It's Time to End NHL Preseason

After the Los Angeles Kings' top defenseman sustained a nasty injury it brings up the annual question of why do NHL players participate in preseason games?

Apr 6, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (8) looks on during the third period of a game against the Vancouver Canucks at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images / Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Kings watched their star defenseman Drew Doughty go down in an incredibly unlucky and gruesome injury during a recent preseason game. Before the season even begins, the Kings are dealt a blow that could seriously jeopardize their playoff chances.

The Kings losing Doughty is just the latest example of a player going down during the preseason. Hockey is a game of risk and injuries are just one of them, but this is one risk that the NHL can eliminate. It's time to stop messing around and do something tangible: it's time to end the preseason.

The NHL is not like the NFL or MLB. While competition is always open, the roster turnover is far less drastic year to year compared to those other two major spots. Name any team in the NHL and you'd be hard-pressed to name more than two or three spots in the lineup up for grabs.

Yet, the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement dictates that each team plays six to eight preseason games. Even worse, there must be at least eight veterans in the lineup for each game. These rules force teams to exhaust their training camp roster to fill out the lineups. Even if they want to preserve their star players, it's incredibly hard to ice a complete lineup without playing nearly every available skater.

And the games play out like a beer league contest with career minor leaguers, rookies bound to be sent back to their junior teams, and goons that make a paycheck by throwing punches playing the most boring version of hockey the NHL can offer.

It also increases the likelihood that someone gets hurt. Players like Doughty in Los Angeles are relied on to play 82 regular season games and possibly 25 more in the playoffs, every additional game is an injury or bad opportunity waiting to happen. For what, to see Jack Random trade haymakers with Bobby Minor Leagues?

The fact of the matter is that the owners and league make money on these preseason games, and they would offer a shut ear to any talk about changing that. But the league ought to reconsider. The preseason offers nothing short of a few extra thousand dollars in the pockets of the league at the cost of player health, safety, and level of competition. The injury to Doughty is the latest and most noteworthy, but this will just continue until the league comes to their senses. Enough already, let's cut the excuses and just end the NHL preseason once and for all.

Make sure you bookmark Breakaway OnSI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more! 

• Ducks Goalie John Gibson Undergoes Emergency Surgery
• Sabres Name Star Defenseman Captain
• Panthers Defenseman Receives Extremely Generous Ranking
• NHLPA Files Grievance Against Flyers
• Devils Goaltender Debuts New Gear