The NHL refuses to protect its stars like Connor McDavid and many more

The NHL has suspended Connor McDavid for three games for cross-checking Conor Garland in the head. The incident happened on Saturday night after McDavid retaliated to Garland handing him for 13 seconds before the cross-check landed. The league also handed Tyler Myers the same punishment for his cross-check to Evan Bouchard.

The reaction from McDavid was over the top and his suspension is warranted. However, while fans are frustrated with the disciplinary news, the lack of commitment from the officials to call Garland for the initial hold and protect McDavid is what has sparked conversation. It’s been a problem all season that the NHL refuses to fix.

From 2021 to 2024, McDavid averaged 44.6 penalties a season. He ranked first in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons with 50 and 44 and then was 5th last season with 41. McDavid has drawn 14 penalties so far this season which puts him on pace for around 25 drawn with the six games he’ll now miss, including his time missed to injury. Somehow McDavid is going to draw 16 less penalties than last season and half the amount than the 2022 season. How and why has this happened? The reason isn’t because NHL players suddenly figured out how to defend McDavid. 

Players are more skilled than ever before but power play opportunities are the lowest they’ve ever been. Hockey reference has recorded this data from 1963 onwards and the 2024-25 is the lowest at 2.80 opportunities per game, which is an average of less than one per period. Power play percentage is still high at 21.35% but the NHL’s refusal to call the rulebook is preventing more goals from being scored. The league clearly has a problem with allowing goals with the way they’ve allowed offside reviews to get out of hand and the inconsistency of kicked goals. 

You’re right in assuming that other NHL stars are getting the same treatment as McDavid. At all strength and players that have played over 400 minutes this season, McDavid ranks 134th in penalties drawn per 60 minutes with 0.89, which averages to around less than one a game. Many other stars are lower than him in that category with Auston Matthews 158th, Nathan MacKinnon 186th, and Quinn Hughes 192nd. AJ Greer averages the most penalties drawn in the league at 2.90 with Garnet Hathaway, Mathieu Oliver and Martin Pospisil also in the top 10. Garland is 24th on the list averaging 1.44 penalties drawn. Notable stars in the top 25 who don’t have the pest side to their game are Nico Hischier, Elias Petterson, and David Pasternak.

Players like Garland, Hathaway and Greer play a role in the NHL that is different from many others. They provoke their opponents by giving their team power plays or at least dragging other players to the box with them. There is 100% a spot in the NHL for those players. However, the league needs to recognize when the pests are playing that role and not let them get away with it so frequently. Garland literally admitted in his post game interview that he was holding down McDavid to help his team win. 

Having flow to a hockey game is important. Fans don’t want to see every tic tac penalty called but they want to see the clear and obvious ones get a whistle. If the refs had called Garland for holding would it have led to an Oilers win? Likely not but it could’ve prevented McDavid and even Myers from getting suspended. The problem isn’t the decision by the Department of Player Safety either because they were left with no choice but to suspend the best player in the NHL. The problem is that the NHL is refusing to call its own rule book which really makes no sense.