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The dates that will shape the upcoming NHL season are starting to emerge.

The trade deadline will take place on March 21, while free agency will begin on July 13, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has learned.

Friedman also reports RFAs must sign by Dec. 1 to be eligible to play this season and players on one-year contracts can be extended on Jan. 1.

Ottawa Senators winger Brady Tkachuk, Vancouver centre Elias Pettersson and Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes are the lone remaining RFAs.

Other key dates include the last possible day of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (June 30), first buyout period opening (July 1), NHL Draft in Montreal (July 7-8), and the salary arbitration period (July 27-August 11).

The traditional NHL calendar has been thrown off by the COVID-19 pandemic the past two years.

While Nazem Kadri did talk about the play that ended his 2020-21 season on Monday, he also is ready to close the book on that chapter as he prepares for his third campaign with the Colorado Avalanche.

Kadri was given an eight-game suspension for a hit to the head of St. Louis Blues defenceman Justin Faulk in Game 2 of their first-round series last season. It was his sixth suspension for a total of 16 playoff games and 11 regular-season games.

“At the time of the game, nothing had happened before for it to get heated,” Kadri told reporters in his first press conference since the suspension. “I was trying to make a responsible defensive play. A lot of things could’ve gone wrong if (Faulk) gets by me and scores. It wasn’t my intent to injure at all.”

The NHL did not see it that way as Kadri was ejected and handed the lengthy suspension as a result of the play. While he appealed the decision from the league, the former Toronto Maple Leaf did not get the desired outcome.

“Even if I accept as true Mr. Kadri’s contention that he did not intend to make head contact with Mr. Faulk (or to injure him), his actions were nonetheless reckless,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrote in his summation of Kadri’s appeal. “The force used was excessive and manifested a disregard for the safety of the opposing player.”

With the slate now clean, Kadri is looking to keep the focus on his play and make a good case for a pay raise as he is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Kadri saw a decline in production with 11 goals and 32 points appearing in 56 games last season. He told Peter Baugh of The Athletic that he spent the off-season working with NHL players in Toronto to improve his release and adding some body strength.

His Avalanche teammates, meanwhile, say they have lost trust in Kadri despite his reputation for losing his cool during big games.

“There’s no trust issues,” Mikko Rantanen said to reporters. “I don’t really need to tell him what to do because he’s a veteran guy. He’s going to get over it, for sure.”

TORONTO — Add Morgan Rielly to the growing list of NHL players condemning the racist taunt made by Andrei Denyskin.

During a stoppage in play Sunday, the Ukrainian Hockey League player shouted at Donbass defenceman Jalen Smereck, who is Black, and then mimed unpeeling a banana and eating it.

Denyskin was ejected from the game.

The clip went viral, and multiple NHL players denounced Denyskin’s actions.

“Yeah, I saw it,” Toronto Maple Leafs alternate captain Morgan Rielly said Monday. “Obviously it was a horrible act. It was disgusting. I mean, there’s no place for that in our sport, but especially just in our society. In terms of what should be done about it, I don’t know. But I think there has to be action. And I think it’s just a sign that there’s more work to be done. I think it’s very clear. And when stuff like that happens, it just is terrible.”

Added Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell: “Of course, you don’t want to see that anywhere.”

The Maple Leafs players drove an initiative to wear “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts during their first media availability coming back from the pandemic pause in July 2020.

“I think it’s well established that none of those things are going to be tolerated and certainly wouldn’t be tolerated by me or our organization whatsoever,” Leafs coach Shledon Keefe said.

New IIHF president Luc Tardif called Denyskin’s racist actions “a direct assault on the ideals and values of our game” and announced the organization is committed to investigate the incident further.

“There is no place for such a blatantly racist and unsportsmanlike gesture in our sport and in society,” Tardif said. “We will ensure that all necessary ethics violation investigations occur to ensure that this behaviour is sanctioned appropriately.”

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Matheiu Joseph tweeted out the clip, writing: “Shouldn’t be [allowed] or given a chance to play hockey ever again. I am beyond disgusted. Hurts to watch. I cannot wait to hear the suspension.”

Deniskin addressed the incident on Instagram, writing that he made “a gesture that someone can consider as an insult in race” after his emotions got the better of him. Deniskin added that he respects “all people regardless of race or nationality.”

The severity of Denyskin’s punishment is still to be determined.