2022–23 AHL Season

The 2022–23 AHL season is the 87th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season began on October 14, 2022, and will end on April 16, 2023. The 2023 Calder Cup playoffs will follow after the conclusion of the regular season.

League changes

After the previous regular season where teams played an imbalanced schedule consisting of 76, 72, or 68 games, all teams will now play an equal amount of games at 72. Standings will also be in order of points rather than points percentage (points percentage was used in the previous season, due to an imbalanced amount of games played per team). This also means the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the regular season champion will no longer be awarded based on points percentage, but rather total points.

For the first time since 2018, the league will be expanding, adding the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Stockton Heat have been announced to be moving to Calgary in order to be closer to their NHL affiliate, the Calgary Flames.

Team and NHL affiliation changes

After the National Hockey League (NHL) added the Seattle Kraken for the 2021–22 season, the Kraken took a different approach than the 2017 expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights. Seattle wanted to add an AHL expansion team for their first season, unlike Vegas. The Kraken had discussed the possibility of promoting the Idaho Steelheads from the ECHL, similar to what the league decided to do with the 2018 expansion team Colorado Eagles. However, Seattle chose to create their own expansion team in Palm Desert, California. The team, named the Coachella Valley Firebirds, was originally scheduled to begin play during the 2021–22 AHL season, however the debut of the Firebirds was delayed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the construction of their arena. With Seattle having no AHL affiliate for their debut season, they decided to affiliate with the Charlotte Checkers as the secondary affiliate to the Florida Panthers.

The Firebirds organization will be taking the spot of the Stockton Heat in the Pacific Division. The Firebirds join other successful AHL franchises in the Southern California market, such as San Diego, Bakersfield, and Ontario. The Panthers will become the sole affiliate of the Checkers.

Relocations

*The Stockton Heat franchise was relocated to Calgary beginning with the 2022–23 season. The Heat had played the entire 2020–21 season at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with cross-border travel being restricted. On August 2, 2022, the team announced its name, bringing back the " Wranglers" moniker.

Affiliation changes

Coaching changes

Standings

Standings as of November 16, 2022

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Statistical leaders

Leading skaters

The following players are sorted by points, then goals. As of November 16, 2022.

''GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalty minutes''

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders with a minimum 240 minutes played lead the league in goals against average. As of November 15, 2022.

''GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout loss''

Calder Cup playoffs

Playoff format

The AHL will continue to use the same playoff format used in the previous playoffs. The playoff field will include the top six finishers in the eight-team Atlantic Division, the top five finishers each in the seven-team North and Central Divisions, and the top seven teams in the 10-team Pacific Division. First Round match-ups will be best-of-three series; the two highest seeds in the Atlantic, the three highest seeds in each of the North and Central, and the first-place team in the Pacific will receive byes into the best-of-five Division Semifinals, with the First Round winners re-seeded in each division. The Division Finals will also be best-of-five series, followed by best-of-seven Conference Finals and a best-of-seven Calder Cup Finals series.

AHL awards

All-Star Teams

References

{{Empty section, date=May 2022

American Hockey League seasons