Arizona Coyotes forward Jason Zucker has officially been suspended three games for boarding Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins in a game on Tuesday night. Was this suspension fully justified? There are really two parts to this question. 20240102_Tourigny_Postgame_1 Zucker’s hit was definitely not clean by any means as Cousins did not have the puck when Zucker blindsided him from behind. Despite just trying to defend his teammate Juuso Välimäki, it doesn't justify the hit that resulted in 10-minute game misconduct, a five-minute fighting penalty and a five-minute major for boarding. Cousins now reportedly will miss some time with a concussion, so a suspension for the 31-year-old forward seems to be the right course of action. However, the fact that he was suspended for three games was surprising. First off, Zucker has no prior suspension history and is not known to be a dirty player at all. Three games just seems excessive for a player who does not have a track record of these kinds of hits. For the player that was involved, a one-game suspension is a pretty reasonable punishment, but the NHL looks to be sending a message that the league does not tolerate any sort of ‘cheap shot’ or boarding hits especially committed on someone without the puck on their stick. The loss of Zucker will be significant for the Coyotes through the next three games as he served a valuable role on a line alongside Logan Cooley and Liam O’Brien and played on the second unit of the power play. Through 29 games, Zucker has six goals, six assists and 12 points while logging in 14:27 minutes pergame.
