FTB: NHL pre-season begins one month from today

Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty ImagesThe NHL will kick off the pre-season on September 15th with an exciting match-up between the... (checks notes)

Huh. How about that.

They might at least have Phil Kessel in that game. It will certainly be a jarring visual to see him in a Coyotes jersey. However, it’s pre-season, so maybe he won’t be playing. In any case, that ‘marquee event’ will be the first of many pre-season games to be played on NHL ice over that week.

So will Mitchell Marner be there? Insiders aren’t sure, and the volume of talk about him has died down, finally drowned out by the fact a host of other well known players with Restricted Free Agent Status aren’t signing either; Patrik Laine…