The 2026-27 NHL season is set to begin Sept. 29 with a pair of all-Canadian matchups.
The Montreal Canadiens will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the Edmonton Oilers later hosting the Vancouver Canucks.
Both games will be on Sportsnet, under a newly branded broadcast. The company’s sublicencing deal with the CBC for Hockey Night in Canada was not renewed.
The other Canadian home openers see the Calgary Flames host Seattle on Oct. 1, followed by the Canucks against Edmonton later that day. The Winnipeg Jets host Boston on Oct. 2, the Montreal Canadiens welcome Carolina on Oct. 6, and the Ottawa Senators face Philadelphia on Oct. 8.
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On Oct. 25, Winnipeg will host Montreal for an outdoor game in the NHL Heritage Classic.
In Finland, for the NHL Global Series, Carolina will play Seattle in a pair of games on Nov. 12 and 14. The Senators and Chicago will play in Germany on Dec. 18 and 20.
The Winter Classic will feature the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at the University of Utah on Dec. 31. Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars will host the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 20 for an outdoor game at AT&T Stadium.
All-star weekend will be held Feb. 5-6 at UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders.
Play begins before October as the league moves to an 84-game schedule for the first time since 1993-94. The 1,344 games will be the most in NHL history.
The full schedule will be released Thursday.
The Carolina Hurricanes will raise their second Stanley Cup championship banner on opening night before hosting the Florida Panthers.
The opener pits the most recent champions against the winners the previous two years. The Panthers look primed to contend for another title until injuries derailed them and caused them to miss the playoffs. Carolina lost only one game to get through the Eastern Conference, then defeated Vegas in the final to win it all for the first time since 2006.
The league announced home openers for all 32 clubs Wednesday.
