The situation in Canada is beginning to improve a little as more shots are being given out to those who need it, but the delay between shots can be 4 months, and when you consider many of the players in Canada have not yet gotten their first shot it doesn't take fancy math to see next season's early October opening gets dicey for travel back and forth over the border...
"At least for the first half of the season, the teams in Canada may have to play the other teams in Canada until things improve. That could see the Canadian division continuing, or the return to the standard divisions and schedule, but the Canadian teams would play their Canada games first."
"Were I to speculate, I'd say there is a better than 50% chance the Canadian Division is back for 1 more year, and therefore this year's other 3 NHL divisions would be back as well. The NHL has liked some of the rivalries that have developed."
Of course, to keep these divisions the same would be fine.... If was Seattle in Canada.
But since it is very much NOT, the only way to keep these divisions the same would be to...
1. Make Seattle a 9th team in the West.
That would cause all sorts of cries of unfairness when it comes to making the playoffs.
or
2. Have 8 teams in each division by putting Seattle in the Canadian division, but have them not play the Canadian teams until the second half. The NHL is very much looking forward to the Vancouver/Seattle Rivalry, hoping for a Toronto/Buffalo hatred to develop.
Also, my source confirmed that it is possible the NHL releases only HALF the schedule this summer and waits until November to release the rest based on the COVID situation.