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“The game is getting faster and the rules are trending towards players that play with skill and speed,” Coyotes GM John Chayka said. “I think it’s good for the game. It just goes to show that in order to defend, you have to do so with your feet at this level.”

Is the league going too far with its closer look at slashing? Should it go even further?

That’s just one of the questions that will be asked during Friday’s annual GM meetings. This year’s meetings, which will feature 31 general managers, coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the league, which is why they are being held at the Windsor Hotel, the site of the founding meeting of the NHL held on Nov. 26, 1917.

“From what was called in pre-season to where we are now, it’s certainly changed a little bit,” Devils GM Ray Shero said. “Where is the happy medium in terms of what we want in terms of protecting the players? If we’re going to do it, how consistent are you going to be with it not just throughout the season but in the time of the game?”

According to Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, whose team has taken the most minor penalties and second-most slashing penalties, the league has no intention of lessening the standard. At the same time, he doesn’t expect a steady parade to the penalty box.

“The players have adjusted,” Rutherford said. “They always do. Players are very smart and anytime we put something in new they always adjust to it. It was a little way to cheat a little way a bit on defending and I think that’s what we’re seeing. Some of the things we’ve changed in our game — well, not changed but clamped down on — the interference, the obstruction, the hooking and now the slashing, really gets to the point where it becomes really hard for players to defend when teams are coming with a lot of speed.