While they said yes to further negotiations, they also make clear that "several details remain to be negotiated and an agreement on the format would still be subject to the parties reaching agreement on all issues relevant to resuming play."
How this 24-team return to play format would look is still a subject of discussion. However, clear is that with that format, three teams in the Western Conference (Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose) and four teams in the Eastern Conference (Buffalo, New Jersey, Ottawa, Detroit) would be done with their season.
After that cut, the current proposal, according to The Athletic and Sportsnet, then suggests that the bottom eight teams of each conference (5th to 12th place) will battle it out in a best-of-five "play-in" series and the top four teams will play a round-robin. After that, there will be a 16-team best-of-seven playoff series.
However, the "return to play"-plan does not mean that there is a concrete date for a potential return of the NHL. At the moment, they are just trying to find a consensus for what the postseason would look like if they will be able to play.
