The Florida Panthers closed the 2024-25 season with a win. They will open the 2025-26 NHL season raising their banner.
The NHL announced on Monday the 2025-26 regular season will open on Oct. 7 with a tripleheader broadcast exclusively on ESPN in the United States and Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.
The first game of the season will be held at Amerant Bank Arena in Florida, where the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers will host Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks at 5 p.m. ET.
The second game will see the New York Rangers host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden at 7:30 p.m. ET. Mike Sullivan, who coached the Penguins for the past 10 seasons, will make his debut as Rangers coach against his former team.
The night will conclude with Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar, perennial Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche visiting Anze Kopitar and the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena (10 p.m. ET).
The complete 2025-26 NHL regular-season schedule is set to be announced on Wednesday 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.