Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman was suspended two games on Monday after hitting Detroit Red Wings leading scorer Alex DeBrincat in Sunday’s 4-1 loss at Detroit. Here’s what you need to know:
- Hartman was considered a repeat offender after being suspended for one game in April for interfering with Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers. That means he suspended based on games in a season rather than days. Based on his salary, Hartman will lose $20,731.70 per game or $41,463.41 in total.
- This is Hartman’s third suspension in his 10-year career. The NHL says he has also been fined six times before.
- Hartman will miss this week’s games against St. Louis and Nashville.
What predicament does this put the Wild in?
A big one for a team that has lost seven in a row. The Wild only have enough cap space to afford another $822,000 minor league hockey player. So unless the Wild go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen on Tuesday against the Blues, the Wild will have to call up a forward and eat up most of their available cap space during Hartman’s suspension.
Additionally, during Hartman’s absence, the Wild will be one short-term injury away from having to play without a player for one game (they did so in a win in Montreal last month) before entering an emergency withdrawal situation that will allow players earning $875,000 or less (league minimum salary plus $100,000) to retire. Hartman, who plays on the edge and sometimes crosses the line, will have to be squeaky clean for another 18 months until his repeat offender status expires.
Required reading
(Photo: David Berding/Getty Images)
