Gregor: Studying why star NHL players don’t draw more penalties

By: Jason Gregor

I’ve long been perplexed by the NHL’s refusal to call the rulebook. What makes it more frustrating is that by not enforcing the rulebook it punishes the star players more.

The NFL and NBA make sure their best players are protected, so they can flourish and showcase their elite skill regularly. The NHL does not.

It doesn’t matter if they play in the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central or Pacific, the NHL is consistent in ensuring their top scorers don’t draw many penalties.

This chart outlines their point totals, how many penalties they’ve drawn, penalties drawn/60 and where they rank in offensive zone possession time.

Player	Points	Pen Drawn	PD/60	O-Zone Poss TOI/GAME
Leon Draisaitl	17	2	302nd	2nd
Connor McDavid	17	2	297th	1st
Alex Ovechkin	15	2	320th	T-72nd
Kyle Connor	14	0	604th	T-21st
Anze Kopitar	13	4	136th	17th
Evgeny Kutznetsov	13	3	211th	4th
Steven Stamkos	12	0	597th	88th
Troy Terry	12	2	93rd	T-63rd
Johnny Gaudreau	11	2	289th	T-19th
Timo Meier	11	2	246th	T-140th
Sean Couturier	11	2	272nd	T-63rd
Jonahon Huberdeau	11	1	411th	T-30th
Andrei Svechnikov	11	3	105th	T-63rd
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	11	0	595th	T-41st
Kevin Shattenkirk	11	1	452nd	T-270th
Elias Lindholm	11	1	431st	T- 147th
JT Miller	11	4	184th	6th
Adam Fox	11	4	203rd	10th
Pierre-Luc Dubois	11	5	75th	T-117th

Kyle Connor is 4^th in the NHL in points, he is 21^st in offensive zone time yet no opposing player has committed one infraction on him all season? Seems odd.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are first and second in points, and O-Zone possession time, yet they’ve drawn only two penalties each.

Only Pierre-Luc Dubois and Troy Terry rank among the top-100 in penalties drawn/60, with a minimum of 50 minutes played. Only five of the top-19 scorers are in the top-200.

How can the players who possess the puck the most, produce the most points draw so few penalties?

Why is the NHL opposed to allowing the most skilled players showcase their talents without being obstructed, hooked or held?

The NFL and NBA actually altered rules to ensure there would be more offence in their leagues, and despite initial push back from defenders, both leagues are flourishing financially.

Yet the NHL continues to believe their game is being officiated properly. Offense sells. Fans want to see electrifying plays, and if teams can stop the star players with good positioning and the goalies make great saves no one will complain.

But right now NHL fans are missing out on witnessing the true skill of the elite stars, because the NHL refuses to enforce hooking, holding and obstruction. At the start of the season the NHL sent out a memo saying they’d crack down on crosschecks. There has been a slight uptick in penalties per/game this season, because of it, but historically there are more penalties called in the first month of the season.

And so far here is a breakdown of penalties called.

Cross-checking: 94
Hooking: 155
Tripping: 194
Obstruction (Interference, Holding and Holding the Stick): 204.

So players have either adapted and aren’t crosschecking, or the NHL focused on cross-checks, even though they weren’t the most called infraction. I wonder what would happen if they said they’d crack down on hooking and tripping?

I don’t understand how the NHL and the NHLPA are happy with the current decision to have the skilled players fight through obstruction. It is such a simple fix, and it will only improve the game and allow for more excitement.

The speed of the game is faster than it’s ever been, yet goal scoring is down and so too are power plays.

While other leagues made rule changes, and enforced them, to promote more offense, which creates more lead changes and excitement, the NHL remains stuck in the mud of obstruction.