Until someone gets hurt but not long enough to go on LTIR so you can’t call anyone up

A 20 man roster, Can't go through a strain of a 82 game schedule it's just not that realistic. You'd be more likely to have injuries and burn outs. You don't even have the salary cap to replace injured players short term.

I remember seeing a game where the Devils could only dress 18 or 19 in one of the years they had Kovalchuk because they did not have cap space to bring someone up. So it has happened before.

You simply can’t work a 20 man roster. Every team is guaranteed to have injuries. Even 2-3 injuries would devastate a team. You can’t play a season with less than 20 players

Idea would be to start the season with 20 then "hope" LTIR or a trade becomes available(Foegele/Pulju) before regular injuries rack up.

What happens if you have a 20 man roster, then all of a sudden have 4 to 5 players out with Covid or just the plain flu. Then you become an emergency situation that you should never have to face. 20 man roster just isn't feasible.

Really teams have been getting closer and closer. Teams are regularly starting the season with as little as 21 players now. It's only a matter of time until someone tries to make 20 work. The league has rules with emergency call ups to deal with teams who aren't able to field more than 19 players due to injury so it's just waiting for someone to be brave enough to make it happen.

Ask VGK