During the opening statement of the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, league commissioner Gary Bettman officially announced the the NHL is pursuing a January 1, 2021 return date for the NHL’s 2020-21 season.
The league has previously stated that they do not want to prolong next season too deeply into the summer, and they expect to have a full 82-game season. A January return does allow three months of recovery time for the players who participated in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.
The league will still have to navigate the possibilities around whether or not crowds will be allowed and what kind of travel restrictions the league will have to work around, especially with a compressed schedule.