N.H.L. and Players Agree to Start Postseason Tournament on Aug. 1

The National Hockey League and its players union announced on Monday that the two groups agreed on a four-year extension to the current collective bargaining agreement, a pivotal decision that paves the way for hockey to resume play amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of the deal, the sides set dates for the so-called Phase 3 and 4 of a return to play protocol. The start of formal training camps is slated for July 13, with teams traveling to two hub cities starting July 26. The existing C.B.A. and Monday’s extension will carry the league through the next two Olympics — N.H.L. players will participate after not playing in 2018, pending an agreement with the International Olympic Committee — and through a period of uncertainty until salary cap numbers and escrow percentages can be more definitively planned.

The league reportedly selected Edmonton and Toronto as the two so-called hub cities that will host its proposed return to play, but is awaiting approval from the players union. An expanded 24-team playoff would unfold with the Western Conference teams vying in Edmonton and the Eastern Conference side of the bracket contested in Toronto, starting Aug. 1.

The selection of the two Canadian cities was made over the course of a month, after the N.H.L. whittled down a list that initially included 10 potential hub cities. The pool was reduced to five — Las Vegas, Chicago and Los Angeles were the other candidates — after considering public health statistics and other data.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters last week that Canada had likely surmounted the worst of the outbreak. He also said that conditions in the United States — which has seen upticks in cases since reopening significant portions of its economy — were causes for concern and could help guide Canada as they incrementally reopen following the quarantine period.

Selecting a hub city in the United States would have required work with not only local and provincial officials but authorities on the national level in Canada in order to permit movement across the border between the two countries, which has been restricted heavily during the outbreak. The current restrictions prohibiting nonessential travel between the two countries expire July 21, before the tournament begins.

The N.H.L. said public health concerns trumped location in choosing the sites. It ultimately placed the Eastern teams, including the Maple Leafs, in Toronto, and the Western ones, including the Oilers, in Edmonton.

Toronto, the largest and most diverse city in Canada, is a market critical to the future of hockey. Hosting the Eastern Conference there gives the eighth-seeded Maple Leafs an advantage in these recast playoffs, where they will play the ninth-ranked Columbus Blue Jackets in a best of five play-in series. Toronto had reported fewer than 15,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases and around 1,000 deaths as of July 1.