The 2020-21 NHL season may start in November

As the NHL and its player association continue to work through possibilities for a return to play to conclude the 2019-20 NHL season, an Edmonton Oilers executive is referencing starting the following season in November.

On a conference call with media held Tuesday morning, Oilers chairman Bob Nicholson was heard referencing the start of the 2020-21 season potentially being in November, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported.

While we don’t want to read too much into the reference, we do know this: the league has stated in the past that while they do want to have some sort of a conclusion for the 2019-20 season, they haven’t wanted to impact the 20-21 season.

The tone from Nicholson suggests there’s at least some around the league in favour of pushing back the start of next season. The league, in theory, could stretch the start of the 20-21 season into November by getting rid of bye weeks for teams, and by eliminating the NHL all-star week.

On that note, we may see next year’s playoffs pushed back should they decide to go with a model that sees the league start next season in November.

On Twitter: @zjlaing