The readers who've read my Ramblings for at least a few years now, or followed me on social media, know that one thing I constantly harp on is cross-checking. The simple explanation is like this: there are hundreds of cross-checks every night in the NHL of varying levels of force, and only a handful will get called. The problem with that is, eventually, things are going to go very wrong (Jamie Benn last year or Auston Matthews this year come to mind).

To get to our point here, the problem lies with the Department of Player Safety. The rulings are inconsistent, the suspensions infrequent (lots of fines, though), and no one knows what DoPS will serve up on any given play. Matthews got two games for his cross-check while Benn, who broke Dylan Larkin's neck, skated without so much as a penalty. That kind of inconsistency makes it hard for players to know exactly where the line is, which is what makes things like hundreds of cross-checks every night a problem.

This wasn't a cross-check, but it brings us to the latest talking point:

Boston's Taylor Hall has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Roughing Toronto's Ilya Lyubushkin.

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) March 30, 2022

Taylor Hall got a fine for a sucker punch. Okay. Does anyone remember when Larkin did something similar earlier this year and got a game for it? Or when Max Pacioretty did it and just got an on-ice penalty? This is what I'm talking about. What's the line here? Sucker-punching from behind is a fine, sometimes, but sucker-punching when the guy is skating in your general direction is a suspension? Okay?

Regardless of your feelings on what Hall did, and what should be levied, it's clear there is absolutely no consistency with the DoPS. They are completely, utterly incompetent at all levels. This falls on them and the NHL. This is the product they want on the ice. They want players to guess as to whether a cross-check to the head gets two games, or none, or whether a sucker-punch gets a fine, or a suspension. It is lunacy. Then again, this is the NHL, where only the stupidest ideas are brought forward.

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The Montreal Canadiens made a signing:

The Canadiens have agreed to terms on a three-year, entry-level contract with forward Joshua Roy (2022-23 to 2024-25). #GoHabsGo https://t.co/YuZ38DrGfu

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 30, 2022

It is notable for two reasons. First, Joshua Roy had a very good year as a fifth-rounder from 2021. He finished second in league scoring in the QMJHL (off by a point) and led in assists. Sure, he's an over-ager, but that's not bad for a kid that is still 18 years old and will be until August.

Second, he's Québécois. The Habs only have two Québec-born players on the roster, and one (Mathieu Perreault) is likely to move on after the season. It gives them a forward up front that was born in the province, and that is important to a lot of people.

Regardless, he has work to do to get to the lineup, but this past season was a real good start for him.

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Alex Goligoski has signed an extension:

#mnwild announces a two-year, $4 million contract extension for defenseman Alex Goligoski.

— Sarah McLellan (@sarah__mclellan) March 30, 2022

This is big news for those in cap leagues. His AAV is going to go down by 60% and that makes him a lot more palatable in those formats. The blue line is deep enough where he's not going to get significant minutes without injuries, but they may have to trade Matt Dumba for cap reasons anyway. We should note that he's on pace for 40 points and over 170 blocks+hits per 82 games this year. If he can replicate this season next year for $2M in cap leagues, he'll draw a lot of interest.

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Jason Zucker has been skating for Pittsburgh and has officially jumped to a line. It's even a familiar spot for him:

Jason Zucker is skating on Evgeni Malkin's line at Penguins practice.

— Shelly Anderson (@_ShellyAnderson) March 30, 2022

In that practice, they moved Bryan Rust to the top line, left Rickard Rakell on the second line, and moved Evan Rodrigues down to the third line. This now looks to be a pretty deep team if Zucker can find any of his mojo down the stretch. Oh, and Rodrigues really needs to find his form from the first couple months of the season. That would help a lot, too.

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It looks as if Denis Gurianov may be getting a night off here shortly:

Looks like Denis Gurianov may be a scratch. We'll see tomorrow.

From practice today:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Studenic-Seguin-Namestnikov
Peterson-Benn-Radulov
Raffl-Glendening-Faksa
Kiviranta, Gurianov

Suter-Harley*
Sekera*-Klingberg
Hanley-Hakanpaa

Oettinger
Wedgewood

— Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) March 30, 2022

Gurianov has to be one of the most fascinating players in the league right now. He had 20 goals in his rookie season playing third/fourth-line minutes. That fell to 12 in 55 games last year but he saw a big shooting percentage drop so there was reason to believe that it was just a blip. Well, he has 11 goals in 61 games so far this year as the shooting percentage has kept dropping. He has struggled defensively at times and for a Rick Bowness-led team with playoff aspirations, being unreliable defensively means a trip to the bench or the press box. (Never mind that there are many players on this team having poor defensive seasons. Some mistakes stand out more than others).

Gurianov can do a lot of good things offensively. He is good in transition, gaining the blue line, and of course has a wicked shot (which is what makes his goal totals frustrating). I still have a lot of faith in his talent but let's be honest, the Dallas forwards outside the top line have all been struggling this year. Tyler Seguin, for example, has his lowest points/game mark since his rookie season. This isn't all on Gurianov, but we had hoped for a huge leap forward by now. There just hasn't been one. Yet.

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Both Kyle Connor and Nate Schmidt tested positive for COVID and will almost certainly each miss the next few games for the Jets. While Schmidt hadn't been playing a lot for them, Connor is undoubtedly their offensive star and was having a career year (41 goals and 82 points in 67 games). It is a big loss for a Winnipeg team that has to win a lot of their remaining games to get into the postseason. It is a monumental loss for fantasy players.

This also brings up a larger issue. We just saw the Columbus Blue Jackets have a few coaches enter the COVID protocols. There have also been a handful of players across the league to enter protocols over the last few weeks as well. It is important to note that with the updated COVID rules agreed upon by the NHL and NHLPA, only symptomatic players are getting tested. In other words, these aren't players contracting COVID then having to go into quarantine despite feeling fine. Noting all this is crucial because of the timeframes we're talking about. While there is still a lot being worked out about the current COVID strains floating around, some data point to the possibility of reinfection somewhere in the 4- to 6-month range. If the lower end of that range holds up, it is important to note because of when the last COVID outbreak occurred in the league: before Christmas. For example, four months have passed since the Islanders and Senators had their team-wide outbreaks in November, and many teams are creeping up on that as the league was ravaged in December. Players that weren't/aren't boosted – we have no idea how many took their extra vaccine shot – are now coming into the timeframe were reinfection seems possible.

All that is important because of the time of year we're rolling up on. Playoffs are about a month away and the newer (more contagious) variant is now a part of our lives. By the end of April, most teams/players will have been four months removed from the last COVID outbreak. If the early reinfection data holds, this could cause big problems in the league.

My guess is we see another updated agreement between the league and the NHLPA. Players go through the playoffs with punctured lungs and broken bones. They won't want to sit out a postseason game unless they physically can't get out of bed. But if they don't update the recent agreement, there could be serious problems across the league on the horizon.

Aside from the health implications, this obviously has serious fantasy implications, both for the balance of the regular season and the playoffs. Just ask anyone who started their fantasy playoffs this week and is now scrambling for a Kyle Connor replacement. I'm not sure there's much fantasy players can do here besides wait it out and see what happens. It's in the hands of the NHL/PA to update (or not) their protocol agreement.