Checking the Schedule

Take out your scratch pads and iPads, your calendars and planners, Kraken fans. The NHL has released Seattle's schedule for the inaugural 2021-22 regular season.

During Wednesday's NHL Expansion Draft at Gas Works Park, the cheers from the 4,000-plus fans were loud and clear and long when the league and ESPN broke the news the Kraken home opener is Saturday, Oct. 23 at Climate Pledge Arena. Surely, a date and milestone event to celebrate.
But those cheers were more throaty and higher-decibel because of the opponent coming to town that glorious-night-in-the-making: The Vancouver Canucks.
New Seattle Kraken forward Brandon Tanev toured the nearly completed, brand-new Climate Pledge Arena Thursday morning with five other new teammates. "It's going to be special to play here," said Tanev, exiting the arena site. "And it's going to be so loud."
Tanev, imagining all 41 regular-season home games, could just as specifically been talking about that home opener against an instant rival. Let's section off the rest of the Kraken's schedule.

Opening and Bonding with Road Trip

Thursday's schedule announcement answers the question of when and where the Kraken open their historic NHL season. The first-ever regular-season opponent will be the last franchise to join the league before Seattle, the Vegas Golden Knights.
The road opener is Tuesday, Oct. 12. It kickstarts a five-game road trip for the Kraken to start the season. Nashville (Oct. 14) is the next stop on a trip that figures to provide plenty of bonding time for the new roster. Then it's on to Columbus (Oct. 16), Philadelphia (Oct. 18) and New Jersey (Oct. 19).

Diving into the Pacific

The divisional and Pacific Northwest rival Vancouver will return to Climate Pledge Arena Jan. 1 to roll in the 2022 New Year, just days after the Kraken travel to Vancouver for the first two road games against the Canucks. The fourth and final game between the two squads will be April 26 at Vancouver.
The Canucks are one of five Pacific Division teams the Kraken with play four times, two home and two away. The others are Los Angeles, San Jose, Vegas and Calgary.
Seattle plays Edmonton and former Seattle hockey operations advisor/now Oilers head coach Dave Tippett three times, twice at home and one time on the road. Anaheim is the other division rival to play Seattle three times, once at Climate Pledge Arena and twice in Orange County.

Conference Call

As the league adjusts to have an even number of teams and desire to play significant games in a team's conference, Kraken will play three times against each team in the Central division, the other half of the Western conference.
Half of those Central series will include two home games and one road contest, while the other four will translate to one home game in Seattle and two as visitors.
The schedule against Eastern Conference teams is straightforward: one home game and one road game. Two "Original Six" teams will visit Climate Pledge Arena during a four-game home-stand to finish out October: the Montreal Canadiens Oct. 26 and the New York Rangers Oct. 31.

Olympics Decision Pending

The NHL released this schedule version Thursday to accommodate the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing with a three-week break in February. The Kraken would face the Bruins in Boston Feb. 1, then not play until a home game with Boston Feb 24.
The NHL has put together a second, updated, non-public schedule if the Winter Games' timing is affected or the NHL opts not to have its players participate. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly confirmed all 32 teams have seen each schedule and that, as of Thursday afternoon, there was not an agreement in place between the league, the NHLPA, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the International Olympic Committee for players to return to the Winter Olympics
"A lot has to do with the uncertainty of the games with respect to what the rules will be at the games whether there'll be spectators, whether there won't be spectators," said Bill Daly, NHL deputy commissioner in a statement. "How the Tokyo Games may impact how the Beijing Games are run.
"There are COVID-related insurance issues that are very important to all the relevant parties here. I think we've worked through a lot of the more basic issues.
"We continue to be in uncharted territory, to a certain extent, due to the COVID situation and what that means and what it'll be like come February in Beijing. There's a lot of uncertainty and unknowns that we're grappling with and that takes time."

Month-to-Month, Back-to-Back

The 82 games of the Kraken's 2021-22 NHL regular season will be played over seven months. But the public-facing schedule released Thursday blocks out three weeks in February to accommodate the possible participation of NHL players participating at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
If the Olympic break happens, the Kraken will play only three games in February. That's compared to busy weeks in the other six months:
There are a couple of unusual back-to-back games in the Kraken schedule, one home and one away. Seattle will host Vegas March 30 and April 1, affording a breather day in between contests. Earlier that week, the Kraken will play two road games (March 26 and 28) in three nights at Los Angeles.