Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri will not face any additional discipline for a blindside hit on Vancouver Canucks forward Daniel Sedin on Saturday night that helped spark a wild ending to the Maple Leafs’ 6-3 win.
The play resulted in a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct for Kadri.
Given Kadri’s track record (he has been suspended multiple times under the department of player safety) and the fact he was ejected from the game it would have been easy to assume that he could be facing additional punishment for this incident. But the relevant comparison here seems to be a similar hit delivered by Carolina’s Brad Malone on Columbus’ Nick Foligno last year (you can see it here).
That play was also deemed legal by the department of player safety.
In this case, it is clearly a blindside hit by Kadri. But a blindside hit on its own isn’t something that is illegal or will result in a suspension as long as the league doesn’t view it as a charge, as being late, or if there isn’t direct contact with the head.
That is clearly the way the league sees this play, as indicated on Twitter by Damian Echevarrieta, vice president of the Department of Player Safety. That standard sets an extremely fine line between what is legal and what is not, but this is where the NHL is with plays like this.
Blind side hits are NOT illegal in itself. If the head isn't the MAIN point of contact, it doesn't matter if it's North/South or East/West. pic.twitter.com/edzNqfnf2M
— Damian Echevarrieta (@Ech28) November 6, 2016
Here is another look at the Kadri hit from Saturday.