Connor McDavid isn't just leading the NHL in points—he's now publicly questioning how the league polices its own, reports the Athletic. Speaking to reporters Sunday, McDavid said there's "a lot of frustration" among players with the NHL's current system for supplemental discipline and suggested it may be time to rethink the process, given how often suspensions spark backlash. "If every time there's a suspension, everybody complains about it, well, why don't we take a look at the process," he said. His comments come after Anaheim's Radko Gudas drew a five-game ban for a knee-on-knee hit that ended Toronto captain Auston Matthews' regular season with a Grade 3 MCL tear. Gudas had previously been suspended four times.
The ruling enraged the Maple Leafs given Gudas' history and the blatancy of the hit, and drew a blistering statement from Judd Moldaver, who represents Matthews and McDavid. "A phone hearing and five games is just laughable and preposterous," Moldaver told ESPN. "That there was no further discipline is a reckless and ridiculous position for player safety." As for the department itself, it "should be suspended." Discipline is decided by the NHL and NHLPA, but suspensions are currently decided by former NHL bruiser George Parros and his league-run department, with a neutral arbitrator involved only for bans of six games or more. McDavid didn't float specific reforms, but called for a system "that works for everybody."
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