NHL Reportedly Expected to Announce 2 Hub Cities for Restart on June 22

The NHL is reportedly expected to announce its selections for the two hub cities to host the remainder of the 2019-20 season amid the coronavirus pandemic on June 22.

John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the update Friday after the league announced the previous day training camps will open July 10 for the 24 teams in its restart plans.

Las Vegas is expected to serve as one of the host cities, and the league is hopeful for clearance from the Canadian government to choose one of its cities, preferably Toronto, as the other hub, per Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. It's possible an announcement is made before June 22 if plans are finalized quickly.

The NHL announced its return-to-play format May 26. It's a multistage approach with 24 of the league's 31 teams taking part. The top four teams in each conference will play a World Cup-style pool to determine their seeds while the remaining clubs play a best-of-five series to secure a playoff berth.

Once the field of eight teams from each conference is set, the postseason will proceed with its typical best-of-seven series format, but the bracket will be reseeded after each round of play.

An official date for a resumption of play hasn't been announced.

"I want to make clear that the health and safety of our players, coaches, essential support staff and our communities are paramount," commissioner Gary Bettman said last month. "While nothing is without risk, ensuring health and safety has been central to all of our planning so far and will remain so."

Along with Las Vegas and Toronto, the other possible hub cities under consideration are Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh and Vancouver.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the NHL draft lottery is scheduled to take place June 26 featuring the seven teams that didn't qualify for return.

The 2019-20 season has been on hold since March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only twice since 1915 has the Stanley Cup not been awarded: 1919 because of the Spanish flu pandemic and 2005 because of a lockout that canceled the entire season.