NHL Player Safety trolls the Toronto Maple Leafs with a head-scratching fine

During a game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning a few weeks ago, Bobby McMann slashed Oliver Bjorkstrand over the head with his stick.

It was a brutal play, and one that landed McMann a one-game suspension with the league. However, similar plays had previously yielded a fine. It was yet another example of a potential Leafs bias brewing in the league offices.

Now, NHL Player Safety is under the microscope again, this time due to their handling of a situation between Mat Barzal of the New York Islanders and Mason Marchment of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

After a hit on Matthew Schaefer, Mason Marchment got slashed in the leg by Barzal, and it was a pretty gnarly move, especially when you consider how it was obviously intended to injure.

Yet somehow, Barzal got off with a slap on the wrist. He was fined $5K by NHL Player Safety, and a nice little warning to go along with it.

As you can imagine, this decision left Toronto Maple Leafs fans with a very bad taste in their mouth. At the end of the day, it is yet another example of the Leafs getting punished, and others getting off for much worse.

Below, you can see some of the reactions to the fine, and how Leafs fans, in particular, are fed up with how the NHL Department of Player Safety is being run.

While McMann did, in fact, slash someone in the head, there is something to be said about intent. You can make the argument that McMann did it by accident. As for Barzal, his slash was very much intentional.

For Maple Leafs fans, it is just another painful reminder that George Parros is running the DoPS and likely won't lose that job for a while.

Going forward, the Leafs players will just have to be on their best behavior, or suffer the consequences.