Six theories why penalties are down in the NHL this season - ESPN

Power plays in the NHL haven't been this dominant in decades.

The average conversion rate this season was 21.6% entering Tuesday night's games, according to ESPN Research. That's the best rate since the 1985-86 season, back when Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers were scoring at will against helpless penalty kills.

This season's power-play success is part of a multi-year trend. It would be the third straight season with power-play conversion rates higher than 21%, the first time that's happened since the mid-1980s.

But there's actually another trend that undercuts that dominance: Power plays in the NHL have also never been this rare.

The 2.71 power-play chances per team per game in 2024-25 is the lowest average of any season since the stat was first tracked by the NHL in 1977-78. The previous lows were 2.89 in both 2021-22 and 2020-21. Again, it's a multi-year trend: The NHL has averaged under three power-play chances per team per game in five of the last seven seasons.

Teams can't have power plays if there aren't penalty calls. Overall, the average penalty calls per team per game are at their lowest levels for an 82-game season in the last 20 years — 3.48 penalties on average, with just 8.15 penalty minutes.

In 2014-15, those averages were 4.03 and 9.86, respectively.

Where have all the penalties gone?

«See, I'll say something and then I'll take six penalties tonight,» New Jersey Devils center Cody Glass said, with a laugh. «I have no idea, to be honest. With some games you might have none and then some games you might have seven. It's all over the map.»

Many players don't even realize power plays are down.

«It was one of those things where I had no idea until I read it about it,» Calgary Flames winger Blake Coleman said.