Player Prompt:

The preseason is an interesting time in the SHL, because it's one of the few opportunities to try out new lines or strategies without impacting important regular season games. It's a wild week for some teams, experimenting with new combinations and lineups that would never see the light of day in a normal game, and one of the few times we see major shifts in the way teams play in the league. That said, because preseason games are held to such a low standard, and everyone is doing something weird, it's hard to say we ever really learn anything from the games themselves. Unlike the NHL, where prospects regularly get called up for preseason games to test them at the highest level, the rosters are exactly what we see in the season here, which begs the real question: Why even have a preseason anymore? We could just as easily scrap a few preseason games in favor of a bigger regular season, or cut down on the overall length of the season for a better turnaround time, both of which would be more engaging than the preseason we have today.