The NHL will continue to use the “Hub City Model” for the 2020/21 season, with all games in Canada. Teams will continue to follow medical/healthcare guidelines set forth by league and local/provincial/parliamentary government authorities congruent to 2020 continuation of play.

There will be 10 hub cities housing three NHL clubs each to be used as their “home venues.” One venue will have four clubs, because... 31 teams. Each team will play 30 games, twice against each team in their conference; the Western Conference teams will play an additional two games against the other clubs in their “home venue” to make it an even 30 contests.

Vancouver, BC
Arena: Rogers Arena
Teams: Canucks, Ducks, Golden Knights

Calgary, ALB
Arena: Scotiabank Saddledome
Teams: Kings, Coyotes, Flames

Edmonton, ALB
Arena: Rogers Place
Teams: Sharks, Oilers, Avalanche

Winnipeg, MTB
Arena: Bell MTS Place
Teams: Blackhawks, Jets, Stars

Saskatoon, SAK
Arena: SaskTei Center
Teams: Blues, Predators, Wild

Toronto, ONT
Arena: Scotiabank Arena & Coca Cola Coliseum
Teams: Lighting, Maple Leafs, Devils

Ottawa, ONT
Arena: Canadian Tire Centre & TD Place Arena
Teams: Capitals, Panthers, Senators, Islanders

Montreal, ONT
Arena: Centre Bell & Place Bell (Laval)
Teams: Flyers, Rangers, Canadiens

Quebec City, QUE
Arena: Centre Videotron
Teams: Penguins, Hurricanes, Bruins

Hamilton, ONT
Arena: FirstOntario Centre
Teams: Blue Jackets, Sabres, Red Wings

Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa have the benefit of multiple venues in their cities, should scheduling complications arise. This will only be done if needed, especially in Toronto should the NBA commence 2020/21 season with Toronto Raptors playing in Canada.

Each team bubble will be at designated hotel. There will also be three/four bubble hotels for visiting teams, each assigned based on opponent. For example, the New York Rangers will have their team bubble in one hotel, and another hotel will be dedicated to the opponents who come to play them.

Montreal Bubble:
Montreal - Hotel Fairmont Queen Elizabeth
NY Rangers - Hotel Bonaventure Montreal
Philadelphia - Novotel Montreal Downtown
Visitors vs. Montreal - InterContinental Montreal
Visitors vs. NY Rangers - Best Western Montreal Downtown
Visitors vs. Philadelphia - Holiday Inn Montreal Centre-Ville Ouest

Preseason: December 27th to December 30th

Preseason games will be played against the other teams in their home venue, two to three games total. All games will be available on local broadcasts and free to stream online at NHL.com.

Regular Season: January 1st to March 26th

Opening weekend will take place with four games per day, All games for opening weekend will be played on NBC Sports Network for a weekend marathon. Schedule will continue as normally planned with local broadcast networks beginning 1/4/2021. NBCSN will have priority scheduling for Wednesday Night Hockey and Sunday NHL Showcase.

1/1/2021
Red Wings vs. Senators (Ottawa)
Maple Leafs vs. Islanders (Toronto)
Flames vs. Stars (Calgary)
Golden Knights vs. Canucks (Vancouver)

1/2/2021
Bruins vs. Canadiens (Montreal)
Flyers vs. Penguins (Quebec City)
Lightning vs. Capitals (Ottawa)
Jets vs. Wild (Winnipeg)

1/3/2021
Blue Jackets vs. Sabres (Hamilton)
Rangers vs. Devils (Montreal)
Blackhawks vs. Blues (Saskatoon)
Oilers vs. Avalanche (Edmonton)

Playoffs: April 1st to June 30th

Playoffs begin April 1, 2021. All non playoff teams will be ordered to go home. Top 12 teams make the playoffs. Each series will take place in one location. All teams eliminated will be sent home. All games will be broadcasted on NBC family of networks (NBC, CNBC, USA, MSNBC, and NBCSN).

Best of 3
9v12 East
10v11 East
9v12 West
10v11 West

Best of 3 series will be at Hamilton, Quebec City, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. Series and locations TBD.

Best of 5
1v9/10/11/12 East
2v9/10/11/12 East
3v8 East
4v7 East
5v6 East
1v9/10/11/12 West
2v9/10/11/12 West
3v8 West
4v7 West
5v6 West

Each series will take place in one of the 10 hub cities. Locations TBD. Priority location based on Canadian NHL teams in playoffs.

Best of 7
Semifinals 1 vs. Semifinals 4 East
Semifinals 2 vs. Semifinals 3 East
Semifinals 1 vs. Semifinals 4 West
Semifinals 2 vs. Semifinals 3 West

Each series will take place in either Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Calgary.

Best of 7
Conference 1 vs. Conference 2 East
Conference 1 vs. Conference 2 West

Each series will take place in Toronto and Edmonton.

Best of 7
Stanley Cup 1 vs. Stanley Cup 2

Series will be played in Toronto.

Other Events:
Participating Hotels Confirmation: 11/15/2020
Team COVID-19 Deadlines: 11/30/2020
Roster Finalization: 12/7/2020
Bubble Arrival Latest Date: 12/8/2020
NHL Trade Deadline: 2/14/2021 (no games will be scheduled between 2/13 and 2/16, so players can get acclimated with new teams and comply with COVID guidelines).
NHL Draft Lottery: 3/31/2021 (Seattle gets the 8th overall pick).
Protection Lists Due: 7/1/2021
NHL Expansion Draft: 7/8/2021
NHL Draft: 7/9/2021-7/11/2021
Start of Free Agency: 7/12/2021

The NCAA, OHL, QMJHL, WHL, USHL, AHL, ECHL, SPHL, FPHL, LNAH, and all remaining USA and Canadian professional and junior leagues will not have a season. For 2020/21 season, the NHL will have a “reserve league” in four hub cities, so prospects can still play. Players under nhl contracts or nhl rights can play in this league. There will be no playoffs, just 16 games per team.
Abbotsford, BC (Pacific Division)
Cranbrook, BC (Central Division)
Belleville, ONT (Atlantic Division)
Brampton, ONT (Metropolitan Division)

a 30-game regular season? That's not very realistic imo. Minimum of 48. I like your idea of the 10 hub cities though, but if they can make it work with 2 hubs for 24 teams, why would they need 10 for 31 teams?

Ice quality. One of the biggest issues was fitting all of those games in one place per day, diminished the quality of the ice, a lot of players complained. I wanted to expand number of games but due to time crunch and of nhl schedule wants to resume to normal pre-Covid.

there is absolutely no chance the other owners that dont own one of those nhl hub buildings are on board with this. As we see with the NFL right now, Kansas City had 17k fans at their game on thurdsay night. Its all about the dollar and theres no way an owner like jeremy jacobs/ his kids go into next season without being able to play on their own home ice. Nevermind that players are already away from home in isolation, i highly doubt they want to isolate from their families like this during the regular season.