The historic season for the American west coast city, Seattle, begins with an away match against the Vegas Golden Knights.
After that, four more away games await before Seattle gets to play its first home game in the Climate Pledge Arena.
Järnkrok misses the premiere
Since this summer's expansion draft, Seattle has had a blue-yellow tone, with four Swedes in the squad, Marcus Johansson, Alexander Wennberg, Adam Larsson and Calle Järnkrok.
However, Järnkrok will miss the big premiere against Vegas, as he tested positive for covid 19 and is now written on "covid-19 protocol", together with several other teammates, and thus may not travel with the team.
- We are all vaccinated and have been tested every three days.
I tested positive last Thursday and I think I have six more days before I can leave the house here at home, Järnkrok tells Expressen.
Yesterday, former Calgary captain Mark Giordano was named the new captain.
Adam Larsson, who declined an extension in Edmonton, where he has been assistant team captain for four seasons, has been awarded an "A" in Seattle.
- I will just continue to be myself and lead in the same way as I have done in recent years in Edmonton, both on and off the ice, says Larsson at a press conference.
The NHL now contains 32 teams and the question is whether Seattle can repeat the feat that the Vegas Golden Knights stood for as a newcomer, when they went to the Stanley Cup final 2018.