Insider reveals the real reason Player Safety suspensions have been so light.

A pair of incidents this month in the National Hockey League have brought a ton of criticism down on top of the NHL's Department of Player Safety, with fans expressing outrage at the seemingly light punishments being handed out for serious offenses on the ice.

The criticism began when Anaheim Ducks captain Radko Gudas received just 5 games for a knee on knee hit that resulted in a season ending injury to Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews.

Those criticisms were amplified this week when, on Sunday, Player Safety announced just a 3 game suspension for Florida Panthers forward A.J. Greer after what looked to be a deliberate attempt to injure the Calgary Flames' Connor Zary.

While the finger of blame has been squarely pointed in the direction of the NHL on this one, recent comments from the league's top insider suggest that the league isn't the only party to blame in this fiasco.

On Monday, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed what the real reason behind these smaller suspensions truly is.

"I'll just say this, the league has no desire to consistently get turned over on appeal," revealed Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast. "They've shown no inclination that they either want to deal with appeals or be overturned, they really don't like it."

Those appeals are of course filed by the very same organization meant to be representing the players who have been injured, the National Hockey League Players Association. According to Friedman, the NHL simply does not want to see larger suspensions resulting in lost appeals for the league.

"They're lawyers, they don't like to get turned over on appeal," said Friedman.

According to the insider the only way this situation gets better is if the players themselves push for changes to be made.

"The only way this is gonna change is if the players demand it," said Friedman.

That however comes with its own problems, as it could potentially give the league additional leverage in collective bargaining agreement negotiations.

"Then they will have to negotiate it with the league... so there's a lot of challenges here to get change made," said Friedman.

This would put the league in a powerful negotiating position, one in which they could ask for things such as changes to how the appeals process functions, and Friedman believes the Players Association won't want to go down that road.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that the players won't want to do that in exchange for the way in which supplemental discipline is done," said Friedman.

Someone that is more conspiratorially minded might even try to suggest that the league is manufacturing a crisis to gain leverage in negotiations, but you didn't hear that from me.