tiburon12
Registered User
- Jul 18, 2009
- 5,161
- 5,292
No, the point of pre-season is to warm up before the real season. That's why no one is in favor of eliminating the pre-season, but rather truncating it because players only need a few game reps.In a salary cap league, roster decisions are made as contracts are signed unless somebody on a one-way really underperforms. The point of preseason games is mainly to gouge season ticket holders.
In that light, pre-season is also the chance for coaches to see how their players have progressed as a result of their off-ice training and judge the changes in in-game settings.
While you're right the pre-season is ultimately meaningless w/r/t points (Doug Murray hattrick excluded ), it still remains the best place to judge whether a player is NHL ready for the upcoming season or not. Gushchin has proven he is worth giving a shot to, especially early on. That's not a full roster spot, but that's a chance to prove it.