Three NHL players will open 2026-27 on the sidelines, already suspended before the start of the regular season.
Charlie McAvoy: 6 games for slashing
The longest of the three bans belongs to Boston’s Charlie McAvoy, who will sit out the Bruins’ first six games for a two-handed slash on Buffalo’s Zach Benson in the final 90 seconds of the Sabres’ series-clinching Game 6 win on May 1.
Racing for a loose puck headed toward an empty net, Benson’s skate swept McAvoy’s legs out from under him, sending the Bruins defenseman crashing into the end boards. McAvoy got up, charged at Benson, and swung his stick like a baseball bat into Benson’s midsection. McAvoy picked up a five-minute major for slashing (Rule 61) and a game misconduct.
The Department of Player Safety’s explanation was blunt, calling the play “an intentional and forceful strike delivered to an opponent’s body specifically for the purpose of retribution and message sending,” noting that it happened “outside of actual game play, and in a situation where the outcome of both the game and the series have been decided.”
The Boston blueliner forfeits just over $300,000 in salary, and the Bruins kick off their campaign without their top defenseman. It’s the third suspension of McAvoy’s career and his fourth run-in with the Player Safety. He was previously suspended for one game in 2019 for a check to the head of Josh Anderson and four games in 2023 for a check to the head of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, along with a $5,000 fine in 2022 for tripping Brady Skjei.
Ridly Greig: 2 games for roughing
Ottawa’s Ridly Greig drew two games for what the league termed a sucker punch – or more accurately, two sucker punches – against Carolina’s Sean Walker in Game 4 of the Hurricanes’ first-round sweep on April 25.
Midway through the second period, during a stoppage, Walker was tied up with Warren Foegele, who had the Hurricanes defenseman in a headlock. Greig skated in and delivered an overhand punch followed by an uppercut to Walker’s face. No penalty was called on the play.
Player Safety took a second look at the play – something the on-ice officials were not able to do – and levied disciplinary action, banning Grieg for two games. The league said in their explanation, “This is not a situation in which two players are squaring off in a mutual confrontation… Walker is fully engaged with a Senators player when Greig knowingly approaches them and elects to throw two sucker punches towards the defenseless Walker.”
t’s Greig’s second career suspension. With the Senators already eliminated, both games carried over to the start of 2026-27. That’s two games’ pay and the opening week of the season gone.
Connor Hellebuyck: Indefinite, failure to report
The one’s not on the Department of Player Safety. This is Hellebucyk’s decision.
The Winnipeg Jets suspended Connor Hellebuyck on September 17 for failing to report to training camp; it’s a team-imposed, indefinite suspension for breach of contract after the Olympic-gold-medal-winning goaltender’s public trade request.
Hellebuyck privately requested a trade months ago, going public on August 27. When camp opened, he didn’t show. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff called the suspension “procedural” and confirmed the details: Winnipeg will not pay him any of his $8.5 million salary while he sits, and none of it will count against the cap once the regular season begins. That’s roughly $103,700 in lost salary for every regular-season game he misses.
