The NHL’s decision to pause its 2019-20 regular-season schedule over COVID-19 concerns generated uncertainty over when the league will return to action. The best-case scenario is May 15, allowing sufficient time to finish the schedule and stage full playoff rounds.
It’s also possible the league will be forced to scrap the remainder of the regular season for a truncated postseason schedule or scrap the entire campaign. Given the potential blow to its revenue, the NHL hopes to avoid that situation.
Because the salary cap is tied to league revenue, scrapping the season would result in a much lower cap than the earlier projection of between $84 million to $88 million.