NHL Rumors: Exec Says League Will Play 56-Game Schedule with Jan. 13 Start Date

While the NHL has yet to officially announce its plans for the 2020-21 season, there are reportedly designs on a January start.

According to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, an NHL team executive informed him Tuesday that the 2020-21 regular season will begin Jan. 13, with each team playing a 56-game schedule rather than the traditional 82.

The 2019-20 season, which was interrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic, ended Sept. 28 when the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final within the NHL bubble in Edmonton, Alberta.

The NHL and NBA followed a similar model when they resumed their 2019-20 seasons, as they played in a bubble environment, which was highly effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Although the NBA season ended a couple of weeks after the NHL season, the NBA already has its 2020-21 schedule set, as the new campaign will begin Dec. 22, with each team playing a 72-game schedule.

Despite the success of the bubble, the NBA is having teams travel and play in NBA arenas both at home and on the road, which could put players at risk when it comes to contracting COVID-19, which is precisely what has happened with MLB and the NFL.

ESPN's Emily Kaplan and Wyshynski reported Tuesday that using bubbles and hub cities during the 2020-21 NHL season is "still very much under consideration."

The NHL differs from the other three major North American sports leagues in that it has multiple Canadian teams, which could complicate matters significantly.

Since Canada has tight travel restrictions in place, it is possible American NHL teams will not be permitted to cross the border and play games in Canada.

That issue resulted in MLB's Toronto Blue Jays playing their home games in Buffalo, New York, during the 2020 season. Similarly, the NBA's Toronto Raptors will begin the 2020-21 season playing their home games in Tampa, Florida.

While the NHL executive seemingly didn't indicate to Wyshynski whether a bubble or hub cities will be part of the 2020-21 NHL season, it remains within the realm of possibility.

Doing so could also require the NHL to do a one-season realignment with all seven Canadian franchises playing in the same division.

The logistics of the next NHL season remain unclear, but if plans to start Jan. 13 are in place, then an official announcement will likely be forthcoming soon.