A shortened NHL training camp: Is this good or bad?

NHL training camps are astronomically different this year, compared to prior seasons.

Last year, the Utah Mammoth, for example, had 21 days between the beginning of training camp and the first regular-season game. This year, it’s down to 15.

Teams previously had the discretion to play anywhere from six to eight preseason games, but they’re now set at four with each “veteran” limited to playing in no more than two of them.

The change comes with the addition of two extra regular-season games per team, beginning this year. Shorter training camps and fewer preseason games lightens the work load on the front end before an especially long season.

For players whose names are written on the opening-night lineup sheet in permanent marker, it’s a welcome change. There’s less exhaustion and risk of injury before the season starts.

“Typically in years past when you have all this time, you just get up and down the ice and (don’t worry about) a ton of systems the first few days. It’s really just breaking in,” said Anders Lee, one of Utah’s biggest offseason additions, a day before the Mammoth’s first preseason game.

“... (Now), we’re hitting the systems and the structure and getting to how we play the game — and you kind of have to because we’ve got a preseason game tomorrow.”

The new collective bargaining agreement, which officially kicked in on Sept. 15, bans teams from holding fitness testing — a change defending Stanley Cup champion and noted fitness enthusiast Rod Brind’Amour dislikes as a coach, but something many players are glad to skip.

“Camp isn’t to get in shape anymore. It’s really just to fine-tune things,” Lee explained. “So it’s a good question. We’ll have to see, but I think everyone will be just fine.”

The players who might miss out because of the new structure are those on the outside looking in. There just isn’t as much runway as there used to be for them to prove themselves.

Tij Iginla, a 20-year-old prospect who’s trying to earn a roster spot, recognizes that — but he also acknowledges that it’s out of his control.

“It’s just a matter of controlling what you can control and going out, putting your best foot forward,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“... I’m just going to do everything I can and do my best. If I end up making the making the team and getting to play games, I’m sure I’ll be excited.”

For coaches, the changes are especially challenging.

“It’s crazy. After two days, I had a meeting with the coaches and talked about the urgency of our evaluations,” said Mammoth coach André Tourigny. “That’s crazy. After two days.”

His predicament is even greater considering it’s the most competitive group of players Tourigny has ever had in the NHL. There are 22 players on one-way NHL contracts and another half-dozen rookies pushing to make the team — and they can only have 23 players on the roster at a time.

“We can dress only 12 forwards. That will be an impossible decision at some point to make,” Tourigny said. “We will be wrong and right at the same time. We’ll be 100% wrong to scratch whatever players we’ll decide to scratch, and at the same time, we’ll be right because the 12 who will be in the lineup will be really good players.”

Opening-night lineups are due at 3 p.m. MDT on Sept. 29.