The NHL general managers formed a consensus to recommend two changes on faceoffs. One recommendation will be to move the hash marks from three feet apart to five feet apart, similar to the Olympic rules, to prevent the jostling for position along the boards that often happens before the drop of a puck.
"And [it] allows the quicker player to to get to the puck and generate scoring chances," said Blues GM Doug Armstrong, who proposed the move to IIHF hashmarks.
The other change will be a recommendation that moves the player taking the faceoff back 12 to 18 inches after a violation is committed rather than kick them out of the circle completely. The second violation remains a two-minute penalty, one that is rarely called.
That helps prevent the strategy of sending in a winger whose only goal is to get kicked out of the faceoff circle before the center is sent in to win a faceoff.
