After a Sunday afternoon Board of Governors call, the NHL and NHLPA have come to an official agreement for a 56-game season to begin on Jan. 13.
While the schedule is not set to be released until next week, the regular season will wrap up on May 8, with the uniquely familiar postseason beginning soon after. Each division will have their top-four teams play internal playoff rounds — first place playing fourth, second place playing third — until one final team is left standing for the Stanley Cup semi-finals sometime in the summer. The hope is that the Cup will be awarded in mid-July, to make time for a “regular” off-season and start to the 2021-22 season.