NHL training camps open without fitness tests under new CBA

NHL training camps open this week under a new set of rules: no mandatory fitness testing and a maximum of four preseason games per team. The changes are part of the collective bargaining agreement that takes effect September 16.

Sidney Crosby, preparing for his 22nd NHL season, said players arrive at camp in much better condition than they did in earlier eras. The 39-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins captain acknowledged that the old tests created some useful pressure, but understood why the league and players wanted them removed.

The reduced preseason makes room for the regular-season schedule to expand from 82 to 84 games. Opening night is September 29, leaving 12 days between the first on-ice camp sessions and the first regular-season games for the 10 teams playing that night.

The shorter runway puts more emphasis on every practice. Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares said teams will need to get organized quickly, while NHLPA assistant executive director Ron Hainsey argued that long conditioning camps no longer fit a league in which players skate through most of the year.

Coaches will still be able to judge conditioning once practices begin. New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes described the change as a shift from a formal test to demanding on-ice drills, and Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser said players who arrive out of shape will be easy to identify.