Five ideas about what to do next for the NHL in 2020–21 and beyond

What’s next for the NHL?

I am not asking in some existential manner; I really want people to answer this more literally. Frankly, I have no tough answers and literally no one will. As wise as they were to name the host cities for the 2019–20 NHL playoffs – the league is waiting to put any decisions to stone – that is all anyone can do, predict how the pandemic will develop over the winter. , Which affects the available options of the league.

But I have some predictions about this and some other things about the off-season మరియు, and what’s coming up in 2020–21 and beyond. Here we go:

1. How will the NHL fare in the coming months?

What I think most is that the NHL will launch the 2020–21 season shortly in January (maybe 55-60 games?). It starts in a variety of hub cities – both in Canada and some in the US which are considered the safest and most convenient to have some fans in the games. Given the border issues the Canadian division is almost certain.

The goal is to reach the start of the season as the second wave is hopefully declining, so the league can add more fans for the second half of the season. I say “more fans” because as the months go by the numbers hopefully increase, I think there will be an attempt to add at least some from the bat. I believe the league will do everything they can to play as many games as possible with safely paying (or at least legally) allowable humans.

2. Potential All-Canadian Section: Yes or No?

I both like it and don’t like it. Canadian teams I really like the idea of ​​Canadian teams playing. I like that those games at least north of the border draw more eyebrows. I like the idea of ​​provoking animosity, albeit temporarily, between Canadian fans and cities.

I certainly did not like the idea that Canadian teams, who had long struggled to make sense anywhere in the playoffs, would suddenly find a place in the conference finals (uming the divisional playoff format). Honestly, the worst scenario for Canadians is that after a long struggle to bring the cup back north of the border, the Canadian team will clear the path to the conference final, which they will complete in a short time. Of course this does not logically diminish anything – the winning team would still have earned the rest of the league – but you would not want to give a non-Canadian claim of a “star” in the year when a team is finally available. That’s it.

So in the end, I really like the Canadian division idea. I don’t like to give haters an idea in hockey arguments.

3. Does everything that has aired in the last few months make teams and players more appreciative of fans?

Yes, and I think so too. I laughed when I thought about the time when Toronto Maple Leafs were facing charges Refusing to salute their fans Because they didn’t like how they were being treated or anything. Suddenly the salary cap is flat and escrow one billion per year and fans are not going to be able to attend games because players are going to see some of the contracts they have signed. That reality will definitely get them extra praise.

The cool aspect of it is that the warmest factor is how much value fans add to the game, I would argue more than any other sport in hockey, the “ohs” when hockey is alive and dead and the “ahhs” rushes fall and fall.

We know the game will lose fans. We know that some pocketbooks are going to suffer significant damage here. But actually watching it play really strengthened the show of love, the game is inevitably going to give its patrons back.

4. Why not leave an offer sheet to someone in the year you can clearly land the name player?

I asked some NHL minds about this, and the general consensus was low “OK, hat space is tight and no one wants to humiliate anyone” and more “Honestly, I don’t know – I still can’t believe it happened. ”

Speaking to Mike Futa Sports Net, the New Jersey Devils asked a lot of questions about the offer sheets in their GM interview because they were interested in growing it faster. The obvious hang-up here is that they do not have their own second round pick in 2021, which impairs their ability to target players with a very significant salary range – however, if you look at what’s out there and try to trade it, it’s worth it again for that option Might be!).

Overall, it feels less like “teams don’t want to do this X” (which you often hear) and more “every single team has some limit” (like the Devils’ second absence). It prevents them from doing what they want to do.

That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened yet. But we are still surprised. Wait, Lightning fans!

5. Will goalie tandems be more valuable next season?

Absolutely. One of the accepted consequences of the Analytics era is that marbles work so badly in the second half of the back-to-back.

If anything happens next season, you’ll be back-to-back enough when you try to jam in as little time as possible during the season. Institutional goal depth is more important than ever.