NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is scheduled to make a formal announcement at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday regarding the league’s “Return to Play” plan to resume the 2019-20 season which has been on hiatus since March 12 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Bettman is expected to announce the league and NHLPA have formally agreed on a 24-team postseason format that will potentially be staged later this summer. Under the proposed plan, the top four teams in each conference would play a mini-tournament for seeding. The remainder of the field would begin a best-of-five series for the opening round.
The No. 5-seeded Penguins would play No. 12 Montreal under this proposal.
A formal announcement that this plan will actually be implemented might still be weeks or even months away.
On Monday, the league announced protocol for allowing a limited number of players to resume skating in NHL facilities beginning in early June. There was no word on when a formal training camp with full rosters or a resumption of play could be enacted.
Bettman’s announcement is scheduled to be televised on NBC Sports as well as NBC Network as well as various online outlets such as the league’s official Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts.
