NHL general managers concluded the third and final day of their annual March meetings content to recommend a couple of minor tweaks, but no major rules changes.

"The overwhelming sense of the group is you don't make change for the sake of change," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said after the final session Wednesday at the Boca Beach Club.

"While it's always fun from the media or fans' standpoint, or even the people in this room, to talk about what-if and the possibilities, the sense is what we've got is really good..."

Oilers General Manager Craig MacTavish said the consensus among his brethren was that "the game has never been better" and tweaks made in recent years "have improved" the on-ice product.

Nonetheless, there was plenty of discussion on numerous aspects of the game, including with respect to suspensions, said Vancouver GM Mike Gillis, who deemed this week's sessions "one of the most productive [GM] meetings we've ever had" in his six years in charge of the Canucks.

The GMs agreed to recommend three changes to the league's Competition Committee:

• Hash marks on the faceoff circle be separated by five feet instead of three to create more separation between players on the wings and reduce traffic and fighting around the puck as it's dropped. Five feet is the International Ice Hockey Federation standard and was used in last month's Sochi Olympics.

• A player who commits a faceoff violation be forced to move back 12 to 18 inches back instead of being removed from the draw and replaced.

• Teams switch ends for overtime in an effort to reduce the number of games that reach a shootout. It would create a "long-change" scenario, requiring players to skate farther to return to the bench for a line change. "The majority of the goals are scored in the second period for that reason," MacTavish said. "That would settle more games in overtime."

Bettman said those are the three issues "everybody's focused on." The Competition Committee will next meet in June, and the NHL's Board of Governors must approve any rule change for it to be implemented for next season.

Other items of note from three days of meetings:

• The number of concussions this season are "a healthy decline" from last season, in large part because of NHL vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan's efforts, Bettman said. He declined to provide any statistics until after the season. He also said GMs didn't discuss the issue.

• Bettman and Capitals GM George McPhee said the 2014-15 NHL salary cap will be within one or two million of the number ($71.1 million) projected at the Board of Governors meeting in December. The cap is currently at $64.3 million.

•The Olympics were discussed, but only in the sense that there were more injuries in Sochi "than we've seen in any other Olympics," Bettman noted. He added of NHL players' involvement in future Olympics, "As I've said repeatedly, we're not focused on making an Olympic decision anytime soon."

• The league has received much interest from multiple parties in multiple cities regarding expansion, Bettman said, but nothing has been contemplated and "it's not something we envision happening anytime soon, if at all."

• GMs debated changes in regard to teams' evaluation of prospects. Bettman said the consensus was that it's a good idea to limit teams in terms of individual combines. They also discussed introducing an on-ice element to testing at the NHL Scouting Combine.

sgorten@tribune.com.