NHL to give teams bye weeks in 2016-17 schedule

The NHL and the NHLPA agreed to change this season’s All-Star Game to a 3-on-3 format for several reasons.

One of which also reportedly involved extra rest for the players in the 2016-17 schedule. 

ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reported a bye week will be added to team’s schedules for the 2016-17 season.

His detail of the plan is below from ESPN.com.

The league and the NHLPA have committed to building a “five-day bye week” for each team into the schedule next season. The league will schedule one for each club between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28 next season. Players won’t have to report for practice until after 4 p.m. on the fifth day if they have a game on the sixth day, a source said. If the players don’t have a game on the sixth day, they would have the entire fifth day off.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the news via email to Puck Daddy.

“It was something we had been talking about with the Union for awhile,” Daly said. “Just so happened that we included it in our agreement on All Star.” 

Next season, competitive hockey will start earlier for some players with the World Cup. The Toronto-based tournament will run from Sept. 17 through Oct. 1 at the latest.

This means some players could want a break as the season hits the second half – beyond the All-Star break. 

The 82-game 2015-16 NHL regular season started Oct. 7 and will run until April 9. Here is a breakdown of team travel for this season, provided by On the Forecheck.

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY

– – – – – – –

Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper