Toronto Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann will have a hearing on Tuesday for high-sticking Tampa Bay Lightning winger Oliver Bjorkstrand, the league’s Department of Player Safety announced.
McMann was thrown out of his team’s 2-0 win Monday during a break in play after reacting to a cross-check from Oliver Bjorkstrand by swinging his stick towards the head of the Lightning forward.
The penalty offset the five-minute major that Lighting forward Gage Goncalves received for kneeing Maple Leafs defenceman Dakota Mermis just seconds earlier.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube seemed unconvinced postgame of whether McMann deserved the match penalty he received.
“That is a tough one. It really is,” Berube said of McMann’s penalty. “I have to look at it more closely, which I didn’t. From our view on the bench, I couldn’t really see it too well. I’ll take a look at it, but I had a tough time with that, to be honest with you.”
Toronto’s Bobby McMann will have a hearing today for high-sticking Tampa Bay’s Oliver Bjorkstrand.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 9, 2025
As part of receiving a match penalty, under Rule 21, McMann is “suspended from further competition until the commissioner has ruled on the issue.“
The league has not announced any potential discipline for Goncalves regarding his knee-on-knee hit on Mermis, who left the game and did not return.
“Well, it is a knee. I think it is a good call, the five-minute major,” Berube said of that penalty.
Berube said the extent of Mermis’ injury will be determined on Tuesday.
The Maple Leafs, who improved to 14-11-4 with the win, will host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
