The AHL plans to start its 2020-21 season later than usual.

At the recommendation of the AHL's Return to Play Task Force, the board of governors approved moving the anticipated start date to Dec. 4, the league announced Thursday.

Further specifics have not yet been determined. The league added it will continue to work with clubs to monitor developments and local guidelines in all 31 league cities.

The AHL paused its season March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently canceled its Calder Cup playoffs.

The league campaign customarily begins in the first week of October.

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Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tyson Barrie admitted he wasn't at his best during the first season with his new team, but he believes the postseason represents an excellent opportunity to show what he's capable of.

"I'm really glad we're getting a chance to come back and play. I feel like I've got more to offer and it's a good chance for me to show it," Barrie told reporters Thursday, per TSN. "I feel pretty comfortable right now with my game, all things considered. It'll be a bit of a bizarre one to jump right into playoffs after so much time off, but like you said, it's a good opportunity to make up for a bit of an up-and-down season for sure."

The 2019-20 campaign was a tale of two seasons for Barrie. He struggled to find his footing under Mike Babcock but really hit his stride after Sheldon Keefe took over behind the bench.

With multiple injuries to Toronto's blue line this season, Barrie was sometimes playing over 25 minutes per night, but he's projected to start the postseason on the third pairing with Travis Dermott. He will also quarterback the club's vaunted No. 1 power-play unit alongside Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander.

The 29-year-old was acquired last offseason from the Colorado Avalanche along with Alexander Kerfoot as part of a blockbuster trade in exchange for Nazem Kadri. Barrie, though, is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency this offseason. With only $4.6 million in projected cap space, the Leafs would have to get creative in order to bring him back.

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The Vancouver Canucks and starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom will put contract negotiations aside until the postseason is finished, general manager Jim Benning said Wednesday.

"I've got a good relationship with Jacob, and you know we talked again yesterday," Benning told Sportsnet, according to NHL.com. "We're going to get something figured out for him. We both decided let's just wait until after the playoffs are done.

"We'll sit down with his agent Pat Morris and with Jacob and we'll get something figured out. We want to keep him on the team. He's been a good goalie for us here the last couple of years and a big part of the team."

Markstrom is coming off a career-best season, going 23-16-4 with a .918 save percentage, a 2.75 goals-against average, and 11.4 goals saved above average. However, the 30-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent.

Even with the cap ceiling staying at $81.5 million, the Canucks still project to hold over $17 million in space. Forwards Tyler Toffoli (UFA) and Jake Virtanen (RFA), as well as defensemen Chris Tanev (UFA) and Troy Stecher (RFA) will be up for new contracts too. Additionally, key building blocks Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes will be due for significant raises after next season.

Benning also needs to be mindful of the 2021 Seattle expansion draft. The team can only protect one goalie, so the Canucks could lose Markstrom (if he's re-signed) or the 24-year-old Thatcher Demko to the future division-rival Kraken.

But for now, the present is of the utmost importance, and the Canucks begin their qualifying-round series against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, when they'll rely on Markstrom.

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The eighth-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the ninth-seeded Columbus Blue Jackets in a best-of-five qualifying series to advance to Round 1 of the playoffs.

The Jackets are coming off their first playoff series win - a stunning sweep of the historically great Tampa Bay Lightning a year ago. The Leafs, meanwhile, haven't won a series since 2004 after losing in the opening round in each of the last three years.

While these teams are very evenly matched, the styles of play here are vastly different, making it a fascinating series to break down.

Schedule

*If necessary

Tale of the tape

Key players to watch

John Tavares

Statistically, Tavares produced a solid season, tallying 26 goals and 60 points over 63 games. But he looked sluggish throughout the campaign while perhaps battling a nagging injury. He also became a father right before the season, which could've potentially added to his fatigue.

Ideally, the five months off served Tavares well, and he emerges looking rejuvenated. If he returns to his 2018-19 form - when he scored a career-high 47 goals - the Leafs' chances of advancing deep into the playoffs will increase significantly. If he struggles to keep up with the pace (foot speed was never his forte, after all), that will be both a short- and long-term problem.

Pierre-Luc Dubois

Dubois' hands will be full against the Leafs. As the Blue Jackets' No. 1 center, he'll likely be tasked with shutting down either Auston Matthews' or Tavares' line. Additionally, Dubois needs to lead Columbus' stagnant offensive attack.

The 22-year-old led the Jackets with a mere 49 points this season. If his line with Alexandre Texier and Oliver Bjorkstrand doesn't produce, Columbus will need to make this a very low-scoring series to take down the juggernaut Leafs.

Maple Leafs can win if ...

They limit turnovers. The Leafs prioritize puck possession more than any NHL team, often circling back and regrouping to get the breakout they like. But that occasionally leads to a defensive-zone turnover. They don't need to change how they play, but sometimes in dire circumstances, Toronto needs to forget about making a cute pass and just get the puck out.

The Leafs are the more talented team on paper, and they should come out on top if the club doesn't gift Columbus glorious scoring chances. The Blue Jackets aren't a good offensive squad, so the Leafs need to make them earn their opportunities.

Additionally, Frederik Andersen - a notoriously slow starter to begin seasons - needs to be sharp right away. His counterpart has outplayed Andersen in each of Toronto's first-round exits over the past three years. He's logged far more experience than both of Columbus' goalies, so there's no reason why he can't outshine Elvis Merzlikins or Joonas Korpisalo.

Blue Jackets can win if ...

They disrupt Toronto's flow. The Blue Jackets are a physical, hard-working team that clogs up the middle of the ice. If they stay patient and frustrate the Leafs, Columbus should create some turnovers and generate scoring chances in transition.

On the back end, Merzlikins will need to come up with huge stops on chances from high-danger areas. He's certainly capable of standing on his head and showed that during his stretch of five shutouts in eight games this season. Some of the game's most talented shooters will be testing him, so he'll need to be at his best.

Lastly, head coach John Tortorella is among the best motivators in sports. His players were ready to run through a wall after Torts' epic pregame speech before the opening game of last year's playoffs. Tortorella's experience can give Columbus a big advantage behind the bench, as Toronto's Sheldon Keefe has coached just 47 career NHL games.

X-factors

Nick Robertson

The 18-year-old is primed to make his NHL debut in Game 1 of the qualifying round. A second-round pick in last year's draft, Robertson led the OHL with 55 goals in 46 games this past season. He didn't look out of place during Toronto's exhibition game against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, collecting an assist and leading all Leafs skaters in expected goals for percentage.

If the 5-foot-9 sniper can bring an impact presence to the team's third line alongside Alexander Kerfoot and Kasperi Kapanen, Toronto's lineup will be that much deeper and more dangerous. If he struggles, fourth-line caliber Pierre Engvall will likely be forced to move up to the third line, thinning out the team's depth up front.

Oliver Bjorkstrand

Bjorkstrand is the Blue Jackets' most dangerous offensive player. He missed 21 games this season due to an injury (many of the team's key players were sidelined for large chunks), but the winger still led the squad with 21 goals.

We know Seth Jones and Zach Werenski will drive offense from the back end, but someone up front needs to be a difference-maker too. Bjorkstrand isn't a household name, but he could become that player.

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The top four teams in the Western Conference - the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and Dallas Stars - will partake in a round-robin tournament before the first round of the playoffs. These may not be elimination games, but the results of these contests will determine seeding for the rest of the playoffs.

Schedule

St. Louis Blues

How they stack up

Season recap

The Blues showed no signs of a Stanley Cup hangover this season, as they jumped out to a 12-3-3 mark en route to the best record in the Western Conference. Their longest losing streak was five games, but two of those defeats came in overtime.

Key player to watch

Vladimir Tarasenko

Tarasenko missed all but 10 games during the regular season after suffering a shoulder injury. How effective will he be having not played since October? He's easily the team's most dynamic player when healthy. Even though the Blues are a defense-first club, Tarasenko has the ability to push the team's offense from average to dangerous if he's at his best.

Biggest question mark

Could lack of speed be an issue?

The defending champs are solid from top to bottom, so we really have to reach to find a question mark. If they do have one weakness, though, it's a lack of team speed. That didn't hurt them last playoffs, or this season. However, after a short training camp with limited tuneup games, it's possible speedier teams like the Avs and Knights could have an edge over the more structure-reliant Blues and Stars off the hop.

Colorado Avalanche

How they stack up

Season recap

The Avalanche dealt with a rash of injuries this season. Cale Makar, Andre Burakovsky, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen, and Nazem Kadri missed a combined 88 games. That's five of the team's top six leading point producers. The Avs were resilient, though, embracing a "next man up" philosophy. It helps that Nathan MacKinnon put together a Hart Trophy-caliber season.

Key player to watch

Valeri Nichushkin

Some analytics gurus were clamoring for Nichushkin to win the Selke Trophy this season. The numbers back up his elite ability to prevent scoring chances:

However, he only averaged 14 minutes per game, whereas the three Selke finalists all averaged closer to 20 (plus he has less responsibility as a winger). Nichushkin is set to play on a shutdown line with Landeskog and Kadri, though. Perhaps he'll begin to see more ice time in the round robin, where he could be a sneaky difference-maker for a team with a strong chance at a Stanley Cup.

Biggest question mark

Which goalie will grab the reins?

Pavel Francouz (.923 save percentage, 13.06 goals saved above average) was clearly Colorado's best goalie this season. However, Philipp Grubauer (.916 save percentage, 6.48 goals saved above average), is the more experienced and proven netminder. Grubauer will likely get the round-robin opener against the Blues, but Francouz could get the next game versus the Stars. From there, head coach Jared Bednar may just ride the hot hand.

Vegas Golden Knights

How they stack up

Season recap

The Golden Knights fired head coach Gerard Gallant on Jan. 15 after a 24-19-6 start. However, the underlying numbers suggested Vegas was victimized by poor luck, as the club ranked second in the NHL in expected goals for percentage and 28th in PDO (shooting percentage plus save percentage) at that time. The Knights then started to have some bounces fall their way, as they posted a 15-5-2 record under Peter DeBoer.

Key player to watch

Marc-Andre Fleury

Fleury, 35, began to show his age this season, sporting a .905 save percentage and a -6.50 goals saved above average. He'll likely get the first crack between the pipes, even though deadline acquisition Robin Lehner (.920 save percentage, 12.67 goals saved above average) is currently a far superior netminder. If Fleury shows signs of rust in the round robin, it could (and should) be Lehner's crease the rest of the way.

Biggest question mark

Will Max Pacioretty play?

Pacioretty did not travel with the team to Edmonton as he continues to rehab a minor injury, and it's unclear when he might arrive. The veteran winger led the team in both goals (32) and points (66) this season and was projected to play on the club's top line with William Karlsson and Mark Stone. If Pacioretty is out for the round robin, DeBoer could bump Reilly Smith or Jonathan Marchessault to the top line, although he'd be splitting up the pair of former Florida Panthers. Perhaps the ultra-talented Alex Tuch gets promoted to the first line, even though he had an underwhelming season. Regardless, Pacioretty's absence - for however long - would be big for Vegas.

Dallas Stars

How they stack up

Season recap

The Stars were hot and cold this season. They started the campaign 1-7-1 and ended it riding a six-game losing streak. But in between, they were 36-13-5. The biggest story of Dallas' season came off the ice when Jim Montgomery was fired for inappropriate conduct despite posting an 18-11-3 record. Veteran assistant Rick Bowness took over and led to the team to a 20-13-5 mark, embracing the team's elite defensive game.

Key player to watch

Miro Heiskanen

Despite boasting a roster with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, Heiskanen is Dallas' most important player. He logs big minutes and was an integral part of the league's second-ranked defense. On the flip side, he's also relied upon to drive a lackluster offense from the back end, as he finished third on the team with 35 points. Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes were the talk of the town this season, but there's a case to be made that Heiskanen is the best young blue-liner in the expanded postseason.

Biggest question mark

Can they score enough?

One would have to imagine that if everyone is a bit rusty from the get-go, shooters will have the edge over goalies. Dallas relies heavily on its goaltending, but if Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin aren't as sharp as usual in the round robin, the Stars will have to find ways to generate more offense.

(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)

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There's a story Richard Johnson likes to tell about Bobby Orr and flying, though it's not the one the city of Boston reveres. As the curator of The Sports Museum, the TD Garden's in-house shrine to local sports lore, Johnson is familiar with the sight that inspired the statue outside of the arena: No. 4 in black scoring before being tripped in the St. Louis Blues' crease, airborne in the second after he clinched the Stanley Cup for the Bruins in 1970.

Johnson is part of the Bruins' extended family, dating back almost 40 years to when he was hired for the job. In fact, his experience with the team goes back even further.

He was 13 years old when he first set foot on a plane, newly trusted to travel alone to visit his brother in Canada. Johnson arrived at Logan International with a frayed copy of The Hockey News and $20, seeking the sort of inconceivably cheap fare that was exclusive to the era. The next flight out was full, but he was able to snare an open seat on a private craft departing shortly thereafter.

"I walk across the tarmac, up the steps," Johnson said. "I could not have been more gobsmacked in my life, at any moment, when I arrived and I was on the Boston Bruins' charter, heading to Montreal in March of 1969."

Bruins fans won't have any close contact with the team during this year's playoffs, but their formidable regular season produced plenty of reasons to get excited from afar. David Pastrnak won a share of the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, and no team allowed fewer goals than Boston's 2.39 per game. Yet, as the league's hub-city postseason dawns in Toronto and Edmonton, Johnson's generation has grounds to contemplate days of yore - and of Orr, specifically, the catalyst for what remains the Bruins' greatest run of success in a century of play.

The format of these 24-team playoffs has no precedent, but Boston's latest pursuit of the Cup is linked indelibly to two touchstone moments in the franchise's history. The first is that sweep of St. Louis 50 years ago, an anniversary the Bruins were to honor at a home game in late March before the coronavirus pandemic upended everyone's plans. The other is from last year, when Jordan Binnington and the Blues dashed Boston's championship hopes at The Garden in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

That vexing 4-1 defeat kept the Bruins' veteran cornerstones - Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, Zdeno Chara, and Tuukka Rask - from claiming the second Cup they've chased together for an unusually long time. The only titles the club has won since Orr's goal in 1970 came soon afterward in 1972 and then much later in 2011, the latter of which was Marchand's rookie year. Contrast that haul with the seven finals Boston lost since 1972 and you have a perennial contender with a lot of close calls to rue.

Who in this strange summer holds the edge in the Eastern Conference? The 100-point Presidents' Trophy winner backstopped by Rask, a Vezina Trophy nominee who led the league in Goals Saved Above Average? The Tampa Bay Lightning, a loaded team out to shed its own baggage - that sorry sweep against Columbus last year? The field, bolstered by the presence of Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, and by the unpredictability that's expected to govern the results of the restart?

On the opportunity that awaits the Bruins these next two months, Johnson has another question, reflecting a vision fit for his line of work and 2020.

"Wouldn't it be sweet to have a photo op at some point - probably everyone would be wearing a mask - of Chara and Bobby Orr shaking hands in front of the trophy?" he said. "The years have gone by, but when you win a Cup, everything sort of blends together."

The Bruins were excellent during the regular season, reeling off separate win streaks of six, eight, and six games. That stands in contrast to what befell the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox earlier this year. Tom Brady departed in free agency and Mookie Betts was shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers. MLB's and the NFL's most frequent champions this century have taken a hit, leaving one true title threat to campaign for Boston sports supremacy.

"Winning a Stanley Cup or any kind of major trophy in Boston is a big thing," Rask said during the Bruins' pre-playoff training camp last week. "That's our goal. That hasn't changed. Obviously, everything else around it in the world has changed, so we just have to try to adapt and try to build that groove and chemistry back up."

Combined with the city's recent title history, the immense promise of this Bruins roster was always bound to engender high expectations. Boston ticked every box in 2019-20. Rask - who backed up Tim Thomas during the 2011 Cup run - long ago assumed the role of tested star No. 1 netminder; his save percentage figures (.929 overall and .939 at even strength) were the best among NHL starters this season. Chara and Brandon Carlo anchored the league's third-best penalty kill, and Torey Krug ran the point on a power play that ranked second. Pastrnak (95 points) and Marchand (87) placed fourth and sixth in NHL scoring, respectively, while Bergeron, Boston's "Perfection Line" center, is a Selke Trophy finalist for the ninth straight year.

"We kind of feel like we can do anything. We just feel like we can control the complete game," Marchand said earlier this season about the thrill of playing alongside his linemates when everything clicks.

Until the Bruins entered the bubble in Toronto, though, Marchand and Bergeron hadn't skated with Pastrnak since March, as the latter was in quarantine after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Pastrnak's wasn't the only absence that discombobulated Boston's return. Trade-deadline pickup Ondrej Kase missed camp in its entirety, and Krug, Krejci, Charlie Coyle, and Charlie McAvoy each sat out various sessions. Rask recently fractured a glove-hand finger doing box jumps but said it won't hinder him in Toronto. It all shined a spotlight on the need for complementary players to be ready for the moment, whether or not conspicuous lineup adjustments - Jaroslav Halak starting in lieu of Rask, or Anders Bjork supplanting Pastrnak on Bergeron's right wing - have to be made.

"We've said that all along. Take out the injury factor. There could be people who, for (COVID) testing purposes, fall behind and you have to rely on your depth," head coach Bruce Cassidy said during camp. "We're experiencing a bit of that right now, even though we haven't played any games."

For Boston, those begin Thursday night with a single exhibition versus the Columbus Blue Jackets, followed by a round robin featuring each conference's four highest achievers. After pacing the league in points through 70 games, the Bruins' playoff seed will be decided in a tiny sample: one game apiece against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, and Philadelphia Flyers. Those teams and the Pittsburgh Penguins all finished the season with points percentages above .620. Lower down the Eastern standings, the Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers have either the stinginess or firepower to trouble a favored opponent if they advance past the qualifiers.

Of course, it's impossible to predict how any team will handle this postseason's signature challenge of quickly segueing into high-stakes hockey following months of lockdown and forced rest. This uncharted territory isn't lost on Bruins president Cam Neely, who wondered recently if this year's Cup should come with an asterisk - as a point of pride, not shame, "because of how difficult and mentally challenging it's going to be" to win it all.

By now, Boston has waited abnormally long - nearly 14 months since the 2019 playoffs concluded - to try to redeem that Game 7 letdown against St. Louis. A five-goal effort to avoid elimination on the road a few nights earlier didn't carry forward to the decisive affair last June 12, when the Bruins failed to score on Binnington until 2:10 remained in the third period. Where Orr once splayed joyously in mid-air, last year's final ended with Marchand in tears and Chara peering through his face shield - protection for his freshly fractured jaw - at the Blues' celebration across the ice.

"Those guys have less years in front of them than they do behind them in their careers. They look at the team that they have around them. They look at the opportunity that's in front of them. They want to seize that," Neely said of the Bruins' veteran core. "These guys have had a taste of winning. They've had a taste of probably the worst possible scenario: losing in Game 7 of the final.

"They are still hungry. They're a hungry group, and I think it really pulls everybody along."

The Sports Museum at TD Garden has been closed since the season paused in March, and Johnson has been furloughed since April, waiting for the day the building reopens. But he doesn't need to be there to rattle off select memorabilia the museum preserved from Orr's prime, whether it's one of Phil Esposito's aggressively curved sticks, a goalie mask with painted stitches that Gerry Cheevers wore in practice, a photo of Orr embracing late Bruins trainer John "Frosty" Forristall, or the miniature Stanley Cups that were awarded to Forristall - like all Bruins personnel - in 1970 and 1972 and loaned to the museum by his family.

Nine years ago, during the Bruins' most recent championship summer, Johnson got a phone call summoning him to The Garden's executive offices. When he arrived, he learned that every full-time arena employee receives a special gift, as a representative of his childhood team asked for his ring size. Johnson's name is on his ring, which he treasures.

History has no direct bearing on how the Bruins will fare in the bubble - not on Pastrnak's readiness to face Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart on Sunday nor on how they navigate this 24-team playoff structure. But Johnson can't be the only Bostonian to plumb its depths for meaning, to rhapsodize about big anniversaries, to find relevance in past triumphs, to see a 50-year throughline from Orr to Chara, and to long for a new good story to tell. Ideally, one that ends happier than last year's.

"I would never count chickens in any way shape or form," Johnson said. "But I'm certainly hopeful with this team. (It has) so many key members of the 2011 team. They know how to do it."

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.

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Nazem Kadri hopes the NHL will do more to acknowledge and support its players in the fight against racism.

"I think with what's going on in the world today with the injustice and the racism issue, I think that it's an important thing to come together and unify as players," the Colorado Avalanche forward said Wednesday. "From a player standpoint, I know we all stick together."

He continued: "From a league standpoint, I think we'd like to maybe see a little more acknowledgment and having them address the situation and know that they stand with their players."

Kadri stood side by side in solidarity with Jordan Greenway, Matt Dumba, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare before the Avalanche played the Minnesota Wild in an exhibition game earlier Wednesday. All four players are racial minorities.

Several NHL players and clubs have shown support for the Black Lives Matter movement since exhibition games began Tuesday.

"Hockey's a great game and we're all trying to make it better," Kadri said. "We're trying to make the game more diverse and the diversity in the game doesn't happen with racism still going on, so that's an important thing for us to address."

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