Good news, NHL fans. According to multiple reports, the league is considering expanding its regular season from 82 games to 84 games.
The NHL has been tinkering with its schedule for a while now amid the requests from the teams to play more divisional rivalries. Several solutions have been proposed, with an 84-game regular season being one of the likeliest to get some traction.
Under the current format, each team plays 26 games against divisional opponents, meeting each one three or four times. Twenty-four games are played against non-divisional conference opponents, while 32 are played against teams from the other conference.
By adding two more games to the schedule, the league would keep the current schedule intact while adding more divisional games. In an 84-game regular season, each team would play its divisional opponents four times with a total of 28 divisional games.
In order to compensate for the increase, the league will reportedly consider shortening the preseason.
It is important to note that the 84-game regular season is still just an idea that is being discussed in NHL circles. There is no official proposal yet, and the more serious discussions are only expected to take place next year. Also, the players would need to accept the addition of two games as the current CBA caps the number at 82.
