The extra days would be on the front end of the normal training camp period for teams like the DucksGETTY IMAGES
The seven NHL teams that "didn’t get to participate in return to play this past summer will finally have an answer on a proposal they jointly submitted a few months ago" regarding whether they will be "allowed to extend their training camp before this season given that they haven’t played a game since mid-March," according to Pierre LeBrun of THE ATHLETIC. A source yesterday confirmed that the NHL and NHLPA have an "agreement on a general framework but nothing has been finalized yet and likely won’t until both sides set an official start date for training camps." But LeBrun reported the tentative framework "contemplates extra days of training camp which would be on the front end of the normal training camp period for the Ducks, Kings, Sharks, Devils, Senators, Red Wings and Sabres (if they choose to do so)." There also is "talk of extra preseason games for those teams," but that part has not "been agreed to at this point" (THEATHLETIC.com, 10/20). NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly in an email confirmed that the league and union have a "general agreement on the structure of extra pre-camp workouts for those seven teams, but the two sides have not yet finalized any details." In San Jose, Curtis Pashelka notes none of the seven teams have "played a game or practiced as a team since the NHL paused play March 12" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 10/21).
PUSHING TO FEBRUARY? Octagon Hockey co-Managing Dir Allan Walsh on Friday during his weekly segment on Montreal’s CKGM-AM indicated the "most likely start date" for the '21 NHL season is Jan. 15, and "I think it can be pushed all the way to Feb. 1.” In Montreal, Stu Cowan notes the NHL and NHLPA in July ratified a four-year extension of the CBA through the '25-26 season, so there is "labour peace and you can expect" NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to "do everything he can and push owners to get the league back on the ice." Walsh: “There is talk amongst the NHL owners and NHL head office of not starting the season until a date all the way out to Feb. 1. And based on how communities are doing across NHL cities and across North America it’s a realistic possibility" (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 10/21).
