2021–22 AHL season

The 2021–22 AHL season is the 86th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season is scheduled to begin on October 15, 2021, and end on April 24, 2022. The regular season is typically followed by the Calder Cup playoffs, which has not been held since 2019 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
==League changes==
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic during the previous season, the league had a temporary alignment consisting for five divisions. The league's Canada-based teams only played intradivisional games and could not cross the international border due to pandemic travel restrictions. The league expects to return to a normal schedule and with an updated alignment following team relocations, teams returning, and the lightening of pandemic restrictions. The new alignment was announced on June 7, 2021, returning to the previous four divisions used in the 2019–20 with exception the Abbotsford team and the Henderson Silver Knights joining the Pacific Division, increasing it to nine teams, while the Binghamton Devils and the former San Antonio Rampage were removed from the North and Central Divisions, respectively, decreasing each to seven teams.
As part of the alignment, the league will continue to have an imbalanced schedule with each team either playing 76, 72, or 68 games during the regular season. The Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the regular season champion is still awarded based on points percentage. The leagues plans for this to be the last season with the imbalanced scheduling with the expectation that all teams will play a 72-game schedule in 2022–23.
===Team and NHL affiliation changes===
The league expects to return to 31 active teams with the Charlotte Checkers, Milwaukee Admirals, and Springfield Thunderbirds returning from a pandemic-related hiatus.
*The Binghamton Devils' franchise is relocated to Utica, New York, as the Utica Comets. The Comets adopted a color scheme of red, black, and white, to match the colors of the Devils. 
*The Bridgeport Sound Tigers were rebranded as the Bridgeport Islanders by their parent club, the New York Islanders.
*The franchise that was operating as the Utica Comets, and owned by the Vancouver Canucks, is relocated to Abbotsford, British Columbia, as the Abbotsford Canucks.
====Affiliation changes====
Due to the three teams returning from their pandemic hiatus, the temporary secondary NHL affiliations from the previous season ended. However, the addition of a 32nd NHL team in Seattle added one dual affiliation.
AHL team 	New affiliate 	Previous affiliate
Abbotsford Canucks 	 	St. Louis Blues
Charlotte Checkers 	Florida PanthersSeattle Kraken	Team was on hiatus
Chicago Wolves 	 	Nashville Predators
Milwaukee Admirals 	Nashville Predators 	Team was on hiatus
Springfield Thunderbirds	St. Louis Blues 	Team was on hiatus
Syracuse Crunch 	 	Florida Panthers
===Teams as of the 2021–22 season===
On June 7, 2021, the alignment for the 2021–22 season was announced.
Division 	Team 	City 	Arena 	Founded 	Joined 	Head coach 	NHL affiliate
Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference
Atlantic 	Bridgeport Islanders 	Bridgeport, Connecticut 	Webster Bank Arena 	2001 	2001 	Brent Thompson 	New York Islanders
Atlantic 	Charlotte Checkers 	Charlotte, North Carolina 	Bojangles' Coliseum 	1990 	1990 	Geordie Kinnear 	Florida PanthersSeattle Kraken
Atlantic 	Hartford Wolf Pack 	Hartford, Connecticut 	XL Center 	1926 	1936 	Kris Knoblauch 	New York Rangers
Atlantic 	Hershey Bears 	Hershey, Pennsylvania 	Giant Center 	1938 	1938 	Vacant 	Washington Capitals
Atlantic 	Lehigh Valley Phantoms 	Allentown, Pennsylvania 	PPL Center 	1996 	1996 	Ian Laperriere 	Philadelphia Flyers
Atlantic 	Springfield Thunderbirds 	Springfield, Massachusetts 	MassMutual Center 	1975 	1981 	Drew Bannister 	St. Louis Blues
Atlantic 	Providence Bruins 	Providence, Rhode Island 	Dunkin' Donuts Center 	1987 	1987 	Vacant 	Boston Bruins
Atlantic 	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins	Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania	Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza 	1981 	1981 	J. D. Forrest 	Pittsburgh Penguins
North 	Belleville Senators 	Belleville, Ontario 	CAA Arena 	1972 	1972 	Troy Mann 	Ottawa Senators
North 	Cleveland Monsters 	Cleveland, Ohio 	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 	1994 	2001 	Mike Eaves 	Columbus Blue Jackets
North 	Laval Rocket 	Laval, Quebec 	Place Bell 	1969 	1969 	Jean-François Houle	Montreal Canadiens
North 	Rochester Americans 	Rochester, New York 	Blue Cross Arena 	1956 	1956 	Seth Appert 	Buffalo Sabres
North 	Syracuse Crunch 	Syracuse, New York 	Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial	1992 	1992 	Benoit Groulx 	Tampa Bay Lightning
North 	Toronto Marlies 	Toronto, Ontario 	Coca-Cola Coliseum 	1978 	1978 	Greg Moore 	Toronto Maple Leafs
North 	Utica Comets 	Utica, New York 	Adirondack Bank Center 	1998 	1998 	Vacant 	New Jersey Devils
Western Conference	Western Conference 	Western Conference 	Western Conference 	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference 	Western Conference
Central 	Chicago Wolves 	Rosemont, Illinois 	Allstate Arena 	1994 	2001 	Ryan Warsofsky 	Carolina Hurricanes
Central 	Grand Rapids Griffins 	Grand Rapids, Michigan 	Van Andel Arena 	1996 	2001 	Ben Simon 	Detroit Red Wings
Central 	Iowa Wild 	Des Moines, Iowa 	Wells Fargo Arena 	1994 	2001 	Tim Army 	Minnesota Wild
Central 	Manitoba Moose 	Winnipeg, Manitoba 	Canada Life Centre 	1994 	2001 	Mark Morrison 	Winnipeg Jets
Central 	Milwaukee Admirals 	Milwaukee, Wisconsin 	UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena 	1970 	2001 	Karl Taylor 	Nashville Predators
Central 	Rockford IceHogs 	Rockford, Illinois 	BMO Harris Bank Center 	1995 	1995 	Derek King 	Chicago Blackhawks
Central 	Texas Stars 	Cedar Park, Texas 	H-E-B Center at Cedar Park 	1999 	1999 	Neil Graham 	Dallas Stars
Pacific 	Abbotsford Canucks 	Abbotsford, British Columbia 	Abbotsford Centre 	1932 	1936 	Trent Cull 	Vancouver Canucks
Pacific 	Bakersfield Condors 	Bakersfield, California 	Mechanics Bank Arena 	1984 	1984 	Jay Woodcroft 	Edmonton Oilers
Pacific 	Colorado Eagles 	Loveland, Colorado 	Budweiser Events Center 	2003 	2018 	Greg Cronin 	Colorado Avalanche
Pacific 	Henderson Silver Knights 	Paradise, NevadaHenderson, Nevada 	Orleans ArenaDollar Loan Center 	1971 	1971 	Emanuel Viveiros 	Vegas Golden Knights
Pacific 	Ontario Reign 	Ontario, California 	Toyota Arena 	2001 	2001 	John Wroblewski 	Los Angeles Kings
Pacific 	San Diego Gulls 	San Diego, California 	Pechanga Arena 	2000 	2000 	Joel Bouchard 	Anaheim Ducks
Pacific 	San Jose Barracuda 	San Jose, California 	SAP Center 	1996 	1996 	Roy Sommer 	San Jose Sharks
Pacific 	Stockton Heat 	Stockton, California 	Stockton Arena 	1977 	1977 	Mitch Love 	Calgary Flames
Pacific 	Tucson Roadrunners 	Tucson, Arizona 	Tucson Convention Center 	1994 	1994 	Jay Varady 	Arizona Coyotes
===Future teams===
Team 	City 	Arena 	Founded	Joined	Head coach	NHL affiliate
Palm Springs AHL team	Palm Springs, California	Coachella Valley Arena	2022 	2022 	 	Seattle Kraken
===Coaching changes===
Off–season 	Off–season 	Off–season 	Off–season
Team 	 	 	Notes
Abbotsford Canucks	— 	Trent Cull 	Cull had coached the Canucks' previous affiliate, the Utica Comets, since 2017 and led the team to a 122–93–17–9 record. He was brought over by the Canucks when the team was relocated.
Hershey Bears 	 	 	On July 17, 2021, Carbery was hired as an assistant coach by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Carbery compiled an 87–50–9–8 record in three seasons as Bears head coach. Carbery also won the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award in the 2020–21 AHL season as the league's best head coach, and led the Bears to a Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, with the best team record during the season.
Laval Rocket 	Joel Bouchard 	 	Bouchard left the Rocket at the end of his contract, compiling a 83–67–24 record over three seasons, to become the head coach of the San Diego Gulls. The Rocket then hired Houle after he served six seasons working for the Edmonton Oilers as an assistant coach with the Bakersfield Condors.
 	 	Ian Laperriere	The Philadelphia Flyers announced that Gordon and the Flyers' organization had mutually agreed to end their contract following the 2020–21 season. Gordon had led the Phantoms as head coach for six seasons and a 186–121–40 record (and one tie due to a suspended game in 2021) as well as a stint as interim head coach of the Flyers with a 25–22–4 record in 2018–19. On June 5, 2021, Flyers' assistant coach Ian Laperriere was named the head coach of the Phantoms.
Manitoba Moose 	Pascal Vincent	Mark Morrison 	Vincent stepped down from his position with the Moose to join the Columbus Blue Jackets coaching staff on June 24, 2021. Vincent compiled a 155–139–31 record in 325 games as head coach with Manitoba. Morrison was hired on July 19 after serving as an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks since 2017. He had also previously worked for the Winnipeg Jets as an assistant cach for their AHL affiliates, the St. John's IceCaps and the Moose, from 2011 to 2017.
Providence Bruins 	Jay Leach 	 	Leach was hired as an assistant coach with the Seattle Kraken on July 5, 2021. Leach compiled a 136–77–26 record in 239 games as head coach of Providence.
San Diego Gulls 	Kevin Dineen 	Joel Bouchard 	Dineen's contract was not renewed after two seasons, leading the Gulls to a 56–36–7–2 record, and was replaced by Bouchard.
Stockton Heat 	Cail MacLean 	Mitch Love 	The Calgary Flames promoted MacLean to assistant coach with the Flames after serving as the Heat's head coach for three seasons and a 72–65–16 record. Love was named the next head coach on July 12, 2021, after most recently coaching the Saskatoon Blades.
Tucson Roadrunners	Steve Potvin 	Jay Varady 	Prior to the postponed start of the previous season, Roadrunners' head coach Jay Varady was brought up to the Arizona Coyotes' staff as an assistant coach and Roadrunners' assistant coach Steve Potvin was promoted as the head coach. Varady returned to his position with the Roadrunners for the 2021–22 season.
Utica Comets 	Trent Cull 	 	Cull was retained by the Vancouver Canucks and brought over to their Abbotsford affiliate.
== Standings ==
To be added upon completion of the regular season
==Calder Cup playoffs==
To be added
==See also==
*List of AHL seasons
*2021 in hockey
*2022 in hockey
== References ==
==External links==
*AHL official site
Category:American Hockey League seasons
Category:2021–22 in American ice hockey by league
Category:2021–22 in Canadian ice hockey by league