Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman has been offered an in-person hearing from the NHL Department of Player Safety after driving Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stützle's head into the ice during Saturday night's game.
An in-person hearing is offered to players for an infraction that might require a suspension of six or more games. Players who are suspended at least six games are eligible to appeal to a neutral arbitrator following an initial appeal to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
With 16 seconds left in the second period and Ottawa leading 3-0, Hartman and Stützle took a faceoff. Hartman locked up Stützle's stick with his leg, placed his right elbow on the back of Stützle's neck and drove the Ottawa player's head into the ice. Stützle's helmet came off on impact, and he skated to the Senators bench with a bloody cut over his left eye.
Hartman was given a match penalty. Stützle returned in the third period and assisted on two Ottawa goals.
"I hit my face on the ice. We had been going at it before," Stützle said after the game. "Doctors did a great job stitching me up."
Said Senators coach Travis Green: "You never like to see a play like that. There's not a place for that in the league."
Hartman is classified as a repeat offender by the NHL. He was suspended for two games in November 2023 for tripping Detroit's Alex DeBrincat. He was suspended for three games for throwing his stick in the direction of a referee following an overtime loss to Vegas in April 2024. He was given a misconduct penalty for "abusive language" in that game as well.
He was also fined in January 2024 for high-sticking Winnipeg's Cole Perfetti in the face after a faceoff. Perfetti said Hartman admitted the incident was intentional retribution for an injury that Wild star Kirill Kaprizov suffered against the Jets.
In his sixth year with the Wild, Hartman has 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists) in 48 games, averaging 14:44 in ice time.
