The Washington Capitals will be on the national stage plenty this season, and the NHL’s schedule makes that impossible to miss. Washington has 17 nationally broadcast games in 2026-27, putting the club behind only the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins at 20, the Philadelphia Flyers at 19, and the New York Rangers at 18.
The league’s rollout gives fans across the country a steady dose of the Capitals, with eight games on TNT, four on ESPN, and two on ABC. Three more will stream on ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+. The broadcast mix will also bring a long list of familiar voices along for the ride, including Wayne Gretzky, Chris Chelios, Paul Bissonnette, and others.
For a team that has spent the offseason in the spotlight because of its big-ticket additions and the roster it has assembled, the national attention fits. Washington enters the year with Tom Wilson, Alex Tuch and Alex Ovechkin providing the scoring punch, while Aliaksei Protas, Ilya Protas, Vincent Desharnais and others add size and physicality. In goal, the Capitals are backed by Logan Thompson and steady backup Charlie Lindgren.
The schedule is packed with games that should draw plenty of eyeballs, starting right away. Washington opens its national slate on Wednesday, Oct. 7 against the Penguins on TNT, then gets another showcase against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Oct. 28, also on TNT. The Capitals will also be on TNT for games at Dallas on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at Pittsburgh on Monday, Jan. 18, at Chicago on Wednesday, March 10, at the Rangers on Sunday, March 21, at Detroit on Wednesday, March 24, and at Flyers on Thursday, April 1.
ESPN will carry Washington’s game at Seattle on Thursday, Dec. 10, its matchup at Boston on Thursday, Feb. 25, and the April 4 home game against Pittsburgh. ABC gets two Capitals games: Saturday, March 13 at Pittsburgh and Saturday, April 10 at Philadelphia. The streaming-only national windows include Tuesday, Nov. 17 at Tampa Bay, Thursday, March 18 at Buffalo, and Tuesday, March 23 against Detroit.
A few details stand out beyond the sheer volume. Every Capitals game against the Penguins is on national television, and all of Washington’s matchups with Pittsburgh are in that group. The team’s first and last home games, along with its final game of the regular season, will also be nationally televised.
That means the Capitals will spend a lot of time in front of a bigger audience, especially in division games. Ten of their national broadcasts are against Metropolitan Division opponents, a slate that should sharpen the focus on every point, every shift, and every result.
The season begins on Oct. 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes, and with less than a month to go before puck drop, Washington is already positioned as one of the league’s most visible teams.
In Other News...
Flyers Fans Just Got Another Painful Draft Reminder
Another former Flyers second-round pick is taking the overseas route, as Samu Tuomaala continues his career in Sweden after injuries slowed his climb through the organization. Philadelphia drafted the winger in 2021, and he never really got the kind of runway teams hope for from a prospect taken that high, with his development interrupted early and his North American pro track never fully finding traction.
After a limited stretch in the AHL and a later move into the Dallas organization, Tuomaala has now landed with Linkoping HC in the SHL, where the clubs general manager is already talking up what he might bring. For Flyers fans, it is another reminder of how quickly draft value can slip away when injuries get in the way, especially when the names taken around a player start to look a lot more familiar in the NHL. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Re-Draft Twist Shows What This Young Core Might Be Missing
A fresh look back at the 2022 NHL Draft offers an interesting reminder of how quickly the Flyers young core could have been reshaped. In the kind of hindsight exercise that always sparks debate, Philadelphias re-do path points away from the original choice and toward a winger whose game has already started to translate from college to the NHL. For a roster still trying to sort out its long-term answers on the wing, it is the sort of alternate-history discussion that naturally circles back to what the Flyers have and what they still need.
The intrigue goes beyond one pick because the Flyers have already lived through the ripple effects of the Cutter Gauthier situation and the Jamie Drysdale trade, both of which helped change the shape of the clubs future. Snuggeruds emergence only sharpens the contrast, since his recent scoring run and early pro promise highlight the type of skill Philadelphia could use more of in its forward group. It does not rewrite what happened, but it does leave a lingering question about whether the Flyers may still be missing a cleaner fit for the core they are building. [Read more 🡒]