Player Safety just brought the hammer down on this nasty cheap shot
Ridly Greig is the latest playoff offender to draw supplemental discipline, and the Senators forward will start next season serving a suspension.
The Department of Player Safety announced Monday that Greig has been banned 2 regular-season games for roughing Carolina defenseman Sean Walker.
Ottawa's season is already done. Carolina swept the Senators in 4 games to start the playoffs, and Greig's number won't be available for the suspension to be served on the postseason ledger.
That means the 2 games roll into October. Travis Green opens his next campaign without his 23-year-old agitator for the first two nights of the schedule.
Greig's regular season was a useful one for Ottawa. The 23-year-old went 13 goals and 35 points in 77 games on a $3.25 million cap hit, with a +12 rating and a shorthanded marker.
His playoff line was quiet. Through 4 games against the Hurricanes, he posted 0 goals, 1 assist, and a +1 rating, the kind of bottom-six line that doesn't carry a sweep.
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What this ruling tells you about Player Safety's playoff posture
The league office has been busy. Charlie McAvoy got an in-person hearing offer last week for a slash on Zach Benson.
Tyson Foerster avoided one Saturday after his slash on Andrei Svechnikov was reduced to a 2-minute call.
Now Greig joins the queue.
Two games is a moderate number, the kind that signals the league saw something gratuitous without seeing something dangerous.
Walker is exactly the kind of veteran defender the league protects. The 31-year-old earns $3.6 million and posted 9 goals and 31 points in 81 regular-season games, with 2 shorthanded helpers and a +6 rating.
His playoff line through 4 games sat at 1 assist and a +4 rating. Carolina's structure rolled through the round, and Walker did his job from the second pair on Rod Brind'Amour's chart.
Here's the editorial line. Suspending a player from a sweep team that has nothing to play for sends a clear message.
The clock starts in October, the team eats the punishment instead of the player, and the deterrent goes on the next season's record.
Steve Staios will not love that math. Ottawa is trying to take a step into a real playoff team next year, and the schedule already has road games stacked early.
Greig's reputation is half the battle now.
He plays an edgy game by trade, and edgy players don't get the benefit of the doubt in the league office. That's the cost of the role.
Carolina rolls into a Round 2 series with Philadelphia that has gotten chippy in its own right. Tampa is out. Ottawa is out. Boston is out. Buffalo is moving on.
The league office hasn't been this busy in years, and the ruling on Greig isn't going to be the last one this week.
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MAY 4, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nikolaj Ehlers | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jamie Drysdale | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Carl Grundstrom | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 1 | 1 | |
| K'Andre Miller | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sean Walker | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | - | - | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Emil Andrae | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Denver Barkey | - | - | - | |
| Alex Bump | - | - | - | |
| John Carlson | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||