Golden Knights Catch Break, Roy Fined by DoPS; CBA Explained

The Vegas Golden Knights, down 2-0 in their second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers, caught a massive break. In Game 2 on Thursday, forward Nicolas Roy was given a five-minute major penalty after cross-checking Oilers forward Trent Frederic in the face. 

On Friday, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced that Roy would have a hearing for the cross-check. Typically, a player getting a hearing indicates an impending suspension.

Instead of a well-deserved suspension, Roy escaped with a fine, albeit a hefty one. The Department of Player Safety announced that Roy had been fined $7,812.50, the maximum allowable under the CBA.

The DoPS announcement sparked a wave of confusion, primarily for two reasons. First, people didn’t understand why Roy wasn’t suspended. According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the league felt that Roy’s cross-check was reckless but not malicious. Second, most people were unaware that players could be fined more than $5,000– including Friedman.

So, sit down, folks. It’s time for the second installment of ‘Hannah explains the CBA.’ Class is now in session. Take notes, because there will be a quiz following today’s lesson.

The Breakdown

First and foremost, $5,000 is the maximum allowable fine… for players who weren’t offered a hearing. 

If a player is given a hearing, the maximum allowable fine under the CBA increases from the usual $5,000 to $10,000 for first-time offenders and to $15,000 for second-time offenders. So, because Roy, a first-time offender, was offered a hearing, he would have been hit with a $10,000 fine. 

However, the CBA stipulates that the amount of a fine is limited to ½ of an NHL day’s pay for the player involved. 

For the purpose of player salaries, an NHL day is one regular season day, starting with the first NHL game and lasting through the final game before the playoffs. This year, the season opened with the Devils and the Sabres playing in Prague on October 24th and ran through April 17th. So, the NHL season was 192 days long, which is slightly longer than the average of 185 days.

Now, it’s time to do some math. Roy’s base salary is $3 million. To calculate his maximum fine, you first must calculate his day’s pay. To do that, you divide his base salary ($3 million) by the number of NHL days (192) to get his day pay ($15,625). Then you divide that in half, as stipulated by the CBA, and voilà: you get $7,812.50.

It’s rare for a player to get a hearing and avoid suspension; it’s happened just six times in the last ten seasons and not since 2021. The last player to get a hearing and avoid suspension was P.K. Subban. As a second-time offender, Subban received a $15,000 fine for tripping Trevor Zegras on November 2nd, 2021.

Class dismissed.

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