2001-02 NHL season

The 2001-02 NHL season was the 85th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Detroit Red Wings, who won the best of seven series 4–1 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Dallas Stars moved their home games from Reunion Arena to American Airlines Center.

Final standings
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Playoff bracket
Note: All dates in 2002.

NHL Awards
The NHL Awards presentation took place in Toronto.

Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 2001-02 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
 * Ilya Bryzgalov, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
 * Dany Heatley, Atlanta Thrashers
 * Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers
 * Ales Kotalik, Buffalo Sabres
 * Henrik Tallinder, Buffalo Sabres
 * Erik Cole, Carolina Hurricanes
 * Tyler Arnason, Chicago Blackhawks
 * Radim Vrbata, Colorado Avalanche
 * Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
 * Sean Avery, Detroit Red Wings
 * Kristian Huselius, Florida Panthers
 * Stephen Weiss, Florida Panthers
 * Nick Schultz, Minnesota Wild
 * Martin Erat, Nashville Predators
 * Brian Gionta, New Jersey Devils
 * Raffi Torres, New York Islanders
 * Trent Hunter*, New York Islanders
 * Chris Neil, Ottawa Senators
 * Vesa Toskala, San Jose Sharks
 * Barret Jackman, St. Louis Blues
 * Alex Auld, Vancouver Canucks

Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 2001-02 (listed with their last team):
 * Jeff Norton, Boston Bruins
 * Bob Essensa, Buffalo Sabres
 * Mike Vernon, Calgary Flames
 * Bob Probert, Chicago Blackhawks
 * John MacLean, Dallas Stars
 * Pat Verbeek, Dallas Stars
 * Dave Manson, Dallas Stars
 * Steve Duchesne, Detroit Red Wings
 * John Vanbiesbrouck, New Jersey Devils
 * Valeri Kamensky, New Jersey Devils
 * Stephane Richer, New Jersey Devils
 * Kevin Stevens, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Rick Tocchet, Philadelphia Flyers
 * Gary Suter, San Jose Sharks
 * Ray Ferraro, St. Louis Blues
 * Grant Ledyard, Tampa Bay Lightning
 * Dmitri Khristich, Washington Capitals
 * Benoit Hogue, Washington Capitals