NHL Hopeful of Opening Team Facilities in Mid-to-Late May Amid Coronavirus

While the NHL has advised its players to maintain quarantine as the coronavirus pandemic continues, a newly reported memo from the league says team facilities "may be able" to reopen in mid-to-late May as long as the data and guidelines from health officials continue to "trend favorably":

The memo, reported by TSN's Frank Seravalli, notes players who are currently self-isolating outside of their NHL city should consider plans to return.

There is still no expressed timeline to resume the 2019-20 season.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has also seen the memo, reporting that the league is considering all options to save the season and the reopening of team facilities would start with "small group activities."

A portion of the memo obtained by Friedman reads:

"Players and Club staff who may currently be sheltering outside of the Club's home city should consider whether to plan to return to their Club cities, understanding the attendant travel restrictions and self-quarantine measures that may either be imposed by the NHL/NHLPA or remain applicable in certain jurisdictions. For example, some jurisdictions continue to require a strict 14-day home quarantine following international travel."

NHL and NHL Players' Association representatives confirmed the league is looking at reopening team facilities, reiterating that no timeline exists for a return to play.

The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun noted on Tuesday that the league is also looking at rescheduling the 2020-21 season to begin play in December. In that scenario, the All-Star Game, bye weeks and Christmas break would all be eliminated in a bid to fit a full 82-game regular season.

That plan would provide a larger window for the league to complete the 2019-20 season, possibly completing the playoffs in October with a truncated offseason between seasons in November.

Opening the team facilities are the first of many hurdles to resuming the season. The NBA was reportedly set to do so on May 1, as some states begin easing social distancing restrictions, yet that plan was delayed until May 8 after teams across the league gave "significant pushback."

Friedman believes the NHL will release a more concrete framework soon, with a possible plan for restarting team activities coming as early as next week.