Achieving four more years of labor peace in a middle of a pandemic that has halted hockey for four months? It’s a pretty good look. The NHL and NHL Players’ Association announced Monday they’d reached a tentative agreement on a collective bargaining agreement extension through 2025-26. As part of the agreement, some key return-to-play dates have been established. Training camps will formally open to launch Phase 3 July 13. Teams will travel to the (unofficially announced) hub cities, Edmonton and Toronto, July 26. The qualifying round of the 24-team play-in tournament will commence Aug. 1.
As for the Phase 3 and 4 safety protocol, the NHL and NHLPA released two documents, totaling 48 pages, outlining each.