NHL free agency is expected to start on November 1st
The league is expecting NHL free agency to begin in November.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has thrown a monkey wrench into everyone’s plans in 2020, and that includes just about every professional sports league. It won’t just affect this season either, as it will probably affect the 2021 season as well. The NHL is no different. But according to Bob McKenzie, NHL free agency is projected to start on November 1.
If this holds up, it will delay the NHL offseason by about four months. Usually, the NHL offseason starts on Canada Day, which is held on July 1. It’s perfect because Canada loves hockey, so why not celebrate a national holiday with the start of free agency?
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Now, the season usually starts in October, which is three months after July 1. If the NHL doesn’t shorten the offseason, that means we could be waiting until February 1st for the 2021 season to start. It’s hard to see hockey coming back for the regular season until fans can safely show up again. Until there’s a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, that’s going to be difficult to pull off.
The start date for the 2021 season will likely depend on how long the Stanley Cup Playoffs take. Ideally, the NHL would like to start the postseason on August 1. However, there could be some holdups, as the NHLPA needs to do a full player vote and not everyone’s rushing to get back on the ice.
This also means the NHL Draft will most likely be held sometime in late October. The draft is usually held just before the start of free agency. It will most likely have to be held virtually since it’s hard to see it being safe for a mass gathering of fans indoors by October.
Here’s an interesting thought – would this cause the NHL to reconsider the length of its season? Because returning in January or February in 2021, unless they have a shortened season, would affect the 2021-22 season as well. And the 2022-23 season too. The NHL might find it easier to simply move the season’s start to January from here on out. Though players likely wouldn’t enjoy a lack of summer vacation.
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Of course, none of this is set in stone yet. But it appears the NHL is close to returning to normalcy. Or at least as close to normal as possible in these odd times.