Much Ado About The NHL Preseason

The highlight of the NHL preseason so far is actually a lowlight. Injuries have become a common theme to the detriment of many teams.

The Montreal Canadiens lost recently acquired forward Patrick Laine for two to three months, and prized d-man prospect David Reinbacher will miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season.

New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren is out for weeks. San Jose Sharks’ first overall selection is Macklin Celebrini, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Meanwhile, All-Star Artemi Panarin is day-to-day, but that is more of a training camp injury.

Los Angeles Kings top defender Drew Doughty broke his ankle. And then there’s the Ottawa Senators trio of Thomas Chabot, Tim Stützle, and Brady Tkachuk.

All left the game on Tuesday in Montreal, which became a physical affair.

However, while others may not have been as fortunate, the Senators and their fans were relieved Thursday when all three key players were on the ice for practice Thursday.

Injuries are undoubtedly part of the game and can occur at any time. However, the question was officially raised at this week’s NHL Board of Governors’ Meeting in New York City: Is there a desire to reduce the number of exhibition games?

The NHL/NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement ends September 2026. With that, NHL Governors are studying an offer to the NHL players that would reduce the number of preseason games to four while increasing the regular season from 82 to 84 games.

Currently, teams play anywhere from six to eight preseason games. The Senators will play seven. If you count September 2023, they played eight.

There are definitely pros and cons for playing such a large number of what are sometimes termed “meaningless” games. Yes, the games don’t mean much for established players other than getting acclimated to systems and linemates and working on chemistry and timing. However, it means the world to a rookie or a bubble player attempting to display their wares for an opportunity to play NHL games.

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Fans in cities without NHL hockey are sometimes treated with the opportunity to see their favourites in neutral site games and the popular Kraft Hockeyville game.

Viewing the Senators’ situation, fourth-line roster spots are up for grabs. Nick Cousins and possibly Noah Gregor should make up two-thirds of the trio, which sees Jan Jenik, Zack MacEwen, and likely Zack Ostapchuk looking to complete the line—with one of these players, including Adam Gaudette, Matthew Highmore being the 13th forward.

Nineteen-year-old defenseman Carter Yakemchuk has played above and beyond expectation and may realistically have an opportunity to hang around once the Senators’ 2024-25 campaign opens October 10 at home versus the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

In training camp on a professional try-out, Yakemchuk, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Travis Hamonic and Calen Addison are vying to open the season as the sixth-seventh defenseman on the depth chart. Due to heady competition, there’s a chance the club may open with eight blueliners, especially if the Senators’ braintrust chooses to keep Yakemchuk in Ottawa for at least nine games.

Selected seventh overall in this June’s NHL Entry Draft, Yakemchuk has turned heads since Day One in camp. Scoring in a pair of scrimmages, the Calgary resident tallied an end-to-end highlight reel game-winning overtime goal in the Senators’ opening game in Toronto. They tacked on a second game-winner, this time at the Bell Centre this week, to go with three helpers in only three outings.

The con of playing too many games is obviously a greater chance of injury. Fans also have an issue with paying the freight for games that do not count in the standings. Then there’s same-day travel and matchups with divisional rivals, which we have seen recently can create chaos.

TSN analyst Frank Corrado made great talking points on his segment on TSN1200 radio Wednesday by mentioning that each game has different levels of players.

NHL players are more experienced. They are generally stronger, play faster, and are more polished than a challenging youngster fresh out of College, Europe or Junior. In addition, perceived American League players may be a step behind. Witness Maple Leafs’ Cedric Pare’s hit to Laine.

Is there a solution? Do coaches meet a day before games to balance lineups?

Should teams separate their mainly AHL group and have them face other teams’ AHL-level players?

Can game rosters be split so that a perceived NHL-laden group lines up against each other for 30 minutes, then switches to youngsters and others attempting to crack the roster?

Is there an appetite to play situational games? Play several minutes of five-on-five and four-on-four, provide each team with five-on-four and five-on-three special teams opportunities, then close out with a three-on-three and shootout. The final score be damned.

One aspect is for sure: If the NHL/NHLPA agrees to trim the preseason, pressure will certainly be on players attempting to impress or crack an NHL roster.

There’s no perfect solution, but everyone is agreement, the NHL preseason schedule is too long.