It's something you can't know before handing a suspension.
What happened is completely disgusting but I'm not sure where the expectation that the suspension was going to be longer is coming from.
This isn't an exceptionally risky or reckless play. It's aggravated assault plain and simple. This goes well beyond a typically suspendable play. Comtois was defenseless and exposed. Roy demonstrated zero restraint knowing this.
Sure we don't know what this means for Comtois but if it does end his career, and it very easily could, 15 games off from hockey isn't gonna mean shit. Maybe Roy didn't intend to injure Comtois but he certainly intended to cause him significant harm. There's a difference between fighting...hell there's a difference between sucker punching a guy and slamming someone not wearing a helmet into the ice headfirst with all your might. Even Bertuzzi wasn't so malicious in what he did to Steve Moore.
As has been said repeatedly, if this happened off the ice we wouldn't be talking about missing time from work. We'd be talking about the length of prison time served. And if I was Comtois I'd sue Roy for damages. Not sure if he has recourse given this happened in the course of a sporting event, and from what I understand Moore didn't recover much from Bertuzzi, but I would if the injury was significant enough.