NHL sends warning to Oilers and Canucks, executive thinks refs will change after Oilers statement
NHL is believed to be issuing a warning to the Oilers and Canucks for tonight's game, and one league executive believes refereeing around McDavid and the Oilers may change.
Connor McDavid was suspended for three games for his cross check on Canucks forward Connor Garland, a result of McDavid snapping after several uncalled penalties that week.
Oilers may receive different treatment from referees, worries anonymous NHL executive
In Elliotte Friedman's latest edition of 32 Thoughts, he detailed a conversation with an anonymous league executive on how the McDavid incident and attentions could have an impact on the referees.
- Elliotte Friedman
The NHL often issues warnings to teams when playing games in situations like this where there could be some expected retaliation.
It's also interesting to hear other league executives tracking how Oilers game will be officiated after this incident, and Edmonton's statement very subtly criticizing Player Safety.
If the Oilers' lobbying is heard by the league, there could be an increase in penalties called.
Teams can worry about overcompensation, but the number of calls should be increasing. Connor McDavid ranks 197th in the NHL in penalties drawn per 60 minutes, which is just ridiculous.
Oilers and McDavid statements pressure league into making more penalty calls
After the statement from the Oilers organization yesterday, and Connor McDavid's comments to the media yesterday again simply asking to call the rule book, Edmonton has put pressure on the NHL to make more calls.
Referees have responded and made different calls after being called out previously, with Friedman citing the Dennis Wideman incident.
We've yet to see if the NHL will actually have a response yet, but in the next few weeks, we should be able to see if there's a marked increase in penalties called, specifically on McDavid.
