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 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
The city of Glendale announced on August 19, 2021 that it would not be renewing its year-to-year lease of Gila River Arena with the Arizona Coyotes following the season, effectively evicting the team. The Florida Panthers' home arena BB&T Center was renamed FLA Live Arena, after Truist Financial (formed from the merger of BB&T and SunTrust) declined to renew its naming rights. The Los Angeles Kings' home arena Staples Center was renamed Crypto.com Arena on December 25, 2021, as part of a naming rights agreement with Crypto.com. The New York Islanders began playing at the newly-constructed UBS Arena for the 2021–22 season. The Seattle Kraken began playing at Climate Pledge Arena, a redevelopment of KeyArena—former home of the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Amazon bought the naming rights to the arena, and chose to brand it as part of its partnership with Global Optimism on a pledge for its operations (and by extension, the arena) to become carbon neutral. The Winnipeg Jets' home arena Bell MTS Place was renamed Canada Life Centre, as part of a naming rights agreement with Canada Life.
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.