After the tragic events recently with a former Pittsburgh Penguin Adam Johnson, leagues around the world have begun taking steps for more player safety, and it appears the NHL are on board.
No mandate... yet
In a recent interview, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly revealed several key pieces of information, with the biggest of all being that they have reached out to the NHLPA in order to get the neck guard issue 'on their radar'.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly tells NHL Network Radio that Gary Bettman has contacted Marty Walsh of the PA to get the neck guard issue 'on the radar.' Daly says the NHL is strongly recommending the use of neck guards.
Beyond that, he revealed that the league can't make any mandates without the NHLPA, but that they have seriously recommended that players take the initiative and begin wearing them, despite the decision being completely up to them.
Player safety
While we've not seen an incident like this in recent years, players like the Calgary Wranglers Jeremie Poirier and the Edmonton Oilers Evander Kane have both dealt with wrist injuries due to skates, so to be safe is probably the best option.
We've already now seen players in the AHL take action without a mandate, so we will see how NHL players react in the coming days, but it's hard to see the NHLPA not being in favour of more safety precautions for their players.