Seriously are the players expected to play past july 1 without contracts? Getting hurt during a thrown togather playoff would be the end for many ufa s.

Other than the ice (which is a valid argument), a playoffs that’s later doesn’t really affect UFAs. In fact, the rest of the season will probably be shorter than usual, so there’s less games for the player to possibly get injured in. And yeah free agency will start later this year, but that doesn’t really matter to the people that would be signing on July 1st anyways.

From a players point of view sitting out for a period of time and then starting right back up is not as easy as some might think. Do it on poor ice with lots of pressure and uncertainty and it will just adds to it. If training by yourself was so easy then why all the big training camps and pre season games Last time I checked a contract would still expire and have to at least be extended and signed off on.