It's officially game on for the National Hockey League.
The NHL announced on Sunday that the league and the NHL Players' Association have finally reached an agreement on the logistics for the 2020-21 season. With this agreement, the 2020-21 NHL season is expected to start on Wednesday, Jan. 13 and will feature a 56-game schedule.
The NHL and NHLPA had originally reached a tentative agreement on the upcoming season on Friday, which then needed the vote of approval from the NHLPA executive board and the the NHL's Board of Governors.
"The National Hockey League looks forward to the opening of our 2020-21 season,'' said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in a league statement. "While we are well aware of the challenges ahead, as was the case last spring and summer, we are continuing to prioritize the health and safety of our participants and the communities in which we live and play."
As part of Sunday's announcement, the NHL has also announced the alignment of the four divisions for the 2020-21 season, which will feature an All-Canadian division.
Here is how the four divisions are lined up for the 2020-21 season:
North:
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ottawa Senators
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Vancouver Canucks
- Winnipeg Jets
West:
- Anaheim Ducks
- Arizona Coyotes
- Colorado Avalanche
- Los Angeles Kings
- Minnesota Wild
- San Jose Sharks
- St. Louis Blues
- Vegas Golden Knights
Central:
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Detroit Red Wings
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Dallas Stars
- Florida Panthers
- Nashville Predators
- Tampa Bay Lightning
East:
- Boston Bruins
- Buffalo Sabres
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Washington Capitals
As part of the new division re-alignment, each team will only play the teams in their assigned division. That means that one team will face the other seven teams in their division a total of eight times this season. For the North division, those teams will square off a total of nine or 10 times.
Here are some more details that have been reported as of Friday night on the logistics of the upcoming season:
- Training camps for the 24 teams that played in the Return To Play plan this past summer will start on Sunday, Jan. 3.
- Training camps for the seven teams that failed to qualify for the Return To Play plan will be able to start on Thursday, Dec. 31.
- Training camp rosters will have a limit of 36 skaters with an unlimited number of goalies.
- NHL rosters will consist of 23 players with an $81.5 million salary cap
- Each team will have a taxi squad consisting of 4-6 players that travel and practice with the team. Taxi squad players will be paid full AHL salary unless called up, and the current Collective Bargaining Agreement has been expanded to include for more flexible emergency recalls.
- The NHL may limit how long a team can keep players on the taxi squad without playing in a game.
- The number of games for rookies to have their entry-level contracts slide will go from 10 games to seven.
- Teams will have the option to carry-over contracts of players who elect to opt out of the 2020-21 season.
- The NHL will play no exhibition games leading up to the start of the season.
- If the NHL season gets start on time, the league would have until Jan. 12 at 5 p.m. EST to submit their final roster and be cap compliant.
- The 2021 playoffs will feature the top-four teams in each division qualifying, with each division also producing a champion for the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- The third round matchups will be seeded based on regular season points.
Here are some key dates to pay attention to for the upcoming season:
- Jan. 13: Start of the 2020-21 season
- April 12: NHL Trade Deadline
- May 8: End of regular season
- July 17: Expansion Draft protection lists due
- July 21: Seattle Expansion Draft
- July 23-24: 2021 NHL Draft
- July 28: Opening of NHL Free Agency
Stay tuned for the latest on this developing story...