Nashville Predators rookie Zachary L'Heureux has built a reputation as an energetic, tenacious winger who gets under the skin of opponents.
But in Tuesday's 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild, the line was crossed, potentially leading to further disciplinary action. It's been announced that Zachary L'Heureux will indeed have a suspension hearing at a time and date TBD.
Midway through the second, L'Heureux got a game misconduct for a slew-foot on Jared Spurgeon.
Chasing a loose puck in the corner, L'Heureux hooked Jared Spurgeon's legs with his own and pushed his upper body backward, sending Spurgeon crashing into the boards, a textbook slew-foot under NHL rule 52.1.
The penalty got him ejected and an automatic review from the NHL Department of Player Safety.
While the incident Tuesday was the first NHL game misconduct on L'Heureux's resume, he has established a record of playing undisciplined. In junior, he received nine suspensions for infractions, including 10 games for jabbing his stick at fans.
In the AHL, L'Heureux sat out twice, once after sucker-punching a foe. His NHL penalty minutes this year had been modest, only 12 in 32 games, but his behavior Tuesday could trigger a suspension.
Past incidents involving similar offenses, such as Brad Marchand's three-game suspension for a slew-foot in 2021, would indicate that L'Heureux may receive a similar sentence.
The Predators next play on Friday against the Vancouver Canucks, which doesn't give much time for resolution.
POLL | ||
JANVIER 1 | 89 ANSWERS Controversial Nashville Predators' Zachary L'Heureux to Face Suspension Hearing for Dirty Slew Foot Do you believe Zachary L'Heureux will be suspended? | ||
Yes | 67 | 75.3 % |
No | 22 | 24.7 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Christian Dvorak | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Brendan Gallagher | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Jason Robertson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Matt Duchene | - | 2 | 2 | |
Adam Fox | - | 2 | 2 | |
Matej Blumel | 1 | - | 1 | |
Mavrik Bourque | 1 | - | 1 | |
Will Cuylle | 1 | - | 1 | |
Wyatt Johnston | 1 | - | 1 | |
Marco Kasper | 1 | - | 1 | |
Chris Kreider | 1 | - | 1 | |
Alexis Lafrenière | 1 | - | 1 | |
Patrik Laine | 1 | - | 1 | |
Zack Ostapchuk | 1 | - | 1 | |
Juraj Slafkovsky | 1 | - | 1 | |
Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
Tomas Tatar | 1 | - | 1 | |
Mika Zibanejad | 1 | - | 1 | |
Artem Zub | 1 | - | 1 | |
Mike Amadio | - | 1 | 1 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 46 | 31 | 10 | 5 | 67 | |
Jets | 47 | 31 | 13 | 3 | 65 | |
Oilers | 46 | 29 | 14 | 3 | 61 | |
Golden Knights | 46 | 29 | 14 | 3 | 61 | |
Maple Leafs | 47 | 29 | 16 | 2 | 60 | |
Stars | 46 | 29 | 16 | 1 | 59 | |
Wild | 46 | 27 | 15 | 4 | 58 | |
Devils | 49 | 26 | 17 | 6 | 58 | |
Hurricanes | 46 | 27 | 16 | 3 | 57 | |
Avalanche | 47 | 28 | 18 | 1 | 57 | |
Conference | Cumulative |