As the league shifts to an 84-game season starting this year, teams will see the impacts of a longer season right away. Normally, there are a few weeks of training camp and preseason games to determine rosters. But now, things will be cut even shorter. Each team will now have just four preseason games to make those decisions.
That means players on the bubble will have even less room for error. Their chances will be limited, making every moment they're on the ice that much more important.
"That's gonna be the toughest part for us this year. We're used to the seven, eight games in preseason. You're at the point where you're trying to find players to play games," Danny Briere said ahead of training camp. "It's gonna be completely different now. Those guys might have one chance; they might have one game, they might have two to prove themselves. The message is, get noticed."
And there were players who got themselves noticed during rookie camp. Briere noted Ty Murchison and Noah Powell as two players who were noticeable throughout the two rookie games. Murchison debuted last season and handled himself well. Powell is entering his first full professional season and has shown that there are multiple layers to his game.
Those two are far less likely to make the Flyers out of camp, but they did exactly what they needed to do. There are also players like Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald who are trying to push themselves into the conversation in a crowded blueline. Jett Luchanko is trying to prove to everyone that he is still a valuable prospect. And that's just to name a few of the younger players trying to carve out roles.
For the Flyers, there will be plenty of tough decisions to make and not a lot of time to do so.
However, getting noticed during a rookie game is much different than an NHL preseason game. Standing out against other prospects is good, but what about those who are already on the roster? The difference between these players and those with established roles is that a prospect needs to show they are worthy of taking a job away from a player who has already proven they can handle it.
The margin for error for these players will be much smaller entering training camp. Coaches will have harder decisions when setting their lineups for these games. There is not a lot of time to work on different line combinations, evaluate chemistry, and determine which players fit best. And for those auditioning for a spot, finding that chemistry is even harder in such a short period of time.
Previously, a player could've had four or five games to make an impression. One mistake wasn't the end of the world. Now, if that same mistake comes in a player's first preseason game, that could be one of their only chances. With so many decisions to make in such a short time frame, the coaching staff may have less opportunity to overlook things or allow a player to find his footing.
Playing only four games also makes it harder to determine whether a poor performance was simply a bad night or a genuine weakness. That one mistake could be just that. But because coaches have a limited time to make these decisions, some players may not be given the chance to recover.
And that may also mean some players will have evaluation time taken from them for reasons they cannot control. That could come with limited ice time because of where they fit. It could be because they're stuck behind an established veteran who isn't coming out of the lineup. Players can only make impressions with the opportunities they are given. There is going to be less flexibility to create those chances.
The biggest challenge will be how quickly these players need to make an impression. They not only need to play well, but they also need to show the coaching staff, in a short time, that they belong. And that doesn't just mean getting their name on the scoresheet.
Briere's message was plain and simple. Now, it's up to those players to take the moment and run with it.
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