All five teams from the previous season returned: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, and the Minnesota Whitecaps.

The NWHL completed the semifinal round of the 2020 Isobel Cup playoffs, but had to postpone the championship game between Boston and Minnesota originally scheduled for March 13, 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

[5] and agreed to give players a 50 percent split of revenue on league sponsorship and media deals.

[11] The Beauts then changed their home venue from the PSE-owned Harborcenter to the Northtown Center in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst.

[15] With the player strike, loss of support from the NHL teams, and lack of additional investors, the NWHL announced they would not be able to increase to full-time salaries or provide players with health insurance outside of the typical worker's compensation for injuries, but had come to an agreement to a 50 percent revenue split on all league-wide sponsorship and media deals.

[29] On February 11, the league awarded fastest skater to Team Dempsey's Allie Thunstrom of the Minnesota Whitecaps following a review and a timing error.