The recent CBA changes to the NHL that will shorten the pre-season could open the door for a longer AHL pre-season. 

The NHL made some notable changes around the league moving forward with one of them being a shortened pre-season and a longer regular season by two games. This is to help the season finish early while also giving teams the chance to get more money with two extra regular season matchups that will certainly bring in more money than exhibition games. 

General Managers around the league have some resistant to this change as it will give them less time to come up with roster decisions heading into the upcoming season but as one schedule shortens, another could look to expand. 

It's been over a decade since the last time the Detroit Red Wings AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, have played pre-season games and they aren't slated to play any this upcoming season. They are alongside ten other AHL clubs that aren't taking part in pre-season action with Abbotsford (VAN), Calgary (CGY), Charlotte (FLA), Cleveland (CBJ), Colorado (COL), Iowa (MIN), Manitoba (WPG), Rochester (BUF) and Texas (DAL) all not tabbed for games. 

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

As teams next season will have less time to evaluate their prospects to make informed roster decisions, they could instead look to expanding the AHL pre-season. This would allow more opportunities for players looking to make a lasting impression and could offer more games for fans to see the organization's top prospects. 

They could cut costs for this by not playing in their standard arenas that would warrant bigger budgets to maintain the gameday presentation standard but rather at local rinks and could use the event for community outreach. The Griffins could allow prospects to meet fans and engage with kids while offering contests for prize packs like a Red Wings Centennial Jersey or tickets to a Red Wings pre-season or Griffins regular season game. 

Fans would get a memorable experience and Red Wings management will get a longer look at prospects development and if they are ready for the NHL or need more time with the Griffins. As of the 2023-24 season, Grand Rapids is top seven in the AHL for average attendance and this means that giving the fans more chances  to see their team play would likely do well and to save money they can play AHL teams nearby like the Milwaukee Admirals and the Chicago Wolves. 

This could be a potential solution if Red Wings management find less games in the pre-season to be challenging and could help grow the team's popularity within the community.

Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!