[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I think he had possession of the puck in that is was in coming through his feet and about to come up to his stick. You can see if in this twitter video above.

I think from a technical standpoint he actually doesn't - you have to have control of the thing to have possession (which is why they don't blow down a delayed penalty call if the puck tips off your stick, you need to handle it). If they changed the way they called interference to make it so a player is only eligible to be hit when, or shortly after, he has control of the puck in that strict sense, I'd be okay with that. But they do consider the puck being in the feet or the vicinity "control" for purposes of hitting and by the law of the land, Khaira was eligible to be hit on this play.

I think the initial point of contact is the head, so this bring it into illegal hit territory. The initial point of contact should have been sternum.

This is wrong. There are a lot of people getting this wrong. Whether the head was the "initial" point of contact is completely irrelevant. A hit to the head is only illegal where the hit to the head was the "main" point of contact, and such contact was avoidable. Actual rule:

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an
opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and
such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.

In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was
avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be
considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the
opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor
timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the
body upward or outward.
(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by
assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full
body check unavoidable.
(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body
or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way
that significantly contributed to the head contact.

In this case, the head was not the "main" point of contact for the hit, even if the head was the first thing that Trouba contacted. Further, Trouba very clearly hit squarely through Khaira's body and the head was not "picked". Khaira of course put himsel in a vulnerable position by having his head down, such that any hit squarely through Khaira's body would inevitably result in head contact. You can argue whether Khaira did that "immediately prior" to the hit or not, but either way, it's not illegal based on the clear wording of rule 48.1.