NHL considers four-arena plan for potential summer restart

The NHL seems to have trained its focus on completing its regular season before a traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoff round if permitted by governing health bodies.

It appears as if the NHL plans to complete the full 82-game schedule; however, the schedule would be redrawn by quadrants. That’s the reason why the focus is to divide the league by divisions and create an exclusive intradivisional schedule.

As reported before, the league is finding NHL cities to host games rather than neutral sites in small locales that don’t have the infrastructure to support such an endeavor. Those urban centers and locations expected to remain under social distancing methods and modified stay-at-home orders by mid-July would be eliminated.

Carolina (Raleigh) and Columbus would be options for the Metro Division; Florida (Sunrise) and Tampa Bay in the Atlantic; Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota in the Central and Edmonton and Calgary among those in the Pacific.

Another Pacific-centric location that has not only not been eliminated by the league, but also is under consideration, is Las Vegas.

The league seems to have started building its own momentum for a July resuming. However, Bettman said that the NHL will adopt a safety-first approach in reaching its decision.

The plan also includes expanding the active roster of each team to 30 players. As final paychecks are planned on May 15, it is unclear now whether added players would be treated as playoff call-ups, how they would be paid, or who receive NHL housing and rental cars but no salary.

Bettman confirmed that discussions about holding the draft in June before the regular season is completed, although he considered that as a trial balloon and stresses that no decisions have been made.

However, team presidents have been pressing for the regular season completion rather than staging an immediate, expanded playoff tournament. Sponsorship deals and local television obligations are the root of the issue.