The league's GMs met briefly in Toronto last week to tee up some of the topics, including overtime rules, they'll explore in-depth next March at their annual meeting.
Each year, following the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Toronto, the NHL's general managers get together for a brief meeting. Consider it a precursor to their lengthier annual meetings in Florida held every spring.
According to Elliotte Friedman, there were a handful of different topics discussed. One was, of course, continuing conversations surrounding cut protection equipment. We've seen more players in professional leagues begin to test what products are available over the past couple of weeks, and it's likely to continue to gain traction.
Also of interest were a couple of subjects revolving around potential changes to rules governing overtime and penalty shots.
Now, if they were discussing the potential of ditching the shootout in favor of an extended three-on-three overtime session, I'd be all for it. But instead, they're reportedly toying with the idea of altering the rules to discourage, or prohibit, teams from cycling back into their own zone to regroup.
The idea is to keep the pace and excitement of overtime moving along, but will it make things too complicated or cause additional stoppages?
In terms of the penalty shot, well the idea being tossed around is definitely not one that I would be on board with. Why? It would essentially completely change the essence of a penalty shot, in my opinion, and would make for an uneven playing field.
For more details, and to hear the REST of my analysis, then I invite you to click the following link to watch this week's episode of Habs Hockey Report on YouTube: NHL GMs Might CHANGE the Rules of Overtime!
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