The NHL continues to contemplate how to approach the upcoming season. Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

NHL considering Jan. 15 start, 56-game regular season?

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 12/4/20

While the NBA is set to begin its 2020-21 campaign in a few weeks, the NHL has yet to set a definitive date for its season opener.

The league was originally targeting a Jan. 1 start, but that date essentially is impossible now because the season schedule has yet to be made and negotiations between the NHL and NHL Players Association haven't gone particularly well.

However, it appears the NHL and Players Association have made some progress toward an agreement for the upcoming season. Both sides recently exchanged drafts of schedules which included a 56-game regular season and a Jan. 15 start date, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli.

Difficult to say definitively ‘progress’ has been made, given the outstanding economic issues and skyrocketing COVID-19 numbers. But to me, this is one of most positive signs yet that there will be a 2021 season.

We’ll see where all this goes. Two sides remain in discussion.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 4, 2020

Speaking on Wednesday at the Sports Business Journal's "Dealmakers in Sport" panel, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman called the original Jan. 1 target date a "work in progress," per ESPN's Emily Kaplan. He also said that the league is taking its time in looking "for ways to move forward" amid the second COVID-19 wave because they want to do things right when it comes to health and safety.

The start date isn't the only problem the NHL is facing. Bettman may be forced to realign the divisions due to Canadian COVID-19 restrictions that will likely make it impossible for American teams to enter Canada. Similarly, the Canadian government probably won't let its own teams enter and exit the country freely.

The NHL also will be faced with governmental restrictions in the United States, too. Santa Clara County recently put a ban on all contact sports for three weeks, forcing the San Francisco 49ers to make a temporary home in Arizona. If the NHL was in season, the San Jose Sharks also would've been forced to find a new place to play.

When it's all said and done, there's a lot of moving parts to the upcoming NHL season. Some experts believe the campaign might not even start until February. That seems like a more reasonable start date, though we'll just have to wait and see what happens

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