A team will be considered fully vaccinated when 85 per cent of each team's travelling party - which is a maximum of 56 people - has received the jab and the two-week period following vaccination has been elapsed.

Some of the protocols to be relaxed include fewer required COVID-19 tests, no quarantine following exposure or after commercial air travel, and the ability to gather with other fully vaccinated people in groups of up to eight without face coverings or social distancing.

Those who are vaccinated can also visit other team members who have received the jab in their hotel rooms and my visit restaurants that offer outdoor dining.

Relaxed protocols will also allow these team mates to commute in groups of two or more without wearing masks and they can eat buffet-style meals in a room reserved for the fully-vaccinated at team facilities.

They can also play golf and ride together in a cart, but still cannot enter clubhouse facilities.

The changes are set to take effect during the Stanley Cup playoffs, which begin on Saturday (May 15), but stricter measures could be reintroduced if further outbreaks are found within teams.

It is also possible the relaxed protocols could alter to allow cross-border travel after the first two rounds, after which case teams in the US and Canada will be required to travel across the border.

Canada's teams are not included in the proposed relaxation due to the country's slow COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Canadian clubs have only recently gained access to vaccines and they are not expected to receive their second dose for a further couple of months.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are scheduled to finish in July and will be followed by the Stanley Cup Finals between the two remaining teams.