Top 5 key dates you need to know for the 2026-27 NHL season

We know when the puck will drop on the 2026-27 National Hockey League season, and there are a number of exciting games and events to watch.

The 110th season of the NHL is going to be the longest in over 30 years, as the 32 franchises will participate in an 84-game regular season for the first time since 1993-94, which will lead to a historic mark of 1,344 games, culminating on April 10.

The new year will begin on Sept. 29, marking just the second time the NHL will begin its season prior to October. Like the expanded schedule, it’s part of the new collective bargaining agreement, which also includes shrinking the preseason to just four games.

Along with opening night, here are five key dates to look for this season.

Stanley Cup Rematch

One of the big matchups that everyone is circling on their calendar is the two games featuring the teams that just met in the Stanley Cup Final. The Carolina Hurricanes will raise the franchise’s second championship banner prior to the first game of the season in September, but it won’t be until December when they get to take on the squad they defeated to take Lord Stanley, the Vegas Golden Knights. The two teams locked horns for six games this past spring, with the Hurrifcanes riding the coattails of Brandon Bussi and captain Jordan Staal to vanquish the Golden Knights, clinching the team’s first championship in 20 years.

The Golden Knights and Hurricanes will first meet in Las Vegas on Dec. 21, with the two teams facing off once again in Raleigh on Jan. 17.

Going Global…Twice

For the first time in two years, the NHL will be hosting two separate Global Series.

The first will take place in November in Helsinki, Finland, with the Hurricanes facing the Seattle Kraken in a pair of games. This will be the first time the Kraken have played games overseas since debuting in the league in 2021. The Hurricanes have only played in Europe once before, coincidentally in Helsinki, in October 2010. Then, Carolina split a pair of games with the Minnesota Wild. It will be the 12th and 13th regular-season games held in Finland, and the eighth and ninth games in Helsinki.

The Canes and Kraken will first face off on Nov. 12, before wrapping up the series on the 14th.

In December, the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks will drop the puck at the PSD Bank Dome in Dusseldorf, Germany. The last time an NHL team played in Germany was in September 2024, when the Buffalo Sabres held an exhibition match against EHC Red Bull München. The only regular-season game in the country came back in October 2011, when the Sabres beat the Los Angeles Kings in Berlin.

The Blackhawks have played three regular-season contests in Europe, last doing so in 2019 in Prague, Czechia, holding a 1-1-1 record. Ottawa beat the Detroit Red Wings and Wild in the 2023 Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden, and are 4-1-1 all-time in international contests.

The first game of the series in Germany is set for Dec. 18, with Game 2 scheduled for the 19th.

New Year’s Eve Winter Classic

The 19th edition of the NHL Winter Classic won’t take place in the New Year, but rather the day before, as the Colorado Avalanche will head to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Mammoth on New Year’s Eve.

It’s certainly a big moment for the Mammoth, a franchise that has quickly gained popularity in just two short years since moving from Arizona. Along with becoming a marketing dream, Utah reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time this past spring, narrowly losing to the Golden Knights in the first round.

This won’t be the first time the Avalanche have played outdoors, but this is the first time they’ll compete in the Winter Classic. The team has lost both of its appearances in the Stadium Series – losing to the Red Wings in 2016 and the Kings in 2020. Colorado also fell to Vegas at Lake Tahoe in 2021.

The game at Rice-Eccles Stadium, on the campus of the University of Utah, is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET.

The Heritage Classic also returns, with the Winnipeg Jets hosting the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL Heritage Classic, playing at Princess Auto Stadium, home of the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, on Oct. 25. The 2027 Stadium Series will see the Dallas Stars take on the Vegas Golden Knights at AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, on Feb. 20.

A New All-Star

After the success of the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Winter Olympics last year, the NHL is going back to the traditional All-Star weekend…sort of.

Taking advantage of the game’s popularity on the international stage, the league is revamping the first All-Star Game since 2024, which will be hosted by the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. First off, the skills competition, taking place on Feb. 5, will consist only of players aged 25 and younger. There will be six initial events for the 10 competitors, with four advancing to a shootout. Then, the final two players will compete in an obstacle course finale, with the winner taking home $1 million.

Then, on Feb. 6, a five-team “tournament” will take place. Rather than players representing their divisions as they have in the past, players will be representing their countries, and then some. Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States will be represented, along with a team consisting of athletes from other nations. Each team will play four 3-on-3 games, each with a 5-minute time limit. The top two teams from the round robin will meet in a 10-minute championship game, with the winner taking home $1 million.

Everyone’s On the Ice

As has become the norm in the NHL in recent years, there are a couple of nights when all 32 teams will be in action. It features numerous must-see matchups, meaning fans will have the chance to experience games for close to eight hours. The first 16-game night will come on Tuesday, Oct. 13, with games starting at 6 p.m. ET. The second is coming on the final day of the season, April 10, with games beginning at Noon ET.