With the NHL currently out of commission because of the coronavirus outbreak, the league's players are experiencing ample time to think about what's ahead.
According to a report Tuesday night by TSN's Frank Seravalli, players have kicked around ideas between each other for a proposal to salvage the 2019-20 season.
Per the report, the proposal has play resume in July, extend through the summer and does not sacrifice the remainder of the regular season or any of 2020-21. It does, however, significantly shorten the ensuing offseason for the players and provides less rest during 2020-21, but if the league is out of action from mid-March to the beginning of July, you would think the players won't mind that trade-off. In a way, this time serves as their period of rest, recovery and training.
Below is a section of Seravalli's segment Tuesday on TSN's "Insider Trading" along with his breakdown of the reported proposal.
(Graphic on TSN's "Insider Trading" segment)Now this is something that’s making its way to the NHLPA and at that point they’re hoping that they can present something like this to the NHL, where I’m told they’re ready and willing to consider any and all options at this point. The NHL is certainly not in a position to be closing the door on just about anything.
NHL
Clearly, there are a lot of steps to go for if this plan were to actually be put in action by the NHL. Obviously the concerns surrounding the coronavirus outbreak along with everyone's health and safety are of the highest level of importance.
But it's neat to see the players come up with this calculated idea and they're the ones who would be most impacted by the changes, so the league should certainly listen to its product.
How would such changes impact the Flyers? In a pretty positive way. The Flyers would undoubtedly love to finish this season in which they've constructed an impressive resurgence. They're in second place of the Metropolitan Division and one point behind the first-place Capitals with 13 games left on their schedule.
According to Hockey-Reference.com, the Flyers sport a 99.7 percent chance to make the playoffs, 30.5 percent chance to win the Metro and are projected to finish with 104 to 105 points. The Flyers haven't finished with 100-plus points since 2011-12, when the club last won a postseason series. The Flyers have a viable chance at a playoff run this season.
And of course, the lengthy hiatus would allow the Flyers (and everyone else, for that matter) to get healthier. As hot as the Flyers had been, they were set to finish the regular season without some key pieces. If this reported proposal were to be put in action, the Flyers would be at full force down the stretch and, who knows, could possibly even see the return of Nolan Patrick.
Uncertainty still hovers over the 2019-20 season. The Flyers will like their chances if they can see it through this summer.
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