Preseason games, playoff format leading concerns

Kris Letang has seen labor strife between the NHL and NHLPA before.

More than a decade ago, the league canceled the first three months of the 2012-13 season after several negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA for a collective bargaining agreement stalled out.

The threat of the entire season being wiped out — as was the case in 2004-05 — seemed so realistic, Letang even briefly signed a contract with SKA St. Petersburg in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, only to have a new CBA be agreed to a few days later.

The current CBA is scheduled to expire in September of 2026, but the two parties are expected to begin negotiations on a new deal soon. And those discussions are expected to come from a place of harmony between labor and management.

Given that the NHL has delayed games on three occasions (1991-92, 1994-95 and 201213) and canceled an entire season (2004-05) because of labor disputes, Letang appreciates the general peace between the NHL and NHLPA.

“Obviously, the league is thriving,” said the Penguins defenseman, who serves as the team’s representative to the NHLPA. “If you look at the franchise values going up, up, that means our sport is healthy and is doing something well. The players are bringing a good product on the ice that is a little more exciting. So, we’ll see what happens.”

The NHL’s finances are in a generally strong position compared to years or decades prior. A pair of expansion teams added to the mix within the past decade (the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and Seattle Kraken in 2021) have boosted revenues.

This position of economic strength comes in the wake of the pandemic, which shut down the league for most of 2020 (to say nothing of the rest of the world). Given the stark economic realities of the pandemic, the NHL and NHLPA extended the CBA through the 202526 season with relative ease (at least compared to the previous occasions that resulted in lockouts or a strike).

“The business side of things have gone way up (since the pandemic),” Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “Obviously, (covid) was a tough time for every corporation that ever existed. The new TV deal we’ve got is great with ESPN. TNT has done a great job. … It’s bringing a lot of new fans into the league. On that side of things, I think it’s awesome. So, hopefully, it keeps going.”

As such, a brief inquiry with most veterans on the Penguins’ current roster in regard to a new CBA doesn’t usually arouse any kind of financial concerns, at least not to the degree it did in 2012 when disputes over what constituted hockey-related revenue or escrow dominated discussion of the NHL’s lockout that year.

In late December, one member of the Penguins admitted, off record, to being “clueless” as to any kind of economic concerns.

Forward Kevin Hayes offered a general, but hardly detailed, goal with any negotiations that is easy to understand.

“More money for everybody else,” Hayes quipped. “I think there should be more money for every player.”

While there are probably plenty of granular financial matters to work out between the NHL and NHLPA, it doesn’t appear to be an overwhelming concern among players, at least not for those employed by the Penguins.

Instead, much of their focus is directed to potential logistical changes to the composition of the schedule as well as the playoffs.

Basically, several players would like to see fewer preseason games and a return to a 1-through-8 playoff format.

As far as the preseason goes, there is a steady call to see fewer games and a shorter training camp.

“I know they’ve talked about adding two games (to the regular season) and taking away some preseason games,” defenseman Matt Grzelcyk said. “I wouldn’t mind that. If you’re playing 82 games, is two more really that big of a deal? And camp is long enough as it is.”

This past preseason, the Penguins played in seven exhibition games and saw two veterans, forward Blake Lizotte and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, suffer injuries that delayed the start of their individual regular seasons.

In 2013-14, the NHL adopted its current postseason framework, which is division- based. Division winners play one of two wild-card teams from their conference, which aren’t always divisional foes, in the first round. Meanwhile, the second- and thirdplace teams within a division are guaranteed to square off in the first round.

“Definitely the playoff format, I think, would be good to change, going to (1 through 8),” said forward Anthony Beauvillier, a member of the Nashville Predators last season. “Teams still travel. Last year, we, Nashville, played (the Vancouver Canucks), so there was a lot of travel.”