NHL announces opening slate of 2025-26 season

With NHL free agency in the final stages of wrapping up, it’s not too early to look ahead to the start of the 2025-26 season. The NHL announced today that it’ll begin the 2025-26 season with a tripleheader on Tuesday, October 7th. 

The tripleheader will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN in the United States and Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada. 

The first game of the opening night tripleheader will feature the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Panthers will open the NHL season by raising their second straight Stanley Cup Championship banner at 5 p.m. ET.

Game two features the New York Rangers hosting Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden at 7:30 p.m. ET. Former Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who coached Pittsburgh for the last 10 seasons, will make his debut as the head coach for the Rangers.

The tripleheader will conclude with the Colorado Avalanche taking on the Los Angeles Kings from Crypto.com Arena at 10 p.m. ET. 2024 Hart Trophy winner and finalist from last season, Nathan MacKinnon, and Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar will look to get off to a strong start to the season for the Avalanche. 

The NHL will release its complete 82-game regular season schedule on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET. The schedule is set to be announced on the NHL Network. The network will air a one-hour special edition of “NHL Tonight,” which will cover the schedule release.