The 1999–2000 NHL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Hockey League. With the addition of the expansion Atlanta Thrashers, 28 teams each played 82 games. This was the first season played in which teams were awarded a point for an overtime loss. The New Jersey Devils defeated the defending champion Dallas Stars for their second Stanley Cup championship. During the regular season, no player reached the 100-point plateau, the first time in a non-lockout season since the 1967–68 season. Also, in the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs, the New Jersey Devils overcame a three-games-to-one deficit against the Philadelphia Flyers to win the Eastern Conference Finals.

League business

Expansion

The 1999–2000 season was the inaugural year for the Atlanta Thrashers. They would join the Southeast Division, marking the return of the NHL to Atlanta since the Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary in 1980. The 1999 NHL expansion draft was held on June 25 to fill the new Thrashers roster.

Entry draft

The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. Patrik Stefan was selected first overall by the expansion Atlanta Thrashers.

Rule changes

Uniform changes

Arena changes

Regular season

All-Star Game

The All-Star Game was held on February 6, 2000, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, the home to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Playoffs

Bracket

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the three division winners seeded 1–3 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 4–8. The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

Awards

The Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award was introduced this season for the goaltender with the best save percentage.

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage Source: 2001 NHL Yearbook

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Milestones

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1999–2000 (listed with their first team, an asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1999–2000 (listed with their last team):

Broadcasting

Canada

This was the second season of the league's Canadian national broadcast rights deals with CBC and CTV Sportsnet. CBC aired Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada regular season games, while CTV Sportsnet's telecasts included Tuesday Night Hockey and other weeknight games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs continued to primarily be on CBC, while CTV Sportsnet aired first round all-U.S. series.

United States

This was the first year of the league's five-year U.S. national broadcast rights deal with ESPN and ABC. Much like ABC's initial contract with the NHL in the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons, ESPN essentially purchased time on ABC to air selected NHL games on ist sister broadcast network. This was noted in copyright tags at the conclusion of the telecasts (i.e., "The preceding program has been paid for by ESPN, Inc."). ESPN later signed a similar television rights contract with the National Basketball Association in 2002, allowing it to produce and broadcast NBA games on ABC under a similar time buy arrangement on the broadcast network. ABC's terms of this deal included four to five weeks worth of regional games on selected Saturday afternoons, typically between beginning in January or March for the first two seasons. ABC also had the All-Star Game. ESPN and ESPN2 continued to air weeknight games throughout the regular season. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected games, while ABC had weekend regional telecasts. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first and second round games (except for those games on ABC). ABC's weekend telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the third round games. ESPN then aired the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals before the rest of the series shifted to ABC.