Cam Neely: Players, owners willing to 'push next season back' to complete year

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Boston Bruins president Cam Neely still believes there's a great possibility this NHL season can be completed without affecting next year.

"I can tell you this. Both the players and NHL ownership want to do whatever possible to get this season completed," Neely said, according to NBC Sports Boston's Joe Haggerty. "If that means playing into the summer then we're all willing to do that. The feeling is there’s an opportunity to be able to push next season back and still get an 82-game schedule in next year. Everything is on the table to try and get the (2019-20) season completed."

The most recent idea that has been floated around is using hub cities to host the remainder of the season's games. There was also a report earlier this week that an NHL team told its players to plan to return for workouts starting May 15.

Neely added he believes the NHLPA wouldn't approve a scenario to resume the season if it meant it had to jump directly into the playoffs, and that regular-season games will be needed to ramp up to the postseason.

The Bruins stood atop the league's standings with a 44-14-12 record and were primed for another deep playoff run after making the Stanley Cup Final last season.