Montreal Canadiens fans are about to see a familiar part of the NHL calendar land somewhere new.
Gary Bettman and the league have confirmed a 12-year broadcast agreement that will shift Wednesday night games in Canada to Prime Video starting in the 2026-27 season. Under the deal with Rogers Communications, Prime Video gets exclusive national rights to the Wednesday schedule.
The package is built for the whole country. Games will be offered in both English and French, which keeps Quebec viewers in the mix and gives the agreement full national reach.
The NHL’s official account confirmed the deal Tuesday, and Anthony Marcotte pointed out the detail that jumps out for Canadiens fans: the announcement graphic specifically lists Wednesday national games and shows that both language feeds are included.
For Montreal, the headline number is seven. The agreement includes the seven Canadiens games that had been tied to a new streaming package, and those games now have a confirmed home beginning in 2026-27.
That changes the viewing routine. Some Wednesday Canadiens games will no longer sit only on traditional television, which means fans will need to head to Prime Video for part of the schedule.
If you already use the platform, that’s an easy adjustment. If you’ve been relying on cable alone, it adds another subscription choice to sort through during the season.
The French-language piece matters too. Prime Video is stepping into a Quebec hockey market long dominated by RDS and TVA Sports, and the addition of French broadcasts gives the platform a real shot at reaching a loyal audience.
What happens next will come down to presentation. Broadcast crews, studio coverage, production quality and the subscription setup will all shape how quickly fans warm to the change.
The length of the deal says plenty on its own. A 12-year commitment isn’t a trial run. It shows Prime Video is planting itself in the hockey landscape for the long haul.
And the bigger picture is hard to miss: NHL broadcasting is moving further into streaming, with platforms no longer just grabbing the odd game but locking down exclusive windows and trying to build weekly habits around them.
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The latest buzz around him is less celebratory, though, and it comes with the kind of familiar uncertainty that has followed him for stretches of his tenure in Carolina. Kotkaniemi is still under contract for four more years with a $4.82 million cap hit, and the Hurricanes have already shown a willingness to keep his name in the mix when trade chatter heats up. For now, he remains in Carolina, but his place in the picture has a habit of coming up whenever the roster starts to shift. [Read more 🡒]
