NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was a guest on TSN Radio Vancouver on Friday. During his appearance he discussed a number of key topics, including the current thinking regarding the league’s salary cap, and the latest estimate for the start of the 2020-21 season.

Bettman said the salary cap will remain at $81.5 million for a least a couple of years due to lost revenue associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bettman: Cap will be flat for at least a couple years. Because we could be down 800M-1B due to COVID, the cap theoretically may need to come down. We decided not to because it may be disruptive. When things get back to normal,hopefully we catch back up to where we we were.

— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) October 2, 2020

Bettman also shed some light on the current thinking with regards to the start date for the coming 2020-21 season, admitting the start may slide to late December or early January.

Bettman on next season: We don’t know know whether or not we’ll have fans in the building. We don’t know about COVID in the future. We don’t even know about travel restrictions. We’re focusing on what the options are. We’d like to open Dec. 1 but that might slide to late Dec/Jan.

— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) October 2, 2020

NHL training camps are currently set to open on November 17, but with current thoughts on the start date slipping, camp starts could slide to early December.

You can listen to the entire interview here.

LISTEN Bettman: Next season may be delayed; on Luongo recapture, Salary cap; Kraken debut

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— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) October 2, 2020

By Jon Sorensen