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National Hockey League

NHL

ESPN, ABC and TNT split the NHL in the U.S., with a rotation that puts the 2027 Stanley Cup Final on TNT.

In season: 2026-27 (84 games; opened Sep 29, 2026)

Page updated

Photo: Quintin Soloviev / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Season guide

The 2026-27 season is the NHL's 110th. It has an 84-game regular season, the first time since 1993-94: the new four-year labor agreement added two divisional games per team and cut the preseason from six games to four. The season opened on September 29, 2026, and the regular season ends on April 10, 2027. The Stanley Cup playoffs start in April and the Final is in June.

Other 2026-27 landmarks:

  • Global Series: Seattle and Carolina in Helsinki on November 12 and 14; Chicago and Ottawa in Düsseldorf on December 18 and 20.
  • Outdoor games: the Heritage Classic was on October 25 in Winnipeg; the Winter Classic is December 31 in Salt Lake City; the Stadium Series is February 20 in Arlington.
  • All-Star Game: Saturday, February 6, 2027 at UBS Arena on Long Island, with Skills on Friday, February 5 (the first All-Star Weekend since 2024), per the NHL.
  • No trade-deadline date: we have no deadline date from a source we are allowed to read, so we do not list one.

Schedule and key dates

The key dates table is below. The national TV schedule in the U.S. is split between ESPN and ABC on one side and TNT Sports on the other, so most nights have a named national home. We list only the games the league and TNT named in their releases, not a full schedule.

Dates marked projected are placeholders inside the month the league has said.

  1. Nov 12 to Nov 14NHL Global Series: Seattle vs Carolina in Helsinki (two games)
    in 10 daysSource
  2. Nov 16MonTNT Monday game: Montreal at New York Rangers, 7:30 p.m. ET
    in 14 daysSource
  3. Dec 18 to Dec 20NHL Global Series: Chicago vs Ottawa in Düsseldorf (two games)
    in 46 daysSource
  4. Dec 31ThuWinter Classic: Colorado at Utah, Rice-Eccles Stadium, 6 p.m. ET (TNT)

    TNT Sports carries the outdoor game.

    in 59 daysSource
  5. Jan 16SatABC Hockey Saturday: Bruins at Rangers, noon ET, before the NFL Wild Card games

    ABC has 16 regular-season Saturday games this year. Wikipedia adds a Sunday-afternoon edition on Jan 31.

    in 75 daysSource
  6. Jan 18MonMartin Luther King Jr. Day doubleheader on TNT

    Tampa Bay at Boston, 1:30 p.m. ET, then Washington at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. ET.

    in 77 daysSource
  7. Feb 6SatAll-Star Game, UBS Arena (Elmont, NY): Saturday, 3 p.m. ET on ABC

    The first All-Star Game since 2024. All-Star Skills is Friday, Feb 5 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. Five teams (Canada, Finland, Sweden, United States and a World team) play a three-on-three round robin.

    in 96 daysSource
  8. Feb 20SatStadium Series: Vegas at Dallas, AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX)

    On ABC rather than ESPN, the first time since 2024 that the outdoor game is on ABC.

    in 110 daysSource
  9. Feb 21 to Mar 21Five straight Sundays of NHL on TNT

    TNT shows Sunday games on five consecutive weekends from Feb 21 to March 21, per the TNT release. Wikipedia notes the March 21 game takes the place of NCAA tournament coverage on TNT.

    in 111 daysSource
  10. Apr 10SatRegular season ends
    in 159 daysSource
  11. Apr 12MonStanley Cup playoffs begin (April, exact date not announced)

    The date shown is a placeholder inside April. Round one is split between ESPN-family and TNT-family channels.

    in 161 daysProjectedSource
  12. Jun 1TueStanley Cup Final (June, exact dates not announced): on TNT Sports

    The date shown is a placeholder for the month.

    in 211 daysProjectedSource

Where to watch

Filter all leagues

The U.S. national rights are in the sixth season of seven-year deals with ESPN and TNT Sports. Rough map:

  • Tuesday and Thursday: ESPN (or the ESPN app's Select tier for exclusive games).
  • Wednesday: TNT.
  • Saturday afternoon (January to April): ABC.
  • Sunday: ESPN doubleheaders on four weekends in late winter; TNT on five straight Sundays from February 21 and on the last Sunday of the season.
  • Holidays: TNT has Thanksgiving weekend, the Winter Classic and MLK Day.
  • Out of market: NHL Power Play, inside the ESPN app.

Streaming: the ESPN app's Unlimited tier carries ESPN and ABC games; HBO Max's ad-free tiers carry all TNT games; the Select tier carries 47 exclusive ESPN games.

Local broadcasts are in flux. FanDuel Sports Network ended after last season, affecting seven teams. The Red Wings joined MLB Local Media, the Predators went to Scripps Sports, and the Blue Jackets, Blues, Hurricanes and Wild stream on branded services on Prime Video, per Wikipedia. The Ducks and Stars are available inside a Prime membership.

ServiceWhat you getScopePrice
ABCbroadcast'Hockey Saturday': 16 regular-season games between January and April, including a Jan 16 afternoon game and a Jan 31 Sunday afternoon game, and the Stadium Series on Feb 20NationalNot listedChecked Sun, Nov 1Source
ESPNcableOpening-day tripleheader, then games mostly on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the schedule allows, plus Sunday-night doubleheaders on four weekends from late February to April. Shares the first two playoff rounds with TNT Sports and has first pick of a conference final.NationalNot listedChecked Sun, Nov 1Source
ESPN app (Unlimited)streamingThe Unlimited tier streams ESPN and ABC games. The Select tier (formerly ESPN+) has 47 exclusive games, mostly Tuesdays and Thursdays, simulcast on Disney+ and Hulu.NationalNot listedChecked Sun, Nov 1Source
HBO MaxstreamingThe ad-free tiers stream all TNT Sports-produced NHL gamesNationalNot listedChecked Sun, Nov 1Source
Local team TV (regional / in-market)cableYour home team's in-market games. FanDuel Sports Network stopped operating after 2025-26, which affected seven NHL teams; the teams moved to local stations, team-owned networks or direct-to-consumer apps (some on DAZN). Check your team's page.LocalNot listedChecked Sun, Nov 1Source
NHL NetworkcableGames when the national partners are not on, mostly simulcasts of local broadcastsNationalNot listedChecked Sun, Nov 1Source
NHL Power Play on ESPNleague-passLeague out-of-market package, sold inside the ESPN app's Select tier, with on-demand replays of every gameOut of marketNot listedChecked Sun, Nov 1Source
Prime VideostreamingIn-market streaming for the Blue Jackets, Blues, Hurricanes and Wild (each sold as a separate team service) and for the Ducks and Stars (included with Prime)LocalNot listedChecked Sun, Nov 1Source
TNT Sports (TNT, TBS, truTV)cableWednesday nights, selected Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Thanksgiving Showdown (Nov 27), the Winter Classic, an MLK Day doubleheader, five Sundays from Feb 21 to March 21, and the 2027 Stanley Cup Final. 72 regular-season games in all. Per Wikipedia, it shares the first two playoff rounds with ESPN.NationalNot listedChecked Mon, Nov 2Source

How the playoffs work

Sixteen teams qualify, eight from each conference, based on regular-season points.

  1. Qualification: the top three teams in each of the four divisions, plus two wild cards per conference (the best remaining teams regardless of division).
  2. Round one: the division winner with the best record plays the lower wild card; the other division winner plays the other wild card; the second and third place teams in each division meet each other.
  3. Later rounds: the bracket is fixed. The league does not reseed.
  4. All four rounds are best-of-seven. The Stanley Cup Final is between the two conference champions.

Who shows what: the first two rounds are split between ESPN-produced games (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2) and TNT Sports games (TNT, TBS, sometimes truTV). ESPN picks first which conference final it wants; TNT has the other. By rotation, TNT has the 2027 Stanley Cup Final, the third and last time under its seven-year deal.

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