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Montreal Canadiens: 4 things we know about the NHL 2020/21 season

By Omar L

July 28, 2020; Toronto, Ontario, CANADA; Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens scores on a backhand shot against goaltender Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third period of an exhibition game prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on July 28, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. Mandatory Credit: Mark Blinch/NHLI via USA TODAY Sports
July 28, 2020; Toronto, Ontario, CANADA; Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens scores on a backhand shot against goaltender Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third period of an exhibition game prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on July 28, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. Mandatory Credit: Mark Blinch/NHLI via USA TODAY Sports /
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The Montreal Canadiens and the rest of the NHL are waiting on a decision to be made about the structure of the 2020/21 season, and we got some more answers thanks to the NHL Board of Governors and NHLPA Executive Board Meetings.

Time is reluctantly ticking for the NHL. The National Basketball League has a plan in place to start their season on December 22nd, while the National Football League is underway. However, there is still not go-to confirmed date as to when we will see the Montreal Canadiens take the ice again.

The NHL has stood pat on its target date of January 1st. That said, things have changed over the last few months, including the state of COVID-19 in both the United States and Canada. There were ideas floated around as to whether this would be able to work. Players, for the most part, aren’t interested in doing a long-term bubble again. At the same time, owners will likely want to find ways for their teams to travel to different cities and allow fans at a reduced capacity to earn revenue.

As effective and safe as the Return to Play Bubble was, it was also expensive. According to Frank Seravalli of TSN, the NHL dropped $75 – $90 million getting it done. Television deals aren’t going to be enough here, and that’s where the league is running into problems.

Some of these were covered in the recent NHL Board of Governors and NHLPA Executive Board Meetings. Via observations from Seravalli, Pierre Lebrun, and Elliotte Friedman, I’ve pieced together what appears to be in the works at the moment.

1) Re-alignment

The idea of changing the structure of the NHL standings has been in the air for the last little while. For starters, there’s the ‘All-Canadian Division’ theory, which would see the Montreal Canadiens spend most of the beginning of the season taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks.

While this is happening in the north of the border, the states would have a similar restructuring of divisions based on location. This could have the remaining U.S. Divisions go as such:

Metropolitan Division:

  • New York Rangers
  • New York Islanders
  • Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Philadelphia Flyers
  • New Jersey Devils
  • Carolina Hurricanes
  • Washington Capitals
  • Columbus Blue Jackets

Atlantic/Central Division:

  • Boston Bruins
  • Buffalo Sabres
  • Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Florida Panthers
  • Detroit Red Wings
  • Chicago Blackhawks
  • St. Louis Blues

Pacific/Central Division

  • San Jose Sharks
  • Los Angeles Kings
  • Anaheim Ducks
  • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Dallas Stars
  • Minnesota Wild
  • Nashville Predators
  • Arizona Coyotes
  • Colorado Avalanche

By no means is this the confirmed structure, but it’s a possibility (adapted from Nova Caps).

2) Scheduling

If this were the case, a proposed idea to reduce travel time would be to format the schedule similar to how the MLB runs their season with teams playing short series’ against each other. Say, for example, the Montreal Canadiens fly to Calgary and play games there before returning to Montreal for a series against another team. These would either take place as back-to-backs or stretches of three games in four nights.

3) How many games?

The number of games that are played this upcoming season is going to be significant as it directly ties to how much revenue the NHL can obtain. The NBA has agreed to a 72-game season, and many assume the NHL is going to follow the same path. There is one big thing that needs to be kept in mind, and Elliotte Friedman brought this up in his post this past Tuesday.

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The league wants to end the 2020/21 season by July 15th. This would be just in time for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Additionally, it would allow NBC, one of the NHL’s biggest television distributors, to wrap up hockey coverage in time to broadest the Olympic games.

According to Friedman, the number of games on the table has gone from as low as 56 to as high as 72, mimicking the NBA. The NHL had done a shortened season before when the 2012-13 season was compressed to 48 games. There wasn’t as much hockey, but the hockey itself was high stakes as there was no room for taking an off night.

That said, the more games played, the better. A season in the 70s would be more ideal as more money could be generated, but if the start is pushed to February, which many hockey minds have brought up, a lower number is likely.

4) The mystery is almost over

If the NHL wants to start January 1st, then we’ll all need to know soon. We’re at the halfway mark of November, and players and staff will need to return to their home cities to prepare for the season. The Montreal Canadiens currently have Jesperi Kotkaniemi on loan playing for Assat Pori in Liiga while Lukas Vejdemo and Otto Leskinen are playing as well. They’ll need to be informed sooner rather than later, and it could be a telltale sign of what is to come.

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If they start returning soon, January 1st looks to be it. Otherwise, it may be February. At least we’ll have the World Juniors to keep us going.

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