NHL 2026-27 Season Start Date: Opening Night Is Sept. 29
NHL 2026-27 season start date: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. All five opening night games with times and TV, the first week by day, and the key dates to April 10.
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The NHL 2026-27 season start date is Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, and the first puck drops at 5 p.m. ET when the Florida Panthers visit the Carolina Hurricanes on ESPN. Carolina raises its second Stanley Cup championship banner before that game, per the NHL's schedule announcement. Five games are on the board that night, 43 across the first seven days, and 1,344 before the regular season ends on Saturday, April 10, 2027.
NHL 2026-27 Season Start Date and Opening Night Schedule
Opening night is an ESPN tripleheader in the United States and a Sportsnet doubleheader in Canada. Full card in start-time order, per NHL.com and the league's schedule feed:
| Time (ET) | Game | Arena | National TV | |-|-|-|-| | 5 p.m. | Panthers at Hurricanes | Lenovo Center | ESPN | | 7 p.m. | Canadiens at Maple Leafs | Scotiabank Arena | Sportsnet, TVAS | | 8 p.m. | Rangers at Bruins | TD Garden | ESPN | | 10 p.m. | Canucks at Oilers | Rogers Place | Sportsnet | | 10:30 p.m. | Blackhawks at Golden Knights | T-Mobile Arena | ESPN, TVAS2 |
One trap worth flagging: Toronto, not Montreal, is the home team for the Canadiens-Maple Leafs game.
Why Opening Night Is Worth Watching
NHL.com's Sept. 28 storylines piece stacks several storylines onto Tuesday. Brady and Matthew Tkachuk will play together in an NHL game for the first time, and Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov plays his first NHL game since June 17, 2025, after missing last season with a right knee injury.
In Toronto, Gavin McKenna, the 18-year-old No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, will make his NHL debut against Montreal, per NHL.com. He is expected to start on a line with John Tavares and William Nylander. In Edmonton, Mike Babcock coaches his first official game since Nov. 19, 2019, against a Vancouver team led by first-time NHL head coach Manny Malhotra. The nightcap is also a coaching debut, with Ryan Craig making his NHL head coaching debut for Vegas against Chicago.
Carolina opens without forward Seth Jarvis, who NHL.com says will miss the start of the season while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
The First Week: Sept. 29 to Oct. 5
The NHL's schedule feed lists 43 regular-season games from Tuesday through Monday, Oct. 5. The daily count, recomputed from that feed:
1. Tuesday, Sept. 29: 5 games (opening night above). 2. Wednesday, Sept. 30: 3 games. TNT's season debut has Penguins at Flyers (7:30 p.m. ET) and Kings at Avalanche (10 p.m. ET), plus Islanders at Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m. ET, Prime in Canada). 3. Thursday, Oct. 1: 8 games, including Lightning at Rangers (7 p.m. ET) and Wild at Predators (8 p.m. ET). 4. Friday, Oct. 2: 5 games, including Rangers at Red Wings on TNT (6:30 p.m. ET), Capitals at Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET) and Bruins at Jets (8 p.m. ET). 5. Saturday, Oct. 3: 13 games, the biggest card of the week. 6. Sunday, Oct. 4: 5 games. 7. Monday, Oct. 5: 4 games.
The Jets opener against Boston comes with the Connor Hellebuyck standoff still unresolved. NHL.com reported Sept. 28 that Hellebuyck remains at home waiting for a trade, and that a deal before Friday is possible but not guaranteed.
Key 2026-27 NHL Dates After Opening Week
Oct. 13: All 32 teams in action.
Oct. 25: Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic, Jets vs. Canadiens at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg.
Nov. 12 and 14: Global Series Finland, Hurricanes vs. Kraken at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki.
Nov. 28: Thanksgiving Showdown, Rangers vs. Bruins.
Dec. 18 and 20: Global Series Germany, Senators vs. Blackhawks at PSD Bank Dome in Dusseldorf.
Dec. 21: First 2026 Stanley Cup Final rematch, Hurricanes at Golden Knights. Carolina hosts the return on Jan. 17.
Dec. 31: Discover NHL Winter Classic, Mammoth vs. Avalanche at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Feb. 5 and 6, 2027: All-Star Skills and the All-Star Game at UBS Arena, the first All-Star Game since 2024.
Feb. 20, 2027: Stadium Series, Stars host Golden Knights at AT&T Stadium.
April 10, 2027: Final day of the regular season, all 32 teams playing.
The Stanley Cup Final will air exclusively on TNT in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada, per the NHL's 2026-27 schedule release.
How the 84-Game NHL Season Works
Every team plays 84 games, up from 82, and this is only the third 84-game season in NHL history after 1992-93 and 1993-94, per NHL.com. The expansion is one of the changes in the new collective bargaining agreement that went into effect Sept. 16.
The league's scheduling matrix breaks it down: 28 division games (seven opponents, two home and two away), 24 conference games against the other division, and 32 non-conference games with every team from the other conference visiting once and hosting once. That is 42 home and 42 away for everyone. NHL.com notes the longer regular season meant a shorter training camp, and the preseason's final night was Saturday, Sept. 26.
Betting and DFS Impact
Pricing opening night itself? Our NHL opening night 2026-27 odds preview covers the five-game board. For the schedule itself, three angles matter this week.
Season totals use a new denominator. Two extra games per team shift every point, win and goal total.
Short camp, early noise. Less camp time means new line combinations are still settling, so go lighter on early-week player props until usage stabilizes.
Early lineup flags. Per NHL.com's Sept. 27 status report, Mathew Barzal has not been ruled out for the Islanders' Wednesday game in Toronto, Wild defenseman Brock Faber is being evaluated after taking a puck to the head, and Buffalo goalies Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon both picked up injuries late in the preseason before the Sabres' Thursday opener in Columbus. Check the morning skate before locking in exposure to any of those teams.
Model-priced picks for every night live on the AI sports picks hub, and the NHL daily picks page updates as the slate fills in.
What to Watch Next
Tuesday is the first checkpoint: whether McKenna's line deployment matches the preseason plan, and how Barkov looks in his first NHL game in more than a year. Wednesday brings Barzal's status in Toronto and rookie T.J. Hughes, who NHL.com says is expected to play in Colorado's opener and start on the top power-play unit. By Friday, the Jets play Boston with or without a Hellebuyck resolution. After that, Oct. 13 is the first full 32-team night.
FAQ
When does the NHL 2026-27 season start? Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, with the Panthers at the Hurricanes at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN after Carolina raises its Stanley Cup banner.
What games are on NHL opening night 2026? Five: Panthers at Hurricanes (5 p.m. ET), Canadiens at Maple Leafs (7 p.m.), Rangers at Bruins (8 p.m.), Canucks at Oilers (10 p.m.) and Blackhawks at Golden Knights (10:30 p.m.).
How many games are in the 2026-27 NHL season? 84 per team, 42 home and 42 away, for a league total of 1,344 regular-season games.
When does the 2026-27 NHL regular season end? Saturday, April 10, 2027, with all 32 teams in action.
Chad tracks every NHL line and goalie confirmation from opening night on inside the StatSniper app, and Chad will break down any game on the card.
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About Chad
Chad
Chad is the AI sports betting assistant and analyst behind every Stat Sniper daily pick. He processes thousands of real sports data points including injury reports, line movements, historical matchups, W/L records, game and player props, and public betting trends across every major sportsbook to surface the highest-edge plays each day. Explore his free daily NHL picks and predictions, or tail Chad's action inside the Stat Sniper: AI sports betting app. Download for free.
