Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman was suspended two games Monday after he tackled Detroit Red Wings 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 one game in April for interfering with Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers. This means he was suspended based on games played in a season, not days. Based on his salary, Hartman will lose $20,731.70 per game or $41,463.41 total.
- This is Hartman’s third suspension in his 10-year career. The NHL says he has been fined six times.
- Hartman will miss games against St. Louis and in Nashville this week.
How much of a burden does this place on the wilderness?
A big loss for a team that has lost seven in a row. The Wild only have enough cap space to afford another $822,000 hockey player from the minors. So if the Wild don’t face the Blues on Tuesday with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, they’ll have to bring back a forward during Hartman’s suspension and eat up most of their available space.
Additionally, during Hartman’s absence, the Wild will be one short injury away from having to miss a player for a game (they did that in a win in Montreal last month) before finding themselves in an emergency recall situation that will require them allows Remember players making $875,000 or less (league minimum salary plus $100,000). Hartman, who plays on the sidelines and sometimes crosses the line, still needs to be squeaky clean for another 18 months before his repeat offender status expires.
Required reading
(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)