The NHL's Fragmented Safety Standard is a Ticking Time Bomb

The NHL has finally acknowledged a terrifying reality: the exposed skin between a jersey and a helmet is a liability. In a move aimed at preventing skate-related injuries, as Sports Illustrated first reported, the league has amended its rulebook to require all players entering the league with no prior experience to wear A5 level cut-proof neck protection.

On the surface, this looks like progress. But look closer at the fine print, and you will see a policy that is not just flawed, but dangerous. By grandfathering in every single player who logged even one minute of ice time prior to this season, the NHL is playing a high-stakes game of 'too little, too late.'

This is my opinion: The league is creating a fragmented safety standard that will inevitably lead to a locker room revolt the moment the first preventable tragedy strikes.

Let's be clear about the stakes. As reported by Sports Illustrated, this discourse was sparked by the 2023 passing of former NHL player Adam Johnson during a game in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) in the United Kingdom. The tragedy proved that the risk is real and the consequences are absolute. Yet, instead of a league-wide mandate to protect every asset on the ice, the NHL has opted for a tiered system of safety.

According to Sports Illustrated, the required gear must meet A5 cut-proof standards set by the International Safety Equipment Association and the American National Standards Institute. On a scale where A1 is the weakest and A9 is the strongest, A5 is medium-strength, designed to prevent cuts from roughly 4.85 to 6.61 pounds (2,200-2,999 grams) of direct blade pressure.

Why is this protection deemed essential for a rookie, but optional for a veteran? There is no biological or physical difference between a 20-year-old newcomer and a 30-year-old veteran that makes a skate blade less lethal. By exempting veterans, the league is essentially admitting that the gear is necessary for safety, but not necessary enough to override the preferences of the established players.

League officials will likely point to the 2013-2014 visor rule as a precedent. Sports Illustrated notes that players with over 25 games of experience were exempt from that mandate, and while most veterans eventually adopted the gear, some resisted. For example, Sports Illustrated identifies Ryan O'Reilly of the Nashville Predators, Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, Ryan Reaves of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Zach Bogosian of the Minnesota Wild as the four remaining players who still forgo face protection.

But neck protection is not a visor. A visor protects against pucks and sticks to the face; neck protection prevents a catastrophic, life-ending laceration. The comparison to visors is a false equivalence used to justify a lazy implementation of safety protocols.

Furthermore, the NHL is now out of step with the broader hockey world. Sports Illustrated notes that starting in 2024, the AHL—the NHL's primary development affiliate—made the use of neck protection mandatory for all of its players. Even more telling is the fact that the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) required all competitors in the 2026 Winter Olympics to wear the gear. Veteran NHL players, who sparingly chose to wear the guards during regular league play, were forced to make the adjustment for that global competition.

If the gear is mandatory for the Olympics and the AHL, why is it optional for the veterans of the world's premier league?

This inconsistency creates a bizarre dynamic in the locker room. Take the Nashville Predators, for instance. Sports Illustrated notes that top prospect Brady Martin is technically exempt because of limited appearances last season, and he has chosen not to wear the gear in most outings, despite being required to wear it in the AHL. Meanwhile, recent first-round picks like Tommy Bleyl and Wyatt Cullen—who are currently playing collegiate hockey where the gear is not required—will be forced to adopt it the moment they arrive in Nashville. Similarly, Vitali Pinchuk, a recent signee from the KHL (where the gear is also not required), must wear the protection because he has not yet suited up for an NHL team.

We are entering an era where the safety of a player is determined not by the risk they face on the ice, but by the date of their debut.

This is a recipe for disaster. When a veteran player suffers a preventable, skate-related neck injury—or worse—the question will not be 'why didn't they wear the gear?' The question will be 'why did the league decide that some players were worth protecting and others weren't?'

The NHL is betting that veterans will voluntarily follow the lead of the rookies. But as the four remaining visor-less players prove, some veterans will always resist. By refusing to mandate this across the board, the NHL is leaving a gap in its armor that is far too wide. They are prioritizing the comfort of the few over the lives of the many, and in a sport as violent as hockey, that is a gamble the league cannot afford to lose.