The tap-on-wrist three-game suspension issued to the Maple Leafs’ Leo Komarov for his elbow to the jaw of Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh at 18:58 of the first period of Thursday’s match in Toronto is simply the last inadequate Department of Player Safety response to NHL headhunting.
The fault, though, lies not with vice president Stephane Quintal and his staff, bound to follow the DOPS’s own lenient precedent, but with both the NHL and NHLPA’s failure to adopt tough measures to combat such behavior.
Here are four suggestions for rules the league should adopt with full support of the players’ association:
1.