Red Wings forward David Perron has been suspended six games without pay for cross-checking Senators defenseman Artem Zub in the head, a retaliatory shot after Dylan Larkin was knocked out by Mathieu Joseph in Detroit's loss to Ottawa last weekend.
The NHL Department of Player Safety announced the suspension in a video released Monday night, noting that "significant supplemental discipline was required" based on multiple factors:
"First, this is not a hockey play. This is an intentional strike with the stick made with the purpose of exacting retribution on an opponent. While we have heard the argument made by the club that this is not a direct blow to the head, we disagree. ... Perron is coming up and off the ice into this cross-check. ... The brunt of the impact of this blow is clearly absorbed by Zub's head, due directly to the actions and choices made by Perron."
Perron, who had never before been suspended over 17 NHL seasons, was "pretty disappointed" in the ruling, per Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde, who added in a conversation with reporters Monday night, "David's had a clean sheet for 1,100 games." Perron will forfeit about $148,000 in salary over the suspension, with the money going to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
Perron's agent, Allan Walsh, ripped the Department of Player Safety in a series of posts on X, calling it the "Parros Kangaroo Court" and a "media/PR entity that has nothing to do with 'Player Safety.'" He deemed the suspension "a farce!"
Given the length of the suspension, Perron can appeal to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and, as a recourse, to a neutral arbitrator. He might have a case. As Lalonde said, "Someone sent me the Auston Matthews crosscheck, pretty similar." An alternate captain for the Wings, Perron has 13 points in 26 games this season and is on the club's top power play unit.
The suspension was announced shortly before the Red Wings suffered their third straight loss, 5-3 to the Stars. Between Perron's absence and injuries to Larkin, J.T. Compher and Klim Kostin, Detroit is currently missing four forwards from its nightly lineup. Larkin, who has 25 points in 24 games this season, was placed on injured reserve Monday and could be out "for an extended period of time," per Lalonde.
"Obviously he's had a lot in his career injury-wise. He was down unconscious, motionless, and a lot of those thoughts were going through my own head," said Lalonde. "Again, I think it was positive that he was able to get up and be helped off the ice rather than on the stretcher."
Lalonde added that Larkin "seems to be in good spirits" after they talked over the phone Sunday night: "He said it's a lot, pretty overwhelming and heavy in a lot of ways. Talked for about 20 minutes. It was just good to talk to him and hear his voice, and taking it day by day."
Perron will be eligible to return when the Red Wings host the Flyers on Dec. 22, missing upcoming games against the Blues, Hurricanes, Flyers, Ducks and Jets, as well as Wednesday night's loss to the Stars.
