'It's New For All Of Us': Penguins Presented With New Challenges In Shortened Training Camp

NHL training camps are officially back in session.

But, for the Pittsburgh Penguins and everyone else, everything looks quite a bit different.

Per the NHL's new Collective Bargaining Agreement - which took effect on Sept. 16 - there are several changes to how training camps operate with the new 84-game season. For one, camps are much shorter, as more than a week has been eliminated from the drop of the first puck at the open of camp to the drop of the puck on opening night.

Within those 12 or so days, players cannot access camp practices and meetings for more than three hours per day, there are only a small handful of actual camp practices for players to make themselves stand out, and the team cannot exceed four pre-season games, which - for most clubs - are all condensed into a week's time. 

In addition, NHL players with more than 100 games of experience can only play in up to two pre-season games. 

So, in a nutshell, the three initial practice days during training camp and the first two pre-season games - the first on Sept. 21 against the Buffalo Sabres and the second a day later against the Detroit Red Wings - will hold much more weight than they have in previous years, and not everyone is going to earn an opportunity to appear in a game.

"The practice days probably carry more significance for guys," Penguins' assistant general manager Jason Spezza said. "I think you see a little extra level of urgency, [and] we saw it with guys reporting to Pittsburgh earlier. They're used to having a longer camp. They want a shorter camp, and then, they want to make sure they're up and running as well.

"So, for us, we're going to try to have some intersquad mixed in. There's only four pre-season games. There's not going to be opportunity for everybody in the pre-season like we normally would have, so it's a matter of rewarding the guys that have kind of shown that they are getting closer by giving them games and seeing where they are. But, also, [with the] understanding that it is a short camp."

But it's not just the player side of things where adjustments must take shape: There is also a whole lot to digest for NHL coaches and front offices, and from an evaluation standpoint, it presents a whole new set of challenges.

"There's not going to be massive decisions made based on a couple days of how you play," Spezza said. "We've talked through these things, sat with [head coach Dan Muse] and talked as a management group... But, really, it's new for all of us. Dan's been very intentional with his practices and how he's planned the pre-season games."

While Muse himself understands the challenges and demands a shorter camp brings, he tries not to emphasize that difference when it comes to trying different combinations and giving players opportunity.

He also mentioned that the lineups and combinations within camp would be fluid and that every player would still have a chance to stand out.

"It's an opportunity for people to make an impression," Muse said. "They have a little bit of a shorter window to make it, to do those things, and it's the same for everybody. I'm not, honestly, going to get too hung up on it or think about it at all. It's the first time for everybody having the camp in this format, and it's the same for everyody throughout the league.

"I think, for us, we wanted to outline things that we wanted to make sure we accomplished over the course of camp. Going into it, [I'm] feeling strongly that we will be able to do that. So, for us, it's just going to be taking it each day looking to execute that plan, looking to provide that opportunity for players to go out there and make the impression that they want to make." 

Players also understands the differing demands that a short training camp brings. Gone are the days when training camp acts as a buffer to prepare for the season ahead, as the structure doesn't allow for much overcompensation or margin of error.

Everyone - especially young players and newcomers to the team - is aware that they have to make the most of their camp minutes this time around, and for that, it required them to come into camp at a level of preparedness that wasn't necessarily required before.

"You don't want to waste a day," newly acquired forward Nick Robertson said. "You've got to get used to your linemates, what they're seeing, what you're seeing. Obviously, you've got to get used to everybody out there, even the staff.

"So, I think just taking advantage of these days and, also, the summer. Knowing it's short, you've got to be ready to go. You can't have camp getting ready, you've got to be ready coming into camp. So, that's what I did."

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