Player agents rip NHL Department of Player Safety following Matthews hit in The Athletic’s annual poll

On Monday, The Athletic released their annual NHL agent poll, anonymously surveying over 20 of the league’s top player representatives on a wide range of topics.

In this year’s survey, agents were asked “Is the Department of Player Safety working in its current form/strategy?” Of the 19 that answered the question, just one gave an unqualified Yes, five answered Sort of (yes and no), and 13 answered No.

Interestingly, a number of agents pointed to the situation with Radko Gudas’ season-ending hit on Auston Matthews as a reason for their distrust in the department. Gudas received a five-game suspension for his knee-on-knee check on the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ captain, which some believed was well below what was warranted given the offence. One agent cited the Gudas situation as an example of how George Parros’ department is failing to keep players safe:

“It’s not stopping players from doing this stupid s—, those kinds of suspensions (that Gudas got),” said one agent (who does not represent Matthews). “So is it working? No, because you’re still having these issues.”

Gudas’ suspension re-ignited conversations on the issues of consistency in sentencing from the Department of Player Safety. Numerous agents pointed to this as their biggest gripe when responding to the above question:

“There isn’t enough consistency in what we could believe could be a suspendable offense. Certain things happen, and you can’t say that’s automatically a two-game because if someone else does it, then it’s not. I don’t feel there’s complete consistency on their rulings.”

“Lack of consistency. One guy will get $2,500 for a slash and the next guy gets three games. Let’s just hold everyone to the same standard.”

“I would like to see the system be more mechanical and unbiased in its approach: The star players, many times, are viewed with a different, more lenient perspective.”

Of course, not all agents were perfectly aligned. Another agent highlighted the problems with consistency, and that star players are treated differently, but cited the Gudas situation as an example of a player getting overpunished because of it.

“I think the suspension should be on the act, not just the outcome. So just because it’s Auston Matthews and it ended his season, Gudas gets a big suspension. But who’s that kid in Calgary that just got hit from behind by (A.J.) Greer? That almost made me sick to my stomach. And he got what, two games? What if he broke his neck? If that kid broke his neck, and thank God he didn’t, does he get two games or whatever he got?”

For what it’s worth, players’ agents have specific interests depending who they represent, even when answering an anonymous survey. Still, it’s interesting to see the range of perspectives.

Also of note for Leafs fans, Toronto received one vote for the question “What is the worst-run franchise in the NHL?” That agent responded that the teams need a big swing to turn things around:

“They’ve mismanaged a lot of things, and in order to do something now, it’s going to have to be very bold. And I’m talking trade a big guy.”

The Maple Leafs received one vote for both “What is the easiest front office to deal with?” and “What is the hardest front office to deal with?” A majority of agents also named Connor McDavid as the player who will be highest paid in the NHL in two years time, with one agent saying it will be his salary on “a new contract with the Leafs.”