from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

We have no idea how the NHL settled upon 27 games as the length of the suspension imposed on Austin Watson after the Nashville forward pleaded no contest to a domestic assault charge in July. The league has no domestic violence policy. Matters of this sort are left to the commissioner’s sole discretion under Article 18 of the CBA.

Similarly, we have no idea why Shyam Das, the arbitrator who heard the grievance filed by the NHLPA on behalf of its dues-paying member, reduced that suspension by a full one-third, to 18 games. There was no precedent to examine, other than the NHL’s ongoing indefinite suspension of Slava Voynov, disciplined in 2014 following his arrest for domestic violence.

The league has expressed its deep disappointment with the decision. The PA issued a statement in which the union essentially explained its responsibility to the appeal process outlined in the CBA while proclaiming its commitment to educating its members on the domestic violence issue. Citing sensitivity and privacy, the union has not made the arbitrator’s decision available to players or agents.

So we don’t know

continued plus other NHL notes...