- The offside review drew the most complaints when ESPN asked NHL stars which rule they would drop
- Tom Wilson said he wants the game played the way it was in the 1800s, cameras and all
- Read below for what Wyatt Johnston, Jaccob Slavin and Tage Thompson would change
Ask NHL players which rule they would throw out and a lot of them land on the same one. The offside review has to go.
Greg Wyshynski of ESPN put the question to more than two dozen stars at the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour in Las Vegas last week. The replay booth took the brunt of it.
Wyatt Johnston was asked what he would change, and the Stars forward went straight at goals getting wiped off the board over a skate blade.
“It’s so hard, but at some point, it’s like if you’re a centimeter off 30 seconds before the goal, I think just leave it as a good goal. I think it’s better for the game.”
He would rather hand the call to a computer than a linesman squinting at a monitor. “You think with AI now, you could almost just have it automatic, like they have in soccer for the offside.”
Leo Carlsson had the same problem with reviews that reach back half a minute, then admitted the rule is a lot more fun from the other side. “But I do love it when the other team scores, and then it’s offside.”
Tom Wilson went further than anyone. Given the same question, the Capitals winger wanted the entire review era gone.
“I think we’re getting pretty nitpicky on all these different rules, like leg up over the blue line, all the cameras. Too much gets screwed up. As we get crazier and crazier, it’s just counterproductive. I just want to go back and play it like it was in the 1800s or whenever the game was invented.”
Delay of game was the other target. Jamie Drysdale said nobody has ever flipped the puck over the glass on purpose. Jaccob Slavin, who won the Lady Byng in 2020-21, pointed out that his one penalty that season was exactly that call.
Tage Thompson picked the rule he thinks costs the league goals. The Sabres center wants the kicking motion thrown out.
“If you’re skilled enough to be able to use your feet to redirect the puck or kick it when you’re tied up in front of the net, I think that should be a goal. If you’ve worked hard enough and you put the puck in the net, it should be a goal.”
The league ran a lighter round at the same tour, the week that also gave us the players’ blunt reviews of their NHL 27 face scans. Watch the stars pick a sport they would try:
Not everyone had a complaint. Quinn Hughes said he would leave the rulebook alone. “I think the league’s really good now. Anything that continues to keep guys healthy and safe and limit big injuries, I’m a proponent of, but I think the league’s in a good spot.”
