The NHL regular season will begin on Jan. 13 and conclude on May 8 with the top four teams from each division qualifying for the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, set to commence on May 11.
Of course, the schedule is subject to change if necessary, and t
he NHL stated the need to be "flexible and adaptable"
given the unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nashville will open the season on Jan. 14 at Bridgestone Arena against the Columbus Blue Jackets before hosting them again two nights later. This begins a pattern for the Preds that will see them face the same opponent in consecutive games throughout the regular season, with both games coming in the same city (no home-and-home matchups).
Highlights of the schedule include:
- Opening Night at Bridgestone Arena on Jan. 14 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
- Regular-Season Finale on May 8 in Nashville against the Carolina Hurricanes.
- Nine homestands and eight road trips.
- Ten sets of back-to-back games.
- Segments of two consecutive games against the same opponent throughout the season (23 instances).
- Two, six-game road trips (Feb. 15 to Feb. 25, March 9 to March 20).
- Five, four-game homestands (Jan. 14 to Jan. 19, Feb. 8 to Feb. 13, Feb. 27 to March 6, March 30 to April 4, April 26 to May 1).
The NHL also released their
Critical Dates calendar
on Tuesday and includes the following events over the coming months:
- Dec. 31 - Training camps open for seven Clubs that did not participate in the resumption of play for the 2019-20 season (Anaheim, Buffalo, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Ottawa and San Jose)
- Jan. 3 - Training camps open for the remaining 24 teams
- Jan. 13 - 2020-21 regular season begins
- April 12 - Trade deadline (2 p.m. CT)
- May 8 - Last day of regular season
- \May 11 - Stanley Cup Playoffs begin
- \July 9 - Last possible day of Stanley Cup Final
- July 17 - Deadline for Protection Lists for Expansion Draft (4 p.m. CT)
- July 21 - Expansion Draft for Seattle Kraken (7 p.m. CT)
- July 23 - Round 1 of NHL Draft
- July 24 - Rounds 2-7 of NHL Draft
- July 28 - Restricted Free Agent/Unrestricted Free Agent signing period begins (12 p.m. ET)
*subject to change
Stay tuned to NashvillePredators.com in the days and weeks to come for further information on game start times, broadcast schedules and additional details on the 2020-21 season.
