Insider Trading: Could preseason games be cut down?

TSN's Hockey Insiders on how death threats are darkening the Leafs/Canadiens rivalry, the NHLPA canvassing players on cutting down the preseason, Macklin Celebrini’s status, the Leafs and pending FAs Knies/McCabe and the possibility of another season of the NHL special on Amazon.

Gino Reda: The games involving the Habs and the Leafs have kept George Parros and the Department of Player Safety busy during this preseason. Are we set to see the rekindling of this once storied rivalry again, Dregs?

Darren Dreger: Well the fans are certainly hoping that will be the case, Gino. We're going to find out Oct. 9 when Toronto takes on the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal. The rivalry though is raw. There's no question about that. It stems back of course to the preseason game where Cedric Pare of the Toronto Maple Leafs took out Patrik Laine. Now, perhaps some of the heat has cooled by Laine coming out describing it as an unfortunate play, saying that he put himself in that position a little bit. He did acknowledge that Pare sent him a text afterward. So, again, maybe that has cooled things a little bit, but I think there needs to be an appreciation here for what Pare had to also go through. I'm told that the Toronto Maple Leafs security group had to intervene and disable Pare's social media account based on death threats and abusive comments directed at him. So it's one thing to have a raw rivalry, it's another thing to cross a line.

Pierre LeBrun: Well in the meantime, the key injuries, a lot of the silliness and the things we've seen in preseason, has a lot of people asking the question...why are there still so many preseason games in the year 2024 in the National Hockey League? Well, as I've reported this week the NHL and NHLPA, actually, have had discussions about reducing the preseason going back to last year. And that's going to be further discussed in the CBA talks that begin in the New Year, but in the meantime the NHLPA plans to canvass its full player membership on this issue. Do you want to reduce the preseason and add two regular season games? Well, the Fall Tour started today in Prague and it will go until late December and the PA will have a better idea if its membership is in favour of this plan.

Reda: First overall pick Macklin Celebrini is supposed to make his NHL regular season debut next Thursday. But, is that now in doubt, CJ? 

Chris Johnston: Well, it's certainly in some question. And at this point and time, it's maybe a little premature to say which way it's going to go. What I can tell you is, there doesn't seem to be too much concern about this injury, the lower body injury that knocked Celebrini out of the game this week, has forced him to miss a couple of practices. But, certainly whether or not he can get back in a week's time is up in the air. Everyone is going to exercise some caution here. He had a very busy summer after being selected first overall. He had some nagging issues through this camp prior to crashing into the end boards and so it will really hinge on how he recovers in this next week, when he can rejoin his teammates on the ice for practice and when ultimately he's cleared to play again for the Sharks. 

Reda: The Leafs' efforts to re-sign Mitch Marner is clearly the biggest contract story in Toronto right now, but it's certainly not the only thing that Brad Treliving is dealing with right now, Darren.

Dreger: No, at least a couple of players he's eventually going to have to focus on at some point this year, but the Maple Leafs are doing their levelled best to keep the contract business out of the daily news feeds. I'm looking at a younger player, restricted free agent at the end of the year, Matthew Knies. We can see he's going to be an impactful Toronto Maple Leaf for the future. There really hasn't been any meaningful dialogue between Knies' agent and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Maybe that heats up towards the end of the year, unless somebody is willing to engage. Now, veteran defenceman Jake McCabe is a little bit different. They've had ongoing discussions there. They're really not that far apart, but there's also no sense of urgency other than the obvious that McCabe is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and he's most definitely interested in getting something done sooner than later.

Reda: The Amazon All-Access Faceoff series is coming to Amazon Prime on Friday. Do you think we could see a season two, CJ?

Johnston: Well, the discussions are far enough down the line that I'm told we should probably hear in the next few weeks whether that is the case. There's certainly lots of interest from all the parties here. I think ultimately what's going to determine if they go ahead with the series No. 2, is how this one fares. Is there ratings? Is there buzz? Does the audience dictate and demand that they should do it because there is a high level of cost associated with producing a show like this. But, from the NHL's end it's been all gravy so far. They've even had a number of players, I'm told, put their hands up and say they'd love to participate in the next go around if there is one. We won't have to wait long to find out.

Reda: The Four Nations Faceoff gets underway in mid-February, the roster is supposed to be set by the first week of December, that's less than two months away. Are we going to get any pushback about that date, Pierre?

LeBrun: NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly after the Board of Governors this week pointed out that there has been some grumblings from the GMs in the Four Nations about how early that roster deadline is, but he also said it's not moving. Obviously for USA and Canada, in particular, there's so many players to pick from on the bubble. You only have seven weeks of regular season hockey to make your final decisions. The full rosters will have to be in by Dec. 2.