Due to COVID-19 cross-border travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Canada, the league temporarily realigned for this season, putting all seven Canadian teams into one division.
[4] The league also relies on attendance for at least 50 percent of its revenue, and the players were against spending the full season isolated in neutral-site bubbles similar to their situation during the 2020 playoffs.
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.
[12] To further reduce travel, the regular season schedule was arranged into baseball-style homestands, where multiple consecutive games with the same teams were played at the same location.
[14] 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.
Only for this season, the NHL allowed each team to retain an extra traveling group of four to six players, including one goaltender, known as the taxi squad.
[16] The 2020 NHL Entry Draft was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec,[17] but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[23] 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.
[71] On April 30, 2021, the Seattle Kraken paid the final installment of their expansion fee, formally admitting them into the NHL and allowing them to begin acquiring players.
[72] The team signed their first player, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) free agent Luke Henman, on May 12, 2021.
[108] While several Canadian teams submitted proposals (including Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa) to allow for in-person spectators, they were all rejected by local health authorities.
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.
However, the team's ownership later announced that no spectators were going to be allowed at the arena for Lightning games through at least February 2, 2021, due to concerns surrounding local case numbers.
[173] On March 1, 2021, Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf announced that large indoor sports venues could now host spectators at 15% of their capacity, affecting the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins.
[163] The Government of California announced on April 2 that indoor venues could host spectators at limited capacities with proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test, affecting the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks.
[113][148][149] On April 29, 2021, the city of Chicago announced that it would allow United Center to operate at a quarter of its capacity beginning May 9, making the Blackhawks the final U.S.-based NHL team to reopen its arena to spectators.
[123] On May 18, 2021, the Canadiens announced that under changes to Quebec public health orders and curfews, it would be able to admit 2,500 spectators to Bell Centre no earlier than May 28.
[154] In June, the Manitoba government gave clearance to allow up to 500 fully-vaccinated health care workers, as well as the immediate family members of team staff, to attend Winnipeg Jets home games beginning with their second-round (North Division finals) series against Montreal.
[176][177] The Saturday game between Colorado and Vegas was initially beset by ice quality issues; there was a lack of cloud cover, and as a result the playing surface was partially melted by direct sunlight.
In an attempt to avoid further issues, the Sunday game between Boston and Philadelphia was rescheduled for 4:30 PM (7:30 ET), five and a half hours after the originally planned start time.
On November 16, 2020, the NHL introduced Adidas "Reverse Retro" jerseys for all 31 teams, which feature throwback uniforms with a modern twist.
This included Sportnet's sub-licensing agreements to air Hockey Night in Canada games on CBC Television and French-language broadcasts on TVA Sports.
[270][271] 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, with its programming to be subsumed by USA Network and its streaming service Peacock.
Modeled after the similarly named broadcasts on sister channel MLB Network, the games are called by Stephen Nelson and rotating analysts.
[289][290] After the retirement of Mike Emrick, the lead play-by-play position for the NHL on NBC was rotated between Kenny Albert and John Forslund during the regular season.
[68] A similar arrangement was used in Canada by Sportsnet, TSN, TVA Sports, and RDS, based primarily on their respective national and regional rights, with Sportsnet producing Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and half of Toronto's games, TSN producing Ottawa, Winnipeg, and half of Toronto's games, and RDS and TVA Sports splitting Montreal.