NEW YORK — Hockey fans are in for a bigger season than ever before. The NHL has released its 2026-27 schedule, and it will be the largest in the league’s history — with each of the 32 teams playing 84 games, the most since the 1993-94 campaign.
The regular season gets underway on September 29, with all 32 teams combining for a grand total of 1,344 games. Play continues through Saturday, April 10, before the postseason tips off the following week. Most clubs will be limited to just four preseason contests to help accommodate the longer schedule.
The jump from the longtime standard of 82 games per team was negotiated between team owners and players during the most recent collective bargaining agreement discussions. The goal is to create more breathing room between the end of the Stanley Cup Final and the NHL Draft in late June, before free agency opens on July 1. When the Panthers and Oilers went to a Game 7 in 2024, teams had only three days between that June 24 finale in South Florida and the draft’s first round on June 28 in Las Vegas.
The season opener on September 29 features five games and ties the earliest start date in NHL history. It will also be the first time the regular season has launched on North American ice before October. Back in 2007, the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings played games in London on September 29 and 30, but that was overseas. The only other September hockey outside of exhibition play happened during the 2020 pandemic bubble, when Tampa Bay captured the Stanley Cup in an empty Edmonton arena on September 28.
To open the new season, the Carolina Hurricanes — fresh off defeating Vegas to claim the Stanley Cup — will raise their second championship banner on September 29 when they host Florida.
Here are some of the most anticipated dates on the schedule:
October 21: Brady Tkachuk, now a member of the Florida Panthers, returns to Ottawa to face his former team for the first time since being traded. The former Senators captain will play alongside his brother Matthew in Florida. His departure from Ottawa was a rocky one, from reports of his name circulating in trade rumors to the team offering to swap out Tkachuk No. 7 jerseys for fans who wanted to turn them in.
October 25: The Heritage Classic returns to Canada for the first time since 2023, as the Montreal Canadiens travel to Winnipeg to take on the Jets in an outdoor game.
December 21: The Hurricanes head back to Las Vegas for a Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Golden Knights. The two teams will meet again in Raleigh, North Carolina, on January 17.
December 31: The Winter Classic heads to Salt Lake City, where Utah will host the Colorado Avalanche in an outdoor New Year’s Eve showdown.
February 20: The Dallas Stars bring NHL hockey to the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington, Texas, hosting the Vegas Golden Knights at Jerry World.
April 4: Washington hosts Pittsburgh in what could be a historic farewell matchup. Alex Ovechkin returns for his 22nd NHL season with the Capitals at age 41. If it turns out to be his final regular-season game against the Penguins — though he may push on in pursuit of 1,000 career goals — it would mark the last time he faces Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the regular season.
