Boston Bruins forward Zac Rinaldo, already suspended five games at the NHL level, has been suspended indefinitely at the AHL level.
Rinaldo was given a five-game suspension for a hit to the head of Tampa Cedric Paquette. Boston then waived him and sent him to the AHL, where he doesn’t appear to have changed his game.
In Friday’s match between the Providence Bruins and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Rinaldo delivered a high hit to Tigers defenseman Kane Lafranchise. He was removed from the game after being given a match penalty for intent to injure.
The AHL announced an indefinite suspension until they rule on his hit. In Saturday’s “Headlines” segment on Sportsnet, Damien Cox reports that there is likely to be a ruling on the hit tomorrow and he suggests that it may be quite lengthy. It can’t be used against him that he is currently suspended in the NHL, but his history at the NHL level can come into play during the ruling on the length of his suspension.
This leaves Rinaldo suspended in both the NHL and AHL. He’s been suspended multiple times in both leagues, including a pair of AHL suspensions just a couple weeks apart from each other in 2011.
Under league rules, once he was suspended in the NHL he was able to be waived and sent down to the AHL, where he is eligible play. However, if he is called up he would begin to serve his five-game suspension at the NHL level. Until that time, the suspension sits in the NHL waiting for him to be called up.
The Bruins acquired Rinaldo over the summer, sending a 2017 3rd round draft pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for the 25-year-old forward. He has one more year left on that contract, paying him $850,000.
You can watch the hit below, though there isn’t a particularly good angle of it available.
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Featured photo by Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers
