Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman faces his third suspension in the last 13 and a half months after throwing his stick at officials following the Wild’s 2-1 overtime loss Saturday night to the Minnesota Golden Knights. Vegas.
Hartman will have a telephone hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Monday for what the league considers unsportsmanlike conduct. What’s interesting is that this could mean the NHL is considering reducing Hartman’s suspension a bit, as technically he could have received an automatic three-game suspension on Sunday under Rule 40.4, Category III.
Hartman was angry with the officials because in the final minute of the third period, Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin was not penalized for hitting him in front of the net. Had he been, the Wild would have had a power play in the final 37 seconds of the third period and potentially a four-on-three power play to start overtime.
Ouch. pic.twitter.com/pj5dQPehsd
–MinnyHockey (@MinnyHockey) March 30, 2024
After Jonathan Marchessault scored an empty-net goal with 90 seconds left in overtime, Hartman yelled from the bench and allegedly threw his stick in the direction of the officials. Hartman was assessed a misconduct for abusive language, according to the scoresheet.
WE HAVE A NET WINNER OT EMPTY 🤯
Jonathan Marchessault finished in @Energizer overtime after the Wild pulled the goaltender in an attempt to get two points! pic.twitter.com/tdPVhoKe7m
– NHL (@NHL) March 30, 2024
Hartman, 29, has a lengthy NHL record.
During his 10-year career, he was suspended three times and fined seven times, most recently in January after hitting Winnipeg’s Cole Perfetti on a faceoff. The incident sparked a war of words of a week in which Perfetti accused Hartman of being caught on an open mic, claiming he did it intentionally as revenge for Brenden Dillon injuring Kirill Kaprizov the day before.
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If suspended, Hartman will be considered a repeat offender by the NHL because he was last suspended two games on Nov. 26 for Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat. He also received a one-game suspension last April for an obstruction penalty against Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers. In April 2018, Hartman was suspended one match for an illegal head check on Carl Soderberg.
Repeat offenders lose their pay based on the number of games in a season (82) versus days. With a salary of $1.7 million, Hartman will lose $20,731.70 per game suspended.
Hartman better be squeaky clean next season. He gets a raise of $4 million per season over the next three years and would lose $48,780 per game if he is suspended within 18 months of this likely suspension.
Hartman scored 126 goals and 275 points in 574 NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers and Wild. He is in his fifth season with Minnesota.
(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)