Oilers insider Bob Stauffer strictly advises Connor McDavid to boycott NHL off-ice events in retaliation for 3-game suspension

The NHL Department of Player Safety concluded its hearing for Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and handed him a three-game suspension for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks' Connor Garland on Sunday. The hit, which came out of frustration from the 28-year-old, occurred after he was being held by Garland in the dying seconds of the game, with his team trailing 3-2.

On the Oilers Now podcast, Bob Stauffer was absolutely flabbergasted when the news broke that McDavid would have to serve a three-game suspension. Speaking to insider Frank Servailli, Stauffer suggested that if the NHL is this harsh on their best player, then McDavid should consider refusing to play, as his presence attracts crowds both in arenas and at off-ice events around the league:

"Time for Connor to start saying no to a bunch of league stuff. Frank, that's a joke. That's an absolute joke. There you go, folks, three game suspension, by the way, three home games for the Edmonton Oilers. What do they call out when NBA players decide they don't want to play some games? What's that term?"

"Time to do some load management in the final month of the season in situational US markets. That's it. I'm bloody well serious. Frank enough of this crap, like the league sits. They can't have it both ways. They can't crap and, you know, get off the pot. You know what I mean. Like, what are you about? You're gonna protect the stars or not," Stauffer said (Timestamp: 4:16).

Sidney Crosby comes to Connor McDavid's defense

Sidney Crosby, no stranger to unwarranted physicality, came to McDavid's defense. As one of the league's premier stars, Crosby has often faced unnecessary roughness from opposing teams. Seeing a similar pattern with Connor McDavid, Crosby acknowledged that McDavid's retaliation was bound to attract attention.

"Sometimes your emotions get the best of you. It's a physical sport. The one time you see that, you probably didn't see there nine hits that Connor took. Those ones are the ones that never make the highlights. When you retaliate, you make the highlights."

"Whether it's him or anyone else, it's an emotional game. That's going to happen sometimes. If there were calmer or cooler circumstances, he probably wouldn't have done that," Crosby said while speaking to The Athletic.

Connor McDavid has spent the most time with the puck in the offensive zone this season, averaging 1:25 per game. Despite this, he ranks 47th in the league with only 14 penalties drawn. These fourteen penalties don't reflect a lack of interference from his opponents. Instead, it raises questions about whether officials have been lenient in calling penalties against the three-time Hart Trophy winner.