NHL and NHLPA have deal in place for 56-game season

While NHL commissioner Gary Bettman maintains that he is set on getting back on track and to a normal schedule for the 2021-22 season it now sounds like he is a step closer. 

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has just announced that a tentative deal is in the place between the National Hockey League and its Players Association for a 56-game schedule for the 2020-21 season.

The Players' Association is expected to talk later tonight in order to schedule a NHL Board call. The NHL plans to schedule a Board of Governors call/vote sometime this weekend.

The season is expected to kick off as hoped on January 13th. 

It is also believed that a tentative agreement is in place to keep the Canadian teams in their all-Canadian division. According to insider Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, this could be resolved by Monday. 

Earlier this week, it had been reported that the NHL may be forced to move its Canadian teams down to the U.S. if it can’t come to agreements with provincial health authorities between now and the planned league start date of Jan 13th, 2021. In order to limit travel within the country, thereby getting around Canadian and American border restrictions, this plan requires the approval of health authorities from five different provinces, something that has been difficult to attain. The COVID-19 situations in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia are vastly different and changing seemingly everyday. This has made it extremely difficult for the league to negotiate its protocols.

Randip Janda of Sportsnet reported earlier today that the NHL has reached out to the Public Health Agency of Canada to facilitate a meeting with provincial health officers to present their Canadian division plan again.  We still await the responses from health officers. 

Things appear to be moving in the right direction with this tentative deal in place tonight. 

Training camps would take place starting on January 3rd, however the seven teams who did not compete in the Return to Play plan over the summer, the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres, will be allowed to start camps on December 30th.