2026–27 NHL season
National Hockey League season
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The 2026–27 NHL season is the upcoming 110th season of operation (109th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The season will feature an 84-game regular season schedule for the first time since 1993–94. The regular season is expected to begin in September 2026. The Stanley Cup playoffs are then planned to begin in April 2027, ending with the Stanley Cup Final in June.
| 2026–27 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | September 2026 – June 2027 |
| Games | 84 |
| Teams | 32 |
| TV partner(s) | Sportsnet (Canada) ESPN/ABC/ESPN2, TNT/TBS/truTV, NHL Network (United States) |
| Streaming partner(s) | Sportsnet+ (Canada) ESPN app/Hulu/Disney+, HBO Max (United States) DAZN (international NHL.TV excluded Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) |
| Draft | |
| Regular season | |
| Playoffs | |
| Stanley Cup | |
League business
Collective bargaining agreement
On June 27, 2025, the league and the NHL Players' Association agreed on a new four-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will take effect from the 2026–27 to 2029–30 seasons. Among the changes under the agreement, the 2026–27 regular season expands from 82 to 84 games, featuring two more divisional games.[1]
Additionally, as part of the new CBA, the 2026–27 season will see the end of the use of amateur emergency back-up goaltenders (EBUGs) supplied by the home team for each game; instead, teams must hire their own emergency goaltender who will travel with the team and is permitted to have other non-player team duties. To prevent the hiring of "ringers", each team's new EBUG must fulfill the following conditions: they must not have played professional hockey at any level in the previous three seasons, cannot have ever played a single game in the NHL under a standard player contract, cannot have played more than 80 professional games in their careers, and are not on the reserve list or restricted free agent list of any NHL teams.[2][3][4][5]
Entry draft
The 2026 NHL entry draft is scheduled for June 26–27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.[6]
Coaching changes
| Off–season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2025–26 coach | 2026–27 coach | Notes |
| Los Angeles Kings | Jim Hiller D. J. Smith* |
TBA | Hiller was fired on March 1, 2026, after the Kings started the season 24–21–14, including a 2–5–1 record in his final eight games. In parts of three seasons with Los Angeles, Hiller posted a 93–58–24 record, reaching the playoffs in both of his completed seasons, but losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the first round both times. Smith, most recently an assistant coach for Los Angeles, and formerly head coach of the Ottawa Senators from 2019 to 2023, was named interim head coach the same day.[7] |
(*) Indicates interim
Front office changes
| Off–season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2025–26 general manager | 2026–27 general manager | Notes |
| Nashville Predators | Barry Trotz | TBA | On February 2, 2026, Trotz announced his intention to retire as the Predators' general manager, instead serving as an advisor through the end of his contract; however, he stayed in the role until a successor was found.[8] |
| New Jersey Devils | Tom Fitzgerald | Sunny Mehta | Fitzgerald was fired on April 6, 2026, after the Devils began the season 40–34–3. Fitzgerald had served as the Devils' general manager since 2020, as well as president of hockey operations since 2024, overseeing two playoff berths in six completed seasons.[9] Mehta, most recently assistant general manager of the Florida Panthers, and formerly an executive with the Devils from 2014 to 2017, was named general manager on April 16.[10] |
| St. Louis Blues | Doug Armstrong | Alexander Steen | Armstrong was signed to a three-year contract extension on June 13, 2024, as the president of hockey operations for the Blues. Steen was also named as special assistant to the general manager at the same time through the 2025–26 season, with the intention to become the general manager of the Blues beginning with the 2026–27 season.[11] On April 24, 2026, the Blues formally confirmed that Steen would succeed Armstrong as general manager on July 1, with Armstrong remaining as president of hockey operations.[12] |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Brad Treliving Ryan Hardy* Brandon Pridham* |
John Chayka | Treliving was fired on March 30, 2026, after the Maple Leafs began the season 31–30–13. Treliving had served as the Maple Leafs' general manager since 2023, overseeing playoff berths in his two completed seasons.[13] The following day, Toronto announced that assistant general managers Hardy and Pridham would serve as co-interim general managers for the remainder of the 2025–26 season.[14] Chayka, most recently general manager of the Arizona Coyotes from 2016 to 2020, was named general manager on May 3.[15] |
| Vancouver Canucks | Patrik Allvin | TBA | On April 17, 2026, the day after the conclusion of the Canucks' season, Allvin was fired by the Canucks. Allvin had served as general manager since 2022, overseeing one playoff appearance.[16] |
(*) Indicates interim.
Arena changes
- This is planned to be the last season that the Calgary Flames will play their home games at Scotiabank Saddledome, before the team moves to Scotia Place.[17]
Regular season
The NHL is expected to release the regular season schedule in Summer 2026.
International games
The Seattle Kraken and Carolina Hurricanes are scheduled to play two games against each other on November 12 and 14, 2026 at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki, Finland.[18] The Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators are scheduled to play two games against each other on December 18 and 20, 2026 at PSD Bank Dome in Düsseldorf, Germany.[19]
Outdoor games
The league has scheduled three outdoor games this season:
- The 2026 Heritage Classic is scheduled for October 25, at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg, with the Winnipeg Jets hosting the Montreal Canadiens.[20]
- The 2027 NHL Winter Classic is scheduled for December 31, at Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, with the Utah Mammoth hosting the Colorado Avalanche.[21]
- The 2027 NHL Stadium Series is scheduled for February 20, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with the Dallas Stars hosting the Vegas Golden Knights.[22]
All-Star Game
The 2027 All-Star Game is scheduled for February 7, at UBS Arena at Elmont, the home of the New York Islanders. The All-Star Game would be played for the first time since 2024. The league instead held the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025, then the players participated in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The league originally planned to hold a 2026 All-Star Game at UBS Arena as a "send-off" to the Olympics, but then decided against it.[23]
Media rights
National
Canada
This will be the first season of a 12-year renewal to the NHL's Canadian broadcast rights with Rogers Sports & Media and Sportsnet. Most of the existing broadcast arrangements from the previous contract will remain in effect, although Rogers stated that it would be able to flex more regional games from its networks to national telecasts. Rogers has not yet confirmed whether its main sub-licensing relationships with CBC Television for Hockey Night in Canada, or TVA Sports for French-language national rights, would continue, although commissioner Gary Bettman stated that he was "certain that our friends at Rogers will make the right decisions and have the right discussions with the people at CBC."[24][25]
- Streaming
- Sportsnet+ will continue to stream games depending on the tier, with national games available on the Standard level, out-of-market games on the Premium tier, and via authenticated streaming on participating teams.[26][27]
- As of March 2026[update], Sportsnet has not yet renewed its sub-licensing agreement with Amazon Prime Video to stream Monday Night Hockey.[26]
United States
This will be the sixth season of the league's seven-year U.S. national broadcast rights deals with the ESPN family of networks and TNT Sports.[28]
- Linear television
- ESPN's schedule begins with opening night before airing games on select days throughout the regular season as its schedule permits. ABC then airs Hockey Saturday on select weekends between January and April. Games may also air on ESPN2. ESPN and ABC has the All-Star skills competition and the All-Star Game, respectively.[29] The Stadium Series will air on ABC instead of ESPN for the first time since 2024.[30]
- TNT's schedule includes Wednesday nights throughout the regular season, select Sunday games, the Thanksgiving Showdown, and the Winter Classic. Some of TNT's games may be simulcast on TruTV. TBS may be used as an overflow channel. Not all of TNT Sports' regular season games will be exclusive broadcasts and are thus subject to blackout in local markets, As per the rotation, TNT holds the rights to the 2027 Stanley Cup Final.[31]
- NHL Network will continue to televise games when the other national broadcasters are not airing games and will again primarily simulcast local coverage.
- Streaming
- The ESPN app will continue to stream games depending on the tier. ESPN+ (the ESPN app's Select plan) and Hulu will exclusive stream games on select days throughout the regular season. ESPN+ will also stream all of ABC's games and the NHL Power Play on ESPN+ out-of-market package. The live streaming of ESPN's other games will be on the ESPN app's higher Unlimited plan before their on-demand replays are made available on ESPN+. Disney+ may also stream select ESPN-produced games.[29]
- HBO Max ad-free tiers will stream all TNT Sports-produced games.[31]
Radio
This will be the fourth season of the league's six-year deal with SiriusXM and SiriusXM Canada to simulcast all 32 teams' local regular season and postseason broadcasts.[32]
Local
- In October 2025, Bell Media renewed its regional rights to the Montreal Canadiens under a multi-year deal of unspecified length. While the number of English-language broadcasts on TSN2 will remain unchanged, The Gazette noted that Bell had quietly cut back on French-language telecasts for RDS, stating that it would televise 45 games—15 fewer than under the previous contract.[33][34]
Folding of FanDuel Sports Network
Due to continued financial difficulties, FanDuel Sports Network wound down operations after the 2025–26 season, affecting seven teams.[35][36][37] NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stated that the league is not interested in setting up a centralized hub like MLB Local Media.[38]
- The Detroit Red Wings and MLB's Detroit Tigers both announced agreements with MLB Local Media to handle distribution of their regional telecasts. The Red Wings will utilize an in-house production, but with MLB Local Media handling distribution via their joint "Detroit SportsNet" channel.[39][40]
- The Los Angeles Kings and MLB's Los Angeles Angels announced that the Angels would acquire FanDuel Sports Network West, continuing its operations as a team-owned RSN, and that the Kings would renew its contract with the network for at least the 2026–27 season.[41][42]
- The Nashville Predators announced a multi-year deal with Scripps Sports, with WNPX serving as the team's flagship station, and games streaming on a direct-to-consumer platform to be announced.[43]