Derek Forbort is done for the season with a broken orbital bone. The one who broke it won't receive any further punishment.
There's no denying that Minnesota Wild forward Yakov Trenin crossed the line on Saturday when he delivered a late punch to Forbort's face. Evidently, he didn't cross the line sufficiently enough to warrant supplemental discipline.
Marcus Pettersson called the punch, "one of the dirtiest things I’ve seen," an assessment with which head coach Rick Tocchet agreed.
Trenin and Forbort dropped the gloves a few minutes into the third period after Trenin delivered a late hit to Canucks captain Quinn Hughes, who expressed dismay that Forbort got injured "trying to stick up for me." The two players exchanged punches until they both went to the ice, at which point Trenin pushed himself up off the ice and delivered one last punch to the defenceless Forbort.
It was undoubtedly a cheap shot and as clearly against the NHL's unwritten "code" of respect in regards to fighting. But, while the "code" of fighting is vague, with plenty of grey areas and disagreements over the particulars, it should be noted that what Trenin did is also explicitly against the written rules of the NHL.
Fighting itself is against the rules, of course, with a major penalty assessed to both parties in an altercation, but there are also additional rules pertaining to fighting.
The specific rule broken by Trenin is Rule 46.2, which deems Trenin the "aggressor" in the fight.
46.2 Aggressor – The aggressor in an altercation shall be the player who continues to throw punches in an attempt to inflict punishment on his opponent who is in a defenseless position or who is an unwilling combatant.
A player must be deemed the aggressor when he has clearly won the fight but he continues throwing and landing punches in a further attempt to inflict punishment and/or injury on his opponent who is no longer in a position to defend himself.
A player who is deemed to be the aggressor of an altercation shall be assessed a major penalty for fighting and a game misconduct.
A player who is deemed to be the aggressor of an altercation will have this recorded as an aggressor of an altercation for statistical and suspension purposes.
A player who is deemed to be both the instigator and aggressor of an altercation shall be assessed an instigating minor penalty, a major penalty for fighting, a ten-minute misconduct (instigator) and a game misconduct penalty (aggressor).
It's clear that Trenin threw a punch after the fight was over to "inflict punishment and/or injury on an opponent who is no longer in a position to defend himself." The officials seemed to go more or less by the book in how they penalized Trenin, who received a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct instead of an instigator. Otherwise, he received the appropriate five-minute major and a 10-minute misconduct and, while it's not listed on the gamesheet, he didn't return to the game, so he presumably also received a game misconduct.
The trouble is, going by the book is likely why Trenin didn't receive any further supplemental discipline.
Rule 46.17 deals with the fines and suspensions given out for being an "aggressor" in a fight.
46.17 Fines and Suspensions – Aggressor – (see 46.2) A player who is deemed to be the aggressor for the third time in one Regular season shall be suspended for the next two regular season games of his team.
For the fourth aggressor penalty in the same Regular season, the player will be suspended for the next four games of his team. For the fifth aggressor penalty in the same Regular season, the player will be suspended for the next six games of his team.
By the rulebook, the only suspension for being the "aggressor" is if a player is an aggressor multiple times in a season. In other words, there's nothing in the NHL rulebook that allows the league's Department of Player Safety to assess a fine or suspension for a single incident.
This seems like a major oversight in the rules, as it seems clear that there should be leeway to give an opponent a suspension for what appears to be a clear intent to injure.
Because of Trenin's cheap shot, Forbort has a dangerous injury; because of the NHL's shoddy rulebook, the one responsible will get away with it.
