Third jersey program

Improvements in dye-sublimation printing on modern uniform fabrics, having been featured in recent seasons on uniforms in the National Basketball Association and the Canadian Football League, had caught the interest of the NHL, which decided to allow alternate jerseys that could take advantage of this technology to produce new and unusual designs not possible under traditional jersey-making techniques. Six teams elected to participate in the process, but St. Louis Blues coach and general manager Mike Keenan vetoed the Blues' proposed third jersey, which would have featured blaring trumpets across the front. The five teams that did participate were the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Vancouver Canucks.

The Ducks' and Kings' third jerseys proved unpopular at the time and were retired by the end of the season, while the Canucks underwent a complete rebrand for the 1997–98 season. The Penguins' third jersey was promoted to their primary road jersey for the 1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs through the 2001–02 season, and the Bruins retained their third jersey the longest, through the 2005–06 season.

Final standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Bracket

All-Star teams

Scoring leaders

Czech superstar Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins broke the record for assists and points by a right winger in a single season . Mario Lemieux, a fellow teammate of Jagr's, achieved 161 points in 70 games, marking the NHL's final season in which a player would surpass 150 point plateau during the 1990s. This record remained unbroken until Connor McDavid scored 153 points in the 2022–23 season, which would not occur until 27 years later.^[3] This also marked the final season of the 1990s where at least one NHL player would score at least 60 goals (Jagr and Lemieux), a feat not repeated until Alexander Ovechkin's groundbreaking record of 65 goals in the 2007–08 season, set 12 years later in the modern era following the 2004–05 NHL lockout.^[4] Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs would later go on to break Ovechkin's modern record by scoring his 66th goal on April 9, 2024, achieving the rare distinction of being the first NHL player in 28 years to score more than 65 goals in a single season since Lemieux last accomplished the feat nearly three decades earlier.^[5]

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

Leading goaltenders

Regular season

^[7]

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1995–96 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Martin Biron, Buffalo Sabres
• Jarome Iginla*, Calgary Flames
• Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars
• Miroslav Satan, Edmonton Oilers
• Ed Jovanovski, Florida Panthers
• Jeff O'Neill, Hartford Whalers
• Jose Theodore, Montreal Canadiens
• Saku Koivu, Montreal Canadiens
• Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils
• Petr Sykora, New Jersey Devils
• Steve Sullivan, New Jersey Devils
• Bryan McCabe, New York Islanders
• Todd Bertuzzi, New York Islanders
• Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
• Daymond Langkow, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Andrew Brunette, Washington Capitals
• Shane Doan, Winnipeg Jets

Last games

The following is a list of players of note who played their last game in the NHL in 1995–96 (listed with their last team):

• Cam Neely, Boston Bruins
• Troy Murray, Colorado Avalanche
• Bob Kudelski, Florida Panthers
• Jimmy Carson, Hartford Whalers
• Joe Cirella, Ottawa Senators (Last active player to have been a member of the Colorado Rockies)
• Glenn Anderson, St. Louis Blues

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Canada

This was the eighth season that the league's Canadian national broadcast rights were split between TSN and Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. During the regular season, Saturday night games aired on CBC, while TSN primarily had Monday and Thursday night games. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs was primarily on CBC, with TSN airing first round all-U.S. series.

United States

This was the second season of the league's five-year U.S. national broadcast rights deals with Fox and ESPN. Both ESPN and ESPN2 aired weeknight games throughout the regular season, and Fox had the All-Star Game and weekly regional telecasts on six selected weekend afternoons between January and April. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected games, while Fox had Sunday regional telecasts. Each U.S. team's regional broadcaster produced local coverage of first and second round games (except for those games on Fox). Fox's Sunday telecasts continued into the Conference Finals, while ESPN had the rest of the third round games. The Stanley Cup Finals were also split between Fox and ESPN.