Monday was day one, but Tuesday already is one week out from the final day of camp and the team's departure for Tampa and the season opener.
"It's going to be pretty intense," Alex DeBrincat said. "We have to get back in shape, but for the most part a lot of guys were here already. We were getting reps in before camp and working hard. I'm sure even guys at home were doing the same thing just because it's a short camp. It's going to be an intense few days here, but I think we're going to have a little bit of time to recover before our first game and be ready to go."
At less than half the time of a normal training camp, and several days shorter than the pre-playoff training camp teams held over the summer, it'll be a sprint to opening night for teams across the league. With 35 skaters on the ice Monday, it the two groups each a mix of NHL guys and hopeful prospects -- a trend head coach Jeremy Colliton and the coaching staff look to keep over at least the first few days.
"What we want to do in the first three days here, four days of skates, is give everyone a chance to show where they fit in. We've kind of evened out the teams. We'll scrimmage a couple times," he said of the larger group that will have to be cut down to, at most, 23 skaters and six taxi squad players by Tuesday's flight. "It's probably not fair, it's not enough time for them to show where they fit in, but we do want to get a better picture (overall)."
Another important factor over the opening week will be working the rust off without any preseason games to get into playing rhythm.
"The stuff that you would get to do in exhibition games, you've got to try to do in practice the best you can -- maybe power play or, for centermen, faceoffs or, for wingers, chipping the puck out," Dylan Strome said. "Things like that where you usually get the reps in preseason games to do that, but in this short time, you've got to find a way to do it in practice. We're going to have some scrimmages, so maybe some time to do it there, but there's nothing really like playing in a game. You've got to try to find a way to get your energy back up and your conditioning and be ready."