Courtesy of Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
It’s officially that time of year again! There has been a lot of excitement surrounding the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, and after what felt like an extremely long offseason, players are starting to move back to their respective teams’ cities and are lacing up their skates for the start of their training camps.
There are several teams whose players are so excited to get back onto the ice that they have started skating with each other far before their training camp’s estimated start.
Most teams won’t be starting their training camps until late in the week of September 16th. However, there are several teams that are currently having their rookie camps. These rookie camps are a great way for the coaches and general managers to get an idea of the new and young talent that they have coming up in the organization.
There are several teams that try to use these camps to get fans excited for the upcoming season, or, if the team isn’t as strong at the moment, to get fans excited for the future. These rookie camps are also a great way for the young players to start practicing like professional NHL players and get an idea about how their organization runs things.
These camps are vital for rookies who are looking to earn an NHL roster spot on their team in the upcoming season, or make a big splash in the AHL. There are several organizations that have organized scrimmages against each other at the conclusion of these rookie camps to see their players in action against other organization’s rookies.
For example, the Los Angeles Kings are hosting the “Rookie Showcase” for several of the west coast teams. The teams attending this showcase are the LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Utah Hockey Club, and the Vegas Golden Knights. Although these games mean nothing in terms of standings for the season, they mean a great deal to the players, as this is their biggest opportunity to prove themselves to their coaching staff.
Another scrimmage that is going on at the moment is between the Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Nashville Predators are hosting this scrimmage, and every team will play each other one time.
Courtesy of The Vegas Golden Knights / @GoldenKnights on X
At the conclusion of these camps, the coaching staff has a quick turnaround before the NHL training camps start. Most of these training camps will start some time during the week of September 16th depending on the team’s preseason schedule.
Several of the rookies currently at their camps will be attending these training camps as well in hopes of making their NHL roster. The training camps are used in order for coaching staff to determine who they want on their rosters to start the season and to take a look at who could be called up in case of injury or trades.
The preseason games that take place at the conclusion of training camp are for the staff to determine who works well together on lines so that they can have some kind of concept of their lineup before the season starts.
Even though these games aren’t important for standings and aren’t always indicative about how the season will go, they are definitely something that fans should be watching if they can. It’s a great way to see how the team is working and what is different from previous seasons with new players or coaching staff, depending on the team.
Edited by Rachel Bowlin
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