NHL updates critical dates for 2021-22

Friends, our pals at the National Hockey League have released their updated critical dates calendar for the upcoming 2021-22 season.

The NHL season will be 200 days long, running from Oct. 12 through Apr. 29. The trade deadline is on Mar. 21, a Monday, and an off-day before the Flames play the San Jose Sharks the following day.

Jarome Iginla’s birthday, July 1, is now the opening of the buyout window. The NHL Draft is July 7 & 8 – a Thursday and Friday – in Montreal. Free agency opens on July 13, a Wednesday.

And as mentioned previously, there’s a big gap in the schedule in February 2022 for the All-Star Break and the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.