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Ryan Hartman

Ryan Hartman Suspended Three Games

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The NHL Department of Player Safety has announced that they’ve handed out a three-game suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct to Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman. The ban is the second suspension handed out to Hartman this season and the fourth of his NHL career. He has also been fined seven times.

The incident happened in overtime during a Minnesota loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. On the play, Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault scored into an empty net (meaning Minnesota received no points despite losing in overtime) and Hartman was seen screaming from the bench and throwing his stick in the direction of the officials. The video shows that Hartman nearly hit teammate Matt Boldy with the stick. For his actions in the game, Hartman was assessed a ten-minute misconduct for abusive language and the three-game suspension that was handed out today.

Hartman said that he didn’t intend to hurt anyone when he tossed his stick, and the league considered this when handing out their discipline as well as also factoring in Hartman’s lengthy record when it comes to supplemental discipline.

Hartman’s absence will certainly hurt the Wild’s very slim chances at a playoff spot, the 29-year-old has 19 goals and 23 assists in 68 games this season. Minnesota’s season is hanging on by a thread as they currently sit seven points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a 35-28-10 record.

Ryan Hartman To Have Player Safety Hearing

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Wild forward Ryan Hartman has already been suspended once this season and a second may be coming his way.  The league announced that will have a phone hearing with the Department of Player Safety on Monday for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of Saturday’s overtime loss to Vegas.

After Jonathan Marchessault scored with 90 seconds left in overtime into the empty net (meaning Minnesota didn’t receive a point despite losing in extra time), Hartman was yelling from the bench and reportedly threw his stick in the officials’ direction.  Hartman was given a ten-minute misconduct for abusive language on the play.

As Michael Russo of The Athletic points out (subscription link), Hartman’s reported actions fall within the parameters of Rule 40.4 which would constitute an automatic three-game suspension at a minimum.  The full wording of that rule is as follows:

Any player who, by his actions, physically demeans an official or physically threatens an official by (but not limited to) throwing a stick or any other piece of equipment or object at or in the general direction of an official, shooting the puck at or in the general direction of an official, spitting at or in the general direction of an official, or who deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall be suspended for not less than three (3) games.

It’s unclear if the hearing intends to determine if there is sufficient evidence to give Hartman a three-game ban or if they won’t apply that interpretation.

Hartman has been suspended three times in his career and fined on seven other occasions.  If a suspension is levied, he will be considered as a repeat offender which carries a higher level of forfeited salary.  For a repeat offender, the divisor in the calculation is 82 while for those who aren’t, the divisor is the number of days in the season.  For example, the hypothetical three-game suspension under that rule would cost a repeat offender 3/82 of their AAV while a non-repeat offender would lose 3/192 of their AAV.

Central Notes: Hartman, Foligno, Landeskog, Murray

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Wild forward Ryan Hartman was fined over $4.4K, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for high-sticking Jets forward Cole Perfetti during Sunday’s 3-2 loss, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced today. This is the seventh fine of Hartman’s career, as The Athletic’s Michael Russo notes, and his second disciplinary punishment of the season after being assessed a two-game suspension for tripping Red Wings winger Alex DeBrincat in November.

The incident in question was confirmed to be deliberate, inexplicably coming out of Hartman’s mouth during gameplay. Perfetti, who was wearing a microphone for Sunday’s game, told reporters today that Hartman told Perfetti that the high stick was retribution for the Brenden Dillon cross-check that injured Wild star Kirill Kaprizov the day before (via the Winnipeg Free Press’ Mike McIntyre). Perfetti, who turned 22 yesterday, was not involved in the Dillon/Kaprizov altercation.

For the Wild, the lack of a suspension for Hartman is great news. Already dealing with injuries to two-thirds of their first line in Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, middle-six bruiser Marcus Foligno is now a game-time decision for tonight’s clash against the Flames with a lingering undisclosed injury, per NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce. The 32-year-old Foligno, who has four points in his last five games, skated in a third-line role alongside Frédérick Gaudreau and Pat Maroon in Sunday’s loss.

His absence would force the Wild to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen, as veteran d-man Jonathon Merrill is the only healthy extra skater on Minnesota’s roster. The Wild are eligible to use an emergency recall in Foligno’s absence, but without ruling him out for tonight’s contest, they wouldn’t be able to do so until after the game.

Elsewhere in the Central Division today:

  • Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog returned to Denver from Sweden to continue his recovery from a right-knee cartilage transplant earlier this season, leading to increased hope that he could return for a potential 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs berth and suit up for the first time since Colorado captured the championship in 2022. The Denver Post’s Corey Masisak revealed last weekend that Landeskog’s family has now moved back to Colorado, furthering confidence that the long-time first-line fixture will resume his career at some point. The 31-year-old has now undergone multiple knee surgeries over the past three years and has not eclipsed the 70-game mark in a season since the 2018-19 campaign, five years ago.
  • After being sent down for salary cap management purposes yesterday, Stars netminder Matt Murray was recalled from AHL Texas today, per team radio analyst Bruce LeVine. The 25-year-old is once again in the NHL on an emergency basis while starter Jake Oettinger is sidelined week-to-week with a lower-body injury. He has not made an appearance since Oettinger exited the lineup over two weeks ago, however, leading to seven straight starts for veteran backup Scott Wedgewood. The 31-year-old Ontarian has been up to the task, posting a 6-1-1 record and .906 SV% since Oettinger left a December 15 game against the Senators less than halfway through the first period. The Stars have not had back-to-back games since Oettinger was injured. Murray, who does not require waivers and has a .908 SV% through 13 games with AHL Texas this season, will continue to back up Wedgewood for the foreseeable future.

Snapshots: Hartman, Athanasiou, Sawchyn

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Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman is set to return to game action for the team for the first time in more than a week, according to Minnesota Wild Radio Network’s Kevin Falness. Hartman has been out since the team’s December 19th win over the Boston Bruins, a game in which he scored a goal.

At times the Wild’s first-line center, Hartman has been supplanted as a top-six pivot by the emergence of Marco Rossi. But he’s still putting together a decent campaign, on pace to score 26 goals and 43 points. Back in the lineup, Hartman will give the Wild a nice boost just as they are looking to gain ground in the Central Division race.

Some other notes from across the NHL:

  • Chicago Blackhawks forward Andreas Athanasiou has hit a bit of a setback in his recovery from a groin injury, according to NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis. Roumeliotis relays word from head coach Luke Richardson who said that Athanasiou’s gym workouts have been shut down, though he plans to start them back up again now that he’s received clarity on the nature of his injury after visiting another doctor. While there still isn’t a firm timeline as to when the Blackhawks can expect to see the former 30-goal scorer back on the ice, it does seem as though that is still a ways away.
  • Florida Panthers prospect Gracyn Sawchyn was traded in the WHL today, dealt to the Edmonton Oil Kings in a deal that included seven draft picks headed the other way. Although the Oil Kings have struggled this season they’re likely to improve greatly with the addition of Sawchyn, who the Panthers drafted 63rd overall at the 2023 draft. Sawchyn’s NHL future is a topic of debate and division amongst third-party publications, as he was ranked as high as 13th overall in the class (by Elite Prospects) and as low as 49th (TSN’s Bob McKenzie).

Evening Notes: Senators, Wild, Penguins

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The Ottawa Senators announced today that they have recalled forwards Angus Crookshank and Jiri Smejkal from their AHL affiliate in Belleville. Both players had been previously assigned to the AHL after the Senators 5-4 overtime win on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Both Crookshank and Smejkal had been with the Senators on an emergency recall prior to the break and were unable to stay with the club because the emergency conditions wouldn’t be satisfied. But with the team in Toronto tomorrow night to take on the Maple Leafs both players were able to be recalled joining the club as they get set to begin a busy stretch of games over the next few weeks. The Senators play three times before the new year and 15 times in January as they try to play catchup to the rest of the Eastern Conference.

In other evening notes:

  • The Minnesota Wild announced a pair of recalls as they brought up Daemon Hunt and Jake Lucchini from the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Both players were reassigned to Iowa on Sunday making this move a paper transaction similar to that of the Senators. Lucchini has spent most of the year in Iowa and played his first game with Minnesota on December 23rd. His recall could mean that forward Ryan Hartman will remain out of action when the Wild resume play against the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night. Hunt will likely serve as the Wild’s extra defenseman for tomorrow night’s game.
  • Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that he believes it is possible the Pittsburgh Penguins could hang on to pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel until the end of the season and treat that as their big trade deadline acquisition. The Penguins currently sit five points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference but hold three games in hand on the Tampa Bay Lightning who currently occupy that position. Kingerski believes that the Penguins will forgo a potential trade package for Guentzel if they remain within six points of the playoffs by the end of January.

Central Notes: Johnson, Dickinson, Wild

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According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, forward Tyler Johnson is the most recent injury to the Chicago Blackhawks roster, as he did not travel with the team to take on the St.Louis Blues. Johnson joins a growing list of high-priced members of the organization to go down with injury this season, as Seth Jones, Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou all currently find themselves on the team’s injured reserve.

In the final season of a seven-year, $35MM contract originally signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2017, Johnson was included in a salary dump move to Chicago, who also acquired a second-round draft selection in the deal, that sent Brent Seabrook’s contract back the other way. Having his time with the Blackhawks mired by injury concerns, Johnson has only suited up in 114 games for the franchise, scoring 22 goals and 50 points overall.

As Pope mentions in his reporting, with Johnson out tonight against the Blues, young forward Cole Guttman will draw back into the lineup for Chicago. In 14 games this year, Guttman has one goal and three points, only averaging a touch over 11 and a half minutes of ice time per night.

Other notes:

  • Sticking in Chicago, in an article today from Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCSN – Chicago, he mentions the growing trade value of Blackhawks’ forward Jason Dickinson leading up to the trade deadline. Being one of a handful of teams trying to stay above the salary cap floor, Chicago would have the ability to retain 50% ($1.325MM) of Dickinson’s contract, making him quite the bargain with 10 goals and 32 games this season.
  • Before their game tonight against the Boston Bruins, Michael Russo of The Athletic shared several injury updates surrounding certain members of the Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately for the organization, they will still be without captain Jared Spurgeon, as well as forward Ryan Hartman. With plenty of issues plaguing the team this year, the inability to field a complete roster has led to plenty of inconsistency in Minnesota this season.

Evening Notes: Hartman, Blankenburg, Makar

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Ryan Hartman will miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury. Hartman’s injury is a microcosm of the kind of season it has been for the Wild this year. The 29-year-old spent roughly two weeks toiling on the Wild’s fourth line, only to get moved up in the lineup where he scored goals in back-to-back games before falling to this latest injury.

The Wild are dealing with injuries to key players at the moment as defensemen Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon are out, as is forward Mats Zuccarello. Despite the injury troubles, the Wild have been playing solid hockey under new head coach John Hynes as the team is 8-3 since he took over being the bench after a shaky 5-10-4 start to the season under former head coach Dean Evason.

In other evening notes:

  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Nick Blankenburg isn’t playing tonight due to an upper-body injury. The Washington, Michigan native has dressed in six games this season for Columbus and has yet to register a point. He was recalled earlier this month after spending the first two months of the season with the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate and dressed in 36 games last season for Columbus, tallying four goals and ten assists.
  • The Colorado Avalanche have announced that defenseman Cale Makar will return to the lineup after missing the last three games with a lower-body injury. The former Norris Trophy winner was considered a game-time decision but after taking warmup with the team it appears the decision was made for the 25-year-old to play against the Ottawa Senators. Makar has eight goals and 29 assists this season in just 27 games and will give a much-needed boost to the Avalanche team that has lost seven of their last 11 games.

Morning Notes: Kane, Hartman, Meier

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TSN’s Pierre LeBrun shared on the latest episode of Insider Trading that Patrick Kane could be moved at the trade deadline if Detroit doesn’t hang on to their playoff contention. LeBrun continued by saying that Kane’s agent, Pat Brisson, and Wings general manager, Steve Yzerman, discussed all possibilities prior to the future Hall of Famer signing in Motor City, including the chance of Kane needing to find a new home to ensure another playoff berth.

Kane is signed to a one-year contract and clearly hoping to make it an efficient year. The 35-year-old winger has already had 11 Stanley Cup Playoff appearances through his 16-year, winning the Cup three times with the Chicago Blackhawks. But he’s missed much of the postseason over the last six years, only seeing the playoffs in 2019-20, with the Blackhawks, and in 2022-23, with the New York Rangers.

If Detroit isn’t able to maintain their playoff spot, the Insider Trading panel mentioned the Buffalo Sabres as a potential alternative for Kane. The panel shared that Buffalo doesn’t lack any interest in the star winger, enjoying the strong veteran presence that he would bring to a locker room. The Sabres and Red Wings are bound to be close in the playoff race come the end of the year, with the teams currently separated by five points in the standings.

Other notes from around the league:

Ryan Hartman Suspended Two Games

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Wild forward Ryan Hartman has been suspended two games for tripping Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Monday.

As already discussed, Hartman made an apparent slew-foot maneuver on DeBrincat midway through the third period of Sunday’s loss. NHL Player Safety gave the following rationale for the suspension:

It is important to note that Hartman has time and space to take a different angle down the boards in pursuing the puck that does not put him on a course to collide with DeBrincat. Instead, he chooses to approach DeBrincat from behind, and, while reaching for the puck, sweeps both of his feet, causing a dangerous backwards fall to the ice that gives DeBrincat little ability to defend or protect himself. What causes this play to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is the intentional nature of this action, combined with a disciplinary history of related incidents, having been fined twice for slew-footing or tripping his opponents.

Hartman is considered a repeat offender under NHL rules, as he was suspended in April of last season, which also contributed to seeing this play rise to a suspension.

The supplemental discipline creates a salary cap headache for the Wild, who already have enough on their plate to deal with after making a head coaching change today. The Wild now have just 11 forwards on the active roster, as while Hartman does not count against the 23-man limit while suspended, he does count against the salary cap. The Wild will likely opt to roll with 11 forwards and seven defensemen with a bare minimum roster of 18 skaters over the next two contests, as none of their seven defensemen are waiver-exempt. The team’s $617K in cap space is not enough to accommodate a recall from AHL Iowa.

Ryan Hartman To Have Player Safety Hearing

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Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman will have a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Monday regarding a slew-foot against Detroit Red Wings winger Alex DeBrincat during today’s loss, per a league announcement.

The incident occurred about halfway through the third period, with the Wild already trailing by multiple goals. As DeBrincat attempted to shield teammate Michael Rasmussen by the Wild bench as he carried the puck up the ice, Hartman approached DeBrincat from behind. Hartman’s foot made contact with the back of DeBrincat’s skates and continued to follow through as DeBrincat fell backward to the ice.

NHL Player Safety will likely determine whether Hartman intended to injure DeBrincat on the play, the principal factor in the length of a potential suspension. Because this is not an in-person hearing, a suspension would be five games or less.

Hartman has been among the few Wild players performing up to expectations this season. His seven goals rank second on the team behind Joel Eriksson Ek, and the natural winger continues to take a heavy amount of faceoffs and is averaging nearly 17 minutes per game. Hartman’s possession numbers are some of the best on the team, boasting a 52.5% Corsi share at even strength through 17 games. His lone absence this season came in the Wild’s Global Series game against the Ottawa Senators last weekend in Stockholm due to illness.

The 29-year-old is in the final season of a three-year contract carrying a bargain-bin cap hit of $1.7MM. He signed a three-year, $12MM extension with the Wild in October and will avoid unrestricted free agency next summer.

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