The NHL's bubbles may have worked flawlessly for the 2019-20 postseason, but San Jose Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk doesn't believe players would be willing to do it again for the upcoming campaign.
"I don’t think anybody is signing up to do another 60 days or anything extended like that," Dubnyk said, according to NBC Sports California's Brodie Brazil. “It’s really tough.”
Dubnyk spent just over a week in the NHL's bubble over the summer as a member of the Minnesota Wild. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars, who made it to the Stanley Cup Final, spent two months inside the bubble.
The league recorded zero positive tests from the moment players and staff entered the controlled zones. However, Dubnyk believes there are ways around needing to set up bubbles, and he points to other major sports leagues.
"I don’t think guys will want to do that, or should be put in a position to do that,” Dubnyk said. “No other sport is, and it’s not necessary to do that. It’s not what we signed up for, and not what anybody is really prepared to do. There’s so many players with young families, that’s just really hard."
The NHL has reportedly kicked around the idea in the past of using a hybrid bubble system to make the season work. The concept would put players on a rotation, spending two weeks inside a bubble and then one week at home before reentering.
Recently, the NHL's deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league currently has "no likely scenario" for what its upcoming season will look like.
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