October 14, 2021: Start of the 2021-22 NHL Regular Season
The 2021-22 NHL Season will kick off on October 14th as the Pittsburgh Penguins travel to Tampa to verse the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning in their Stanley Cup banner ceremony at 7:30 ET. Next, the newest expansion team Seattle Kraken play their first-ever NHL game in Las Vegas against the other recent expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights at 10:30 ET. Both games will be streamed on ESPN as hockey makes its return on ESPN.
January 1, 2022: Winter Classic Game
After being cancelled last year, the Winter Classic is back as the Minnesota Wild will host the St. Louis Blues at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins on New Year’s Day. The Wild will play in their first-ever Winter Classic while the St. Louis Blues will play in their second Winter Classic, previously hosting the Chicago Blackhawks in 2017 at Busch Stadium.
February 4-5, 2022: All-Star Weekend
Another event that was cancelled last year is back as the All-Star Game is back this year. For the first time ever, the All-Star Weekend will be held in Las Vegas.
February 9-19, 2022: 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
For the first time in 8 years, the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to allow players to play in the Winter Olympics. The Olympics and All-Star weekend break will stretch from February 3rd to February 23rd.
February 26, 2022: Stadium Series Game
The Nashville Predators will host the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning at Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans. This will be the Lightning’s first outdoor game ever and the Predators second, previously playing in the 2020 NHL Winter Classic against the Dallas Stars.
March 13, 2022: Heritage Classic
The Toronto Maple Leafs will face off against the Buffalo Sabres at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton Ontario, home to the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Heritage Classic. This will be the first time a non-Canadian team played in the game and the first time the Maple Leafs played in a Heritage Classic.
March 21, 2022: NHL Trade Deadline
The NHL Trade Deadline will take place on March 21st. We could see some big names like Jack Eichel, Vladimir Tarasenko, Tomas Hertl, and more potentially being traded on this day.
April 29, 2022: End of the 2021-22 NHL Regular Season
The NHL Regular Season will conclude on April 29th with 15 exciting games on the day to end of the season.
May 2, 2022-June 30, 2022: Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are always the most exciting time of the season when we see teams battle to get the ultimate goal, the Stanley Cup.
July 7-8, 2022: 2022 NHL Entry Draft
The 2022 NHL Draft is expected to be one of the best we’ve seen in recent memory with generational talents such as Shane Wright, Brad Lambert, and Matthew Savoie.
July 13, 2022: Free Agency
The NHL Free Agency will kick off on July 13th with big names such as Aleksander Barkov, Mika Zibanejad, Johnny Gaudreau, Marc-Andre Fleury and more potentially on new teams.