NHL to consider major change to the league's schedule

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Axel Williams
October 2, 2024 (8:59)

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Soon, the NHL and the NHLPA will have to meet to discuss the CBA, and some believe that this could end up turning into a lockout situation.

However, for now, it is believe that both sides are in a good place and that things shouldn't get too out of hand that quickly. Having said that, there is no denying the fact that there is a lot for both sides to talk about right now. In particular, much has been said about the NHL regular season and if there is anything the league can do fix it or make it more unique.

According to insider Pierre LeBrun, one idea that has been floated around involves increasing the number of games. Essentially, they want to reduce the amount of preseason games. From there, they would make the regular season 84 games as opposed to 82. This would give each team 42 home games instead of just 41.

It seems like an interesting idea on the surface, but what would it really accomplish? The only thing it would do is boost revenue by a few percentage points. However, the league probably like the prospect of that so you can't be too surprised by the tactics.

As for the players, they would likely prefer to keep things at 82 games. A similar situation happened in the NFL, as players wanted to keep the season at 16 games, but the NFL was able to increase it to 17, which is a ridiculous odd number in retrospect.

Do you believe that the NHL should increase the regular season to 84 games? Or should they leave it alone at 82? Let us know in the poll down below and stay tuned to Hockey Unplugged for all of the latest news and updates from around the hockey world. We will continue to keep you informed on all of your favorite players and teams.

Source: Pierre LeBrun
NHL and NHLPA talk schedule changes