NHL Releases 2021 Schedule

The NHL schedule is out, and we get to wait just a liiiiitle bit longer, as the Senators will be the last team to open up their season. The Senators are set to start with four straight at home. first with a back-to-back games against the Leafs on January 15th and 16th, followed by a pair against Winnipeg on the 19th and 21st. They then hit the road for a third game against Winnipeg (a home, home and home?) and further west.

Start times are all listed as “TBA”.

Here is the #Sens full season schedule: pic.twitter.com/ACctJ9C8vw

— Hailey Salvian (@hailey_salvian) December 23, 2020

With the North division having an unbalanced schedule the Sens will face Montreal and Winnipeg 10 times each, with the rest of the division 9 times.

The stretch between Feburary 25th and March 7th could be fun - they host Calgary for three in a row, hit the road for one in Montreal, then another two games in Calgary. We’ll get to see if the Tkachuk on Tkachuk rivalry can really heat up.

There are two different four game series on the schedule. Ottawa visits Montreal on March 28th, hosts them on the 30th and April 1st, then back to Montreal for the 3rd. At the end of April, they visit the Canucks for two games then host them for two.

The Senators will wrap up the season with a back-to-back in Winnipeg.

The league still does not have approval from the Provincial health authorities to play the games in the home arenas. Darren Dreger is reporting that a response is expected sometime this afternoon, though Garrioch is saying to not expect a decision today.

In addition to the Senators schedule, there are a few key dates for the league as a whole that were announced yesterday. The trade deadline is April 12th. The playoffs start May 11th and could go as late as July 9th (both subject to change). The draft dates are July 21st for the expansion draft and July 23rd for the entry draft, with free agency kicking off on July 28th.

The @NHLPA and @NHL have announced critical dates, medical protocols, transition rules and a rule change for the 2020-21 season.

Details: https://t.co/NLripqvf6N (includes links to COVID-19 Protocol, Positive Test Protocol & Travel Protocol) pic.twitter.com/9MOwpidv1B

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 22, 2020