Recently, Gary Bettman announced that next season will begin in mid-October with a standard schedule of preseason in September. That will set the stage for (we all fervently hope) the rest of the schedule to return to familiar dates.
For this offseason, everything is compressed into the first two weeks of July, as the Stanley Cup Final ran almost two weeks later than usual. A reminder of the July key dates is in order.
June 30 is still the official year end for NHL teams and contracts, although player contracts are essentially in effect until free agency begins.