The NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak will serve a three-game suspension for his hit to the head on Alexeyev. He will be eligible to return when the Kraken take on the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 18.
The veteran defender received a match penalty in the second period yesterday for a hit to the head on Washington blueliner Alexander Alexeyev. Alexeyev, who recorded his first career point earlier in the game, left with an upper-body injury and did not return. A clip of the hit can be seen here courtesy of NBC Sports Washington’s Matt Weyrich (Twitter link).
Oleksiak has been suspended once before in his career back in 2016. Notably, that was a two-game ban for an illegal check to the head, the same issue he’s being looked at for here. Seattle isn’t in action today with their next contest coming Sunday against Florida so if they want, the league can hold off on a decision for any potential supplementary discipline until tomorrow.
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