It looks like a 56 game season for the New York Rangers
The good news is that the NHL and the NHLPA had meetings late Thursday and actually made some progress. There were no discussions about the financial issues that have placed the coming season in jeopardy, but the two sides did start to tackle the nuts and bolts issues about getting a season started.
Here are the headlines as first reported by Frank Seravalli of TSN:
- The January 1 start date is off the table. Now, the planning is based on a start date of January 15 or 16.
- The length of the season will be 52 or 56 games with the preference for more games for revenue purposes. The league looked at a 60 game season, but that doesn’t work.
- Training camps would start on January 2, giving the players an opportunity to spend the holidays with their families.
- The seven teams that didn’t make the Stanley Cup Qualifier are still pushing for an early voluntary training camp, but the holidays make it an issue.
- There is no way that the NHL will allow the playoffs to finish after July 15 due to the start of the Tokyo Olympics.
So, that would mean that the New York Rangers training camp would open on January 1 or 2 in Tarrytown and the team would be playing in a division reconfigured geographically. The assumption is that there will be a seven-team Canadian division and three eight-team divisions based in the United States.
A January 2 training camp start date would allow for players to spend Christmas with their families and still be able to participate. The COVID rules for travelers coming to New York State make that possible.
Here are the rules. Anyone coming to New York from outside the contiguous states must obtain a COVID-19 test within three days of departure, prior to arrival in New York. Upon arrival, the player
must quarantine for three days. After three days, the player must take another COVID test and if both tests are negative, the player can leave quarantine.
There are a number of players already in the tri-state area so these rules would apply only to players who have been home in Canada, elsewhere in the USA or in Europe.
There are still some logistical questions that have not been answered. The exact make-up of the U.S. based divisions remains to be determined, though it appears that the Rangers will be in a division with Boston, Buffalo, Carolina, New Jersey, Islanders, Philadelphia and Washington.
The assumption is that fans will not be allowed in arenas, thought that may change later in the season. To that end, the idea of expanded playoffs is still a consideration as that would boost revenues.
A 56 game season would work for scheduling purposes with the divisions as they are set up. The Rangers played 44 games in a season for their first five years. in 1931 the season was expanded to 48 games through 1941-42 when it went to 50 games. The league went to 78 games in 1970-71 and has been at least that many games except for the two lockout seasons. In 1995 and 2013, the Rangers played 48 games.
It’s safe to begin calling next season the 2021 season instead of 2020-21.
Lafrenière not going to WJC makes sense
This week, the Rangers told Hockey Canada that Alexis Lafrenière will not be joining Team Canada for the World Junior Championships in Edmonton later this month. While some hockey insiders including former executive Brian Burke, have criticized the decision, it makes sense under the time frame revealed this week.
The gold medal game is scheduled to be played on January 5. A talented Canadian squad is a favorite for a medal and if they play on that day, the earliest Lafrenière could join the Rangers would be January 9 based on the current COVID guidelines. Missing a week and a half of his first NHL training camp is just not an option, no matter how beneficial it would be for him to go through the WJC experience again.
So, now what?
While it has to be seen as a positive for the NHL and the NHLPA to be discussing the logistics of getting the season started, there are still huge financial hurdles to overcome. The big issues are escrow and prorating and deferral of salary.
The important thing to remember is that the owners and players call their relationship a partnership, especially when it comes to revenue. The fact is that with no income from attendance or concessions, the owners are going to take a huge financial hit and the players have to expect to share that.
The question the owners and players have to ask is whether the NHL can afford to lose an entire season and still stay relevant. The players also have the issue of optics. The impact of the pandemic when it comes to lives and livelihood is increasing every day, so arguing over escrow and salary deferrals when the average salary for an NHL player is $3 million could be an issue.
Both sides have bought some time with their moving the season start date to mid-January. Movement on logistics is a great first step, but they really need to iron out their financial issues. They have about a week to figure this out.