The Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks will open their respective training camps Thursday with physicals and meetings on administrative protocols before getting on the ice for their first practice Friday.
It'll be their first official and mandatory in-person team get-togethers since the NHL paused last season March 12 because of concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
They were the bottom seven teams in the League based on points percentage, which meant they were left out of the 24-team NHL Return to Play Plan. As a result, the NHL is giving them a head start on training camp before the rest of the League opens Sunday.
And a lot has changed since we last saw the Ducks, Sabres, Red Wings, Kings, Devils, Senators and Sharks in action, enough that these teams are opening camps with a renewed confidence and a belief that maybe, things will be different for them this season.
"The one thing we know about the National Hockey League is it's fine margins that make the difference,"
Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said on the NHL @TheRink podcast Monday
. "The differential between the top and bottom teams in this League is as small as any professional sport I've ever been involved with. It's finding those percentage points."
The Sabres feel they found a few percentage points to put in their win column by signing left wing Taylor Hall to a one-year, $8 million contract Oct. 11.