This map plots 6871 North American born players going back to the 1917-1918 inaugural.
Each players birth city was geolocated down to the county level based on what data was available.
Interactive ArcGIS; https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=87dea755c0034d5593d0258408d253dc
Player data: https://www.hockey-reference.com/friv/birthplaces.cgi
https://old.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1cfn8b5/almost_every_north_american_nhl_players_birth/
Not too surprising. Not many players from warmer regions. Because it goes back so far it is likely skewed. I wonder if the last 20 years is so dramatic. US Hockey is a power house now so I wonder if more players are coming from various parts of the country than before.
Good observation, I suspect so.