NHL GM's Make Official Decision on Changing League Rules After Mid-Season Meeting

NHL general managers began their annual meeting Monday with a report on how healthy the game is. The message? Lots of high-scoring games, fewer shootouts, and close competition.

Today, it was revealed that no rule proposals were presented, said NHL senior EVP of hockey operations Colin Campbell, and confirmed by Eric Engels.

With just under 1,100 games played during the current year, the League has averaged 6.0 goals per game, the fourth straight season at that pace, and the longest such streak in 30 years.

Even-strength scoring accounts for 77.8% of goals, the highest since 1972-73, while power-play efficiency (21.6%) and shooting percentage (10.5%) are at their best since the 1980s and '90s, respectively.

Dallas general manager Jim Nill credited the surge in scoring to rule changes and a deeper talent pool.

The NHL also sees more games decided in sudden-death overtime than in shootouts. Since adopting the switch to 3-on-3 OT for the 2015-16 season, the percentage of OT-decided games has increased, including this season at 74%.

Only 56 shootouts have occurred, the fewest in an 82-game season. Competition is tight. Of the games this season, 75% were one-goal games or two-goal games with an empty-netter.

The average game had a one-goal margin or tie for nearly 43 minutes. Playoff races are razor-thin. In the East, the wild-card race has been two points apart for 97% of the season. In the West, the margin has been three points or less all season.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that Bettman and the NHLPA will meet during the week of April 1st for CBA talks, as the current deal ends after the 2025-26 season.

NHL insider Frank Seravalli touched upon extending OT to 10 minutes and stated that Bettman is not a fan of that as it will wear down the ice further and really take too much energy out from the players.

Finally, the 4 Nations Face-Off saw an average of 6.5 million North American viewers per game, a 256% improvement on the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, with Canada's OT win over the U.S. totaling 16.1 million viewers.