Vegas Golden Knights: Thrashing out what the 2020-21 NHL season could look like
It could be another strange year for the Vegas Golden Knights.
We are in the depths of the off-season right now but the Vegas Golden Knights and the rest of the National Hockey League are still waiting on a concrete start date for the 2020-21 season.
We did learn some significant news on Thursday after the NHL postponed both the 2021 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend in Florida and the 2021 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, due to be played by the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues.
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It was disappointing news given that both events are highlights of the NHL calendar, particularly the Winter Classic which is always a must-watch on New Year’s Day.
However, the NHL did stress that they are still committed to and hopeful of dropping the puck on the 2020-21 regular season on Jan. 1, 2021.
There’s still a hell of a lot up in the air, though, and we are going to attempt to wade through all the looming questions facing the Golden Knights and the NHL and then take a look at what shape the 2020-21 NHL season might take.
Let’s delve right in…
Sprint to the finish line
What we know so far is that the National Hockey League is hopeful of dropping the puck on the 2020-21 season on Jan. 1, 2021. That is a stance they are sticking to right now and we will see if that proves to be optimistic or not.
The league has also stressed that they fully intend to play a full 82-game schedule in 2020-21, although there are a few caveats at play here.
Firstly, it is going to be tight but possible to play a full schedule if the season does indeed start on Jan. 1, 2021, but that’s without any further complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, the summer Olympics in Tokyo are slated to start on July. 23, 2021 and the NBC will have to clear their schedule by then in order to accommodate the Games.
As a result, the NHL will have to make sure that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are concluded by July. 22, 2021 at the very latest, leaving the league with little room for error when it comes to fitting a full 82-game schedule and the postseason in.
It took 64 days to complete the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including travel dates, so with that in mind the postseason would have to start by May. 20, 2021. If that was the case, then the Golden Knights and the other 30 franchises would have to navigate 82 games in just 138 days.
That would be a gruelling and incredibly taxing war of attrition for all teams, and that isn’t taking into account any potential complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which isn’t going anywhere anytime soon it seems.
The most realistic option could be a similar path to the one the NBA is on the cusp of heading down for the 2020-21 season. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the NBA is planning on a 72-game schedule that will begin on Dec. 22, 2020.
Should the NHL look to adopt that plan too, then it isn’t a bad Plan B given that it is only 10 games short of a traditional regular-season schedule, and it would give the league some wriggle room if they needed to re-arrange any games should there be a COVID-19 outbreak in a particular State.
Expanded rosters will have to be introduced given the amount of games that will be played in a short amount of time, and it could be that the league allow teams to have a Taxi Squad as they did for the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs inside The Bubble.
Overall, everything is bound to be on the table for the NHL with a decision on a start date for the 2020-21 season needed soon, but the Golden Knights should prepare for a congested schedule no matter what happens.
Also, the Golden Knights might have to get used to a new-look division too…
Division Realignment
One big rumor doing the rounds in NHL land recently has revolved around a potential tinkering of the Divisions in the league.
Realignment is the buzzword right now and it seems likely that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will look to reduce travel as much as possible.
One radical suggestion has been an all-Canadian division, which seems feasible given that the border is currently shut and isn’t likely to open by Jan. 1, 2021, unless something dramatic happens when it comes to a vaccine.
It was even put out there by Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, who told the Vegas Hockey Hotline with Brian Blessing that he thinks a Canadian division is likely, which would mean that the Knights wouldn’t be facing regular Pacific Division rivals the Vancouver Canucks, the Edmonton Oilers or the Calgary Flames during the 2020-21 regular season.
In one concept that was doing the rounds on Twitter, this is what the NHL landscape could look like in 2020-21:
Canadian Division:
- Vancouver Canucks
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Edmonton Oilers
- Ottawa Senators
- Calgary Flames
- Montreal Canadiens
- Winnipeg Jets
Western Division:
- Vegas Golden Knights
- San Jose Sharks
- LA Kings
- Arizona Coyotes
- Anaheim Ducks
- Colorado Avalanche
- Minnesota Wild
- Dallas Stars
Southern Division:
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Florida Panthers
- Detroit Red Wings
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
Eastern Division
- New York Rangers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- New York Islanders
- Philadelphia Flyers
- New Jersey Devils
- Buffalo Sabres
- Washington Capitals
- Boston Bruins
Now, there are different variations of this including the Metropolitan Division remaining as it is currently constituted, and the St. Louis Blues ending up in the same Division as the Golden Knights.
What is interesting going by the model we mapped out above, is that the Golden Knights could still find themselves in the same Division as another Stanley Cup contender in the Colorado Avalanche, who are an absolute juggernaut themselves.
It would certainly be an arms race between the Knights and the Avs for the Western Division, and it would certainly provide entertaining viewing for neutral hockey fans.
With the Dallas Stars, who reached the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Final, also in the Division, the Golden Knights will have a much tougher road to the Division Title, but they will likely have to get past Colorado and Dallas if they want to reach the Stanley Cup Final anyway.
One other suggestion to try and reduce travel in the NHL in 2020-21 is for teams to visit each team in their Division for a three-game series played over four or five days, like they do in Major League Baseball.
It is important to note that none of the above is concrete but, with the country unlikely to be in a better place in regards to COVID-19 by January, it is likely that reducing travel will be a major priority for the NHL so don’t be surprised if the Golden Knights end up in a Division that has a different look to it in 2020-21.
Fans or no fans?
The biggest and most pressing question facing the NHL prior to the 2020-21 season is whether or not fans will be allowed back into arenas and, if they are, when that will be.
It seems almost certain that the 2020-21 season will start without fans, unless we are treated to some kind of medical miracle when it comes to a vaccine being developed for the COVID-19 Pandemic.
With that seeming almost impossible right now, it seems like the NHL won’t have any choice but to start the 2020-21 season without fans in the building.
Not only will it be strange to see an empty T-Mobile Arena, but teams will continue to take body blows financially without full or even half-full arenas.
Let’s hope, of course, that fans will be allowed back in at some point in early 2021 both for the overall product and the financial health of all 31 franchises.
There is a road map to getting fans back into buildings as we’ve seen in the National Football League, with certain teams having limited capacity for games this season.
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys are just two of the NFL franchises that have had some fans in attendance this season, and there are certain protocols in place that the National Hockey League could follow.
The major difference of course is the fact that NFL stadiums are outdoors, whereas NHL arenas are indoors so that will greatly impact how many people will be allowed to attend games.
We’ve seen across Europe that other top hockey leagues have had to adapt to much smaller numbers inside arenas, and that’s something the Golden Knights will have to get used to at T-Mobile Arena for the first part of the 2020-21 season at least.
Overall, the situation for the 2020-21 NHL season is fluid and it will remain that way going forward with things likely to change on a daily basis.
dark. Next. No All-Star Game or Winter Classic
But, as far as the Vegas Golden Knights are concerned, they will be preparing for puck drop in early January and, anything else after that is up for debate right now, but expect to hear about more developments regarding the 2020-21 NHL season in the coming weeks.