# 2015–16 NHL suspensions and fines

The following is a list of all suspensions and fines enforced in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 2015–16 NHL season. It lists which players or coaches of what team have been punished for which offense and the amount of punishment they have received.
Based on each player's average annual salary, divided by number of days in the season (186) for first time offenders and games (82) for repeat offenders, salary will be forfeited for the term of their suspension. Players' money forfeited due to suspension or fine goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund, while money forfeited by coaches, staff or organizations as a whole go to the NHL Foundation.

## Suspensions

$^‡$ - suspension covered at least one 2016 post-season game
$^#$ - Suspension was later reduced upon further review/successful appeal; information presented in italics
$^R$ - Player was considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (player had been suspended in the 18 months prior to this suspension)
| Date of Incident | Offender | Team(s) | Offense(s) | Date of Action | Length | Salary Forfeited$^1$ |
| October 3, 2015 | Raffi Torres | San Jose Sharks | Illegal check to the head of Jakob Silfverberg. | October 5, 2015 | 41 games | $440,860.29 |
| October 4, 2015 | Zack Kassian | Montreal Canadiens | Suspended indefinitely for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program. $^2$ | October 5, 2015 | 31 games | $602,150.54 |
| October 15, 2015 | Nikita Nesterov | Tampa Bay Lightning | Boarding Curtis McKenzie. | October 16, 2015 | 2 games | $7,983.88 |
| October 16, 2015 | Tyson Barrie | Colorado Avalanche | Charging and interference against Simon Despres. | October 17, 2015 | 3 games | $41,935.47 |
| October 22, 2015 | Jason Demers | Dallas Stars | Elbowing Nick Bonino. | October 23, 2015 | 2 games | $36,559.14 |
| October 31, 2015 | Mark Stone | Ottawa Senators | Illegal check to the head of Landon Ferraro. | November 2, 2015 | 2 games | $37,634.40 |
| November 12, 2015 | Gabriel Landeskog | Colorado Avalanche | Illegal check to the head of Brad Marchand. | November 13, 2015 | 2 games | $59,907.84 |
| November 27, 2015 | Brandon Dubinsky | Columbus Blue Jackets | Cross-checking Sidney Crosby. | November 28, 2015 | 1 game | $31,451.61 |
| December 1, 2015 | Radko Gudas | Philadelphia Flyers | Illegal check to the head of Mika Zibanejad. | December 2, 2015 | 3 games | $15,994.62 |
| December 11, 2015 | Nate Thompson | Anaheim Ducks | Illegal check to the head of Justin Faulk. | December 14, 2015 | 3 games | $25,806.45 |
| December 20, 2015 | Max Talbot | Boston Bruins | Interference against Jiri Tlusty. | December 21, 2015 | 2 games | $19,354.84 |
| December 29, 2015 | Brad Marchand | Boston Bruins | Clipping Mark Borowiecki. | December 30, 2015 | 3 games | $164,634.15 |
| January 5, 2016 | Zach Sill | Washington Capitals | Boarding Adam McQuaid. | January 6, 2016 | 2 games | $6,182.80 |
| January 7, 2016 | Marcus Johansson | Washington Capitals | Illegal check to the head of Thomas Hickey. | January 8, 2016 | 2 games | $40,322.58 |
| January 10, 2016 | Matt Hendricks | Edmonton Oilers | Boarding Aaron Ekblad. | January 11, 2016 | 3 games | $29,838.72 |
| January 12, 2016 | Bobby Farnham | New Jersey Devils | Interference against Dmitrij Jaskin. | January 13, 2016 | 4 games | $12,365.60 |
| January 23, 2016 | Milan Lucic | Los Angeles Kings | Roughing Kevin Connauton. | January 24, 2016 | 1 game | $32,258.06 |
| January 26, 2016 | Shawn Horcoff | Anaheim Ducks | Violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. $^3$ | January 26, 2016 | 20 games | $366,935.48 |
| January 27, 2016 | Dennis Wideman | Calgary Flames | Physical abuse of official Don Henderson. | February 3, 2016 March 11, 2016 | 20 games$^#$ 10 games $^4$ | $564,516.20 $282,258.10 |
| January 31, 2016 | Alex Ovechkin | Washington Capitals | Automatic suspension for missing NHL All-Star Game. | January 28, 2016 | 1 game | N/A |
| January 31, 2016 | Jonathan Toews | Chicago Blackhawks | Automatic suspension for missing NHL All-Star Game. | January 28, 2016 | 1 game | N/A |
| February 6, 2016 | Drew Stafford | Winnipeg Jets | High-sticking Nick Holden. | February 8, 2016 | 1 game | $23,387.10 |
| February 18, 2016 | Leo Komarov | Toronto Maple Leafs | Elbowing Ryan McDonagh. | February 19, 2016 | 3 games | $47,580.66 |
| February 22, 2016 | Ryan Reaves | St. Louis Blues | Boarding Matt Tennyson. | February 24, 2016 | 3 games | $18,145.17 |
| February 28, 2016 | Zac Rinaldo | Boston Bruins | Illegal check to the head of Cedric Paquette. | March 1, 2016 | 5 games | $51,829.25 |
| March 3, 2016 | Max Domi | Arizona Coyotes | Automatic suspension for instigating a fight during the final five minutes of a game. | March 4, 2016 | 1 game | $4,641.58 |
| March 8, 2016 | Darnell Nurse | Edmonton Oilers | Aggressing Roman Polak. | March 10, 2016 | 3 games | $13,924.74 |
| March 9, 2016 | Jarred Tinordi | Arizona Coyotes | Violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. $^5$ | March 9, 2016 | 20 games | $207,439.02 |
| March 9, 2016 | Gabriel Landeskog | Colorado Avalanche | Cross-checking Simon Despres. | March 10, 2016 | 3 games | $203,832.75 |
| March 13, 2016 | Dalton Prout | Columbus Blue Jackets | Punching an unsuspecting Nikita Kucherov. | March 15, 2016 | 1 game | $5,779.57 |
| March 16, 2016 | Chris VandeVelde | Philadelphia Flyers | Elbowing Jonathan Toews. | March 18, 2016 | 2 games | $7,661.30 |
| March 22, 2016 | Jared Boll | Columbus Blue Jackets | Interference against Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. | March 24, 2016 | 4 games | $82,926.84 |
| March 29, 2016 | Jake Virtanen | Vancouver Canucks | Interference against Roman Polak. | March 30, 2016 | 2 games | $9,614.70 |
| March 29, 2016 | Duncan Keith | Chicago Blackhawks | High-sticking Charlie Coyle. | April 1, 2016 | 6 games$^‡$ (5 regular season + 1 post-season) | $148,883.35 |
| April 2, 2016 | Nazem Kadri | Toronto Maple Leafs | Cross-checking Luke Glendening. | April 4, 2016 | 4 games | $200,000.00 |
| April 18, 2016 | Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | Philadelphia Flyers | Checking Dmitry Orlov from behind. | April 19, 2016 | 1 game$^‡$ | N/A |
| April 19, 2016 | Andrew Shaw | Chicago Blackhawks | Using a homophobic slur towards an official. $^6$ | April 20, 2016 | 1 game$^‡$ | N/A |
| April 24, 2016 | Brayden Schenn | Philadelphia Flyers | Charging T.J. Oshie. | April 26, 2016 | 3 games$^7$ | N/A |
| April 30, 2016 | Brooks Orpik | Washington Capitals | Interference against Olli Maatta. | May 1, 2016 | 3 games$^‡$ | N/A |
| May 2, 2016 | Kris Letang | Pittsburgh Penguins | Interference against Marcus Johansson. | May 3, 2016 | 1 game$^‡$ | N/A |
| Player totals: | 203 games$^‡$ (196 regular season + 7 post-season) | $3,234,519.72 |
* All figures are in US dollars.
* Suspension accompanied by mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health - Stage 2. Suspension completed only upon being cleared for on-ice competition by the program administrators. Kassian was reinstated by the NHL on December 15, 2015 after missing 31 games.
* Suspension accompanied by mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health.
* Wideman's original suspension was for 20 games. Suspension was appealed by Wideman and the NHLPA on February 3, 2016. On February 17, 2016, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced he had heard the appeal and was upholding the original 20 game suspension levied to Wideman. The NHLPA then appealed to neutral arbitrator. On March 11, 2016, NHL/NHLPA Neutral Discipline Arbitrator, James Oldham, overruled the NHL and Bettman's 20 game suspension down to 10 games. Though Wideman had already missed 19 of his originally assessed 20 games before Oldham's decision was made, his suspension will stand as 10 games in the NHL records and his salary was refunded for the 9 games he missed.
* Suspension accompanied by mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health. Only sixteen games remained in the Arizona Coyotes season at the time of the suspension, so the remaining four games were served at the start of the 2016–17 NHL season; as he was mid-suspension, Tinordi was also barred from playing in any 2016 preseason games.
* Suspension accompanied by mandatory referral to sensitivity training, as a well as an additional fine (see below) as there is no salary to be forfeited in a playoff game.
* As the Philadelphia Flyers were eliminated from the playoffs, Schenn's suspension was instead made to be served in his first three games of the 2016–17 NHL regular season.

## Fines

Players can be fined up to 50% of one day's salary, up to a maximum of $10,000.00 for their first offense, and $15,000.00 for any subsequent offenses. Fines listed in italics indicate that was the maximum allowed fine.
Coaches, non-playing personnel, and teams are not restricted to such maximums.
Fines for players/coaches fined for diving/embellishment are structured uniquely and are only handed out after non-publicized warnings are given to the player/coach for their first offense. For more details on diving/embellishment fines:
Diving/embellishment specifications :
| Incident Number$^1$ | Player Fine$^2$ | Coach Fine$^2$ |
| 1 | Warning (N/A) | Warning (N/A) |
| 2 | $2,000 | N/A |
| 3 | $3,000 | N/A |
| 4 | $4,000 | N/A |
| 5 | $5,000 | $2,000 |
| 6 | $5,000 | $3,000 |
| 7 | $5,000 | $4,000 |
| 8+ | $5,000 | $5,000 |
* For coach incident totals, each citation issued to a player on his club counts toward his total.
* All figures are in US dollars.
| Date of Incident | Offender | Team | Offense | Date of Action | Amount$^1$ |
| October 13, 2015 | Jordin Tootoo | New Jersey Devils | Tripping Seth Jones. | October 15, 2015 | $2,217.74 |
| October 22, 2015 | Stephen Gionta | New Jersey Devils | Spearing Mark Borowiecki. | October 23, 2015 | $2,284.95 |
| October 25, 2015 | Alexander Burmistrov | Winnipeg Jets | Elbowing Jared Spurgeon. | October 26, 2015 | $4,166.67 |
| November 3, 2015 | Ryan Reaves | St. Louis Blues | Roughing Anze Kopitar. | November 4, 2015 | $3,024.19 |
| November 8, 2015 | Teemu Pulkkinen | Detroit Red Wings | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | November 13, 2015 | $2,000.00 |
| November 12, 2015 | Brad Marchand | Boston Bruins | Roughing Gabriel Landeskog. | November 13, 2015 | $5,000.00 |
| December 5, 2015 | Brandon Prust | Vancouver Canucks | Spearing Brad Marchand. | December 6, 2015 | $5,000.00 |
| December 10, 2015 | Zack Smith | Ottawa Senators | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | December 17, 2015 | $2,000.00 |
| December 22, 2015 | Jannik Hansen | Vancouver Canucks | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | January 1, 2016 | $2,000.00 |
| December 29, 2015 | Nikolaj Ehlers | Winnipeg Jets | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | January 7, 2016 | $2,000.00 |
| December 30, 2015 | Bobby Farnham | New Jersey Devils | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | January 7, 2016 | $2,000.00 |
| January 4, 2016 | Jordin Tootoo | New Jersey Devils | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | January 14, 2016 | $2,000.00 |
| January 12, 2016 | Tyler Myers | Winnipeg Jets | Cross-checking Tommy Wingels. | January 13, 2016 | $5,000.00 |
| January 26, 2016 | Alexander Burmistrov | Winnipeg Jets | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | February 4, 2016 | $2,000.00 |
| February 9, 2016 | Nazem Kadri | Toronto Maple Leafs | Inappropriate gesture towards Mark Giordano. | February 11, 2016 | $5,000.00 |
| March 6, 2016 | Tuomo Ruutu | New Jersey Devils | Slew-footing Matt Cullen. | March 9, 2016 | $5,000.00 |
| March 12, 2016 | Martin Hanzal | Arizona Coyotes | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | April 1, 2016 | $2,000.00 |
| March 12, 2016 | Nazem Kadri | Toronto Maple Leafs | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | April 1, 2016 | $2,000.00 |
| March 12, 2016 | Nail Yakupov | Edmonton Oilers | Diving/Embellishment (second citation). | April 1, 2016 | $2,000.00 |
| March 21, 2016 | Nazem Kadri | Toronto Maple Leafs | Diving/Embellishment (third citation). | April 1, 2016 | $3,000.00 |
| March 24, 2016 | Josh Manson | Anaheim Ducks | Inappropriate gesture towards Nazem Kadri. | March 25, 2016 | $2,486.56 |
| March 30, 2016 | Jason Chimera | Washington Capitals | Butt-ending Shayne Gostisbehere. | March 31, 2016 | $5,000.00 |
| April 19, 2016 | Andrew Shaw | Chicago Blackhawks | Inappropriate gesture towards an official.$^2$ | April 20, 2016 | $5,000.00 |
| April 28, 2016 | Tom Wilson | Washington Capitals | Kneeing Conor Sheary. | April 29, 2016 | $2,403.67 |
| June 23, 2016 | Team | Vancouver Canucks | Inappropriate public comments (tampering) by speaking generally to the Club's potential interest in players under contract to other NHL Clubs, following Jim Benning's comments on P.K. Subban and Steven Stamkos. | June 28, 2016 | $50,000.00 |
| Player totals: | $124,583.78 |
* All figures are in US dollars.
* Fine accompanied by mandatory referral to sensitivity training, as a well as an additional suspension (see above) as there is no salary to be forfeited in a playoff game.