It’s happening.
It’s really happening. The NHL is coming back. In just a little over three weeks time, the National Hockey League will drop the puck on a season like no other.
While the specifics are now mostly official after yesterday’s Board of Governors call, there are still some important elements to be worked out. Like the whole issue of where the Canadian Division, or North Division, will actually play. Minor detail really.
As we wait for some certainty on that front, another edition of Monday News and Notes.
-Not surprisingly, yesterday’s Board of Governors vote on the league’s return to play was unanimous. A formality really. When you consider where things appeared to be between the NHL and NHLPA just a few weeks ago, it’s sort of a miracle they were able to pull this all together, and under some pretty tight timelines. While there is almost certainly labour unrest on the not too distant horizon, it was encouraging to see the league and its players put those difference aside and focus on salvaging this season.
-For those that may have tuned out on some of the details over the weekend, here’s what we know at this point- 56-game season (including ten against the Leafs/Habs for the Senators), new divisions including an all-Canadian division, January 13th start date, regular season wraps up in May, playoff (Divisional) go into June, no preseason games, and the Sens can start Training Camp on December 31st. Beyond the high-level details, there is an endless string of minor modifications the league is making to accommodate theses strange circumstances. Things like expanded rosters, new entry-level contract slide guidelines and a series of modified contract-related dates. As the specifics leaked out over the last few days, you can see why this took some time to pull together.
-Admittedly, it was sort of jarring to see the league announcing these complex return to play plans at the same time that we were learning about an impending lockdown in Ontario. As of yesterday, there was still no real certainty on where the Canadian teams would start the season. While the league has made it clear that the goal is to have teams playing out of their home rinks, they have yet to land on an agreement with all provincial health authorities. Those negotiations are expected to continue this week but as we’ve heard previously, there are back-up plans in place that would allow Canadian teams to open their season south of the border. As Bruce Garrioch mentioned in his column over the weekend, “Ontario has also raised serious concerns about the safety protocols the NHL has put in place to start”. Safe to assume we’ll hear more about that today. In the meantime, the Kansas City Senators remains a real possibility.
-While the focus of the last couple days has been squarely on the NHL’s return to play, we are now just a few days from the start of the 2021 World Junior tournament. The Ottawa Senators will have four prospects at this year’s event including Jake Sanderson and Tyler Kleven with Team USA, Roby Järventie with Team Finland and of course, Tim Stuetzle with Team Germany. Like everything these days, COVID-19 concerns linger over the start of this year’s tournament with eight players on the German team testing positive in the lead-up to the event. The Germans in quarantine are expected to be back on the ice on December 24th. They start the tournament the next day against Team Finland.
-Over the weekend, there was a lot of talk about what the Senators should do with Tim Stuetzle once he’s finished at the World Juniors. And for what it’s worth, there really doesn’t seem to be any doubt that he’ll ultimately start the season in Ottawa. While the Senators have yet to secure his release from Manheim or sign him to an entry-level deal, it’s mostly a formality. And while there seemed to be some angst among fans on “burning” a year on Stuetzle’s entry-level deal, that really shouldn’t be a concern from Ottawa’s perspective. Not only does that get him to a second contract faster and probably save money in the long-term, the focus with a high-end prospect like Stuetzle has to be ensuring he’s playing in the league most appropriate for his skill set. As in, whatever makes most sense for his development. So while starting him in the NHL should be a slam dunk, they’ll have to monitor his progress closely early in the season. If he looks over-matched, they need to adjust his development plan accordingly.
