The NHL’s Department of Player Safety was busy reviewing plays and sending out fines, hitting Ottawa Senators forward Zack Smith and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov each for $5,000.

Ottawa’s Zack Smith Fined $5,000 for Elbowing

Senators forward Zack Smith was fined $5000 for elbowing Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson. Smith caught Pettersson up high when the two teams met in Pittsburgh on February 1.

The elbow came at 6:46 of the second period; it earned Smitty a minor penalty for elbowing from referees Kelly Sutherland and Jon McIsaac.

 

 

Smith’s fine is the highest permitted under the CBA without a hearing.

NHL players’ fines cannot exceed one half of one day’s pay, based on the average value of the player’s salary divided by the number of days in the season. Fines are capped at a maximum of $10,000 for a first offense and $15,000 for a second offense within a rolling 12-month period.

Smith’s AAV, per Cap Friendly, is $3.25MM, making his daily salary $17,473. ($3.25MM/186 days). His maximum fine would therefore be $8,736; exceeding the $5,000 mark, though, would have required a phone hearing.

From the CBA, section 18.7:

A fine may be in an amount up to fifty percent (50%) of the Player’s Paragraph 1 NHL Salary and Bonuses, but not including Performance Bonuses, divided by the number of days in the Regular Season, but in no event shall it exceed $10,000 for the first fine and $15,000 for any subsequent fine imposed in any rolling twelve (12) month calendar period.

Player Salary and Bonuses forfeited due to a fine will be calculated based on a Player’s Averaged Amount.

For fines of $5,000 or less the League shall, within seventy-two (72) hours of the completion of the game in which the incident took place, provide: (i) notice of the fine, (ii) an explanation of the fine, and (iii) written reports of on-ice officials and Officiating Managers (if any) to the fined Player, his Club and the NHLPA.

Fines in excess of $5,000 are subject to the telephonic hearing procedures afforded to Players subject to suspension of five (5) games or less.

Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov Fined $5,000 for Dangerous Trip

Kucherov is also $5,000 poorer after Player Safety levied a fine for tripping Scott Mayfield of the New York Islanders at 16:11 of the first period of Friday’s game.  The Lightning forward was given a two-minute minor for tripping on the play by refs Justin St. Pierre and Dean Morton.

A scrum broke out at the Isles’ bench after the trip, which took place when Mayfield was going off for a change. No further penalties were issued on the play.

Mayfield was not injured on the play.

Kucherov would have been eligible for a maximum fine of $10,000, based on his AAV of $4.77MM, as his daily salary of $25,627 would result in a fine amount of $12,813, over the capped amount for a first offense.