Headlines

  • Flames Sign Connor Zary To Three-Year Contract
  • Ken Dryden Passes Away At 78
  • Sharks Acquire Carey Price’s Contract From Canadiens
  • Derek Ryan Announces Retirement
  • 2025 NHL Training Camp Rosters
  • Marco Scandella Confirms Retirement
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

NHL Announces Official Dates And Times For 2020 Draft, Opening Of Free Agency

September 11, 2020 at 11:52 am CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

With the 2020 postseason proceeding ahead of schedule, there has been reporting and considerable speculation that the league would move up the dates of the delayed 2020 NHL Entry Draft and the beginning of the new league year and opening of free agency. The NHL has followed through on that speculation, officially announcing today the new dates for these events. The Draft will take place on October 6-7, and the new league year will commence on October 9.

The first round of the NHL Draft will begin at 7pm ET on Tuesday, October 6, a departure from its usual Friday night slot. Similarly, the second day of the draft, comprising rounds 2-7, will take place on Wednesday, October 7 rather than it’s typical Saturday placement. Otherwise, the structure of the draft stays the same. One key difference though is that all draft operations will take place virtually.

As for the start of free agency, the July 1 unofficial holiday will instead take place on Friday, October 9. Other than a delay of more than three months, the opening of free agency will not be much different; at 12pm ET, the signing window will open and free agents will be free to speak with teams and sign contracts. What may be very different however is the pace at which players will sign. While there is usually a massive rush of contracts when free agency opens, there are factors working against a fast-paced market. First, the NHL’s new CBA has eliminated the free agent contact period, meaning teams and available players cannot formally communicate until after free agency officially opens. Second, the flat salary cap will force the majority of NHL teams to be very careful with their roster operations this off-season, potentially prioritizing re-signing their own restricted free agents before throwing money at unrestricted free agents. This combination could produce an abnormally slow start to free agency, but October 9 will be an intriguing day league-wide nonetheless.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

CBA| Free Agency| NHL| Schedule NHL Entry Draft| Salary Cap

Nashville Predators Officially Name Dan Hinote As Assistant Coach
Main
Sabres Coaches Declined Pay Cut, Team Considering Internal Salary Cap
View Comments (0)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Flames Sign Connor Zary To Three-Year Contract

    Ken Dryden Passes Away At 78

    Sharks Acquire Carey Price’s Contract From Canadiens

    Derek Ryan Announces Retirement

    2025 NHL Training Camp Rosters

    Marco Scandella Confirms Retirement

    Changes To LTIR Will Take Effect For 2025-26, Other CBA Changes Moved Up

    Maple Leafs Sign Dennis Hildeby To Three-Year Deal

    Devils, Luke Hughes At An Impasse Regarding Contract Length

    Seeking Writers For Pro Hockey Rumors

    Recent

    Kings’ Liam Greentree Fully Recovered From Wrist Surgery

    Summer Synopsis: San Jose Sharks

    SHL’s Växjö Lakers HC Sign Brogan Rafferty

    West Notes: Golden Knights, Kravtsov, Murphy

    Islanders Won’t Pursue Extension With Anders Lee Yet

    Snapshots: Formenton, Kostin, NCAA

    Two Teams Remain In The Running To Sign Evgeny Kuznetsov

    Flames Sign Connor Zary To Three-Year Contract

    Prospect Notes: Iginla, Kindel, Konyushkov

    Senators Expected To Trade Max Guenette

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2025’s Top 50 Unrestricted Free Agents
    • Rasmus Andersson Rumors
    • Erik Karlsson Rumors
    • Rickard Rakell Rumors
    • Bryan Rust Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

      • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
      • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
      • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
      • Offseason Trade Tracker
      • Summer Synopsis Series 2025
      • Training Camp Rosters 2025
      • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
      • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls

     

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version