Jay North
Frank Nighbor was the first NHL MVP, in the 1923 - 1924 season.
It was a goalie
Willie O'Ree was the first black player, 1958, Boston Bruins. He was Canadian, born in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The first African-American was Valmore James, 1981, Buffalo Sabres, born in Ocala, Florida.
While there had been players with Russian ancestry, the first Soviet trained player in the NHL was Viktor Nechaev. He appeared in 3 games for the Los Angeles Kings in 1982, scoring 1 goal in that span. Apparently, he was good enough to play in the NHL, but was sent to New Haven in the AHL for conditioning and to learn the North American game. He was ticked at being sent down and refused to play in the AHL. He spent the rest of his playing career in Europe.
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Fred Sasakamoose was the first First Nations (Canadian equivalent to "Native American") NHL player. He played 11 games for the Chicago Black Hawks in 1953-54. He is now an elder of the Ahtahkapoop Cree Nation and a senator of the First Nations Government.
There are 191 American players in the NHL.
Grant Fehr
Grant Fehr
Willie o'ree
The first black player in the NHL was Willie O'Ree. He played for the Boston Bruins.