As the 2021 NHL regular season winds down, the 2021-22 campaign is beginning to take shape.
Per TSN's Pierre LeBrun, the league's general managers had a call on Wednesday to discuss next season's start date, and the hopeful opener would take place about a week later than usual.
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October 12 is not a set-in-stone date by any means. It's simply being reported by LeBrun as a time the league would like to kick things off without any coronavirus or non-pandemic related setbacks.
The NHL had reportedly wanted a "normal" start to next season after having to delay the start of this season to mid-January 2021. Each team only played realigned division competitors in a condensed 56-game season. With this season running to July 9 at the latest and training camps re-opening around September 22nd, the NHL would be dealing with a second-straight shortened offseason.