On Wednesday night the Seattle Kraken drafted the franchise’s inaugural roster and on Friday night the 2021 NHL Entry Draft will begin, but Thursday night was all about the schedule release.
For the first time since the 2018-19 season the NHL is preparing to play out a full 82-game schedule this season and we finally know how every team’s schedule is going to look, starting with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup banner raising and the Seattle Kraken’s first-ever game in franchise history coming on the opening night.
Every Canadian team except for the Winnipeg Jets will open their regular season against another Canadian team. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens will get things started with a rematch of their first round battle on the second night of the season, and that will be followed up by another all-Canadian battle featuring the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. As for Mark Giordano's return to Calgary, that won't come until December 23.
We’ll have to wait until December 7 for the Stanley Cup rematch between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning, but they go head-to-head twice that month making for a nice early Christmas gift. We’ll also get two more outdoor games this year, with the first one being the Winter Classic between the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild from Target Field on January 1, followed by the Stadium Series game between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning from Nissan Stadium in Tennessee on February 26.
Now that we finally know when and where every team will meet this upcoming season, which game are you most excited to watch and which ones do you plan on attending in person?
