Player Safety Reaches Controversial Decision on Ozzy Wiesblatt's Unnecessary Hit on Easton Cowan

Two days ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs put up a touchdown against the Nashville Predators, tickling the twine 7 times in a 7-4 win on home ice at Scotiabank Arena.

During the win, Leafs rookie Easton Cowan was able to notch his first career NHL point, continuing to impress in his rookie season -- and on the top line, no-less.

Another interesting storyline coming out of that game was when the rookie Cowan was caught by a dangerous and unnecessary hit, courtesy of Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt.

Cowan downplayed the incident involving Wiesblatt, brushing it off by stating "that's hockey", but given the fact that Wiesblatt had no reason to shove Cowan into the goal post away from the play, other than to attempt to injure him, most wondered whether or not Player Safety would get involved.

We've already seen a number of suspensions and fines handed out, despite being just over a week into the 2025-26 season, but while some expected Player Safety intervention in this case, the league felt otherwise on the situation.

Wednesday was a day off for the Leafs, and the day came and went without Player Safety announcing supplemental discipline for Wiesblatt, who was issued a 2-minute penalty on the play.

The decision not to suspend a player who intentionally tried to injure another player is certainly controversial. But, hey, it's the Leafs, so it's okay, right?

We have seen plenty of examples in recent years of the NHL's Department of Player Safety being lenient towards players who commit infractions against the Leafs, and far too harsh against the Leafs when they commit infractions of their own.

One popular narrative suggests that the current head of Player Safety, George Parros, holds a grudge against the Leafs from his playing days. While it's impossible to determine whether or not it's the truth without Parros confirming as much publicly, all we can do is speculate as to the rumour's validity.

Nevertheless, the fact that Wiesblatt did not receive so much as a fine for his hit on Cowan, it only further fuels that narrative.

Do you think Player Safety has a bias when it comes to ruling on cases involving the Maple Leafs? Let us know in the poll provided at the bottom of this article.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also want to check out this piece from MapleLeafsDaily.com: Revenge Isn't Leadership: Auston Matthews Shows Patience, Maturity After Rookie Gets Rocked