The NHL is wasting no time getting the 2026-27 season rolling.
On Wednesday, the league unveiled the opening-night slate for all 32 teams, and for the second time in NHL history, the regular season will start in September. That shift is tied to the new collective bargaining agreement, which trims the preseason to four games and stretches the regular season to 84 games. It will be the league’s longest regular season since 1993-94, when the NHL was adjusting to expansion in the early part of that decade.
The season opens Tuesday, Sept. 29, with five games on the board. The night begins with the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes facing the Florida Panthers, who have won Lord Stanley in each of the previous two seasons.
That game is set for 5 p.m. ET.
The rest of the opening-night lineup brings plenty of familiar names. The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs meet at 7 p.m.
ET, followed by the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers at 8 p.m. ET.
Out west, the Edmonton Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks at 10 p.m. ET, and the Chicago Blackhawks travel to face the defending Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights at 10:30 p.m.
ET.
Two more games are scheduled for Sept. 30, and then the rest of the league will settle into October home openers.
That September start is rare company. The last time the NHL opened before October was the 2007-08 season, when the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings played in London, England.
Here’s how the home openers line up across the league:
Anaheim vs. Florida, October 4
Boston vs. NY Rangers, September 29
Buffalo vs. Chicago, October 3
Calgary vs. Seattle, October 1
Carolina vs. Florida, September 29
Chicago vs. St.
Louis, October 6
Colorado vs.
Los Angeles, September 30
Columbus vs.
Buffalo, October 1
Dallas vs.
St. Louis, October 2
Detroit vs. NY Rangers, October 2
Edmonton vs. Vancouver, September 29
Florida vs. Minnesota, October 10
Los Angeles vs. Florida, October 6
Minnesota vs. Boston, October 3
Montreal vs. Carolina, October 6
Nashville vs. Minnesota, October 1
New Jersey vs. Philadelphia, October 1
NY Islanders vs. New Jersey, October 3
NY Rangers vs. Tampa Bay, October 1
Ottawa vs. Philadelphia, October 8
Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh, September 30
Pittsburgh vs. Montreal, October 3
San Jose vs. Florida, October 1
Seattle vs. Calgary, October 4
St. Louis vs.
San Jose, October 8
Tampa Bay vs.
Washington, October 3
Toronto vs.
Montreal, September 29
Utah vs.
Chicago, October 1
Vancouver vs.
Edmonton, October 1
Vegas vs.
Chicago, September 29
Washington vs.
Pittsburgh, October 7
Winnipeg vs.
Boston, October 2
The full 2026-27 schedule is set to be released on Thursday.
In Other News...
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Rykovs path back overseas after his lone North American season and Hjeks inability to lock down a permanent role both speak to how quickly defensemen can slide from promising depth to organizational afterthought. For the Rangers, it is a reminder that not every bet on size, pedigree or upside turns into a lasting NHL answer, and in each case the early promise ended with a lot more questions than the team ever got to answer. [Read more 🡒]
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Ducks Could Get Pulled Into An Unsettling Rangers Rumor
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What makes the picture more interesting is the price range New York seems able to operate in, which points to a player who can fit in the middle of the lineup rather than a major splash. If the Rangers want to make that kind of move, they may have to clear room with waiver-eligible depth pieces, and that is where the rumor mill starts to widen beyond the obvious targets and into the kind of possibilities that can pull another team into the discussion. [Read more 🡒]