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“The way the game is called now, it’s not as open as it was a few years back,” said Henrik Sedin.

“If the game was being played like it was after the lockout when they made the rule changes, I think that opened up a lot of space for players,” said Daniel Sedin.

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If referees are not going to call more penalties, said New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh, then make every penalty more important by increasing the time a player has to stay in the penalty box.

“Maybe like 20 to 30 seconds and see if that could create more goals,” said McDonagh. “Power plays are where you have a good chance to score obviously, so it would definitely increase scoring in the league if that’s what they wanted.”

INTRODUCE 4-ON-4

The NHL will implement 3-on-3 overtime this season as a way to prevent games from reaching the overtime shootout. But the unexpected fallout could be a spike in individual scoring.

After all, third- and fourth-liners are not going to see the ice in overtime. Instead, the top scorers will have a chance to pad their stats. But why stop there? Now that 3-on-3 has replaced 4-on-4, why not have 4-on-4 replace 5-on-5 during regulation time?

“Four-on-4 the whole time,” said Nashville Predators defenceman Roman Josi, laughing.

While 3-on-3 play featured quick goals during the pre-season, some players remain skeptical how long this scoring frenzy will last before coaches put the clamp down and start coaching for the tie.

“It’s a tough question because there’s already so much we tried to do to increase the scoring and make it more exciting for fans to see more goals,” said Chara. “But every time we try new things, coaches and management come up with new ideas and systems to prevent it. So even if you make those new adjustments, coaches would adjust and make it more defensive and prevent scoring.”