It is official. The NHL will be back with a 56 games season on January 13th. It is going to look a little different with the divisions and the playoff format. The Penguins bounced between the Central and East Divisions over the past few weeks and they officially have a home.
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
They will play eight games against each of their divisional opponents. The last time we saw that many games against other teams in the regular season was all the way back when Sid and Geno were still just young pups and had yet to play in a Stanley Cup Final way back in 2007-08.
The Penguins won the division that year riding the excellence of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury. It is a shorter season and variance will play a larger role, but I don’t see a divisional title this time around with Boston lurking in the division. Hot streaks and cold streaks are going to define a season even more so than usual so nothing is set in stone. Just think about the hot starts the Sabres have gotten off to in recent years only to bungle it away. With only 56 games a hot start like that could hold up.
The playoffs are going to be divisional heavy. The top four teams of each division will make the playoffs. There will be teams with more points in one division missing out on the playoffs while a team with less gets in. Brace for it now, it will happen. The fun thing about this playoff setup comes in the semi-finals and finals. The teams will be re-seeded when they get to the final four. This is fun because you have matchups that otherwise wouldn’t exist.
How will the #StanleyCup Playoffs work? pic.twitter.com/Og9XtBG13H
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 20, 2020
Canada will be guaranteed a team in the semi-finals so it opens up some old school Original 6 possibilities for a Stanley Cup Final. If Toronto and Montreal make it through they might get someone like Boston, I’m sure Maple Leaf fans would be thrilled to make it all the way to the end to get the Bruins again. Pittsburgh could find themselves against Tampa Bay or Carolina. I’m all about the new possibilities. Nothing is normal now so it is probably best to embrace the chaos and variance this new season will bring.
Now that the season is on the horizon we should start seeing some player moves around the league. We still have players like Mike Hoffman, Mikael Grandlund, and Erik Haula yet to be signed. We still have ten teams over the cap at the moment. We also have the defending champs pulling a Chicago
TB's cap issues may be solved by LTIR. There is word Nikita Kucherov is battling an injury that may keep him out awhile. No comment from team/agent, so details are sketchy -- but clarity expected this week. If unable to play (unfortunately), it will clear room for the Lightning.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 21, 2020
How very convenient. Here’s the deal, Kucherov is an excellent player and logic says it is better to have him than not. Also, Tampa is projected to run away with their division and need cap space more than Kucherov in the lineup. This situation is obnoxiously convenient just like when the Blackhawks would run into cap trouble and have a player with a condition ie Hossa.
Anyways, things are going to ramp up after the holidays and there will be an NHL season. This will be the calm before the storm.
Thanks for reading!