Los Angeles Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev has been suspended for kneeing.
On Thursday morning, the NHL announced that Los Angeles Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev would be suspended four games for his knee on Anaheim Ducks forward Chase De Leo.
Per the league's announcement video, the fact that Kaliyev pushed his leg forward to ensure contact and that De Leo was hurt on the play contributed to the decision to suspend Kaliyev for four games.
At first glance, this feels a little excessive for a player with zero history of suspensions. Kaliyev was fined in 2022 for a cross-check but doesn't have much history of dirty play.
While it wasn't mentioned by the league, I do wonder if they took into account the two remaining preseason games when issuing the suspension.
They may have felt that suspending him for the remainder of the preseason wouldn't be enough of a punishment and felt the need to extend it into the regular season.
This would explain giving Kaliyev four games instead of the two-three most people expected.
It's yet to be seen who replaced Kaliyev in the lineup, but most fans want to see youngster Alex Laferriere have a shot next to Kevin Fiala and Pierre-Luc Dubois.