This past Saturday, Connor McDavid was caught in an altercation with Canucks forward Conor Garland. With twenty seconds left in the game, Garland was wrestling and holding McDavid down on the ice with the Oilers having a six-on-five advantage. No call was made. McDavid, who was super frustrated, proceeded to crosscheck Garland in the head, leading to a three-game suspension.
Most Oiler fans will agree that, yes, McDavid deserved a suspension and lost his cool. There’s not an argument to made for that. However, it’s the fact that he got more than the precedent amount in years past and that he himself has faced so much abuse over the last few years.
Canucks media and fans think we hate Garland, when in reality, we think what he did was super smart—where he took the best player out of the play in a crucial moment and at best he’d be flagged with a two-minute minor. The case here I want to illustrate is the lack of calls, not only for McDavid, but stars around the league.
Let’s use the last five seasons to illustrate a point in the amount of calls that the stars drew and their team as a whole.
Do stars draw as many penalties as a few seasons ago?
| Players: (2020–21) | Penalties drawn | Team rank opportunities: |
| Connor McDavid | 29 (2nd) | 174 (9th) |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 25 (5th) | 165 (13th) |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 22 (12th) | 207 (1st) |
| David Pastrnak | 22 (13th) | 160 (16th) |
| Brayden Point | 21 (15th) | 180 (3rd) |
| Mathew Barzal | 19 (22nd) | 143 (28th) |
| Jack Hughes | 19 (25th) | 155 (20th) |
| Johnny Gaudreau | 18 (28th) | 174 (8th) |
| Mikko Rantanen | 17 (31st) | 207 (1st) |
| Sidney Crosby | 15 (54th) | 152 (25th) |
| Auston Matthews | 13 (79th) | 155 (21st) |
| Cale Makar | 11 (109th) | 207 (1st) |
| Leon Draisaitl | 11 (131st) | 174 (9th) |
During the bubble year, most of the star players around the league actually did a super solid job at drawing calls, and more often that not, their teams were in the upper half in terms of getting power play opportunities. The only real anomaly on the list is Leon Draisaitl and yet he’s still tied with Cale Makar. All in all, not much needs to be said here. Let’s move onto 2021–22.
| Players: (2021–22) | Penalties drawn | Team rank opportunities: |
| Connor McDavid | 50 (1st) | 235 (19th) |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 43 (5th) | 258 (5th) |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 39 (7th) | 279 (1st) |
| Mikko Rantanen | 32 (16th) | 279 (1st) |
| Leon Draisaitl | 28 (28th) | 235 (19th) |
| Johnny Gaudreau | 24 (59th) | 236 (18th) |
| Mathew Barzal | 23 (73rd) | 208 (31st) |
| David Pastrnak | 22 (82nd) | 236 (17th) |
| Nikita Kucherov | 16 (177th) | 259 (3rd) |
| Brayden Point | 16 (178th) | 259 (3rd) |
| Jack Hughes | 16 (194th) | 225 (23rd) |
| Sidney Crosby | 15 (195th) | 248 (7th) |
| Cale Makar | 15 (210th) | 279 (1st) |
| Auston Matthews | 13 (272nd) | 231 (21st) |
Now we’re starting to see some results here. In back-to-back years, the Colorado Avalanche lead the league in penalties drawn and power play oppurtunities, Auston Matthews, Makar, Sidney Crosby, and Quinn Hughes are near the bottom. While McDavid and Draisaitl draw a lot, the Oilers are in the bottom half of the league when it comes to opportunities. Interesting.
Let’s look at a combined 2022–23 and 2023–24 season now (the reason for this because these are the two highest scoring seasons in NHL history and combining the two year data can tell us a lot going on).
A downward trend for opportunities for the best players
| Players: (2022-2024) | Penalties Drawn (2022–23) | Penalties Drawn (2023–24) | Team Rank Opportunities: (2022–23) | Team Rank Opportunities: (2023–24) |
| Connor McDavid | 45 (1st) | 41 (6th) | 275 (6th) | 243 (20th) |
| Nikita Kucherov | 38 (9th) | 22 (81st) | 280 (3rd) | 248 (16th) |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 33 (12th) | 32 (15th) | 261 (12th) | 278 (2nd) |
| Mikko Rantanen | 30 (21st) | 21 (101st) | 261 (12th) | 278 (2nd) |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 29 (25th) | 25 (51st) | 252 (16th) | 273 (4th) |
| David Pastrnak | 29 (26th) | 30 (24th) | 279th (4th) | 245 (19th) |
| Auston Matthews | 28 (33rd) | 18 (163rd) | 246 (18th) | 238 (25th) |
| Sidney Crosby | 23 (68th) | 29 (27th) | 290 (2nd) | 262 (7th) |
| Johnny Gaudreau | 23 (72nd) | 19 (127th) | 224 (29th) | 212 (31st) |
| Leon Draisaitl | 22 (82nd) | 21 (99th) | 275 (6th) | 243 (20th) |
| Jack Hughes | 22 (87th) | 27 (41st) | 224 (28th) | 245 (18th) |
| Cale Makar | 21 (105th) | 25 (52nd) | 261 (12th) | 278 (2nd) |
| Brayden Point | 17 (181st) | 16 (207th) | 280 (3rd) | 248 (16th) |
| Mathew Barzal | 8!! (476th) | 27 (37th) | 222 (31st) | 231 (29th) |
Oh boy…this is where it starts to get really bad. Look at where Mathew Barzal ranked in 2022–23. Sure, he missed a quarter of the season, but he only drew eight minors.
As a whole, this is where it seems star players start to get less and less calls. While McDavid is still #1, per an 82-game rate, he was way down from his previous years and it got even worse in 2023–24.
Speaking of 2023–24, only ONE star is in the top 10 and SIX in the top 50. Compare that with two and seven respectively in 2022–23, three and five in 2021–22, and two and nine in 2020–21, and you’ll find that stars are getting less and less calls.
Just look at the power play oppurtunities as well. The Colorado Avalanche, as always, are at the top, but you mean to tell me high flying teams like Toronto, Edmonton, Tampa, and Boston got stuck in the bottom half by the time the 2023–24 season ended? Insane.
Speaking of Toronto, besides the 2022–23 season, Auston Matthews has been near the 200th rank every year in penalties drawn. Weird. Finally, let’s look at this season.
This season shows way less penalties being drawn
| Players: (2024–25) | Penalties Drawn | Team Rank Opportunities: |
| David Pastrnak | 23 (6th) | 157 (1st) |
| Leon Draisaitl | 18 (18th) | 121 (27th!!) |
| Mikko Rantanen | 17 (27th) | 147 (6th) |
| Cale Makar | 17 (30th) | 147 (6th) |
| Nikita Kucherov | 17 (41st) | 135 (16th) |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 17 (42nd) | 147 (6th) |
| Connor McDavid | 14 (66th!!!) | 121 (27th!!) |
| Quinn Hughes | 14 (68th) | 129 (22nd) |
| Jack Hughes | 14 (72nd) | 142 (11th) |
| Mitchell Marner | 12 (106th) | 138 (13th) |
| Sidney Crosby | 11 (114th) | 143 (10th) |
| Auston Matthews | 10 (129th) | 138 (13th) |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 9 (204th) | 124 (25th) |
| Brayden Point | 4 (410th) | 135 (16th) |
This season has been a disaster for star players. First thing’s first. Only ONE player is in the top 10 while six make the top 50. Connor McDavid, who is usually in the top five isn’t even close to cracking the top 50. The Oilers, as a whole, have drawn way less calls this year despite being the fourth best team in the league.
Stars like Brayden Point and Mitch Marner cannot draw anything despite being their team’s MVPs this year. Even though the Avalanche still rank high in power plays earned, why the sudden fall off in calls for Nathan MacKinnon?
It’s been a downward trend year after year judging by the data for stars to draw calls, and this isn’t a good thing for the league. These elite athletes are what make our sport so exciting and it’s all on the officials, the department of player safety, and the league as a whole to protect them.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
