To me it seems like it is an audition time for any open spots on the team first and foremost. It's also used to acclimate new teammates into their roles in the team.
I'm a Bruins fan, they have a battle going on for 2nd line RW, 3rd line center, and the 4th line is pretty much open to whoever earns the spot plus the 13th forward spot is open. 6 forward spots up for grabs so the team has been playing rookies and it has been all split squad games so far. The team has been pretty far from what they are going to look like on opening night so their record so far, which has also been against split squad teams really means nothing.
The game scores don't mean anything and are not a good indicator of how the season will go.