In a preseason game on Oct. 1 between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens, Habs defenceman Arber Xhekaj deliberately elbowed Tim Stutzle in the head in what can only be considered a deliberate attempt to injure the young Ottawa star. That prompted a discussion between me and my colleagues in that evening’s episode of The Hockey Writers’ Senators Roundtable as to whether the NHL could do more to protect its stars from injuries in preseason games. There have been too many injuries suffered by top players in this year’s preseason schedule and many are caused by marginal players trying to make a name for themselves in the hope of earning a spot on an NHL roster.
There are no easy answers, but our discussion highlighted a few changes to preseason play that the NHL could consider with the goal of protecting its star players from the thuggery practiced by the likes of Xhekaj.
NHL Should Play Fewer Preseason Games
Jacob Billington, host of the Senators Roundtable, suggested that there should be fewer preseason games. He says fans are getting tired of seeing unnecessary injuries inflicted on top players before the season has even started in games that mean nothing.
Related: NHL Star Injuries Piling Up This Preseason
As an example, he cited an injury to Habs’ star Patrik Laine from a knee-on-knee hit by minor leaguer Cedric Pare in a Sept. 28 preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. That hit will keep Laine out of Montreal’s lineup for 2-3 months. In the same game the Maple Leafs’ Marshall Rifai, with just two NHL games to his credit and almost no chance of making Toronto’s roster, took out Habs prospect David Reinbacher with a thunderous hit along the boards that will keep him out of action with a knee injury for 5-6 months.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun echoed Billington’s comments and reported that the league was actually taking steps to reduce the number of preseason games.
All of this is in line with recent reports that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman favours such a move in view of the long list of injuries suffered in this year’s preseason schedule including those to the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin, the Los Angeles Kings’ Drew Doughty and the San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini.
Fewer NHL Preseason Games Limits Ability to Evaluate Prospects
While a reduction in preseason games would presumably lead to fewer injuries to players before the season even starts, it would also limit the ability of clubs to evaluate their roster prospects. Not only that but what of the Cinderella stories of young prospects battling their way through training camp and turning in impressive performances in preseason games to win a roster spot? Would the league really want to limit that possibility for the game’s future stars?
It’s true that clubs can get a sense of what they have in their roster candidates through prospect tournaments and training camps themselves. Even so, there’s no substitute for the trial by fire of preseason games by which coaches and general managers have long chosen their roster players. In just four games, it would be extremely difficult to give every roster prospect a fair evaluation.
To deal with that problem, the Senators Roundtable panellists discussed loosening the NHL’s waiver rules so clubs would have the ability to move players back and forth between the NHL and the minor leagues – at least during the early part of the season. That would give them a chance to take a quick look in real NHL games at every player they think may have a shot at making their rosters. Under the current rules, putting players on waivers to move them temporarily down to a farm team means facing the risk of losing them. For example, of the 20 cuts the Senators made on Sept. 28, seven had to be put on waivers including Maxence Guenette – potentially a crucial addition to the defence corps should injuries arise.
Cap Number of Prospects and Minor Leaguers in NHL Preseason Games
For Billington, one approach to reducing the number of injuries that established players in the league suffer in preseason games because of cheap shots like Xhekaj laid on Stutzle is to restrict the number of players from the minor leagues that each club can dress in a preseason game.
It’s one thing for the league’s stars to face four or five prospects in a preseason game looking to make a name for themselves by laying a big hit on them. Facing 14 of them is another matter altogether.
Revenge Culture is Bad for the NHL’s Business
Happily for the Senators, Stutzle wasn’t injured by Xhekaj’s attempt to scramble his brains. Yet what motivated Xhekaj was revenge. He decided to try to take Stutzle out because of a questionable hit Ridly Greig laid on Habs’ centreman Kirby Dach earlier in the game.
As the Canadiens’ captain Nick Suzuki put it in a postgame interview, “Guys were trying to stick up for Dacher. It was scary seeing him leave the ice again. It brought back some memories for us and guys responded in a good way.” Not stopping there, Suzuki went on to minimize Xhekaj’s hit saying, “Arber’s hit looked a little worse than it was.”
It’s bad for the NHL’s business when its players, especially its young stars, are targeted in acts of revenge or by marginal players looking to lay a big hit on them in a preseason game just to make a name for themselves. The culture that leads to this needs to be extinguished, and the league has it within its power to see that it is.
Related: NHL’s Revenge Culture Must End
To wipe out revenge culture and protect its stars, the NHL needs to impose more severe penalties – certainly more than the laughable fine Xhekaj received in the game against the Maple Leafs on Sept. 28 for mugging Pare in retaliation for his hit on Laine. Why he was allowed to suit up in a preseason game against Ottawa just three days later beggars belief.
