MANALAPAN, Fla. -- The NHL general managers received a report on the state of the game Monday to open their annual three-day meeting. Quick summary: lots of scoring, few shootouts, tight competition.
None of the GMs has suggested a rule change, NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said.
"I've been to a lot of these meetings in the past where there's a big issue you're trying to resolve or there's a hot-button issue," Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman said. "I don't really see that this year. We're going to talk about a bunch of different things, but I think the state of the game, it's in a great place."
Through the first 1,064 games this season, the NHL averaged 6.0 goals per game. The League is on track to average 6.0 goals per game or more for the fourth straight season, the only such streak in three decades.
The NHL had 77.8 percent of goals scored at even strength, on track for the highest percentage since 78.5 percent in 1972-73; a 21.6 percent success rate on the power play, on track for the highest since 22.2 percent in 1985-86; and a 10.5 percent shooting percentage, on track for the highest since 10.7 percent in 1993-94.
Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill pointed to a combination of factors: rule changes that began at this meeting years ago -- freeing up players in front of the net, for instance -- and a skill level that is higher than ever before.
"It's hard to be a goalie these days," Nill said.
The NHL continues to have more games decided in five-minute, sudden-death overtime and fewer in the shootout.
The League went from 4-on-4 overtime to 3-on-3 OT in 2015-16. Two seasons ago, 69 percent of games that went to overtime ended in OT, a record. Last season, it was 70 percent, another record. Though 1,064 games this season, it was 74 percent, on track for another record. There were only 56 shootouts, on track for the fewest in an 82-game season.
"We'll go through discussion to see where we're at, but the results are encouraging, I guess," Nill said. "Put it that way."
The NHL experimented with 10 minutes of 3-on-3 OT during the round robin of the 4 Nations Face-Off, a best-on-best tournament featuring Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20. Two games went to OT; each ended within two minutes.
There appears to be no push to extend overtime during the NHL regular season.
"We obviously looked at it and talked about it informally," Campbell said. "Watching it in the 4 Nations, it was interesting to see some of the things that came out of it, but no hard rule changes, no."
The NHL continues to have tight competition within games and in the standings.
Of the first 1,064 games this season, 75 percent were considered "close games" -- decided by one goal, or two goals with an empty-netter -- on track for the highest percentage in NHL history.
The score was tied or a one-goal margin for 42:49 of playing time on average.
The goalie was pulled for 1:13 in the last 10 minutes on average. The League had 432 empty-net goals, on track to beat the record of 476 in 2021-22.
It's no wonder that 42 percent of games were comeback wins, and 10 percent were multigoal comeback wins. Each team had multiple third-period comeback wins.
In the Eastern Conference, 14 teams have held a Stanley Cup Playoff spot since U.S. Thanksgiving, and eight teams have held a wild-card spot since Jan. 1. The "playoff line" -- separating the second wild-card team from the first team out of the playoffs -- has been two points or fewer for 97 percent of the season.
In the West, the playoff line has been three points or fewer the entire season and one point or less for 86 percent of the season.
The GMs also received a report on the impact of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The games averaged 6.5 million viewers in North America, up 256 percent from the previous best-on-best tournament, the World Cup of Hockey 2016. Canada's 3-2 OT win against the U.S. on Feb. 20 averaged 16.1 million viewers in North America.
The tournament generated impressive numbers on digital and social media as well.
"It doesn't mean we shouldn't try to tweak things," Bowman said. "But I would say, if you're asking me to summarize it, I think it's in a really good place right now. Thankfully, we don't have any big things we need to solve."
