2021–22 NHL National Hockey League
Sports season
The 2021–22 NHL season was the 105th season of operation (104th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Seattle Kraken. The league had an October-to-April regular season scheduling and a full 82-game regular season for the first time since the 2018–19 NHL season as the previous two NHL seasons were shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league also restored its pre-COVID-19 Eastern and Western conferences. The season began on October 12.
On December 22, all games were suspended league-wide through at least December 26 (officially termed as an extension of the regularly scheduled Christmas break), in order to reconcile COVID-19 outbreaks that had impacted a large number of teams and resulted in various game postponements. Most teams were scheduled to resume play on December 28, but the home games of all seven Canadian teams through early January were further postponed due to COVID-19 attendance restrictions imposed by provincial health authorities.
The playoffs concluded on June 26, with the Colorado Avalanche defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals in six games, winning their third Stanley Cup in franchise history.
League business.
Expansion.
On December 4, 2018, the NHL confirmed that it had granted an expansion franchise in the city of Seattle. The team was named the Seattle Kraken on July 23, 2020. On April 30, 2021, the team was permitted to begin making trades and signing players after sending its final expansion payment to the league. The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft was held on July 21, 2021, to fill out the Kraken roster.
Realignment.
The league returned to the previous alignment with Eastern and Western conferences. As planned before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seattle Kraken were placed in the Pacific Division and the Arizona Coyotes were moved to the Central Division. If the cross-border travel restrictions had continued for another year, the league would have been forced to use a temporary alignment with an all-Canadian division for a second year.
Entry draft.
The 2021 NHL Entry Draft was held July 23–24, 2021, with Owen Power being selected first overall by the Buffalo Sabres. For the second consecutive year the draft was conducted in a remote format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hosted from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.
Sponsorships.
As in the previous season, NHL teams were allowed to display sponsor logos ("helmet entitlement partner") on their helmets. The Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers did not have a sponsor, opting to have the traditional team logo on their helmets. The remaining teams have the following helmet sponsors for this season:
Coaching changes.
(*) Indicates interim.
Front office changes.
(*) Indicates interim.
Arena changes and regulations.
COVID-19 restrictions.
Unlike the previous season (where most games were either played behind closed doors or with a reduced spectator capacity), with the loosening of restrictions across Canada and the United States due to COVID-19 vaccination progress, the NHL anticipated that every team would be able to have capacity crowds (if not near-capacity) at the start of the 2021–22 season. Some teams, including all Canadian teams, required attendees to present proof of vaccination for all or part of the season.
In December 2021, all Canadian NHL teams began to reintroduce capacity restrictions due to concerns over the local spread of the highly-infectious Omicron variant. By December 21, all Canadian NHL teams besides Montreal had been restricted to 50% capacity per provincial public health orders, with Alberta and Ontario also restricting the consumption of food and drink in order to strengthen face mask mandates. One initial exception was the Montreal Canadiens; after requesting that the Canadiens December 16 home game be played behind closed doors, the Quebec provincial government formally prohibited spectators at all professional sporting events effective December 20. On December 27, the Manitoba government restricted all public gatherings to a maximum of 250 people, including sporting events; the Jets therefore announced that all home games would be played behind closed doors until further notice.
On December 28, the NHL announced that nine games in Canada (four in Montreal, two in Winnipeg, one each in Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto) would be postponed as a result of attendance restrictions in these cities. Effective December 31, 2021, large venues in Ontario were also restricted to a maximum of 1,000 spectators; MLSE announced that all Maple Leafs home games would be played behind closed doors until further notice. At this time, the NHL began to postpone some Canadian home games, specifically citing attendance restrictions as reasoning. On January 3, 2022, the Ontario government rolled back the province to "modified Stage 2" restrictions, which effectively mandated that all sporting events be held behind closed doors.
Although Ontario began to lift some of these restrictions beginning January 31, large venues remained capped at a maximum of 500 spectators. The Ottawa Senators began to re-admit spectators within this limitation. On February 8, 2022, Manitoba allowed sporting events to return to 50% capacity. The same day, Alberta deprecated the "Restrictions Exemption Program", which required non-essential venues to mandate proof of vaccination or a negative test in order to operate at the maximum allowed capacity—then 50% in large venues. Alberta also began to allow concessions to be consumed in seats. All other capacity restrictions were lifted effective March 1.
On February 15 and 16, the Manitoba and British Columbia governments lifted restrictions on venue capacity, although their respective proof of vaccination requirements remain in force. Manitoba lifted proof of vaccination on March 1, but B.C. would maintain it through at least the end of June. The next day, the Ontario government eased attendance restrictions to allow 50% capacity, before allowing venues to return to full capacity March 1. The Alberta-based teams followed suit the same day. On February 21, the Quebec government eased attendance restrictions to allow 50% capacity; before returning to full capacity crowds on March 12.
Regular season.
The league returned to its normal October-to-April, 82-game regular season. The entire schedule was released on July 22, with October 12 planned for opening night.
Outdoor games.
The league held the following outdoor games:
Olympics.
The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that the league and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) signed on July 10, 2020, included a provision opening the possibility for the NHL to explore participation at the Beijing 2022 and Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. By the time the league released the regular schedule on July 22, discussions were still ongoing with the International Olympic Committee on sending players to the 2022 Winter Olympics, particularly in regards to health protocols and insurance issues. Two working schedules were thus created that were not released to the public, one with an Olympics break and one without. The schedule released on July 22 included a break for the Games from February 7 to 22, with the intention that the other schedule without the Olympics break would be used instead if the league and the IOC could not reach a deal, and some teams would have to reschedule as many as 16 home dates.
On September 3, 2021, a deal was officially reached to send players to the Olympics, with an opt-out clause should COVID-19 health conditions worsen. On December 22, the NHL and NHLPA announced that it would opt out of sending its players to the Olympics, nor schedule a break in the season, citing the ongoing COVID-19 issues within the league and the "profound disruption" to the schedule that came as a result. The NHL then used the Winter Olympics' window to reschedule postponed games.
All-Star Game.
The 2022 All-Star Game took place at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, home of the Vegas Golden Knights, on February 5, with the skills competition held on February 4. During seasons when the league sends players to the Olympics (most recently in 2014), the All-Star Game is not normally held. On June 28, 2021, with still no deal signed with the IOC, the league announced that it had decided to schedule an All-Star Game anyway. It was originally scheduled as the last event before the Olympic break, and the NHL had reportedly chosen to host it on the west coast to ease travel to Beijing afterward.
Playoffs.
Bracket.
In each round, teams compete in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage plays at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team is at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top three teams in each division make the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference, for a total of eight teams from each conference.
In the First Round, the lower seeded wild card in each conference played against the division winner with the best record while the other wild card played against the other division winner, and both wild cards were de facto #4 seeds. The other series matched the second and third place teams from the divisions. In the first two rounds, home ice advantage was awarded to the team with the better seed. In the conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals, home ice advantage was awarded to the team with the better regular season record.
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Statistics.
Scoring leaders.
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of games played on April 29, 2022.
Nashville Predators player Roman Josi, ranked eleventh in scoring with 96 points, became the NHL's highest-scoring defenseman in 29 years, since Phil Housley scored 97 points with the Winnipeg Jets in . Auston Matthews became only the third player in 25 years to score 60 or more goals, joining Alexander Ovechkin (65 goals with Washington Capitals in ) and Steven Stamkos (60 goals with Tampa Bay Lightning in ).
Leading goaltenders.
The following goaltenders led the league in regular season goals against average at the completion of games played on April 29, 2022, while playing at least 1,920 minutes.
NHL awards.
Voting concluded immediately after the end of the regular season. Statistics-based awards such as the Art Ross Trophy, Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, William M. Jennings Trophy and the Presidents' Trophy are announced at the end of the regular season. The Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy are presented at the end of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The NHL announced the return of the NHL Awards ceremony which took place on June 21. However, only the Calder, Hart, Norris, Vezina, and Lindsay awards were presented. The other major awards were presented during the conference finals. The Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award was awarded during the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
Milestones.
First games.
The following is a list of notable players who played their first NHL game during the 2021–22 season, listed with their first team.
Last games.
The following is a list of players of note who played their last NHL game in 2021–22, listed with their team:
Broadcast rights.
Canadian media.
National.
This was the eighth season of the league's 12-year Canadian national broadcast rights deal with Sportsnet. This includes Sportnet's sub-licensing agreements to air Saturday "Hockey Night in Canada" games on CBC Television and French-language broadcasts on TVA Sports, and games streamed on Sportsnet Now, CBCSports.ca (for games televised by CBC), or the subscription service "NHL Live." This season "NHL Live" was made available at no extra cost to subscribers of Sportsnet Now+. After a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the "Hometown Hockey" games have returned to Sportsnet's schedule, moving to Monday nights.
Personnel.
On September 21, 2021, "Hockey Night in Canada"/Sportsnet lead play-by-play announcer Jim Hughson announced his retirement from broadcasting.
On April 28, 2022, Winnipeg Jets play-by-play announcer Dennis Beyak announced his retirement. Beyak served as the voice of the Jets since relocating from Atlanta in 2011. He also worked play-by-play duties for the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On September 15, 2022, Montreal Canadiens English-language play-by-play announcer Dan Robertson announced his departure from the team. Robertson had been the team's English radio voice since 2014, and have split television duties with Bryan Mudryk starting in 2018.
U.S. media.
National.
The 2021–22 season was the first of the NHL's new national media rights agreements in the United States, following the expiration of the league's contract with NBC Sports after the previous season. In negotiating its media rights, the NHL aimed to surpass the US$2 billion total that NBC paid over the life of their 2011–21 contract. The league explored