NEW YORK — Drew Doughty and Patrik Laine are out with significant injuries.
Meanwhile, the triangle — or is it tribal? — three-team rivalry of the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs has everyone holding their breath each time they play each other in the preseason.
Which begs the rather obvious question: Why in 2024 is the NHL still holding onto this archaic ritual of playing so many preseason games?
It is long overdue to rethink the need and purpose of playing six to eight of these per team.
“The game is different now, and it’s been different for the last 20 years, I would say,” Los Angeles Kings president and Hall of Fame player Luc Robitaille told The Athletic this week at the NHL Board of Governors meeting. “If you go back in the 1970s and ’80s, guys used to show up at camp to get in shape. Now, every guy is in tip-top shape when they get to camp. This year, some teams had a game Saturday after camps opened on Thursday. That doesn’t make any sense.
“So if we were going to go down, to let’s say, four preseason games, I would be fine with it. Because I know guys show up and they’re ready to play. … So, yeah, if we cut it down and added a game or two in the (regular) season, I’d be fine with that.”
What Robitaille is referring to is something that’s been talked about behind closed doors for the past several months. I originally reported back on July 1 that it’s my understanding that the NHL and NHL Players’ Association have had very preliminary discussions on making significant changes to the NHL schedule and calendar, something which wouldn’t go into effect until the next collective bargaining agreement at the earliest (the current CBA expires in September 2026).
What’s being discussed:
• Cutting preseason down to four games per team
• Going to an 84-game regular season
• Beginning the regular season in early October (as early as Oct. 1) and handing out the Stanley Cup earlier in June
The first two items are still being discussed. The third may or may not see the light of day. Some teams will push back on an earlier start, as probably would U.S. TV rights-holder ESPN, which has stipulated its preference that the NHL regular season not begin until the second week of October to avoid scheduling conflicts with the first week of MLB playoffs on its air.
So as it stands, it’s not clear to me where the appetite is for an earlier regular-season start.
But the other two components? They’re still very much a discussion but one that will need to go to the next level once CBA talks begin in the New Year.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was asked after the Board of Governors about reducing preseason games.
“Things that we might discuss in collective bargaining are best discussed in collective bargaining when we’re doing collective bargaining,” Bettman deflected. “We discuss lots of topics with the Players’ Association on an ongoing basis, but I don’t want to fuel any speculation on that or any other (CBA) topic right now.”
Asked again about the merits of shortening the preseason, Bettman responded coyly:
“We’ve heard that. We’ve heard that. It’s on the list of things to think about.”
Asked about adding two regular-season games?
“It’s on the list to think about,” he said.
And while I know many hockey fans would rather reduce the preseason without adding two regular-season games, let’s be realistic about the fact that players and owners share in hockey-related revenue and reducing the preseason means needing to balance out that revenue in the regular season. Which I’m fine with. I’d rather have more games that are real.
Reached by The Athletic for comment, as well, on the possibility of reducing the number of preseason games, NHLPA No. 2 executive Ron Hainsey declined to comment this week.
Again, executives on both sides are going to put a muzzle on publicly when it comes to potential CBA changes.
But in Hainsey’s case, I think it’s also because he wants to continue to canvass players throughout the membership during the NHLPA’s fall tour about CBA matters, including the scheduling ideas.
So for now, we’re left with speculation on the matter.
For one, forgetting for a moment the idea of reducing preseason games, Montreal Canadiens vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton offered this interesting insight on the matter.
“I would say this: The better thing to do as we continue with these (preseason) games is that both teams communicate better as far as what kind of players are in the games,” Gorton told The Athletic at the Board of Governors meeting. “I’m hearing a lot from the players that they would actually consider playing more on the road because they know they’re going to play against NHL players, right? So that’s an interesting concept for me. If they’re saying that, they know that other NHL players are getting themselves ready for the season, as well, instead of running into a situation where you’re getting a team that’s not NHL players and playing for their lives.”
That’s not a complicated fix, by the way. The NHL and NHLPA via the next CBA could further mandate how rosters look on game days during preseason, making sure they’re more alike, perhaps, based on experience.
Meanwhile, not everyone is going to be on board with reducing preseason games.
“I like it the way it is,” Vegas Golden Knights president of hockey operations George McPhee told The Athletic at the Board of Governors meeting. “It gives you a good opportunity to have veteran players get their legs under them and you have enough time to really evaluate the young players.
“You can’t put them all in the same game, either. It’s also hard to see (young players) during the season. They’re right in front of you (during preseason), playing with other NHL players. You can evaluate the young guys. There is also times where you’re trying to develop chemistry between the lines when you’ve had changes in personnel.”
All good points, but nobody is suggesting scrapping preseason altogether. The idea being discussed is simply to reduce the number of games.
“You have the option of playing six. We play eight in Columbus,” veteran exec Don Waddell, president of hockey operations and general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, told The Athletic at the Board of Governors meeting. “That’s just the way it’s been. Your veteran players want to play three or four games. I think we would all want to look at the options (to reduce preseason games), if there are any options, and at least explore it.
“We should never be satisfied with (the) status quo when things are happening like we’ve seen with some of the injuries this year. I’m sure the league, in time, will lay out some options.”
It sure sounds like it. And that’s a good thing.
(Photo of Drew Doughty: Zak Krill / NHLI via Getty Images)
