NHL reportedly considering 2 hub cities instead of 4 for league reopening

The NHL may look to condense their reopening plans even further, as reports suggest the league is looking at opening in two hub cities instead of four.

The NHL’s plans for the league’s reopening still remains unclear as of mid-May. The league is likely set to make a decision soon on what a resumption of the 2019-20 season will look like, but for now it is anyone’s guess.

On Monday, TSN insider Bob McKenzie reported that the idea of condensing the league’s four-city hub plan into two is starting to gain steam among teams. Previously, the NHL had been looking at a four-city centralized return to play, wherein the 24 proposed teams would be split between the cities, which would be reduced as teams are eliminated.

Now, it seems that some NHL teams would like to just skip some steps altogether and pair things down to just two hub cities to start with, which would then dwindle down to one as the teams are eliminated.

McKenzie also reports that Las Vegas is currently being considered, due to its large hotel and resort count and its proximity to the arena where the Golden Knights currently play. Las Vegas makes sense from the NHL’s point of view, given that many of the team’s worries about lodgings would be solved by the city’s vast hotel space.

While the NHL has still yet to come up with a concrete plan for the league’s return, this idea makes sense from the league’s perspective. While four cities for each of the league’s four divisions seemed fine at the time of that proposal, pairing things down to two hub cities means only two locations to worry about in terms of player and personnel safety.

However, it does beg the question of why can’t the league just pair things down even further and go for only one city to host this event. If the NHL is adamant about bringing 24 teams back for a play in tournament plus the playoffs, it may be too big for one city to handle all at once. However, if just 16 teams make the cut for a regular playoff, the league may be able to work things out.

With June approaching rapidly, the NHL will no doubt be making decisions on the league’s reopening within the coming weeks.

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