NHL GMs propose minor rule tweaks, additional coach's challenges

MANALAPAN, Fla. — We’re not talking about major changes, but some minor tweaks to the NHL rules are potentially on the horizon with the league’s general managers agreeing on Tuesday to advance a handful of proposals to the competition committee between now and the end-of-summer meeting for GMs and coaches.

“These aren’t exciting changes,” NHL senior executive vice president and director of hockey operations Colin Campbell explained after the morning meeting concluded, adding that they would need to be approved by the competition committee and ratified by the board of governors before being implemented.

But there was consensus among GMs they should be made, in addition to expanding coach’s challenges for puck-over-glass, delay-of-game penalties and minor penalties for high sticking.

Under the current rules, a four-minute high-sticking penalty is reviewed by officials and can be rescinded if a player was cut by the puck or by a teammate’s stick. But the suggested change would be to allow coaches to now challenge a minor for high-sticking and have it rescinded if it was the result of an errant puck to the face or a friendly-fire high stick.

There will have to be conclusive video evidence to reverse a high-sticking penalty, just as there will have to be conclusive video evidence a puck was deflected over the glass to have a challenge on this play deemed successful. Unsuccessful challenges will see the challenging team assessed an additional delay-of-game penalty.

The NHL situation room will automatically review all calls on these infractions, as they do with the other challengeable plays for offsides and goaltender interference, should they occur within the last minute of regulation or throughout all of overtime.

With regards to both puck-over-glass and high sticking penalties, there will be no option to challenge missed calls. 

“We’re not adding a penalty,” said Campbell.

The GMs are hoping to add stipulations to some of the rules, like in the case of Rule 64.A (iv), which currently only takes into account when the net is inadvertently knocked off by a skater.

The proposal is to have goaltenders included in the stipulation that there shall be a faceoff in the defensive zone — with the defending team unable to change lines and the attacking team choosing which dot the faceoff is dropped at — for inadvertently knocking the net off its pegs, whereas before they were not included.

After seeing the net dislodged by goaltenders 102 times last season, changes to the pegs have resulted in that happening only 17 times this season, making it more discernible as to when a goaltender — or any player — is doing it intentionally.

Another tweak proposed regarding goaltenders would be allowing them to warm up exclusively when they’re replacing a goaltender that’s being pulled from the game by one of the league’s appointed concussions spotters.

In front of their nets, the GMs are proposing a change regarding defensive zone faceoffs following an icing. As it stands, if the defending centre cheats on the faceoff, he’s warned while the offensive centre found to be cheating gets thrown out. The proposal is to now have the offensive player also warned rather than thrown out to cut down on delays in dropping the puck in these situations.

Regarding faceoffs and where they’re located on plays blown dead because neither team wants to play the puck after a hand pass or after the puck is knocked down with a high stick, the proposal is to move them to a more advantageous position for the non-offending team. Meaning if an attacking team commits a hand pass in the offensive zone and there’s a stalemate on playing the puck that leads to a whistle, the faceoff would move into the neutral zone so as not to reward the offending team and punish the other team by continuing to hold the faceoff closest to where the infraction occurred.

The last proposal regarding faceoffs would be to have them in the offensive zone when a goaltender removes his mask and causes a whistle, regardless of where the puck is when the goaltender removes his mask. The attacking team would also be able to choose which side of the ice they want the draw to be on, and the defending team would not be permitted to make a line change.

There was clarification provided by the hockey ops members of the NHL’s situation room in terms of what constitutes “possession and control of the puck” on offsides and no changes are being proposed on this front. 

Also, the idea of eliminating a team’s ability to regroup behind the centre-ice red line after crossing it with the puck in three-on-three overtime, which was tabled at the November meetings, didn’t gain any traction at these ones and won’t be brought forth to the competition committee.

One thing that doesn’t have to go through further process is the enforcement of rules that prohibit players on the bench putting their legs into play while not on the ice. Players dangling limbs over the boards in anticipation of a line change will be warned, and then they will be penalized if they don’t comply with the warning.

A linesman being cut by a skate in a recent game made the NHL’s vice president and director of officiating, Stephen Walkom, broach the subject with general managers this week to remind them that this will be more sternly enforced moving forward.

NHL department of player safety head George Parros also addressed the GMs, along with the rest of his leadership group, which was present at the meetings.

“I would categorize this GM meeting as not unlike any other I’ve had,” Parros said. “We were discussing yesterday, in a breakout group, who my department consists of, how we make our decisions, what all goes into those, what our process is, our consistency through that process — all sorts of things this. Good communication with the GMs, reporting back to the bigger group today. We talked about some numbers, some things we’ve been seeing, but really nothing out of the ordinary. 

“We always come to these meetings. Not only this one but others throughout the year and come here looking to get conversation and get direction needed from this group, and I would say this was like most others we’ve had.”

Parros added that, just like those who work in the NHL’s situation room, the DoPS has an open-door policy to welcome any GM to come to their offices in New York and get a behind-the-scenes look at how they operate. 

“We encourage GMs to come in and check us out, understand the process a little bit better,” said Parros, “and I think they would tell you, too, to go in there and see how things operate live and in person, you kind of get a little appreciation for it. Certainly when things happen live and you’re in that room and in that environment, you can kind of understand not what my group goes through but also what the hockey ops group goes through in Toronto.”

No proposed changes to how either department operates are forthcoming.

In the end, it’ll only be these minor tweaks to the rules and additions to what’s challengeable by coaches that are pushed forward to the next step.

“They’re all pretty straightforward,” said Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill. 

“Nothing major,” said Philadelphia Flyers GM Daniel Briere. “We feel the game is a really good place, and that the product is only getting more entertaining. There aren’t major changes to make over the next year… The talent of the players keeps getting stronger, the speed of the game keeps getting better and the show is better and better from year to year, so you have to be careful. I’m on the side that we’re going in the right direction. More goals are being scored, more lead changes are happening, so I like where it’s going.”