TORONTO — Remember a few weeks ago when Buffalo’s Owen Power was incensed that he was wrongly whistled for a high-sticking penalty?
It was friendly fire. Power didn’t high-stick Matvei Michkov, who was done dirty by his own teammate, Trevor Zegras.
All 18,000 fans in KeyBank Arena in Buffalo saw it on replay. The NHL’s Situation Room saw it in near real time. But once the call is made on the ice, according to current rules, there’s no chance to review it and it cannot be rescinded.
“The only four people that don’t get to see it are the four guys in striped shirts,” NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said. “There’s times we would like to get involved.”
To that end, Campbell said the NHL will explore in the coming months how things like rapid replay assist technology can aid on-ice officials. Think something that wouldn’t involve a long huddle or review, but how quickly, as in the NFL, the spot of the ball is corrected, or how fast it is relayed to the officiating team that a runner stepped out of bounds.
“The game’s not perfect,” Campbell said. “How can we help them out?
“You look at football, what they’ve done with the quarterback’s helmet. You look at baseball, with the pitcher and catcher (pitchcom device). All sports are expanding communication.”
The discussion was brought to the NHL’s 32 general managers in their meeting on Tuesday and Campbell said the “appetite was good.” Rule changes cannot be enacted mid-season but can be voted on in Florida in March for the Competition Committee to implement for 2027-28.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was quick to remind that wholesale changes won’t be coming to the way the game is officiated, but he mentioned how tech advancements might streamline everything from information to the flow of the game.
“So it’s not misconstrued: as terrific as our officiating is, and it’s the best,” Bettman said, “people shouldn’t think that how we view officiating is stagnant.
“We’re just looking and going to look at things to enhance them. Things will be tested. Whether it’s an earpiece, whether or not we can use AI in the future, whether or not it’s increased use of technology, everything on an ongoing basis is on the table.”
The NHL, a pioneer among the four sports in video review, already has the technology. They’ve tested referees and linespersons with microphones and earpieces to communicate with each other during their pre-season combine camps.
The question for Campbell’s Hockey Operations department and the 32 GMs is: Where to draw the line? How much power should the Situation Room have to overrule the officials on the ice?
“When you do it, where do you stop?” Campbell asked. “Can you call holding and interference penalties (that way)? It’s a matter of how quickly we can do it — and can we do it for every game? It’s probably easier for the playoffs. To do it for 1,300-plus games and be consistent, we want it to be consistent. That’s our mantra.”
Years ago, Bettman warned GMs about unintended consequences in video review. Now that Pandora’s box has been opened, its reach only seems to be growing.
“How do we continue to evolve and make it even more consistent and even better?” Bettman asked. “Because the game, our fans, and the players and teams are owed that.”
NHL monitoring Russia involvement
Bettman pre-empted the inevitable question about Russian participation, potentially as soon as the upcoming World Juniors, hosted in Edmonton and Red Deer next month.
He reiterated that the NHL is “still not doing business in Russia.” Bettman said he met with new IIHF president Franz Reindl in Toronto on Monday and that the NHL will continue to wait to see how this unfolds before making decisions ahead of the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.
“What’s going on on the international landscape is very complicated,” Bettman said. “Obviously there’s been some strong reaction to the CAS decision … the Canadian government saying that Russian teams can’t come in any way is very complicated from our standpoint. This whole situation is terrible and unfortunate. We’re committed to ultimately doing the right thing, which on a daily basis, may change.”
Bettman: No-trades aren’t a one-way street
While Dylan Larkin remains out of Detroit’s lineup as he seeks a trade, Bettman said again that the league is continuing to monitor the effect of no-trade clauses and lists.
“My view is, I think a no-trade clause is not a one-way street, and a player isn’t entitled to be traded if the team doesn’t want to trade,” Bettman said. “I’m not saying anything to be inflammatory and I’m not saying anything I haven’t said before.
“I don’t know yet that it’s a problem. If it’s a problem, and one off-season does not a problem make, we’ll have to adjust it with the Players’ Association and get their view on it.”
Odds and ends
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: General managers were polled on Tuesday about possession and control on a handful of zone entries via video, taking their temperature on whether the rule’s standard needs to be tweaked … Campbell acknowledged that players seeking contracts on tryout agreements (PTOs) were unintended victims in the shortened training camp and pre-season. “There’s no games available for them to play.” He suggested deputy commissioner Bill Daly would discuss it with the NHLPA.
