the NHL admin is actively causing harm by trying to be "relatable" and "hip" with their WillMack comments. well, i'm pretty sure they're using WillMack as a facade to be relatable and hip-- either way, no matter how you're looking at it, the NHL admin is using the queer fantasy for profit and interest. they're actively responding to comments that are borderline explicitly discussing the SHIP in ways that only add more fuel to the craze of the imagined-romance. they're allowing for communities, such as RPF shippers, to engage in their comments and are essentially dog whistling to them to come and join. i have zero issue with RPF- hell, I do it myself. BUT, that's on tumblr by a complete random person who will never be seen past a few likes and reblogs. the NHL admin is the FACE of the sport, of the community- and they're pulling this crap. they have the distinct responsibility to be the showing of this community, to create content that won't cause harm. but, instead of following their duty as an admin, they're activity giving space for shippers and such content in a MAIN platform and social media. tiktok and instagram are very much social media's in which WillMack actively are known to engage in. the NHL admin is giving space for shippers to express their fantasy and RPF in direct vision of the REAL PEOPLE. the main rule of RPF is to keep it away from the real people- likely, regardless of anything, they don't wanna see that. i, personally, would feel really disgusted if i was scrolling and saw someone RPF me with my best friend- ESPECIALLY in a space where it's the FACE of the sport. as well, by giving these people a space, it's likely going to simply cause more harm down the way- people who may not know the rules of RPF may take this as a sign and begin engaging very visibly in RPF.
in general, the fact that the NHL admin is giving people these spaces is harmful because it can lead to people to truly believe WillMack are dating and that they have any kind of claim to the players lives. the NHL admin represents the NHL- by letting people borderline RPF and FUEL THE FLAMES, they're making it genuinely seem like they are dating or simply that the NHL admin believes so too. this will make people feel like they have rights to players personal information- if anything, whats not more personal that a queer relationship in a homophobic sport? when people feel they have a right to information, it may lead to things like the stalking situation a few months (?) ago- when the person chased down Will's elevator and made some snide comments about him "going to Mack's room" on twitter/X after. sure, there might not be as dramatic and direct effects such as that- but no matter what, they're still allowing space for those who may end up falling down this path. they're also allowing space for possible fetishizers and people who don't have the greatest intentions (ie stalking...) to continue to populate the fandom (which also will only bring more hate to new people in the fandom). it's very much a risk that the NHL admin is obviously either ignoring or not caring about. they're trying desperately to cling onto what is intriguing, but instead of creating genuine content (like NHL euro admin or other team's admins) they're actively profiting off of queerness and off of people's wish to see queer people represented.
this is also really bad because they're very much queerbaiting- made only worse by the fact that the NHL is actively known to be incredibly homophobic. the NHL admin is putting on a facade of genuine affection for a queer community by parading around a non-genuine queer story to seem like they actually care. this is the classic story. genuine queerness is too much, but when its completely fake and watered down, it becomes easily digestible (especially when the head guys are attractive!). its not genuine wokeness to parade around WillMack on your big social media platform and give RPF shippers space- it's only profit, profit, profit. they're profiting off of queer stories through engagement and buying merch and go to games and such. they don't genuinely care about the queer story, they only care because it will get people watching. it's almost sickening to me, as a queer man, to see the NHL admin promote and profit off queerness- while also hurting queer stories in the process. even if they aren't directly homophobic, there is still a kind of rhetoric that their community push out.