Wild’s Ryan Hartman expected to appeal 10-game suspension that will cost him nearly a half-million dollars

BOSTON — Wild forward Ryan Hartman is expected to appeal the 10-game suspension he received for roughing Ottawa’s Tim Stützle.

After the NHL Department of Player Safety announced its decision Monday night, handing down the stiffest punishment of Hartman’s career, he had 48 hours to file an appeal that will be heard by Commission Gary Bettman.

Bettman rarely docks games — it last happened in 2021, when he reduced a six-game suspension for kneeing against then-Toronto forward Jason Spezza to four games — but because Hartman’s suspension is for at least six games, he could subsequently appeal to a neutral arbitrator after Bettman’s ruling.

Hartman stands to lose $487,804.90 if the 10-game suspension is upheld. He will serve the first game tonight when the Wild play the Bruins.

“I was a little surprised at the length of it,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “But there’s not really much to say about it. The league makes the decision, and obviously the decision’s been made and we have to live with it. We just gotta move on from it.”

This is Hartman’s fifth suspension, and the league penalized him for his history and for “using his forearm to violently slam” Stützle head into the ice after the two squared off for a faceoff.

The incident occurred late in the second period of the Wild’s 6-0 loss to the Senators on Saturday, with Hartman getting ejected for intent to injure. According to the league, Hartman claimed he was using Stützle to regain his balance and that their fall was accidental, but the NHL thought Hartman took advantage of a vulnerable player in a dangerous and unacceptable way.

The suspension is the longest levied by the NHL this season and the first ban of at least 10 games for an on-ice infraction since Washington’s Tom Wilson was given 20 games for an illegal check to the head in 2018; Wilson had his suspension decreased to 14 games by an arbitrator after he’d served 16.

The coming two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off will prolong Hartman’s suspension, and Hynes mentioned the team is focusing on a practice and training plan for Hartman to stay ready; currently, he won’t be eligible to return until March 9 vs. Pittsburgh.

While he hadn’t talked to Hartman yet about this latest suspension, Hynes said he and President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin have had conversations with Hartman, who was suspended twice last season — the first coinciding with Hynes taking over as head coach.

Hartman’s exit from the lineup further strains an already complicated salary-cap situation for the Wild, who have been stretched thin because of the string of injuries they’ve dealt with this season.

For example, to get defenseman Jonas Brodin and winger Marcus Johansson back in action against the Bruins after both missed the last few weeks hurt, the team had to return forward Ben Jones to the minors; that left the Wild without an extra forward to slot in last minute if needed.

“He knows that, really the ripple effect of it,” Hynes said, “of personally for Ryan and his own situation and then obviously the team. I think he’s aware of that.

“That’s something that we’ll discuss, and as we said from a team perspective, we gotta move on from it and continue to find ways to win games.”