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The NHL's season has been suspended since Thursday, March 12, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a timetable for resumption of play is uncertain as the disease continues its spread worldwide.
If the NHL is in position to resume the 2019-20 campaign, however, then the league would prefer playing regular-season games before moving onto the postseason, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
"We understand that with what will obviously be a lengthy break between games, players are going to want to have an ability to re-acclimatize themselves to NHL competition before having to play games that could end their seasons quickly," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said via email to LeBrun.