2020–21 NHL season

The 2020–21 NHL season will be the 104th season of operation (103rd season of play) of the National Hockey League. This is scheduled to be the last season with 31 teams competing in an 82-game regular season.

2020–21 NHL season
LeagueNational Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationDecember 1, 2020 – TBD
Number of games82
Number of teams32
Draft
Regular season
Playoffs
Stanley Cup

Because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs to August, the 2020–21 regular season has been delayed until at least December 1, 2020, instead of the normal October-to-April period.[1]

League business

Collective bargaining agreement

The collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which had been effect since the end of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, was set to enter its second to final season in 2020–21.[2]

On July 10, 2020, the league reached an agreement to renew the CBA through the 2025–26 NHL season, including an increase of the minimum player salary to $750,000 from $700,000, increasing the maximum value of entry-level contracts, deferring 10% of player salaries for the 2020–21 season to cover costs associated with the pandemic (they will be paid back over three seasons beginning 2022–23), escrow of player salaries capped at 20% for this season and decreasing incrementally to 14-18%, 10%, and 6% over the three seasons that follow (with the 6% applying thereafter), doubling of the playoff bonus pool to $32 million, and an agreement for the NHL to negotiate a return to the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics (after being absent from the 2018 Winter Olympics).[3][4]

The CBA will be automatically renewed through 2026–27 if player escrow debt falls between $125 million and $250 million after the 2024–25 season.[4]

Salary cap

As part of the new CBA, the salary cap will remain at $81.5 million for the 2020–21 season. Future increases will occur incrementally until the league recovers from the financial impact of the pandemic.[3][4]

Player and puck tracking technology

This is planned to be the first regular season that the league's player and puck tracking system we be utilized at 31 NHL arenas. The system will allow on-air features such as speed displays, puck tracking graphics, and marker graphics hovering above players. The league had planned to deploy this technology to all 31 arenas by September 2019, but a change to its primary technology partner delayed implementation.[5]

Media rights

NBC Sports' current ten-year contract for U.S. national broadcast rights will expire after the 2020–21 season (marking its 15th season overall as an NHL broadcaster); the NHL has explored the possibility of splitting its national media rights between interested broadcasters,[6] and possibly signing with an over-the-top service (such as DAZN or ESPN+).[7] In any case, the league is looking to generate more revenue than the nearly US$2 billion total that NBC paid over the life of their 2011–12 to 2020–21 contract.[8]Sports Business Journal reported on June 15 that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL would be deferring all negotiations regarding future media rights to no earlier than late-2020 or early-2021.[9]

In Canada, this will be the seventh season of the league's twelve-year rights deal with Rogers Sports & Media.[10] Sportsnet West's regional rights to both the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers expire at the end of the previous 2019–20 season.[11]

Draft

The 2020 NHL Entry Draft was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec,[12] but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] It has since been tentatively scheduled for October 9–10, 2020, and will be held virtually.[1] The New York Rangers were awarded the first pick in the 2020 Draft after winning the second phase of the draft lottery on August 10, 2020.[14]

Postponed international games in Europe

Two preseason games were planned to be played in Europe: the Boston Bruins against Adler Mannheim at SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany, and the Nashville Predators against SC Bern at PostFinance Arena in Bern, Switzerland. In addition, three regular season games, were also planned: the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic; and two games between the Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, later in the fall.[15]

On May 8, 2020, the league postponed these five international games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to reschedule them for the 2021–22 season.[16]

Coaching changes
Coaching changes
Off–season
Team 2019–20 coach 2020–21 coach Story / Accomplishments
Calgary Flames Bill Peters
Geoff Ward*		 TBA Peters resigned on November 29, 2019, after accusations of racism were made by former Rockford IceHogs player Akim Aliu when Peters was coaching the AHL club a decade earlier. Peters spent 1⅓ seasons with the Flames, registering a record of 12–12–4 to start the season after reaching the first round of the playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference the previous season. Ward, who served as an assistant coach, was named interim head coach.[17][18]
Dallas Stars Jim Montgomery
Rick Bowness*		 TBA Montgomery was dismissed on December 10, 2019 due to "unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs" of the Stars and the league. He spent 1⅓ seasons with the Stars, registering a record of 17–11–3 to start the season after reaching the second round of the playoffs the previous season. Bowness, who served as an assistant coach, was named interim head coach.[19][20]
Minnesota Wild Bruce Boudreau
Dean Evason*		 Dean Evason Boudreau was fired on February 14, 2020, after 3⅔ seasons with the team, which had registered a record of 27–23–7 to start the season. The Wild had reached the playoffs in the first two seasons of his tenure in Minnesota but had not qualified for the playoffs since the 2017–18 season. Evason, who had served as an assistant coach with the Wild since the start of the 2018–19 season, was immediately named interim head coach. On July 13, The wild named Evason head coach. [21]
New Jersey Devils John Hynes
Alain Nasreddine*		 Lindy Ruff Hynes was fired on December 3, 2019, after 4⅓ seasons with the team, which had registered a 9–13–4 record to start the season. The Devils reached the playoffs once in Hynes' tenure, and did not advance past the first round in 2018. Nasreddine, who served as an assistant coach, was named interim head coach.[22] On July 9, the Devils named Ruff as head coach.[23]
San Jose Sharks Peter DeBoer
Bob Boughner*		 TBA DeBoer was fired on December 11, 2019, after 4⅓ seasons with the team, which had registered a record of 15–16–2 to start the season. The Sharks qualified for the playoffs in all of the four previous seasons under DeBoer, and advanced to the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals. Boughner, who served as an assistant coach, was named interim head coach.[24]

(*) Indicates interim.

Front office changes
General managers
Off–season
Team 2019–20 GM 2020–21 GM Story / Accomplishments
Arizona Coyotes John Chayka
Steve Sullivan*		 TBA Chayka (after four years with the team) quit unexpectedly as the team headed into the 2020 Qualifying Round. Steve Sullivan was named interim general manager.[25]
Buffalo Sabres Jason Botterill Kevyn Adams Botterill was fired of June 16, 2020 after three years as the Sabres' general manager.
New Jersey Devils Ray Shero
Tom Fitzgerald*		 TBA Shero was fired on January 12, 2020, after five years as the Devils' general manager. Fitzgerald was named interim general manager.[26]

(*) Indicates interim.

Arena changes
  • The New York Islanders were scheduled to play all their home games for the 2020–21 season at Nassau Coliseum. The team had split their home games between Nassau and Barclays Center during the past two seasons. The Islanders plan to move to UBS Arena for the 2021–22 season.[27] In June 2020, Mikhail Prokhorov, whose company runs the Nassau Coliseum, announced that the Coliseum would be closed indefinitely while it seeks new investors to take it over and assume the remaining debt.[28]

Regular season

The regular season was originally planned to begin in October 2020, and end in April 2021, but has changed due to developments in the COVID-19 pandemic.[29] The league still intends to hold a full 82-game regular season in 2020–21.[30] Training camp is tentatively scheduled to open on November 17, and the regular season to begin on December 1.[1]

Outdoor games

Two NHL outdoor games have been scheduled for this season:

The 2021 NHL Winter Classic is scheduled for January 1, 2021, at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, featuring the Minnesota Wild hosting the St. Louis Blues.[31][32]

The 2021 NHL Stadium Series is scheduled for February 21, 2021, at Carter–Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, featuring the Carolina Hurricanes hosting a team to be named at a later date.[33]

All-Star Game

The 2021 National Hockey League All-Star Game is scheduled to be held on January 30, 2021, at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, the home of the Florida Panthers.[34]

Uniforms
  • The Buffalo Sabres introduced new royal blue, gold and white uniforms, resembling the original uniforms worn by the team from 1970 to 1996.[35]

See also

References
  1. Johnston, Chris (July 10, 2020). "NHL announces tentative dates for return to play, compressed off-season". Sportsnet. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  2. "NHLPA declines to reopen collective bargaining agreement". NHL.com. September 16, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  3. "NHL is back in business with ratification of CBA, return-to-play plan". Sportsnet. Rogers Sports & Media. July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  4. "NHL, NHLPA ratify CBA extension through 2025-26 season". NHL.com. July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  5. "Bettman: NHL puck and player tracking to start in playoffs". Associated Press. Sportsnet. January 24, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  6. Orland, John (May 27, 2019). "NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman relishes the opportunities as next media deal approaches". Sports Business Journal.
  7. Deitsch, Ricard (November 14, 2019). "Media Mailbag:The Latest on the NHL's TV Talks, Thursday Night Football's Future, On CBS Landing the Champions League". The Athletic.
  8. Adgate, Brad (January 15, 2019). "Hockey's Big Pay Day Is Coming". Forbes.
  9. "NHL will wait on next media rights deal until end of year or later". Sports Business Journal. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  10. Rosen, Dan (November 26, 2013). "NHL, Rogers announce landmark 12-year deal". NHL.com. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  11. Faguy, Steve (September 14, 2019). "Canadian NHL TV broadcast schedules for 2019-20". Fagstein. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  12. "Canadiens to host 2020 NHL Draft". NHL.com. June 19, 2019.
  13. "NHL postpones Scouting Combine, Awards, Draft". NHL.com. March 25, 2020.
  14. "Rangers win No. 1 pick in 2020 NHL Draft in Second Phase of Lottery". NHL.com. August 10, 2020.
  15. "Bruins, Predators, Avalanche, Blue Jackets to play in 2020 Global Series". NHL.com. November 8, 2019.
  16. "NHL postpones 2020 international games". NHL.com. May 8, 2020.
  17. "Geoff Ward Named Interim Coach". NHL.com. November 29, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  18. "Peters resigns as Flames head coach". TSN.ca. November 29, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  19. "Jim Montgomery dismissed as head coach of Stars". NHL.com. December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  20. Leslie, Mike (December 10, 2019). "Dallas Stars fire head coach for 'unprofessional conduct'". Dallas: WFAA. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  21. Pierce, Jessi (February 14, 2020). "Boudreau fired as Wild coach, replaced by Evason". NHL.com. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  22. "Hynes fired as coach of Devils, replaced by Nasreddine". NHL.com. December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  23. "RELEASE: Devils Name Lindy Ruff Head Coach". NHL.com. July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  24. "Sharks Announce Changes to Coaching Staff". NHL.com. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  25. "Chayka quits as Coyotes general manager, replaced by Sullivan". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. July 26, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  26. "Statement from Josh Harris, Devils Managing Partner & Chairman". NHL.com. January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  27. Olson, David (March 1, 2020). "All 2020-21 Islanders home games will be at Coliseum, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirm". Newsday.
  28. "Nassau Coliseum to close indefinitely while owner seeks new investors: Reports". WABC. June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  29. "Bettman confirms NHL could delay start of 2020-21 season, if need be". Sportsnet. April 30, 2020.
  30. "As coronavirus has current season on hiatus, NHL says playing 82 games in 2020–21 is goal". USA Today. March 19, 2020.
  31. "Wild to host 2021 NHL Winter Classic at Target Field" (Press release). NHL.com. January 1, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  32. "Blues to play Wild in 2021 NHL Winter Classic" (Press release). NHL.com. February 23, 2020.
  33. "Hurricanes to host 2021 NHL Stadium Series at N.C. State" (Press release). NHL.com. February 15, 2020.
  34. "NHL All-Star Weekend to be hosted by Panthers in 2021". NHL.com. January 24, 2020.
  35. "Sabres bring back beloved royal blue, charging buffalo uniforms". NHL.com. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
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