Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman was fined $4,427.08 by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety — the maximum allowable under the CBA — for his high-stick on Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti on Tuesday.
When meeting with the media afterward, Perfetti revealed that Hartman told him the high-stick that bloodied him was deliberate retaliation for a cross-check that Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon laid on Wild star Kirill Kaprizov the night prior. Kaprizov is expected to be out week-to-week due to the upper-body injury.
Hartman was not penalized during the game and escaped even worse supplemental discipline due to a weird quirk in an NHL media-related rule.
The incident in question happened when Hartman and Perfetti lined up for a faceoff early in Sunday’s game. Hartman’s stick came up hard and long after the puck was gone, nailing Perfetti in the face. Perfetti needed to depart to the locker room to get stitches.
Cole Perfetti back on the ice for the Jets after taking a high stick to the face by Ryan Hartman off the faceoff during his first shift. pic.twitter.com/LgD6wmMtwo
— Dave Minuk (@ICdave) December 31, 2023
Perfetti just so happened to be mic’d up that night and the entire on-ice conversation that he had with Hartman was caught on recording. However, according to reporting by Jeff Marek, none of the audio captured can be used for disciplinary action.
Further note on Hartman situation – in exchange for players agreeing to wear mics, none of the audio captured can be used in connection with disciplinary action. This goes back to the 2005 agreement.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) January 2, 2024
Hartman has been fined seven times in his career and suspended an additional three times. His latest suspension came in late November for tripping Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat. He sat out two games.
Cole Perfetti says he was Mic’d Up when Ryan Hartman told him he was going to high stick him in the face as retribution for Brendan Dillon injuring Kaprizov 😳🤯
Via: @mikemcintyrewpg | @ICdave #GoJetsGo | #MNWild | #NHL pic.twitter.com/9ah9Z4pe4y
— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) January 2, 2024
“He said it in a pretty respectful way,” Perfetti said. “He said, ‘no disrespect, nothing against you, just had to happen’ for what happened to Kaprizov there. I was [mic’d up], so we caught it all, we got the whole convo. I don’t know if he realized that or not.”
The entire drama stems from a clean reverse hit Kaprizov delivered on Dillon. The former Capitals defenseman found the playmaking Russian during a board battle and delivered a few hard cross-checks to the small of Kaprizov’s back. Kaprizov exited the game early and did not return.
Here's the play where Kaprizov was injured https://t.co/al4vYeR5NJ pic.twitter.com/vtJ4XLfpvW
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 30, 2023
Jets head coach Rick Bowness told the Winnipeg Free Press’ Mike McIntyre that the team only found out after the game was over that Hartman’s actions were purposeful. He says his players would have dealt with Hartman much differently had they been informed before the final horn.
The Wild and Jets next play each other on February 20 in Winnipeg.
Screenshot via Minnesota Wild
