1982–83 NHL season

The 1982–83 NHL season was the 66th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. Before the start of the season, the Colorado Rockies moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey where they were renamed New Jersey Devils. They were also moved to the Patrick Division, making the unwilling Winnipeg Jets to leave the Norris Division and take Colorado's place in the Smythe Division. This would be the last time an NHL team moved until 1993.
The last remaining players from the Original Six era, (Carol Vadnais, Serge Savard, and Wayne Cashman) all retired after this season. Cashman was the last to play, losing in the Wales Conference Finals as a player for the Bruins.
The New York Islanders won their fourth Stanley Cup in a row by beating the Edmonton Oilers four games to none. No team in any major professional North American sport has won four championships in a row since the Islanders.
Regular season.
The Boston Bruins led the league in total points with 110. The defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders went from first overall and finished tied for 6th overall. The high-scoring Edmonton Oilers tied for second overall. The Oilers set a new record, which they had just set the previous year, for most goals in a season with 424. They were led by Wayne Gretzky, who had 196 points. The Oilers also tied the Boston Bruins' 1971 record for most 100-point players in one season as Wayne Gretzky, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, and Mark Messier all had more than 100 points.
Final standings.
"Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes"
"Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold"
Scoring leaders.
"Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points"
Stanley Cup playoffs.
Finals.
New York Islanders vs. Edmonton Oilers
"New York wins the series 4–0."
First games.
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1982–83 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
Last games.
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1982–83 (listed with their last team):