On Wednesday, ESPN posted a story on how they asked NHL players what rules they would change. Their responses varied of course, from talk about the Olympics to speeding up the game.
But when they asked Jack Eichel what he had in mind, his response stood out:
“No offside. Just hang down at the other end and wait for the puck to come there.” – Jack Eichel
The Sabres saw a few of their goals taken away by a review, showing that the play was offsides beforehand. This season, teams will receive a two minute penalty if they do not win their challenge.
Whether Eichel actually meant getting rid of it completely, or just rule of challenging offsides, imagine how the game would be played if players didn’t have to worry about offsides.
Here are a couple other responses from players:
I would make the three-on-three in overtime go until someone scores, instead of doing a shootout. It’s more fun for the fans. The shootout is interesting, but I think [a game] shouldn’t be decided by [a shootout]. Play the three-on-three out — sometimes it ends in 10 or 15 seconds, sometimes it goes the whole five minutes, which I like to see. – Johnny Gaudreau, Flames
No three-point games anymore. I think it would make it more exciting. You look at the standings and you’re like, ‘Oh, so-and-so is .500.’ But they’re really not. They’re 13-13-6, but they’re really 13-19. I think it would make a big difference. – Taylor Hall, Devils