NHL makes 2026-27 schedule changes for six teams
Even though the 2026-27 season hasn’t even started yet, the NHL is having to make changes to its schedule.
On Thursday, the league announced start time changes for three games, affecting six franchises.
Two of the games are scheduled for Oct. 6. The New York Rangers are set to tangle with their hated rivals, the New York Islanders, at Madison Square Garden. Puck drop for that game has been moved to 7:30 p.m. ET, and will be broadcast on ESPN in the United States. The other matchup that night, also cast on ESPN, will see the Florida Panthers visit the Los Angeles Kings at crypto.com Arena. That game will now begin around 10 p.m. ET.
The last start time that has been changed (for now) is all the way on Feb. 17, when the Edmonton Oilers take on the Colorado Avalanche in a very intriguing matchup. That contest will start at approximately 9 p.m. ET, with U.S. fans able to view the game at Rogers Place on TNT, truTV and HBO MAX.
The 2026-27 regular season is set to open up on Sept. 29. It’s just the second time in league history that the regular season will begin prior to October. It comes as part of the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement, with the preseason being limited to just four games and the regular season expanding to 84 games. It will mark the longest regular season since the 1993-94 campaign, when the league was trying to accommodate expansion in the first few years of the decade.
The new campaign kicks off on Tuesday, Sept. 29, with five games, starting off with the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes taking on the Panthers, the winner of Lord Stanley in the two previous years. Puck drop for that matchup is set for 5 p.m. ET.
