We have a season. The NHL Board of Governors approved the proposed deal and a 56-game campaign will kick off on January 13. For the Rangers, training camp opens January 3, two weeks from today.
The @NHLPA and @NHL have announced an agreement to play a 2020-21 regular-season schedule of 56 games beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. https://t.co/2on0oStnMd pic.twitter.com/aggYeVMjfj
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 20, 2020
The Rangers are in an eight-team division, akin to the Patrick Division of years ago. New York will play each team in their division, Boston, Buffalo, New Jersey, Islanders, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington. As seen below, the top-four teams in each division qualify for the playoffs, seed 1-4, with the four teams that advance overall seeded by point total, also seeded 1-4 for that semi-finals. The Eastern and Western Conferences have been scrapped, as now we have the East, Central and West divisions in the US and North for Canada, with the prior set up resuming again in 2021-22.
How will the #StanleyCup Playoffs work? pic.twitter.com/Og9XtBG13H
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 20, 2020
Key Dates:
12/28/20- Waiver Period Begins 12/29/20- Non Playoff Teams Open Camp 1/3/21- All Camps Open 1/13/21- NHL Season Begins 2/1/21- Teams can start asking players to waive their NMC for Expansion Draft 4/12/21- NHL Trade Deadline 5/8/21- NHL Season Ends 5/11/21- Playoffs Start 7/15/21- Last Day Playoffs can End 24 Hours After the Cup is won Teams can begin to buyout players 7/21/21- The Expansion Draft for Seattle Team 7/22,23/21 The NHL Draft 7/28/21- UFA DAY!
The key now is to get your players in the US as soon as possible, so that they can clear quarantine protocol. Alexandar Georgiev, signed to a new deal last offseason, awaits a work visa in Finland, as his prior visa expired at the end of his prior contract. In a similar situation are Filip Chytil and Libor Hajek, though their situation is because of year 1 of the ELC slid. Even though they are both still technically under their prior contract, that deal was for three years, which expired at the end of the 2019-20 season. Still overseas, but not subject to visa issues, is Mika Zibanejad. Look for Zib to head over soon, allowing him to clear COVID protocols and be ready to go shortly.
Here are the taxi squad and transition rules: The cap hit is the interesting piece. This will allow some maneuvering of players back and forth to save some cap room, but not necessarily abuse the privilege. In addition, the entry-level slide for rookies drops from 10 games to seven and training camp maximums are 36 skaters and unlimited number of goalies. In addition, as had been rumored and discussed, ads will be able to be placed on helmets.
Taxi Squad details for the 2020-21 #NHL season:https://t.co/XpdrFRgPbt pic.twitter.com/5qNa7lA2ZL
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) December 20, 2020
Here's a recap of some of the key Transition Rules for the 20-21 season, including the taxi squad, emergency recalls, special COVID roster rules, expansion eligibility, and more:https://t.co/kx2adaJp61
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) December 21, 2020