Is the NHL season…too Long?

Getty Images

The 2024 NHL Draft is in four days, the start of free agency is in seven, and game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals just concluded with the Florida Panthers taking home the title of Stanley Cup Champions for the first time in Franchise History against the Edmonton Oilers in a 2-1 win.

If it feels like the 2023-24 season has gone on forever, that’s because it kind of has. The first games of the preseason were on September 23, 2023, the first games of the regular season on October 10, 2024, the last games of the regular season on April 18th, round one of playoffs started on April 20th, over two months ago, making the entire 23-24 season 290 days long.

During the ESPN broadcast during Game Seven of the SCF, the commentators said that this was the longest season in NHL history. There was an almost week-long break in between the Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals, which was the case last year, but the Stanley Cup Final’s started six days later this year. It doesn’t seem like much but when the draft and free agency are looming, it feels overwhelming. This seems to be the general consensus across most NHL fans this season as well.

Florida Panthers 2023 Pride Jersey
Design by Teepop // X.com

What can be done to change it?

I’ve seen a few suggestions about how to make the season shorter, including starting earlier, eliminating the ASG break, which is being replaced with the four-nations tournament in the 2024-25 season, and shortening the season to anywhere from 72 to 76 games, among many other things. I certainly agree with shortening the season or, at a minimum, altering the way that the Stanley Cup Final happens. One example I’ve seen is setting it up in a neutral location, not dissimilar from the NFL’s Super Bowl, and playing the final seven games there in order to avoid a home-ice advantage and eliminate the back-and-forth travel for each team. It could allow games to be played every other day rather than having a two, three, or four day break in between.

My personal favorite option would be shortening the season as a whole. From the 1949-50 season until the last year of the Original Six, the season was on a 70-game schedule. From there, it went to 74, then 76, then 78, and then 80 games for 18 years. For the better part of the past 25 years, the season has been on an 82-game schedule, which has been fine, but it is certainly a lot of hockey. If the NHL was to shorten the season to somewhere between 72-76 games, it could shave as much as three weeks off of the regular season. This means that the Stanley Cup Finals could be completed as early as the end of May rather than closer to the end of June.

Overall, it seems like a pretty general consensus that something needs to change within the way that the NHL schedules games. Most fans and a handful of reporters I’ve seen seem to agree with this, considering how close the draft and free agency are falling this year. What do you, as the reader think? Should the season be shorter, or do you enjoy the length that it is now?

ITR 32: The Final Countdown Inside The Rink

Join Chris and Conrad as they discuss everything in the world of hockey, including the Washington Capitals making two significant contract signings and the NHL Salary Cap to keep rising. John Tortorella is out of Philly, Eastern & Western Conference Roundups & More.
  1. ITR 32: The Final Countdown
  2. ITR 31: Let Them Fight
  3. ITR 30: Down The Stretch
  4. ITR 29: Trade Deadline Review
  5. ITR 28: Deadline Week

Discover more from Inside The Rink

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Jayd Serdy

I grew up in Seattle mostly following baseball as a kid and more recently got into hockey. Since then it’s been my favorite thing, I love the community surrounding it, the people it’s brought into my life, the opportunities and of course the game itself. When I’m not watching hockey I spend a lot of time outside with my dog and following all kinds of other sports!

Leave a Reply

Adam Proteau

Catching up With Adam Proteau of The Hockey News

With the trade deadline behind us and teams pushing toward the Stanley Cup playoffs, I figured now was as good a time as ever to conduct an email interview with the great Adam Proteau of The Hockey News. Adam was kind enough to take time out of his busy writing schedule to give us his […]

Read More
Todd McLellan behind the bench

March Contiues to Be a Month That Sinks the Detroit Red Wings Playoff Hopes

March has been the part of the NHL schedule that has caused the Detroit Red Wings the most trouble in the past three seasons. In two of these three seasons, the Red Wings were led by former head coach Derek Lalonde. The Red Wings had a record of 3-11 in March of 2024 under Lalonde. […]

Read More
New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes celebrates a first-period goal against the Minnesota Wild.

New Jersey Devils Take Down Wild in a Shootout to Sweep the Season Series

The New Jersey Devils defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in a shootout on Monday night at the Prudential Center, sweeping the home-and-home season series between the two. Looking to end a three-game winless streak at home, the Devils put together another 60-plus minute effort that earned them a resilient and well-deserved win over a team […]

Read More