Why NHL Commissioner Reduced Suspension To Wild’s Ryan Hartman

Ryan Hartman (Robert Edwards-Imagn Images)

Ryan Hartman (Robert Edwards-Imagn Images)

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman reduced Minnesota Wild center Ryan Hartman’s 10-game suspension to eight games.

Hartman was suspended for roughing Ottawa Senators center Tim Stutzle on a faceoff. The two players battled for the puck before Hartman placed his right forearm on the back of Stutzle’s head and pushed him toward the ice. Stutzle needed five stitches on his face.

Hartman received a match penalty, an in-person hearing and a suspension two days later. The 30-year-old appealed the ruling from the NHL Department of Player Safety but did not contest that his conduct violated the rules.

Bettman instead examined the length of the suspension compared to Hartman’s history of supplemental discipline. This was his fifth suspension, and Hartman’s been fined seven times as well.

“This is, to say the least, an unenviable record and a pattern of malfeasance,” Bettman wrote.

Before Hartman’s incident with Stutzle, his last suspension lasted three games. He threw his stick on the ice toward an on-ice official in frustration after an overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights last season.

This means that between those two suspensions, there is a seven-game increase.

The NHLPA, which represented Hartman, suggested eight games as a better suspension length based on the history of players who were suspended four prior times, including Nazem Kadri, Evander Kane, Brad Marchand, Zac Rinaldo and Tom Wilson.

Bettman wrote he didn’t agree the suspension histories of those players were helpful comparisons, but the escalation from a three-game suspension to a 10-game suspension is “not proportional” and “excessive.”

“In light of Mr. Hartman’s prior suspension of three games, I believe that a suspension of eight games should be sufficient to serve as an appropriate ‘wake-up call’ to Mr. Hartman, causing him to reevaluate his conduct on the ice and make positive changes to his game,” Bettman wrote.

Bettman agreed with NHL Player Safety that Hartman roughing Stutzle wasn’t predatory in nature or predetermined but was not purely “accidental,” as Hartman said.

Hartman is now eligible to return to action for the Wild on March 4, when they take on the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.

Hartman has played 48 games this season for the Wild. In that span, he’s scored seven goals and recorded 10 assists for 17 points, with 60 penalty minutes.