from Dan Rosen of NHL.com,

When could next season begin, and what's the thought process there? I saw NBA commissioner Adam Silver say Dec. 1 for the NBA might be too soon. What is the general thought process regarding next season for the NHL?

"We've been fairly consistent from the start with where we stood with respect to next season. In our [NHL/NHLPA Memorandum of Understanding] we have a tentative start date also of Dec. 1, but the Commissioner (Gary Bettman) has repeatedly said over time that we have some flexibility to push that date, that our objective is to be able to play games with fans in our buildings to the extent that's possible, and to the great extent it's possible. That certainly gives us flexibility to move back the start of our regular season, but we also have the benefit of being able to observe what happens over the next several weeks and months with respect to the fall sports and college sports and European leagues, how everything kind of shakes out around the world, really, in terms of live sporting events and how they're conducted. We don't have to make that decision today, similar to other decisions we make along the way in this process. We want to inform ourselves to the greatest extent possible before making definitive judgments and decisions on things that don't need to be decided today. We'll use all those information points, all those data points to make those decisions at an appropriate time."

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