Rem Pitlick pulled no punches on Jakob Chychrun's hit on Nick Cousins, according to Eric Engels this morning.
The hit came Tuesday night in Ottawa, late in the third period, when Chychrun of the Capitals leveled Cousins of the Senators. Four days later, the story still hasn't gone quiet.
Engels pointed to Pitlick's comments as refreshing honesty from a player, and he said it works whether you agree with him or not.
That's a notable thing to say in this league, where reactions to a hit like this usually come wrapped in the same safe lines. A player who speaks plainly gets noticed, and it gives the debate a fresh voice.
Pitlick isn't a current Wild name to confuse with anyone else here: Tyler Pitlick plays for Minnesota, but this is Rem Pitlick, a different player, who has skated for Nashville, Montreal, Minnesota and Chicago.
The reason the topic has legs is what happened to Cousins afterward. The Senators confirmed he is out seven to 10 days, as we laid out in Nick Cousins' seven to 10 day timeline.
Why the Chychrun hit won't go away
Part of it is the timeline. Cousins is 33 and has played 19 games this season, so a week or more away is not a footnote for Ottawa.
Part of it is how people have responded. Cousins unfollowed Chychrun on Instagram, according to NHL Follow Tracker, and we covered Cousins' Instagram unfollow of Chychrun on Wednesday.
Chychrun has 16 penalty minutes through 17 games this season, and nothing in what we have suggests he saw the play differently than a routine hit. His side of it will keep being asked about.
Our take: the loudest argument here isn't about Chychrun at all. It's about how the Senators answered, and whether a player like Pitlick saying it out loud makes other players more willing to do the same.
Cousins' seven-to-10-day window is the next thing to watch, and so is whether anyone else in the league decides to speak as openly as Pitlick did.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
How should the NHL view the Chychrun hit on Cousins?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Elliotte Friedman sheds light on Maple Leafs trade in the works
