Do NHL Pre-Season Wins And Losses Matter? Rick Tocchet and the Vancouver Canucks bench [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAzMjA5MzQ4MDkwOTYzNTIz/usatsi_22169929_168400847_lowres.jpg] Rick Tocchet and the Vancouver Canucks bench As the NHL’s 2024 pre-season schedule kicks off with three games on Saturday, players and teams will be looking to make the most of the minutes that are available. For coaches, that can be about implementing systems, experimenting with combinations and evaluating players — both the newcomers and the incumbents. But while any coach will tell you that a winning culture is important for a successful sports program, history suggests that wins and losses won’t tell you much in exhibition games. Looking at last year, the three teams with the best pre-season records all missed the playoffs, while the six worst all got in. Do you remember how the Vancouver Canucks kicked off their pre-season last year? On Sept. 24, 2023, they lost 10-0 to the Calgary Flames, icing a bare-bones lineup on the road and seeing Arturs Silovs get torched for seven goals in the back half of the game. Less than two weeks later, when they hosted Calgary to close out pre-season, the Canucks finished up with a 3-1 win, icing what was pretty close to their season-opening lineup. Then, they surged out of the gate when the games counted — going 10-2-1 in the first month of the season and ultimately finishing with 109 points. Meanwhile, over on Broadway, the New York Rangers showed no signs that they were headed toward a Presidents’ Trophy under their new coach, Peter Laviolette. The Blueshirts posted a league-worst record of 1-5-0 in exhibition play. And they weren’t even trending in a good direction — their only win came over the Islanders on Sept. 26, their second game. But when the regular season began, the Rangers split their first four games before going a perfect 5-0-0 on a 10-day western road trip that got their season rolling. On Dec. 3, with a record of 18-3-1, they took over the top spot in the league for the first time. The Islanders were another eventual playoff team that struggled in pre-season. So were the Nashville Predators, Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets. At the other end of the spectrum, the New Jersey Devils were cooking in pre-season, posting a perfect record of 7-0-0. If injuries hadn’t brought them down, maybe they could have remained successful. They were 7-3-1 through their first 11 regular-season games, then started to slip after Jack Hughes was hurt. It’s incredible to recall that the Minnesota Wild cruised through the 2023 pre-season with a record of 5-1-0. They opened the year with a 2-0 win over Florida but then, the wheels fell off quickly. The Wild went 3-5-2 through their first 10 games and were down to 5-10-4 when Dean Evason was replaced by John Hynes in late November. Ottawa also started strong, at 6-2-0 in pre-season. But the Senators lost their opener to the Carolina Hurricanes and went 4-6-0 through 10 games. By that point, GM Pierre Dorion had been shown the door. Six weeks later, coach D.J. Smith was also gone. HOW DO WINNERS PERFORM? If you’re aiming to identify a potential champion, pre-season results from the last few years won’t tell you much at all. In 2021, the Colorado Avalanche finished at the bottom of the Central Division’s pre-season standings with a record of 2-4-0. In 2022, the Vegas Golden Knights finished second in the Pacific at 4-2-1. And last year, the Florida Panthers eased into the year at 4-4-0, good for fifth in the Atlantic. Bottom line: it’s hard to read much into teams’ win-loss records during pre-season action. Keep in mind that while teams are carrying big rosters, the games this weekend carry a very different purpose than the ones in early October when lineups will get closer to regular-season structure. Enjoy this opportunity to see how coaches blend new faces into their lineups. And while some NHL regulars might be putting out half-efforts as they ramp up for the new season, the stakes are sky-high for a handful of youngsters and bubble players on every squad. Let’s see what they can do.
