After some surprising NHL results, Drake Batherson's east coast summer skate/training with Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand and Nathan MacKinnon may get rolling a little earlier this summer.
For several seasons now, Senators' winger Drake Batherson has had a chance to train and hang with some of hockey's absolute best. Batherson heads home to Nova Scotia each summer for some down time with family, some golf and to train with superstar players like Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand and Nathan MacKinnon.
Batherson is still waiting on his first NHL playoff appearance, and usually has to wait for his training partners to finish their seasons. But this year, the Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since Crosby's rookie season, and then Marchand's Bruins and MacKinnon's Avalanche were both eliminated in a pair of Game Sevens on Sunday night. Both were absolutely shocking playoff results. Based on wins, Boston was the best regular season team in NHL history and Colorado was the defending Stanley Cup champion. But the two Goliaths both fell in round one to Florida and Seattle, the Davids in these NHL underdog stories.
But after the players have had a chance to lick their wounds and rest for a bit, that almost certainly means their famous star-laden, east coast skate will probably get rolling earlier than usual.
Batherson recently spoke to us about his summer training regimen and how there will probably end up being some extra training time with Crosby at least. At the time of the interview, just before the playoffs started, it looked like Marchand and Mackinnon wouldn't be joining them for some time.
Other NHL stars who've taken part in the skate in the past include Taylor Hall, Jack Hughes, and Noah Dobson. Here's some 2019 footage from the on ice portion of the training out east, along with an interview with Batherson, who was still trying to make the full-time jump to the NHL.
Batherson has now completely recovered from his high ankle sprain and says he'd like to experiment in the gym this year with adding an extra 5 pounds of muscle. He obviously hopes to finally get to the playoffs and go deep. It shouldn't be too long now before he's the one arriving a little later for summer training.