The 201617 NHL season saw the entrance of a 31st team to the league, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the retirement of a total of 32 players from various teams.
On June 22, 2016, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman officially announced that the league had approved an expansion team in Las Vegas, Nevada, later christened the Vegas Golden Knights, who were set to begin play in the 201718 season. 30 Pavel Datsyuk Louis Leblanc Mattias Ohlund Jason LaBarbera Brad Richards Tim Jackman Scott Gomez Matt Lindblad Paul Gaustad Shawn Horcoff Cody Hodgson Mike Santorelli Barret Jackman Dan Boyle Ruslan Fedotenko Eric Nystrom Raffi Torres Matt Carle Travis Moen John Scott Jarret Stoll David Legwand Tyler Kennedy Martin Havlat Alex Tanguay Patrik Elias Shawn Thornton Craig Cunningham Steve Ott Dillon Fournier Gregory Campbell Daniel Cleary 
