The start of the next hockey season is less than three months away
In a press release, the NHL announced that the 2025-26 regular season will begin on Tuesday, October 7. The league will also release each team’s 82-game schedule on Wednesday, July 16, at 1 pm.
The 2025-26 regular season will start with an opening night tripleheader broadcast exclusively on ESPN in the United States and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.
The Chicago Blackhawks will take on the back-to-back champion Florida Panthers at 5 pm, the Pittsburgh Penguins will face off against the New York Rangers at 8 pm, and the Colorado Avalanche will renew their rivalry with the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 pm on the west coast.
The Panthers will raise their 2025 Stanley Cup championship banner before their matchup against the Blackhawks.
Here’s the full press release from the NHL:
2025-26 NHL Season Begins Tuesday, Oct. 7 with Opening Night Tripleheader on ESPN, Sportsnet and TVA Sports
Complete 2025-26 NHL Regular-Season Schedule Set To Be Unveiled Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (July 14, 2025) – The National Hockey League (NHL) announced today the 2025-26 regular season will open on Tuesday, Oct. 7 with a tripleheader broadcast exclusively on ESPN in the U.S., and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.
At 5 p.m. ET, the Chicago Blackhawks will face off against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Prior to the game, Florida will raise its second championship banner at Amerant Bank Arena.
Action continues at 8 p.m. ET, when the Pittsburgh Penguins face off against the New York Rangers in a Metropolitan Division matchup at Madison Square Garden.
Then, at 10:30 p.m. ET, the Colorado Avalanche will visit the Los Angeles Kings in a Western Conference matchup at Crypto.com Arena.
The complete 2025-26 NHL regular-season schedule is set to be announced on Wednesday, July 16, at 1 p.m. ET. In addition, at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, NHL Network will air a one-hour special edition of NHL Tonight covering the schedule release, which will be hosted by Jamison Coyle, Mike Rupp and E.J. Hradek. The special edition programming will also stream on NHL.com. NHL Network will continue to break down the schedule during its regularly scheduled NHL Tonight show at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
