The NHL began playing preseason games in China in '17 but did not hold an exhibition there last yearGETTY IMAGES
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that the league "continues to hope to play preseason games in China in the fall but is closely monitoring the spread of the coronavirus that originated there," according to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. The league played preseason games in China in '17 and '18 before not sending teams there in '19 "because of logistical issues with booking arenas." Plans to return to China for the '20-21 preseason "have yet to be announced," and Daly "indicated they could be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak." The NHL is "waiting before making any decision on about going back to in China before next season." Daly: "There was certainly a hope that we would be able to play preseason games there next year. I would say that hope probably continues to exist, but as time goes on, it becomes far more problematic." Meanwhile, Daly said of the Capitals not playing a game in Russia next season, "For a variety of reasons, those plans didn't come together. I think we're going to kind of work, kind of re-trench again to figure out whether there's a better strategy to try to make that happen" (NHL.com, 2/26).
