After spending the bulk of the the 2020 calendar year off the ice because of the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL and the NHL Player’s Association on Sunday formally announced plans to open the 2020-21 season.
The campaign is scheduled to open Jan. 13 with each team playing a 56-game schedule in the regular season, concluding by May 8. That will be followed by a traditional 16-team tournament with four best-of-seven rounds.
Additionally, there will be a temporary realignment of the divisions, primarily because of the border between the United States and Canada remaining closed to nonessential travel indefinitely.
That means the Pittsburgh Penguins will be placed in the newly formed East Division with Boston, Buffalo, New Jersey, both New York teams, Philadelphia and Washington.
The new divisions:
In the pursuit of limited travel, the regular-season schedule will be restricted to intradivisional play. Teams in the East, Central and West Divisions will play one another eight times each. Franchises in the North Division, all Canadian teams, will face off nine or 10 times each.
For the playoffs, the top four teams in each division will qualify with the first seed of each division meeting the fourth seed while the second and third seeds square off in the first round to advance to the second round.
By the third round, the four remaining teams will be reseeded based on their regular-season point totals.
The league plans to play in each team’s home venue, but given the uncertain nature of the pandemic, neutral sites may be utilized.
Training camps for teams that participated in the postseason tournament in August and September, including the Penguins, are scheduled to begin Jan. 3. Teams that did not qualify for the postseason are permitted to open camp Dec. 31.
Further details such as medical protocols, a schedule, roster rules and critical dates for items such the opening of the playoffs, the expansion and entry drafts and free agency are scheduled to be released later this week.
In its release, the NHL stressed the need to be “flexible and adaptable” in how it implements its plan while hoping to return to a “normal” calendar for the 2021-22 season.
