The 2019-20 NHL season started on Oct. 2, 2019, and didn't finish until Sept. 28, 2020, thanks to a pause of nearly five months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. December is usually when we start to hear significant trade rumblings begin -- Taylor Hall was traded on Dec. 16 of last season -- but this time around, we're reading the tea leaves on when the season will begin.
Of course, the when is only part of the equation here; there's also some uncertainty regarding the number of games, the format, the possibility of "hubs" or "bubbles" and much more. After discussions with league and team executives and other sources around the NHL, here's what we know -- and what we don't -- as of Dec. 8.
What's the latest on the start date for the season, and how many games might teams play?
Kaplan: Since Thursday, the NHL and NHLPA have intensified talks, as we're suddenly in a time crunch if the league has any hope of staging any semblance of a regular season. The league and the players' association have finally moved off their previous target of a Jan. 1 start date because it simply became unfeasible. The conventional wisdom around the league is that the NHL needs two weeks for players to travel (given some markets' quarantine restrictions) and another 10-14 days for training camp. While there are plenty of players back in their home markets participating in voluntary workouts, a good chunk of players are still at their offseason homes, scattered across the world, waiting for official word of when to travel back.
Teams will take that training camp time to ramp up their own operations in preparation for games. The seven teams that did not make the expanded 2020 playoffs have also been promised extra training camp time, though that situation is in flux.
The latest plan has the NHL and NHLPA targeting a Jan. 13 start date and teams playing in home arenas, which would only be achievable if a deal is reached by the end of the week. There's also contingencies for the season to start in February; some NHL teams believe that would only be if the league decides to shift to a bubble or hub plan (more on that later).
For weeks, there was some frustration on the players' side that the NHL had yet to share proposed schedules. But on Thursday, the NHL shared several drafts of 52- or 56-game schedules, which would have the regular season end around May 1. The league is hoping to include some cushion time before the playoffs begin, in case there are regular-season games that need to be made up due to COVID-19 postponements. Though deputy commissioner Bill Daly previously told ESPN that the Stanley Cup doesn't necessarily have to be awarded before the Tokyo Olympics in July (a consideration since the NHL and Olympics share a U.S. TV partner in NBC) that does seem to be the focus, as the league would like to get back to a regular cadence for the 2021-22 NHL season when it welcomes its 32nd team, Seattle, into the fold.
Sources on both sides told ESPN they expect a busy few days, with players, clubs and league officials needing clarity as soon as possible. The hope is that by the end of the week, the Board of Governors and NHLPA Executive Board have a plan in front of them to vote on. It's going to be a race to the finish line.
Where will the games be held?
Wyshynski: The NHL is exploring every possible option for where its season could play out, both in the short term and the long term.
The primary objective remains to have all 31 teams playing in their home arenas, with baseball-style "homestands" of three games between teams. That's the preference of the majority of owners. That's the preference of the players. That's the plan that has gotten the most attention in NHL circles.
The mitigating factors, however, are the skyrocketing COVID-19 infection rates in some areas that have resulted in increased local restrictions on indoor activities and mass gatherings. California, for example, announced an order last week in which nonessential businesses could close for three weeks once a region's intensive care capacity falls below 15%. That's after a contact sports ban in Santa Clara County forced the San Francisco 49ers to move their football operations to Arizona.
If the NHL season started today, it's possible the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks couldn't open in their own buildings. The same goes for the Winnipeg Jets, as Manitoba faces a severe spike in COVID cases and has banned large public gatherings and closed nonessential businesses since mid-November.
It's possible that when the NHL starts its season, these levels will have declined and the restrictions will have been eased. But in case they haven't, and teams can't play within their own arenas, the idea of temporarily relocating some teams to other NHL arenas to start the season is under consideration.
If a handful of teams are impacted and unable to play in their own buildings, the remedy could simply be to have teams share an arena with another team in their region. The Sharks, for example, could become building mates with the Arizona Coyotes or Vegas Golden Knights. (The latter scenario would be worth it just to see how Ryan Reaves and Evander Kane coexist as arena buddies.)
But sources tell ESPN that moving teams to hybrid bubbles or "hubs" is still very much under consideration for the start of the 2020-21 season.
What's the difference between "hubs" and "bubbles"?
Wyshynski: The "hub" city scenario would have teams traveling in for two weeks at a time, playing around 10 games. They would then leave the hub and travel back home for a week or so, before returning.
The "hybrid bubble" would resemble the bubbles we saw in Toronto and Edmonton during the restarted season last summer, with all teams in the division going into the "bubble" with a centralized setup: staying in local hotels around the rink, cut off from activities that aren't league-vetted. It wouldn't be as strict as the summer bubbles, but teams still wouldn't be able to travel back home, and access to the "bubbles" would be restricted.
What's the latest on potential NHL "hub" or "bubble" cities?
Wyshynski: The hubs or bubbles would be aligned with the NHL's plan of four regional divisions, which groups all the Canadian teams in one division and the U.S. teams in three divisions playing geographically friendly schedules.
According to team sources, the league is considering only locations where:
An NHL team is the lone primary tenant, since games will be played throughout the day, every day
There are two sheets of ice available, so teams can practice
There are enough hotel accommodations for multiple teams and staff
Three U.S. NHL cities are getting a lot of attention as potential hubs: Newark, New Jersey, home to the New Jersey Devils; Columbus, Ohio, home to the Blue Jackets; and Las Vegas, home to the Golden Knights.
Newark, for example, would seem to have everything the NHL is asking for in a hub location. The city has hotel capacity and is accessible from three different airports. The Devils are the only tenant in Prudential Center, which has a practice rink attached to the arena. Plus, being in the New York media market and located a train ride away from NHL headquarters would also seem attractive.
Vegas was a finalist for the 2020-21 postseason bubble. While the Knights' practice facility is a short drive away from T-Mobile Arena, the team has more hotel capacity than anyone else in the market.
Columbus, meanwhile, has multiple locker rooms and a practice rink attached to Nationwide Arena, with an additional rink available at Ohio State if needed.
The NHL could wait as late as early January to decide whether to play inside home arenas or inside "hubs" or "bubbles." The target date of a mid-January start should work if the season begins in home arenas, but there's a thought among NHL teams that if the league opted to start in hubs or bubbles that the start could be pushed into the first week of February.
So where do talks stand between the NHL and NHLPA?
Kaplan: Last Thursday, the NHL and NHLPA decided to table discussion on their biggest issue -- league finances -- and instead work through planning on schedules and protocols. That led to several days of progress, with both sides communicating daily, and working through the weekend.
But the financial issue lingered over everyone's heads.
As a refresher: NHL owners, understanding they would take significant financial hits, informed the players that they're looking for additional cash flow and brought two ideas forward shortly before Thanksgiving.
Those ideas included players taking even more deferred compensation past the 10% they already agreed to this summer, as well as accepting changes to the escrow cap.
Players were irked at both of those suggestions, considering they just agreed to a new, four-year CBA extension in July -- which already saw players deferring 10% of their salary for next season, to be paid in three installments from 2022-23 to 2024-25. The new deal also had escrow capped at 20% for next season as well. As one source on the NHLPA side said: "The escrow caps were put in for a reason. Guys don't really have interest in changing that." Another NHLPA source suggested that if NHL owners were going to treat players as a bank -- essentially borrowing money for short-term benefits -- then they should have to act like a bank, and pay interest rates on those loans.
On Wednesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke at a Sports Business Journal panel, his first public comments since the Stanley Cup was awarded in September. Bettman pushed back on the way the talks have been portrayed in the media, saying: "We've been absolutely unequivocal with the players that we are not trying to renegotiate."
"Under our deal and the one we've had for more than a decade with the players' association, whatever the revenues are, the players only get 50%" Bettman said on Wednesday. "And if we overpay them and they don't pay us back in the short term, they have to pay us back over time. There will be stressors on that system, and we've had discussions about what those stresses are and how they might be dealt with, but we're not trying to say, 'You must do X, Y and Z.' We're trying to look for a way to continue to work together."
While players were frustrated by the idea of changing a financial arrangement that was agreed upon just five months ago, they told the league they would be willing to budge if they could get some concessions in return. So the players brought several ideas forward to the league, though sources say the league didn't seem interested in any of the NHLPA ideas. So for now, the memorandum of understanding on the CBA will remain in place, and discussions are only about divisional alignment, protocols, schedules, etc.
One positive on the players side: one veteran NHLPA rep said he believes the players are on the same page "for the first time in a while."
Added the player: "It's been nice to see that united front."
One other large issue being tackled this week: the potential for expanded rosters. As we've seen in other sports leagues that have resumed play during the pandemic, COVID-19 protocols could knock a player, or several players, out of competition for chunks of time. With call-ups potentially being more difficult -- especially for players who would need to cross the U.S.-Canada border -- expanding the typical 23-player active roster is being considered.
How big of an issue are finances right now?
Kaplan: It's a pretty significant one. The reason the NHL has gone back to the players and asked for some financial concessions is because behind the scenes, several owners have been voicing concerns to Bettman about the losses they would take by staging a season at all, especially with limited or no fans. Several sources confirmed to ESPN that one of the loudest critics has been Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs.
While those owners' concerns are valid, Bettman has tried to remind them to think about the bigger picture. The commissioner has learned too many times, through lockouts and work stoppages, that the NHL can't afford to be out of sight and out of mind for too long. That said, the players believe they shouldn't have to cover for the owners; inherently, business owners are the ones who assume risk.
On Monday, the Sports Business Journal reported that NBA teams will each receive $30 million from the league to help with finances and protect against any liquidity issues due to the pandemic. An NHL source told ESPN on Monday that the league is working on a similar plan, though didn't reveal any details on what that stimulus package would look like. This will help teams cover operational costs, and potentially hire back some employees who have been furloughed or fired during the pandemic.
There's another round of cash flow that will help teams stay afloat: Seattle's entry into the league in 2021 coincides with the franchise's $650 million expansion fee, which will be split among 30 teams (Vegas does not get a cut of the money, but the Golden Knights are also exempt from exposing players in the expansion draft). The NHL is also in negotiations for a new TV deal in the U.S. -- one of the reasons Bettman wants to remain visible and stay on track for a "normal" 2021-22 season -- which could bring a boost as well, especially if the league decides to go with more than one partner, as opposed to its current deal that is exclusive with NBC.
How did the players counter the NHL's negotiation?
Wyshynski: Wait, didn't you hear Gary Bettman? The league "has been absolutely unequivocal with the players that we are not trying to renegotiate."
This is because under the terms of the CBA, the NHL could have been on some shaky legal ground if it attempted to renegotiate the terms of a labor agreement -- agreed upon a few months earlier -- and then the owners opted not to play the season. Negotiating more favorable terms from the players and then not allowing them to play when they don't agree to them? To paraphrase the classic abductive reasoning test: "If it looks like a lockout, swims like a lockout, and quacks like a lockout... it's a lockout." And the CBA forbids lockouts or strikes.
So that's why it wasn't a "renegotiation," even if the sides were negotiating. In fact, the NHLPA countered the NHL's exploratory offer with one of their own. According to a source on the players' side, here's what it looked like:
An additional 5% salary deferral on top of the 10% they've already deferred. We've gotten conflicting information on whether that would be paid with interest, with the latest information being that it wouldn't have.
An increase in the salary cap by a million dollars. That would have meant an increase by $500,000 for this season and then another $500,000 for next season, bringing the salary cap to $82.5 million for the 2021-22 season.
Discussion about compliance buyouts for teams.
Increased funding that helps players after retirement.
That offer didn't find much traction with the owners; and as we noted here earlier, the renegotiation of the CBA (that wasn't a renegotiation) ended this week.
Will there be fans at NHL games?
Wyshynski: It's increasingly looking like some teams could open with fans in their arenas, but whether they will have fans in the building is a separate issue.
"Well, I don't believe when it opens we'll have significant fans in the arena based upon the COVID spikes that are going on. And it may not be that we -- we may not start January 15th. It may slide a week or two, but we will be playing hockey, and we'll be in T-Mobile. But unfortunately, we may not have fans, which is really, really sad -- especially for our team, because we intend on winning the Stanley Cup this year," Golden Knights owner Bill Foley said on Fox Business on Monday.
Based on local COVID-19 regulations on indoor and group activities, less than 50% of NHL teams could currently host fans in their buildings. We're starting to see a slow trickle of NBA teams announcing that they'll reopen with some fan capacity, including a few that share states with NHL teams: the San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers, for example.
NHL teams are exploring how and where to seat fans, with some teams looking at using arena suites to bring fans into the building in a socially distanced way.
In the end, it's about the money. It's all going to come down to the amount of fans who are allowed in vs. the cost of reopening an arena, even if it's a partial reopening. Consider all the stuff that has to be turned back on along with the lights when an arena opens to the public: parking, security, concessions, cleaning and everything else that goes into operations on a game night. Add that to the cost of operating an arena during COVID-19, before vaccines are widely available: How much will have to be spent on testing and prevention standards? Who pays for the safety measures -- the teams or the NHL -- has yet to be determined.
If teams were able to break even, they'd welcome back fans in limited capacities, without question. If they'd lose slightly less money on the season, they'd likely do it as well. But if having fans in the arena meant losing a lot more money, they wouldn't do it.
Are teams really going to play home games in outdoor stadiums?
Wyshynski: News broke last week that several NHL teams were exploring their options for playing home games in local outdoor stadiums during the 2020-21 season.
The Los Angeles Kings were the first team to reach out to the NHL about the possibility of playing multiple home games at Dignity Health Sports Park, home to the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Anschutz Entertainment Group owns both teams and the soccer stadium. To help mitigate the cost, the Kings have been in discussions with the Anaheim Ducks about sharing the facility.
The Boston Bruins confirmed to ESPN that they're exploring playing home games at Fenway Park, which has housed a Winter Classic and NCAA games through the years. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators are among the teams that have also indicated interest to the NHL in playing multiple outdoor games.
For the most part, these are ways for teams to get around COVID-19 restrictions on indoor activities and have games with fans. Again, given how California has trended, it's not outrageous to think that teams could have a larger number of fans outdoors before they have them indoors. Depending on capacity restrictions, those outdoor crowds could come close to what they'd have in an arena.
But in speaking with NHL sources, there's pessimism about this happening. The cost of pulling off these home games -- from personnel to the cost of NHL game infrastructure -- would be considerable and ultimately a deterrent. Also, the NHL has been cautious about allowing the novelty of its outdoor games to be watered down by having too many of them.
The ingenuity of the concept deserves appreciation. The execution of it, given all the obstacles logistically and from a budgetary perspective, might prove too difficult.