Logan Stanley Fined the Maximum $3,865.98 for Slashing Nico Hischier

The NHL fined Logan Stanley the maximum it can fine him, and stopped there. The New York Islanders defenceman will pay $3,865.98 for slashing New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier late in the second period of Saturday’s game at UBS Arena, the Department of Player Safety announced on Sunday, and he will not miss a game. It is the second Player Safety ruling of the weekend, and it sits in sharp contrast to the first: Tom Wilson walked away from his boarding major on Florida rookie Sandis Vilmanis with no further discipline at all.

What happened between Stanley and Hischier?

It started with a fall and a jab, and it ended with a captain on the ice. Hischier fell awkwardly in front of the Islanders’ net, TSN reports, then got up and jabbed Stanley in the side with his stick. Stanley answered by whacking Hischier up high with his stick, sending him to the ice, and then cross-checked him in the back while he was down. The incident came at 19:13 of the second period, NHL.com reports, with just under a minute left in the frame, and Stanley was assessed a two-minute minor for slashing at the time.

A scrum followed in front of the net. Islanders defenceman Matthew Schaefer and Devils defenceman Luke Hughes traded roughing penalties, TSN reports, while Stanley and Devils defenceman Brett Pesce did the same. Stanley took two minors on the play, but New Jersey got only one power play out of the deal because the Devils committed an infraction in the scrum too, Daily Faceoff reports. The Devils went on to win 5-4 in overtime, on a goal by Hughes, after putting 50 shots on goal.

Why is the fine exactly $3,865.98?

Because that is the ceiling, not a number the league picked. The fine is the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, NHL.com reports, and the money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. The odd figure comes from the agreement’s formula for a player’s daily pay, and the league announced it to the cent because the maximum is the story: Player Safety decided the play deserved the heaviest financial punishment available without a hearing, and nothing beyond it.

That distinction matters. A fine means no hearing, no suspension and no games missed. The department looked at a sequence in which a player was hit high and then cross-checked while down, and decided the on-ice minors plus the maximum fine covered it.

Did Hischier start it?

He threw the first stick, and the reporting is clear about that. TSN reports Hischier fell awkwardly in front of the crease, got up and jabbed Stanley in the side. What followed is what the league punished: the whack up high that put the Devils captain on the ice, and then a cross-check into his back while he was down there. Hischier got back up moments later, TSN reports, and finished the game, which is why the ruling reads as a fine for the response rather than a suspension for an injury.

The order of events is the whole argument for the fine being the maximum and also the whole argument against a suspension. Hischier provoked it, Stanley escalated it, and nobody was hurt. Player Safety fined the escalation and left it there.

What did the slash cost the Islanders in the game?

Two minutes, a scrum and eventually the game. The Devils won 5-4 in overtime, TSN reports, with Hughes scoring the winner after New Jersey fired 50 shots at the Islanders’ net. Stanley’s two minors did not hand the Devils a long power play, because the scrum spread the penalties around, but the Islanders lost the flow of a tight game in the final minute of a period and never got it back.

The standings make the loss sting more. New Jersey is 12-5-0 with 24 points through 17 games, Daily Faceoff reports, while the Islanders are 7-6-3 with 17 points. A Metropolitan Division game decided in overtime, with the captain of one side on the receiving end of a fine-worthy slash, is the kind of night that lingers in a division race.

Who is Logan Stanley, and why does this fine land harder on him?

Because he spent the summer unwanted and is now playing top-pair minutes. Stanley is 28, 6-foot-7 and in his seventh NHL season, Daily Faceoff reports, and the Islanders signed him to a one-year, $1.5 million contract on September 27, days before the season opener, after he lingered in free agency following a March trade from Winnipeg to Buffalo. He has made the most of the chance: five assists and 34 penalty minutes in 16 games, averaging 21:16 a night on the top pair with Calder Trophy winner Matthew Schaefer.

The fine does not threaten that role, since he misses no games, but it puts a mark on a redemption season. Stanley has 14 goals and 53 assists for 67 points in 294 career regular-season games across the Islanders, Sabres and Jets, Daily Faceoff reports, and the physical edge that earned him the top-pair job is the same edge that drew the maximum fine. The Islanders need the edge. They would prefer it without the whacks.

How does this compare with the Wilson ruling?

It is the other half of the same weekend, and the two decisions together say something about where Player Safety draws its lines. Wilson was ejected on Saturday for boarding Vilmanis from behind, a five-minute major and a game misconduct, and the department decided on Sunday that the on-ice punishment was enough. No hearing, no fine, no suspension. Stanley slashed a captain who had jabbed him first, got two minors, and was fined the maximum.

Neither player will miss a game. The difference is the price tag: Wilson paid nothing beyond the major and the misconduct, while Stanley pays $3,865.98. The league’s message, read across both rulings, is that a boarding major on a rookie who turned late is an on-ice call, while a slash and a cross-check on a prone captain is worth the heaviest fine the agreement allows. The next test of that line will come the next time a stick goes up high, and the comparables are now a week old: Frank Nazar got two games for his illegal check to the head of Bo Horvat, Florida’s Evan Rodrigues was fined $5,000 after his stick jab was downgraded from a spear, and Anthony Mantha’s boarding major in Ottawa drew no suspension either.