be for the veteran pivot to step away from his teammates in order to prioritize his health. For the Capitals, despite the player’s struggles to start the season, Bäckström remains a crucial part of the franchise’s efforts to return to the playoffs.
This is an unfortunate situation for all involved, but regardless of the on-ice implications of this decision the hope has to be that, by stepping away from the game, Bäckström can achieve the improvements to his health that he both desires and deserves.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nathan Beaulieu Signs In Switzerland
Veteran NHL defenseman Nathan Beaulieu has made the decision to head overseas to continue his professional career. According to a team announcement, he’s signed with EHC Kloten, a club in Switzerland’s National League.
The move puts Beaulieu, 30, in a European professional league for the first time in his career. The 471-game NHL veteran began this season on a PTO with the Carolina Hurricanes, but Beaulieu was not able to earn a NHL contract with the club.
Before this signing, Beaulieu had spent nine consecutive seasons as a full-time NHLer, skating in just four games outside the NHL in that span.
The 2011 first-round pick never quite lived up to the offensive potential he flashed in his QMJHL days, though he had solidified himself as a reliable depth defender on the Winnipeg Jets.
Beaulieu has averaged 16:18 time-on-ice per game over the course of his NHL career, and now at age 30 it appears the player prefers to try his luck playing overseas rather than potentially settle for an AHL contract.
In landing in Kloten, Beaulieu provides the team with an instant replacement for Lucas Ekeståhl Jonsson, who this morning left Kloten to sign with the SHL’s Rögle BK. Ekeståhl Jonsson was Kloten’s highest-scoring defenseman last season, but this year has managed just three points in 16 games.
Alongside Ekeståhl Jonsson’s declined production, he has also seen his role on the team slow down, as he’s averaging just 16:42 time-on-ice per game this season, compared to 21:50 last season. With Beaulieu now in the fold, Kloten may have landed an immediate upgrade for their departed blueliner.
Though it may take him some time to settle into his new surroundings, there’s the potential for Beaulieu to play a major top-pairing role for Kloten.
As a left-shot defenseman, the former Montreal Canadiens top defensive prospect could end up paired with current Canadiens top defensive prospect David Reinbacher, who is playing this season on loan at Kloten. Reinbacher has been out with an injury since October 13th, but once he’s healthy it’s possible the two are paired together.
That role would be a strong opportunity for Beaulieu, as its likely that the eyes of many NHL scouts would be on him, something that could heighten his odds of getting a shot to return to the NHL for next season.
For Kloten, the signing is more about finding an instant replacement (and upgrade, assuming Beaulieu can hit the ground running) for their departed defenseman, a move that needed to be made in order for the club to make a push to avoid the threat of relegation.
Kloten currently sit second to last in the National League with a 6-12-1 record, meaning they will need Beaulieu to step in and make an impact sooner rather than later in order to bank away some valuable standings points and keep their spot in the top level of Swiss hockey.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
East Notes: Jiricek, Dach, Czarnik, Mazur
While Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiricek is eligible to be sent to the minors which would allow the team more time to decide whether or not they should burn the first year of his entry-level deal, Chris Johnston of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the blueliner is expected to remain with the big club through his tenth game. Doing so means that he would officially burn the first season of his entry-level contract. The 19-year-old has two points in eight games so far this year in Columbus while logging a little under 14 minutes a night. His presence on the roster means that two rearguards (Andrew Peeke and Adam Boqvist) are on the outside looking in but it appears that will be the case for the foreseeable future.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- The Canadiens announced that center Kirby Dach underwent successful knee surgery today. Dach sustained a season-ending torn ACL and MCL in Montreal’s second game of the season earlier this month while playing against Chicago, his former team. Surgery was delayed until today to allow the swelling to go down. Dach is expected to be fully recovered in time for training camp next fall.
- CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the Red Wings have assigned forward Austin Czarnik to AHL Grand Rapids. The 30-year-old has played in eight games this season, picking up a single assist while logging just under 10 minutes a game. The move puts Detroit at just 18 healthy skaters which isn’t likely viable so a recall – likely Czarnik – will come in advance of Thursday’s game against Florida. Once Czarnik plays in ten games or is on the roster for 30 days, he’ll need to clear waivers again so this transaction stops the clock on the latter counter for now.
- Still with Detroit, the Red Wings announced that they have activated forward Carter Mazur from season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to Grand Rapids. The 21-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in the opening game of Detroit’s prospect tournament back in September. Mazur spent most of last season in college with Denver but managed to get in six games with the Griffins down the stretch where he had six points. Because Mazur wasn’t on Detroit’s roster last season, there was no cap charge for his SOIR placement.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Los Angeles Kings
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2023-24 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Los Angeles Kings
Current Cap Hit: $84,937,314 (over the $83.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Quinton Byfield (one year, $894K)
F Alex Laferriere (two years, $875K)
F Arthur Kaliyev (one year, $894K)
D Jordan Spence (one year, $820K)
Potential Bonuses
Byfield: $2.65MM
Kaliyev: $212.5K
Spence: $82.5K
Total: $2.945MM
Byfield took a small step forward last season and has looked a bit better in the early going this year. However, he’s a lock for a bridge contract. Barring a major uptick in production, that deal might be capped around the $2.25MM mark while his ‘A’ bonuses are going to be tough to reach. Kaliyev, meanwhile, is a bit more established as a secondary scorer. If he can get closer to the 20-goal and 40-point mark this season, he could push his bridge cost a bit higher than Byfield’s while hitting his lone ‘A’ bonus. Laferriere is just starting off his NHL career so it’s a bit early to project his next deal but if he can stay on the third line, he should push past the $1MM mark at least.
Spence has been a strong point producer in the minors but isn’t quite ready to play a big role just yet. That will limit his earnings upside to the point where a one-year bridge contract around what he’s making now might be what happens. His bonuses are tied to games played with multiple thresholds so while he might not max out, he should reach some of that total if he stays healthy.
Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level
F Jaret Anderson-Dolan ($775K, RFA)
F Viktor Arvidsson ($4.25MM, UFA)
G Pheonix Copley ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Carl Grundstrom ($1.3MM, RFA)
F Trevor Lewis ($775K, UFA)
F Blake Lizotte ($1.675MM, RFA)
D Matt Roy ($3.15MM, UFA)
G Cam Talbot ($1MM, UFA)
Potential Bonuses
Talbot: $1MM
Arvidsson has certainly improved his value since being acquired in 2021 from Nashville, putting up two of his better offensive years including reaching the 20-goal mark each time. Free agency hasn’t been kind to wingers lately but assuming he’s able to come back from the lower-body injury that has him on LTIR, he should be able to get a small raise on this on a multi-year deal. Lizotte has shown slow and steady improvement over his first few seasons despite having relatively limited playing time; this season looks to be a continuation in the early going. If that happens, he could have a case to push past the $2MM mark with arbitration rights. However, if the Kings are only comfortable playing him 10-12 minutes a night, he could become a non-tender candidate if they want to fill that lineup spot with someone cheaper even at the expense of some production.
Grundstrom has become a fourth-line regular for Los Angeles and chipped in with a dozen goals last season. Still, with the Kings largely capped out, they may be hard-pressed to afford to give him much more if this is the role he’s going to remain in. A small raise is doable but a non-tender could be possible as well. Lewis is a serviceable fourth liner which has kept him in the NHL for 16 seasons now. If there is going to be a 17th, it’ll be at or close to the minimum again. Anderson-Dolan is the extra skater at this point so it’s hard to see him commanding more than the league minimum either. With nearly 100 NHL games under his belt already, he’s a bit of an arbitration risk for the Kings (who wouldn’t want to go higher than $775K) so barring him locking down a regular role, they might opt to non-tender him as well.
Roy is one of the more intriguing defensemen entering the final year of his deal. He seemingly has largely flown under the radar with Los Angeles but he has put up back-to-back career years offensively despite not seeing a ton of power play time. Defensively, he logs heavy minutes on the penalty kill, allowing him to hover around 20 minutes a night on average most years. He turns 29 in March so he’s young enough that he should still have several good seasons ahead of him. Add those elements to the fact that Roy is a right-hand shot and you have a combination that should earn him a nice raise on the open market. A jump to around the $4.5MM mark could be doable for him although it’d be surprising if that came with the Kings who might be inclined to give his spot to prospect Brandt Clarke next season.
Talbot came over after an injury-plagued year with Ottawa. He hasn’t been a true starter for a while but they’re basically counting on him to be one. His bonuses are easy to achieve (payable at 10 games played) and the bulk of that will be charged against the cap next year. If Talbot can get back to his form from a few years ago, he could get back closer to the $3MM mark next summer. Copley is in his first full season as the backup after an early-season recall turned into a career year last season. The early results aren’t good this year, however. If he’s able to turn things around, a small raise could be doable but his longer-term track record of being a third-stringer will work against him in free agency.
Signed Through 2024-25
D Tobias Bjornfot ($775K, RFA)
D Andreas Englund ($1MM, UFA)
D Vladislav Gavrikov ($5.875MM, UFA)
Gavrikov impressed after being acquired from the Blue Jackets at the trade deadline last season along with Joonas Korpisalo. They only had room to keep one of the two and opted for the blueliner. Expecting a jump in the cap in the near future, the 27-year-old decided to take a short-term deal this time around in the hopes of landing a more lucrative long-term pact in 2025. As things stand, he might be able to get a small raise but not much more than that.
Englund worked his way back up to the NHL last season, splitting the year in a depth role between Colorado and Chicago. He should be in a similar role this year and a $1MM price tag for a sixth or seventh defender is a reasonable cost. Bjornfot’s deal is one-way in both seasons as he opted to take some guaranteed money in exchange for taking less than his qualifying offer. Playing time at the top level has been hard to come by for the 2019 first-rounder and he’ll need to establish himself as a regular to get any sort of meaningful increase two years from now.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Adrian Kempe ($5.5MM, UFA)
F Anze Kopitar ($10MM in 2023-24, $7MM in 2024-25 and 2025-26, UFA)
It was widely expected that the Kings would work out an extension for their captain at some point and they wasted little time doing so. Kopitar isn’t a top-end scorer but has been close to the point-per-game mark the last few seasons while being a high-quality defensive center. $10MM is a bit on the high side but on his next contract, he could provide some value on that deal, even when they start to manage his minutes. Kempe has gone from a secondary producer to a go-to scorer over the last two seasons, notching 76 goals combined over the past two years. As a result, his contract will be a nice bargain if he’s able to keep scoring at that rate. He’ll be 30 in 2026 and if he remains a 30-plus-goal scorer, a decent-sized raise on a long-term deal could be on the horizon.
Flyers Assign Felix Sandstrom To AHL On Conditioning Loan
There are a handful of teams around the NHL who are carrying three netminders on their active roster, making it hard for that third-stringer to see much action. The Flyers are one of those and have made a move to get that extra goalie some playing time, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned Felix Sandstrom to AHL Lehigh Valley on a conditioning loan.
The 26-year-old was the backup in Philadelphia for the majority of last season, getting into 20 games. However, Sandstrom struggled in those appearances, posting a 3.72 GAA with a .880 SV%. When Samuel Ersson came up and made a push for playing time, the Flyers actually sent Sandstrom down on a conditioning loan last season, allowing him to get into seven games with the Phantoms.
This season, Ersson – who is still waiver-exempt – has taken over as the full-time backup behind Carter Hart, leaving Sandstrom as the odd one out. As a result, he has yet to see the ice during the regular season and only played two periods in the preseason. That’s hardly ideal for any goalie.
A conditioning loan can last for a maximum of 14 days and there are no restrictions on how many games he can play in that stretch (unlike a post-LTIR conditioning loan). While he’s with Lehigh Valley, Sandstrom will count in full against Philadelphia’s salary cap and will technically remain a part of the Flyers’ active roster, meaning they won’t be able to call up a skater to temporarily take Sandstrom’s place.
Paul Stastny Announces Retirement
Free agent forward Paul Stastny has confirmed his retirement from the NHL after a 17-season, 1,145-game career in an interview Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic published Tuesday.
The 37-year-old was a key two-way center for most of his career. Drafted in the second round by Colorado back in 2005, Stastny went on to play in eight seasons with the Avs where he made an immediate impact offensively, averaging nearly a point per game in his rookie season, finishing second in Calder Trophy voting. By the time his tenure with Colorado wrapped up, he was more of a defensive threat than an offensive one but that didn’t stop him from having a long career.
Stastny signed with St. Louis in time for the 2014-15 season where he spent parts of four seasons before being traded to Winnipeg as a rental at the trade deadline in 2018. After a two-year stop in Vegas in 2018-19 and 2019-20, he went back to Winnipeg for two more seasons before joining Carolina last season where he was down to 22 points in 73 games while playing exclusively in their bottom six.
Stastny acknowledged to LeBrun that there was some interest in him during the summer but he decided he wanted to wait it out for a bit to see how he felt. Then, as time progressed, he felt that retirement was the right choice for him. It wasn’t his intention to make his decision public, telling LeBrun that “I kind of came into the league quietly and I’m leaving the league quietly. That’s the way I like it.” He hasn’t ruled out returning to hockey in some sort of front office capacity down the road but that’s not on the immediate horizon.
Stastny hangs up his skates after 1,195 career NHL games where he had 293 goals and 529 assists. His 822 points put him in 20th place among U.S.-born players in league history.
Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy Suspended Four Games
Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy has been suspended four games for an illegal check to the head against Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Monday night’s overtime win, the NHL Department of Player Safety said today. McAvoy faced a phone hearing earlier today.
This is the third suspension of the 2023-24 regular season and the fourth to stretch into the regular season. Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson is just now gearing up to return from a four-game suspension for charging (and injuring) Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine, while Kings winger Arthur Kaliyev served a four-game suspension split evenly between the preseason and regular season earlier this month. Sabres defenseman Connor Clifton was also assessed a two-game penalty.
In a video explanation for the suspension, NHL DoPS gave the following explanation for the suspension:
It is important to note that both elements of the Illegal Check to the Head rule are satisfied on this play. First, the head is the main point of contact, as McAvoy makes direct, forceful contact with Ekman-Larsson’s head, and it is the head that absorbs the majority of the force of the check. Second, the head contact on this play is avoidable. McAvoy chooses an angle of approach that cuts across the front of Ekman-Larsson’s body, missing his core and picking his head. If McAvoy wants to deliver this hit, he must stay low and choose an angle that hits through Ekman-Larsson’s shoulder and core, rather than one that makes the head the main point of contact.
McAvoy was assessed a match penalty on the play, which occurred with over ten minutes remaining in regulation and just a few minutes after McAvoy had scored the game-tying goal, by on-ice officials. While not a late hit by league standards, Ekman-Larsson did not have possession of the puck when the collision occurred, and McAvoy’s shoulder area contacted Ekman-Larsson’s face and jaw, swinging his head to the side with force. Ekman-Larsson did not return to the game.
McAvoy’s history with DoPS influenced the length of the suspension. He missed a game during the Bruins’ run to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final due to a suspension, also for an illegal check to the head.
This now means the Bruins will be without their top defense pair for the next couple of games, at least. Matt Grzelcyk left the Florida game due to an upper-body injury and is expected to miss a handful of games. That means a recall is likely for top defense prospect Mason Lohrei, who would make his NHL debut at home against the Maple Leafs on Thursday.