Stunning detail exposed from Connor McDavid’s suspension!

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is being held accountable for his actions from Saturday’s contest against the Vancouver Canucks after which he received a three-game suspension for cross-checking forward Conor Garland in the head. The NHL explained that the cross-check to Garland’s head had “sufficient force to merit supplemental discipline” and McDavid will not launched an appeal of the Department of Player Safety’s decision. He will serve those three games and return to the Oilers’ lineup next week.

However that does not mean he necessarily agrees with the ruling, especially since the team and many insiders, including TSN’s Chris Johnston have pointed out a surprising statistic of McDavid amid his three-game ban. On Early Trading, Johnston explained:

“Nothing happens in isolation. If you look across McDavid’s career and his per minute penalties drawn, according to Natural Stat Trick, this season he has drawn the fewest penalties per minute played during his entire NHL career.

“You can understand the frustration in that moment. Garland was tied up with him for quite some time while the Oilers were trying to tie up that game last Saturday night. Even Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch pointed out that of course he’s going to have a reaction there.

“To spin the conversation in a different direction, not to excuse the way McDavid chose to react to that situation, it’s quite clear that the Oilers’ captain is not getting as many penalty calls as he had historically.”

At this point, I’m pretty sure the league is looking to send a message as it once did with Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews who was too suspended for cross-checking.

As for McDavid “not getting as many penalty calls as he had historically”, he is now up to 29 penalty minutes this season, with still several games to go. Sure, he’ll sit for the next three, but last season, the Oilers’ captain ended the regular season with a total of 30 minutes in the penalty box.

He will surely exceed that number once he returns to action next week.