Before next week’s general managers meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun shared a few updates regarding the ongoing Collective Bargaining negotiations and additional notes, in his recurring writeup, NHL Rumblings. According to LeBrun, next season’s schedule has been tentatively agreed upon. Similarly to this year, next year’s start date will likely be Oct. 7 and the Stanley Cup Final will likely run to the third week of June. The final schedule may deviate a few days, but we’ll have a clear answer when it’s officially released in July. Of course, the major scheduling issue is the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The 2026 Winter Olympics is expected to have a longer break for NHL players than the most recent 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, which took place between Feb. 12 and Feb. 20. Factoring in the 2026 NHL All-Star Game at UBS Arena, the NHL may have an approximate three-week break for the players. LeBrun mentioned that commissioner Gary Bettman has already told teams there will be more back-to-back contests next year and a more packed schedule. Since the current iteration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires before the 2026-27 season, the NHL and the NHLPA will look to amend the schedule then. That’s the primary problem LeBrun wrote about. He shared that serious discussions are being had about shortening the preseason and expanding the regular season to 84 games. That would move the regular season start date to the last week of September while keeping the Stanley Cup Final around the same time. Extending the calendar by a week or two would lower the saturation of regular-season games over a seven-month schedule. It also accounts for the expected Olympic Games and World Cup tournaments every two years. Another change to the schedule being discussed is removing the requirement of playing at least one game in every NHL arena per season. According to LeBrun, this idea doesn’t have much momentum or support, given that some teams financially benefit from stars like Connor McDavid coming to their arenas or heavily-followed teams such as the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs visiting. Lastly, LeBrun shared that there are ongoing negotiations regarding the potential removal of the NHL All-Star Game. It wouldn’t come soon, if ever, because the league already has one scheduled for next season. From LeBrun’s write-up, it appears the Board of Governors would like it to stay, but questions are being raised.