NHL Announces Key 2020-21 Dates Ahead of 56-Game Season

The National Hockey League released its updated calendar ahead of the 2020-21 season with confirmation opening night will take place January 13. 

There will not be a preseason or any exhibition games played ahead of the regular season.

Training camps for the seven teams that did not qualify for the postseason tournament last season—the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators—will begin December 31 while the remaining 24 teams can open camp January 3.

An official schedule for each team is expected Wednesday. 

All but one of the dates on the calendar are set in place with the last possible day of the Stanley Cup Final (July 9) subject to adjustment. 

The trade deadline is locked in for April 12 at 3 p.m. ET with the regular season ending May 8 and the playoffs beginning three days later May 11. 

Arguably the most important date of the season will take place in the days after the Stanley Cup has been awarded with a July 17 deadline for teams to submit protected players ahead of the expansion draft. The newly established Seattle Kraken will then draft from the remaining pool of players July 21 with the full NHL draft beginning July 23.

Free agents will be able to sign new contracts beginning noon July 28, only slightly later than the usual July 1 start to the transaction window. 

The NHL expects to return to a traditional calendar for the 2021-22 season with a slightly shorter offseason planned for this summer in order to return on time.