The NHL Department of Player Safety announced the punishment on Friday after the Anaheim Ducks captain had a hearing over the phone.

Five was the maximum number of games that Gudas could have been suspended because the hearing was over the phone.

Judd Moldaver, the agent for Matthews, called the suspension and the decision to only give Gudas a phone hearing “laughable and preposterous.”

“While the process is set in our CBA, that this was the discipline is reckless and ridiculous,” Moldaver wrote in a statement to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. “This decision results in a further loss of confidence in the disciplinary process for all players.

“Players and fans deserve better. The Player Safety Department should be suspended.”

The incident occurred in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 6-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. In the second period, Gudas stuck his knee out on Matthews in front of the net, catching the Maple Leafs captain’s knee and sending him to the locker room.
Matthews stayed down on the ice in obvious pain after the hit and had to be helped off by the team’s training staff. He has since been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a Grade 3 MCL tear.

Gudas was given a five-minute major on the play and a game misconduct.

The 35-year-old has been suspended four times in his NHL career, totalling 21 games. His most recent was in 2019 and his longest was a 10-game ban in 2017 for a slash to the neck.

He was also responsible for the hit that injured Canada captain Sidney Crosby at the Olympics.