The regular season began on 12 September 2012 and ended on 2 March 2013, with the following playoffs and Kvalserien tournaments running until 5 April 2013.
The two teams with the worst records from the 2012–13 Elitserien season (Timrå IK and Rögle BK), along with the three best teams from the 2012–13 HockeyAllsvenskan season (Leksands IF, Södertälje SK, and VIK Västerås HK) and the winner of the HockeyAllsvenskan playoff series (Örebro HK) all played each other twice, once home and once way.
The two teams ranked 13th and 14th after the regular season, Tingsryds AIF and Karlskrona HK, were forced to play in the Kvalserien qualification series to defend their spots in HockeyAllsvenskan.
Umeå-based IF Björklöven, who were Swedish champions in 1987 and were in Sweden's top hockey league as recently as 2001, finished first in the standings, resulting in their return to HockeyAllsvenskan three years after their 2010 demotion to Division 1 due to financial difficulties.
Each team ended up losing their final match in game winning shots, resulting in Tingsryd being demoted to the 2013–14 Division 1 season.