from James Mirtle of The Athletic,

The practical concern is that once you’ve played one season into October, how then do you get back on a September-to-June schedule? Wiping out a large section of games would work, but the NHL has strongly denied that as an option.

If the 2020-21 season begins Jan. 1 and includes a full 82 games and playoffs, the earliest it could plausibly conclude would be sometime in August. (And good luck trying to fit in anything like the Olympics, bye weeks or the All-Star break.)

If the 2021 Stanley Cup is awarded in August, the earliest the NHL could then contemplate playing the next season would be in late November, which would inch the calendar forward a month or so. Even in that scenario, there would theoretically be playoff games played into July for years.

When you factor in training camps and the preseason, getting back to the pre-pandemic schedule would be extremely difficult.

more ($$$)