- The NHL preseason opens Saturday with seven games and wraps eight days later on Sept. 26
- Every team plays four exhibition games except Montreal and Ottawa, who get five
- Read below for the full opening slate, the neutral-site dates and who Toronto is dressing
NHL hockey is back Saturday, and this year it comes and goes in a hurry.
The 2026-27 preseason opens tonight with seven games and runs just eight days, a 65-game slate across 36 venues that closes with 14 games on Sept. 26. That is the first shortened exhibition schedule under the new CBA, which pushed the regular season from 82 games to 84 by adding two more divisional matchups per team.
Every club gets four tune-ups. Montreal and Ottawa are the exceptions at five, because the two meet Monday in the Kraft Hockeyville game at Colisée Vidéotron in Trois-Rivières. Saint-Boniface, Que., won this year’s title and takes home $250,000 in arena upgrades plus $10,000 in youth equipment from NHLPA Goals & Dreams.
Three other games land outside NHL buildings:
- Sept. 19: Los Angeles vs. Vegas at Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif.
- Sept. 21: Philadelphia vs. Washington at Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.
- Sept. 24: Carolina vs. Nashville at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
Toronto and Montreal split squads for a pair of 7 p.m. ET games, one at Scotiabank Arena and one at the Bell Centre. Gavin McKenna landed on the Toronto half, and the first overall pick will make his preseason debut alongside Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Matthew Knies.
Sergei Bobrovsky dresses in that one too, his first game in a Leafs sweater. Here is the full roster:
Dallas visits St. Louis, Chicago heads to Minnesota and Vancouver plays in Seattle. Winnipeg opens at Rogers Place against Edmonton, its first game since Connor Hellebuyck was suspended for skipping camp.
Ten days from now the games count. The regular season opens Tuesday, Sept. 29, with an ESPN tripleheader in the United States and a Sportsnet doubleheader in Canada.
