With the NHL season quickly approaching, the league has revealed its national TV schedule across TNT Sports and ESPN networks.
TNT Sports will air 72 regular-season games this season, including the Heritage Classic, Winter Classic, and “Thanksgiving Showdown” doubleheader on Black Friday. TNT will also air the 2027 Stanley Cup Final.
On ESPN, there will be 100 games across ABC, ESPN and ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu. Featured games include the NHL Frozen Frenzy and NHL Stadium Series. ABC and ESPN will also air the NHL All-Star Weekend, which is returning after a two-year hiatus.
Opening night on Tuesday, Sept. 29, as previously announced, will feature an opening tripleheader. Florida Panthers-Carolina Hurricanes will be at 5 p.m., New York Rangers-Boston Bruins at 8 p.m., and Chicago Blackhawks-Vegas Golden Knights at 10:30 p.m., all on ESPN.
TNT will begin its coverage the next night with a doubleheader featuring Pittsburgh Penguins-Philadelphia Flyers at 7:30 p.m. and Los Angeles Kings-Colorado Avalanche at 10 p.m.
Opening week will see national games every weekday, with ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu having a doubleheader on Thursday, Oct. 1, and TNT having a doubleheader on Friday, Oct. 2.
ESPN will have national games on Tuesday nights all October long, including the return of NHL Frozen Frenzy on Oct. 13. The Tuesday games will then continue on the three ESPN-owned streamers, but ESPN will not have another linear game until Thursday, Dec. 10, with college basketball beginning its season in November. ESPN will then again not air a game on TV until Jan. 7.
Linear games will continue on TNT Sports with Wednesday night games throughout the regular season. TNT will also air the NHL Heritage Classic in primetime on Sunday, Oct. 25, and pick up a few Monday games throughout November. TNT will also air regular Tuesday night games from Nov. 10 to Dec. 22, a much more regular Tuesday schedule than last year.
ABC will begin its schedule with the Bruins and Rangers on Saturday, Jan. 16. ABC will settle in with consecutive Saturday games from Feb. 20, which will feature the NHL Stadium Series in primetime, until March 20.
TNT will add Sunday afternoon games beginning Feb. 21-March 21, and again on April 4.
One major change is that TNT will air a primetime game on Sunday, March 21, which coincides with the Round of 32 of March Madness. In previous years, truTV, TNT and TBS have all aired March Madness in primetime in that window to allow CBS to air 60 Minutes. With March Madness expanding from 68 to 76 teams this season, this could signal major changes to the TV schedule as well.
Overall, though, the NHL national TV schedule is not seeing any major changes for the 2026-27 season. TNT Sports will continue to have a strong NHL linear TV presence on weekdays all season long, and the NHL will see over-the-air games on ABC beginning in January.
