Before the Kraken can take the ice, the NHL has to figure out the upcoming season

As expected, the NHL pushed back until Jan. 1 the anticipated start of the coming season before the ensuing one in which the Kraken will officially launch.

The 2020-21 campaign will now be played entirely in 2021 and must finish by mid-July so NHL partner NBC can broadcast the Olympic Games in Tokyo. That doesn't leave much time to get NHL games in, while the prospect of the Kraken launching the 2021-22 season in November or December of next year seems inevitable.

Of greater concern to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is how this coming season will play out...