Should The NHL Consider Experimenting With Guardian Caps?

If you’d gone to an NFL training camp this past off-season, it would’ve been difficult not to notice the Guardian Caps, and that’s because the NFL mandated them to be used by every positional player except the quarterbacks and special-team players.

A Guardian Cap is a soft-shell covering wrapped around an NFL player's helmet to reduce the impact of player collisions. Jeff Miller, an NFL executive, said that the Caps have helped reduce head injuries by 50 percent, and when a collision between two players both wearing the Cap occurs, the impact is reduced by at least 20 percent. Although the Caps were mandated for NFL training camps, they’re optional for regular-season games.

The question is why there hasn’t been something like a Guardian Cap used in the NHL. These Caps were designed especially for an NFL helmet, so why couldn’t we get something like that for NHLers? It’s surely not that difficult to have the same shell covering but molded for a hockey helmet. In fact, Goalie Gear Nerd on Instagram shared a photo of a Cap on a goalie helmet in late October.

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NHL players take plenty of big hits and occasionally blows to the head, while goaltenders get hit in the helmet with shots. The NHL could experiment with the Caps in training camps, just like the NFL did a few years ago, and see how big of a difference it makes.

Some teams and players hit more than others, and having the Guardian Cap on could provide a little more protection when they throw the body. Nashville Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon led the NHL with 383 hits last season, and he's second so far this year with 69 hits in 14 games. Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers delivered an average of 28.55 hits per game last season, which led a league that averaged 22 hits per game.

It's also worth mentioning that when NHLers go in for a hit, they give those hits at a higher speed than NFL players. Philadelphia Flyers right winger Owen Tippett had the highest in-game speed last season when he clocked in at 24.21 miles per hour. The top 10 fastest in-game skaters last season all came in at at least 23 mph. Even Lauzon's top speed so far this year is 22.17 mph. So, with players travelling at such a high speed and running into each other, head contact is bound to affect players over time.

Concussions are a reality in the NHL. Nolan Patrick, the No. 2 overall pick by Philadelphia in 2017, is one example. Patrick played 222 NHL games over parts of four seasons but endured migraines and concussions. He hasn't played since 2022.

One of the faces of the NHL, Sidney Crosby, has sustained at least four concussions – mostly early in his career – and missed close to 200 games due to those injuries. If Crosby had a Guardian Cap helping protect him, he'd have many more points than his 1,612 already.

Just last March, 15-year NHL veteran Chris Simon died by suicide at 52, and his family said they believed that CTE may have played a factor. Simon finished his career with over 1,800 penalty minutes and around 100 fights. Simon's death sparked controversy, as former NHL players such as Daniel Carcillo – who is well known for bashing the NHL’s approach to player safety – took to X to voice his thoughts following Simon's death.

The NHL has players, past and present, who have been affected by head trauma. It won’t be the catch-all solution, but Guardian Caps could be one of the new things to try to improve player safety.

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