The NHL is experimenting with new preseason rules during this year's training camp. With the new CBA in effect, the league is switching to an 84-game season, shortening the preseason schedule to just four games. Any player with over 100 career games can now play only two of the four, which has Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm in planning mode to maximize each game.
The Bruins' final preseason game has always been labeled as a dress rehearsal for the team that will take to the ice for the season opener on September 29. With Charlie McAvoy missing the first six games of the season and Frederic Brunet starting to factor in as the team's extra blueliner, Boston's blueline will likely be the same as Friday night, barring any last-minute changes.
The forward groupings are where things get interesting. With Sean Kuraly already playing in two games, the veteran won't get to stake his claim on the team's fourth line. Instead, Dans Locmelis will get a chance to prove he deserves that spot, which is a great break for the Latvian center but might not be the exact plan Sturm had in mind going into this game.
Matthew Poitras is the victim of shortened training camps
This will be Locmelis' third preseason game, while fellow center prospect Matthew Poitras has played just one. You can nearly guarantee that Poitras was going to be the fourth-line center on Friday night, but an injury this week will keep him out of the lineup and end his training camp with just one game to impress the front office.
Only four preseason games and limits on how many games some players can play could have Poitras on the outside looking in on the roster. Sturm's attempt to keep him in the dress rehearsal game backfired, and with only four games to fit players in, there is no way to get another look at the waivers-eligible center. The Bruins will now have to make decisions on some futures without getting as much of a look as they have in the past.
More meaningful regular season games and shorter camps are great for fans, but they come at a cost to young players trying to make rosters and veteran players on PTOs. Poitras's injury may not matter as much if he starts the season on injured reserve, but at some point Don Sweeney and the rest of management will have to decide on him, and this training camp didn't really give them the full picture.
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