2020–21 NHL season

The 2020–21 season was originally planned to begin in October 2020 and end with the Stanley Cup being awarded in June 2021, but this had to be changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] In December, the league said that the season would be shorter than the typical 82 games.[3] Attendance at each arena will be limited by local health orders.[4] The league also relies on attendance for at least 50 percent of its revenue, and the players are against spending the full season isolated in neutral-site bubbles similar to their situation during the 2020 playoffs.[5] With the NHL expecting to lose billions of dollars, several team owners privately told NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman that they wanted to suspend the season. But Bettman convinced them that they could not afford to sit out the season in the long run, especially with the expansion team Seattle Kraken joining the league in 2021–22, as well as the prospect of signing new U.S. national television deals with multiple networks (see § Media rights, below).[6]

In July 2020, the league and the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) initially agreed to tentatively schedule the opening of training camp on November 17, 2020, and the start of the regular season on December 1.[7] In October 2020, both the NHL and NHLPA began discussions on the specific details on how to proceed with the season.[5] On October 6, the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to delay the targeted start date of the regular season to January 1, 2021, and to decide at a later date when to open training camp.[8]

In mid-November 2020, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly stated that the league was still targeting a January 1 start, but that "we have to build in flexibility for the hiccups that we expect will come along and have to expect will come along with potential COVID positives and contact tracing requirements", citing "difficulties" faced by Major League Baseball and the National Football League over their handling of the pandemic.[9]

On December 20, the league unveiled its plans for a 56-game regular season and that the teams would temporarily be realigned into four divisions.[10] Due to COVID-19 restrictions traveling into and out of Canada, all seven Canadian teams were placed in one division.[11] The only contentious issue with the temporary realignment was which two teams in the Central Time Zone would have to join the West Division. They would have more travel time playing games in the Pacific Time Zone, but they would be against the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, three of the seven teams that did not qualify for the expanded 24-team 2020 playoffs.[12] It was eventually decided to leave the Dallas Stars in the Central to make up for the team being in the Pacific Division from 1998 to 2013, and the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues moved to the West.[13]

The temporary alignment is as follows:

The 2020 NHL Entry Draft was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec,[14] but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] It took place on October 6 and 7 in a remote format, hosted from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.[16][7] The New York Rangers were awarded the first pick in the 2020 Draft after winning the second phase of the draft lottery on August 10 and selected Alexis Lafreniere.[17]

The league had originally scheduled this season's international, All-Star, and outdoor games prior to the pandemic.

Two preseason games were planned to be played in Europe: the Boston Bruins against Adler Mannheim at SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany, and the Nashville Predators against SC Bern at PostFinance Arena in Bern, Switzerland. In addition, three regular season games, were also planned: the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic; and two games between the Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, later in the fall.[18]

The 2021 Winter Classic planned for January 1, 2021 was to feature the Minnesota Wild hosting the St. Louis Blues at Target Field. The Florida Panthers and their BB&T Center were then scheduled to host the All-Star Game on January 30, and the Stadium Series game was to be hosted by the Carolina Hurricanes at Carter–Finley Stadium on February 20, against an opponent yet to be announced.[19]

On May 8, 2020, the league postponed the five international games, aiming to reschedule them for the 2021–22 season.[20] The league then announced on October 22, 2020 that the Winter Classic and the All-Star Game were also being postponed to the next year due to "ongoing uncertainty" since fan participation are considered "integral to the[ir] success.[21][22] The decision to further postpone the Stadium Series game was made on December 23, also because fans would not be able to attend that event.[23]

To offset reduced revenue due to games being played with limited to no spectators, the NHL is experimenting with allowing additional advertising placements that will aim to retain between $80–90 million that would have otherwise been lost, including allowing teams to sell a sponsor placement on their players' helmets (helmet entitlement partner).[24][25][26] Sponsor logos along the bottom of the glass just above the boards, sponsor logos on front-row tarps covering unused seats, sponsor logos on the glass behind the benches (in addition to the boards below them), and virtual ads projected just inside the blue lines.[27]

On January 5, 2021, the NHL announced that the Central, East, North, and West divisions this season will be sponsored by Discover Card, MassMutual, Scotiabank, and Honda respectively.[28]

The collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which had been in effect since the end of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, was set to enter its penultimate season in 2020–21.[29]

On July 10, 2020, the league reached an agreement to renew the CBA through the 2025–26 NHL season, including an increase of the minimum player salary to $750,000 from $700,000, increasing the maximum value of entry-level contracts, deferring 10% of player salaries for the 2020–21 season to cover costs associated with the pandemic (they will be paid back over three seasons beginning 2022–23), escrow of player salaries capped at 20% for this season and decreasing incrementally to 14-18%, 10%, and 6% over the three seasons that follow (with the 6% applying thereafter), doubling of the playoff bonus pool to $32 million, and an agreement for the NHL to negotiate a return to the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics (after being absent from the 2018 Winter Olympics).[30][31]

The CBA will be automatically renewed through 2026–27 if player escrow debt falls between $125 million and $250 million after the 2024–25 season.[31]

As part of the new CBA, the salary cap will remain at $81.5 million for the 2020–21 season. Future increases will occur incrementally until the league recovers from the financial impact of the pandemic.[30][31]

The league announced on December 22, 2020, that the offside rules have been modified so that players only have to break the plane of the blue line to be ruled onside instead of having to actually touch it with their skate.[32]

For the first time, the NHL deployed the league's player and puck tracking system in all 31 NHL arenas. The system will allow on-air features such as speed displays, puck tracking graphics, and marker graphics hovering above players (though not to the extremes on-air of the mid-90s FoxTrax experiment).[33][34] The league had planned to deploy this technology to all 31 arenas by September 2019, but a change to its primary technology partner delayed implementation until the 2020 playoffs.[35]

After the first week of the season, the league announced that it was temporarily suspending the puck tracking system due to performance issues, stating that "the first supply of 2020–21 pucks did not receive the same precise finishing treatments during the off-season manufacturing process as were used during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs". The player tracking remained unaffected.[36]

NBC Sports' current ten-year contract for U.S. national broadcast rights will expire after the 2020–21 season (marking its 15th season overall as an NHL broadcaster); the NHL has explored the possibility of splitting its national media rights between interested broadcasters,[37] and possibly signing with an over-the-top service (such as DAZN or ESPN+).[38] In any case, the league is looking to generate more revenue than the nearly US$2 billion total that NBC paid over the life of their 2011–12 to 2020–21 contract.[39] Sports Business Journal reported on June 15 that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL was delaying negotiations for its media rights to late 2020 or early 2021.[40]

On January 22, 2021, it was reported that NBCUniversal would shut down NBCSN—the main U.S. cable broadcaster of the NHL—by the end of the year. As part of the transition, it was stated that major cable sporting events would migrate to USA Network (which "will begin carrying and/or simulcasting certain NBC Sports programming" later in the year, including NHL playoff games).[41][42]

On February 2, 2021, NHL Network announced that it will introduce a new broadcast known as the NHL Network Showcase on February 6, which will feature 16 weekend afternoon games through the remainder of the season. Modeled upon the similarly named broadcasts on sister channel MLB Network, these games will be original presentations (rather than simulcasting a regional feed) called by Stephen Nelson and Mike Rupp, and will be drawn from the "European Game of the Week" window (which had been introduced in the 2018–19 season to provide opportunities for primetime NHL broadcasts in Europe).[43][44]

In Canada, this will be the seventh season of the league's twelve-year rights deal with Rogers Sports & Media.[45] Sportsnet West has renewed its regional rights to the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers under a multi-year deal, which had expired at the end of the previous 2019–20 season.[46]

On October 5, 2020, the Winnipeg Jets renewed its regional television rights with TSN3 under a multi-year deal,[47] and announced that Corus Entertainment would assume the team's radio rights under a seven-year deal, with CJOB and CJKR-FM serving as co-flagships and both replacing CFRW. It marks the first time Winnipeg's NHL team will air on CJOB, since the original Winnipeg Jets.[48] The San Jose Sharks ended their radio relationship with KUFX and shifted to online-only audio broadcasts.[49]

NBC's lead play-by-play announcer Mike Emrick announced his retirement from broadcasting on October 19, 2020, after a 47-year career.[50] In January 2021, it was announced that Sportsnet commentator Dave Randorf would become the new play-by-play announcer for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Fox Sports Sun, succeeding Rick Peckham.[51] Harnarayan Singh, after spending the previous decade calling games in the Punjabi language for Hockey Night in Canada, made his English play-by-play debut this season working HNIC games in Alberta.[52][53]

On January 26, the Seattle Kraken announced that Root Sports Northwest will be their regional TV broadcaster when the expansion team begins play in 2021–22.[54]

For most regular season games in the U.S., the home team's regional television rightsholder is serving as the host broadcaster, providing a neutral "world feed" to the away team's local rightsholder and other media partners. The away team's commentators are then calling the games remotely off of monitors from either their respective studios or from their home arena press boxes. NBC will also use the world feed during its non-exclusive telecasts with its commentators working remotely from NBC Sports' studios in Stamford, Connecticut, but will also have its own crews onsite for its exclusive broadcasts.[33]

A similar arrangement is being used in Canada by broadcasters Sportsnet, TSN, TVA Sports, and RDS, based primarily on their respective regional rights. Sportsnet is assigned to Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver; TSN has Ottawa and Winnipeg; Sportsnet and TSN are splitting Toronto; and RDS and TVA Sports are splitting Montreal. TSN and Sportsnet's respective parent companies Bell Media and Rogers Media jointly own Dome Productions, which provides the broadcast facilities for both networks.[34]

For its exclusive Hockey Night in Canada and Wednesday Night Hockey national broadcasts, Sportsnet will either use its regular national production crews or use its local Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, or Vancouver production crews.[34] Sportsnet also suspended production of its remote Hometown Hockey broadcasts.[55] To further reduce travel during the regular season, Sportsnet/HNIC's lead play-by-play announcer Jim Hughson has opted to only call national Vancouver home games, and Chris Cuthbert will mostly work games in Eastern Canada.[52]

Only a few teams admitted a limited amount of in-person spectators at the start of the season.[83]

Due to Santa Clara County banning all contact sports in response to a local rise of COVID-19 cases, the San Jose Sharks began the season on an extended road trip.[89] Their first two home games on February 1 and 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights was to have been held at Gila River Arena, the home of division rival Arizona Coyotes,[90] but ended up being postponed due to a COVID outbreak among the Golden Knights (see also § Postponed games, below).[91] On January 25, Santa Clara County health officials announced that they were lifting the ban,[92] but the Sharks stated that they still need to work out several health and safety issues and therefore plans to not return to SAP Center until February 13.[93]

The Tampa Bay Lightning initially announced that it would cap Amalie Arena at 20% capacity. However, the team's ownership later announced that no spectators will be allowed at the arena for Lightning games through at least February 2, 2021, due to concerns surrounding local case numbers.[94][95]

On January 1, 2021, it was reported that the NHL was planning two outdoor games at the Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Lake Tahoe on February 20 and 21, with the Flyers playing the Bruins and the Avalanche playing the Golden Knights. It was suggested that the cancellation of stadium-based outdoor games due to reduced fan involvement had led the NHL to pursue outdoor games in scenic locations instead.[98] The NHL officially confirmed the games, NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe, on January 11, 2021.[99]

• The Dallas Stars' first four games (road contests against the Florida Panthers on January 14 and 15 and the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 17 and 19) were postponed after six Dallas players and two staff members tested positive for COVID-19 by January 8.[100] At least eight games involving either Dallas, Florida, or Tampa Bay were rescheduled to accommodate the postponements, including rescheduling one of the Dallas–Tampa Bay games for May 10, two days after the regular season was originally scheduled to end.[101]
• The Carolina Hurricanes–Nashville Predators game on January 19 was postponed "out of an abundance of caution" after four Carolina players were added to the COVID-19 list.[102] On the following day, the league decided to also postpone Carolina's next two games against Florida on January 21 and 23.[103] The league further postponed Carolina's game against Tampa Bay on January 26, and then rescheduled at least seven games involving either of these four teams.[104]
• The St. Louis Blues–Vegas Golden Knights game on January 28 was postponed after several Vegas players and coaches tested positive.[105] The league further postponed Vegas' next two games at the San Jose Sharks on February 1 and 3.[91] Six games were then rescheduled involving either of those three teams.[106]
• Three New Jersey Devils games (road contests against the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 2 and 4 and a home game against the New York Rangers on February 6) were postponed after several New Jersey players were placed on the COVID-19 protocol list.[107]
• Four Buffalo Sabres road games (at the New York Islanders on February 2 and 4, and at the Boston Bruins on February 6 and 8) were postponed. The Sabres were the last team to play the Devils before the three aforementioned New Jersey games were postponed. The league had initially only postponed Buffalo's February 2 game after the team's flight to New York was delayed due to weather conditions and thus pushed back the required COVID-19 tracing protocols, but decided to postpone more games after Sabres players were placed on the COVID-19 protocol list.[108] On February 6, the league rescheduled 27 games involving Buffalo, New Jersey, or other East Division teams.[109]
• Four Minnesota Wild games (at the Colorado Avalanche on February 4, two home games against the Arizona Coyotes on February 6 and 7, and a home game against St. Louis on February 9) were postponed after several Wild players were placed on the COVID-19 protocol list.[110]
• Four additional Avalanche games (two road games at St. Louis on February 6 and 7, and two home games against Arizona on February 9 and 11) were postponed after forwards Tyson Jost and Gabriel Landeskog were placed on the COVID-19 protocol list. As a result, the Blues and Coyotes' two-game set in St. Louis on March 29 and 31 was rescheduled to February 6 and 8, making it a four-game series between the two teams after having previously played on February 2 and 4.[111]

The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of games played on February 5, 2021.[113]

The following goaltenders led the league in regular season goals against average at the conclusion of games played on February 5, 2021, while playing at least 360 minutes.[114]

• The Buffalo Sabres reintroduced their original royal blue, gold and white uniforms full-time, worn by the team from 1970 to 1996.[115]
• The Calgary Flames reintroduced their original red, yellow, and white uniforms, worn by the team from 1980 to 1994. The design had been used as an alternate, retro jersey in recent seasons. The team's primarily red and black former home sweater will be the alternate jersey going forward.[116]
• The Dallas Stars introduced new alternate black and neon green uniforms.[117]
• The Ottawa Senators reintroduced its 1997–2007 logo, with a gold outline as opposed to red, and a uniform set similar to the jerseys used from 1992 to 1995.[118]
• The San Jose Sharks reintroduced their original Heritage jersey worn by the team from 1991 to 1998, to be worn during select games to celebrate their 30th anniversary.[119]
• The Vegas Golden Knights introduced new alternate metallic gold uniforms.[120]
• The Washington Capitals introduced alternate uniforms based on the ones they wore during the 2018 NHL Stadium Series.[121]
• From January 16, 2021 through the end of February (in honour of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month), all players will wear commemorative "Celebrating Equality" decals on their helmets featuring an image of Willie O'Ree—the first black player in the NHL—whose jersey will be retired by the Boston Bruins on February 18.[122]

On November 16, 2020, the NHL introduced Adidas "Reverse Retro" jerseys for all 31 teams, which feature throwback uniforms with a modern twist.[123]

Central Division

• Carolina Hurricanes: 1979 Hartford Whalers jerseys, the team's first season after the NHL–WHA merger when they were the Whalers, except gray.
• Chicago Blackhawks: 1940 throwbacks.
• Columbus Blue Jackets: 2000 throwbacks, the team's inaugural season, except red.
• Dallas Stars: 1999 throwbacks, when they won the Stanley Cup, except white throughout, including the pants.
• Detroit Red Wings: 1998 throwbacks, when they won their ninth Stanley Cup in 1998; taking additional inspiration from their white jerseys from 1961 except replacing the red stripes with silver ones.
• Florida Panthers: 1996 throwbacks, when they made their only Stanley Cup Finals appearance, except navy blue and with the team's current color scheme.
• Nashville Predators: 1998 throwbacks, the team's inaugural season.
• Tampa Bay Lightning: 2004 throwbacks, when they won their first Stanley Cup, but now blue.

East Division

• Boston Bruins: primarily "gold"-color throwback jerseys, with details matching those of the 1987–88 and 1989–90 seasons, when the team reached two Stanley Cup Finals over a three-season span.[124]
• Buffalo Sabres: The team's first third jersey in 2000, except done in the team's current colors and on a white template.
• New Jersey Devils: 1982 throwbacks, the team's first season in New Jersey after relocating from Denver when they were the Colorado Rockies, except the green and red are reversed.
• New York Islanders: 1980 throwbacks, when they won the first out of four consecutive Stanley Cups in the navy blue focused color scheme the team used from 1995 to 2010.
• New York Rangers: 1996 alternate jerseys that feature the head of the Statue of Liberty.
• Philadelphia Flyers: 1995 throwbacks, when Eric Lindros won the Hart Trophy, similar but the black and white elements are swapped out for one another.
• Pittsburgh Penguins: 1997 throwbacks, when Mario Lemieux won his sixth scoring title, except white instead of black.
• Washington Capitals: 1997 throwbacks, featuring the "screaming eagle", except done in their current color scheme.

North Division

• Calgary Flames: The team's first third jersey in 1998.
• Edmonton Oilers: 1979 throwbacks, the team's first season after the NHL–WHA merger. This jersey is inspired by the 1972 Alberta Oilers design.
• Montreal Canadiens: 1976 throwbacks, except the blue and red are reversed.
• Ottawa Senators: 1992 throwbacks, the team's inaugural season, but now red.
• Toronto Maple Leafs: 1970 throwbacks, originally colored with white accents, but now gray, the 1967–1970 logo is on the crest of the jersey.
• Vancouver Canucks: The team's third jersey in 2001, originally colored with red gradients, but now green.
• Winnipeg Jets: The 1979 jerseys of the original Winnipeg Jets, the team's first season after the NHL–WHA merger, except now a dark gray base with navy blue accents.

West Division

• Anaheim Ducks: The team's first third jersey in 1995, featuring team mascot Wildwing breaking out a sheet of ice, except white instead of jade.
• Arizona Coyotes: The team's first third jersey in 1999, originally colored green but now purple.
• Colorado Avalanche: 1979 Quebec Nordiques jerseys, the team's first season after the NHL–WHA merger when they were the Nordiques albeit in a 1991 design and using the Avalanche's burgundy and blue color scheme.
• Los Angeles Kings: 1989 throwbacks, when Wayne Gretzky broke the NHL record for all-time leading scorer. The design has the 1988–1998 era logo and is colored in forum blue (purple) and gold colors used on the team's original uniforms from 1967 to 1988.
• Minnesota Wild: Features the current Wild logo with the style and colors of the 1978 Minnesota North Stars jerseys.
• St. Louis Blues: 1995 throwbacks, but colored in red.
• San Jose Sharks: The team's first third jersey in 1998, but now gray.
• Vegas Golden Knights: Based on the jerseys worn by the 1995 Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League, except the teams's secondary logo is on the crest of the jersey, and the dominant color is red.

The following is a list of notable players who played their first NHL game during the 2020–21 NHL season, listed with their first team.

The following is a list of players of note who played their last NHL game in 2020–21, listed with their team:

• On January 14, 2021, Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov became the first player in NHL history to have three-plus points and an overtime goal in his debut.
• On January 28, 2021, New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff became the seventh coach in NHL history to coach 1,500 games.
• On February 2, 2021, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber played his 1,000th NHL game, becoming the 349th player to reach the mark.
• On February 4, 2021, Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin surpassed Mike Gartner for seventh in the NHL all-time goals list.
• On February 4, 2021, Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane surpassed Doug Weight for sixth in the NHL scoring list among United States-born players.