The only constant in this world is change, and, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman admitted that the future of the team’s once-upon-a-time eight-team Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, which has been whittled down to a two-game Prospect Games series between Detroit and Dallas, is up in the air.
Between the new CBA going into effect next year, which will shorten the preseason, the Wings and Stars’ respective wishes for their prospects, and the fact that the 22 teams who participate in prospect tournaments have wanted their own slice of the pie, and most likely won’t return to Traverse City when they can hold prospect tournaments closer to home…
“The future of the camp or the tournament, whatever you want to call it, is undecided, undetermined,” Yzerman said.
The landscape of the NHL preseason will be changing next fall. As the league is going from 82 to 84 regular-season games in 2026-27, the NHL is cutting the preseason slate in half from eight to four games.
That’s going to provide a very limited opportunity for NHL prospects to display their wares against seasoned pros. And it’s creating a level of concern among hockey people that extends far beyond Detroit.
“With the league going to four preseason games next year, I’ve spoken to several GMs around the league about what their plan is,” Yzerman said. “How they’re going to handle preseason, what they’re going to do with the rookie tournaments, the rookie camps, American League preseason games. All sorts of things like that.”
I’m guessing that there will still be some sort of prospect-vs-prospect tournament, but it may remain just Detroit and Dallas. Or, as Yzerman told the media this morning, it may be just Detroit holding intra-squad scrimmages between prospects:
“So we don’t really have a plan for next year,” Yzerman admitted. “We’re gonna figure out what to do. Our options are simply to do nothing. Maybe put together, form a new group for a little tournament. Or maybe just hold more of a development camp like we do in July. So we’ll kind of figure out what makes the most sense and the best use of the players’ time.”
