The NHL is making progress on a return during the coronavirus pandemic, but some teams might not finish the season.
According to Pierre LeBrun, the Return To Play Committee for the league talked over the weekend of returning with a “24-team format.” (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
It’s not clear right now how this 24-team format would work, or which six teams in the league would sit out the rest of the season.
Sources indicate the Return To Play Committee has talked throughout the weekend, NHL-NHLPA making progress on a 24-team format. Sources also stressing there’s still work to be done, but clearly the weekend has produced some traction. More talks expected over next day or two.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 17, 2020
Again, tough to handicap at this point whether a format gets agreed upon this week or not but definite progress. A reminder that the NHL has a Board of Governors call Monday at 3 p.m. ET; and that the league may announce decision on the draft this week
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 17, 2020
This is an interesting proposal from the NHL. I’d love to know the six teams that are going to get chopped out of the rest of the season.
You’d have to imagine it’d be teams in states that aren’t opening up at all and continuing with restrictions. That could mean teams in California and New York might not play out the rest of the season.
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Is playing the rest of the season with only part of the league ideal? Hell no. It sucks for the fans and it really sucks for the players on the those rosters.
However, if playing with 24 teams is what the NHL has to do to get the games going again, then I’m for it. It’s certainly better than nothing.
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It sounds like the NHL will start making some decisions on the future this week, and it sounds like we’re trending in a good direction. It might not be perfect, but it’s better than nothing.