NHL hub city picks to come June 22; MGM preparing for Las Vegas’ selection

A near-empty Toshiba Plaza and T-Mobile Arena after the Pac-12 men's and women's basketball tournaments were cancelled in Las Vegas on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto

Golden Knights' Nicolas Hague (14) moves the puck around Arizona Coyotes' Derek Stepan (21) during the second period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto

In this May 27, 2019, file photo, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman speaks to the media before Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals between the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins, in Boston. The NHL is one step closer to returning. Bettman unveiled a 24-team straight to playoffs format the league will use if it can clear the other hurdles to resume its season. Under the plan approved last week by players and agreed to by the NHL, the top four teams in each conference will play for seeding while the other 16 face off in best-of-five series to determine the field to vie for the Stanley Cup .(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is interview by Contessa Brewer of CNBC Business News, on a sports betting panel during the 2019 Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

The NHL will announce June 22 whether Las Vegas will be a hub city to host the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, according to a source familiar with the planning process.

Until then, MGM Resorts International plans to keep some hotels not currently open to the public off the market so that one or more could be available to host visiting teams after July 1.

Two cities will be selected to host 12 teams in the league’s 24-team tournament.

MGM Resorts hotels in play to host visiting teams include Vdara, Delano, the Park MGM/NoMad Hotel and The Mirage, according to sources. The league reportedly has asked for a nongaming, nonsmoking hotel, leaving Vdara and Delano as the two most likely resorts to house the teams and their support staffs. Two hotels probably would be required to meet the needs of the visiting teams. .

COVID-19 testing is also a requirement.

In effect, the teams would be largely quarantined in their Strip resorts, where they will eat, sleep and reside between being shuttled to and from T-Mobile Arena, which is co-owned by MGM Resorts, and practice facilities.

NHL officials and MGM Resorts reps have declined comment on these reports. A league official said, “We have nothing new to announce with respect to return to play at this time.” An MGM Resorts representative said the company had nothing to share at this time and referred questions to the league office.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.