The coronavirus will not only affect the schedule for the current NHL season, but possibility 2020-21 also.
Commissioner Gary Bettman said during an NHL Network interview Thursday that beginning next season as late as December is being discussed as the league continues working on a plan to finish the current campaign that was halted by COVID-19.
“We have a great deal of flexibility in terms of when we can start,” Bettman said in the interview. “There’s no magic for next season of starting in October as we traditionally do. If we have to start in November or December, that’s something that will be under consideration. We’re going to try to make good, prudent, careful judgments. This isn’t a race to be first back.”
The league is currently on the second stage of its “return to play” plan. It said earlier this week that it plans to reopen some of its team training facilities as early as mid-May in areas where stay-at-home and social-distancing restrictions are looking favorably. The Post’s Larry Brooks reported that Phase 2 would not begin until at least May 15.
Nevertheless, Bettman stressed there is no firm timetable or dates for the league’s reopening plans at this time because the health and well-being of the players are what “we’re focused on.”
“Our health concerns for the players really fit into two categories: One is obviously COVID-19, and two, whatever we’re going to do, we don’t want them playing games until they’re back in game shape,” Bettman said. “We don’t want anybody getting injured.”
The NHL’s quarantine period has been extended indefinitely and will be re-evaluated next week. If informal workouts are allowed to begin in mid-to-late May, it could allow for play to resume in late June or early July and the Stanley Cup being awarded in late September. That scenario could trigger the start of the following season being delayed.