- Brady Tkachuk’s first game back in Ottawa is set for Oct. 21, four months after the trade that sent him to Florida
- John Carlson, Darnell Nurse, Vincent Trocheck and Sergei Bobrovsky are among the other stars getting reunion games this season
- Read below for the full schedule of when the NHL’s biggest offseason movers face their old teams
Brady Tkachuk’s return to Ottawa now has a date on the calendar.
The Panthers visit Canadian Tire Centre on Oct. 21, and it’ll be Tkachuk’s first game back since the Senators traded him to Florida on June 21 to team up with his brother Matthew. Tkachuk left Ottawa with 463 points in 572 games and five seasons as captain, and the Senators picked up four draft picks, including three first-rounders, to let him go.
He’s not the only star getting a reunion game this season. The NHL’s rundown of players seeing their old buildings for the first time in 2026-27 reads like a who’s who, and a few of them show up long before the calendar turns to spring.
John Carlson won’t have to wait long to see his old team either. Washington visits Tampa in the Lightning’s second game of the season, and Carlson’s actual trip back to the building he played in for 17 years is locked in for March 15. He was traded to Anaheim in a surprise deal in March, then signed a two-year contract with the Lightning on July 1. He leaves Washington as the franchise’s all-time leader among defensemen in goals, assists and points, and he won the Stanley Cup there in 2018.
Darnell Nurse gets his first look at Edmonton on Jan. 13, when the Sharks visit the Oilers. Nurse spent more than a decade there before San Jose acquired him on July 1, and he leaves as the franchise’s all-time leader in hits and second all-time in games played among defensemen. He also helped the Oilers reach back-to-back Cup Finals in 2024 and 2025, losing both times to the Panthers.
Vincent Trocheck’s return to Madison Square Garden comes even sooner, on Oct. 4, in Utah’s third game of the season. He spent four seasons with the Rangers and topped 50 points in every one of them, and he won more than 56 percent of his faceoffs each year. Trocheck signed with the Mammoth as part of the same offseason spending spree that also brought in Anders Lee.
Sergei Bobrovsky doesn’t get back to Florida until March 6. The Maple Leafs goalie won two Stanley Cups in his seven seasons with the Panthers and leaves as the franchise’s second-winningest goalie behind Roberto Luongo, after signing a three-year contract with Toronto on July 1.
The rest of the league’s reunion schedule is stacked too:
- Oct. 4: Radko Gudas and the Panthers visit Anaheim, three seasons after he left the Ducks
- Oct. 25: Quinn Hughes and the Wild visit Vancouver, his first trip back since the December trade
- Oct. 29: Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks visit Detroit, his first game there since re-signing with Chicago
- Nov. 21: Frederik Andersen and the Oilers visit Carolina, the team he backstopped to a Cup Final win
- Nov. 28: Jordan Kyrou and the Capitals visit St. Louis, where he scored 168 goals over eight seasons
- Dec. 22: Mats Zuccarello and the Kings visit Minnesota, his home for the past seven years
- Dec. 31: Boone Jenner and the Capitals visit Columbus, where he was captain for five seasons
- Jan. 14: Mason McTavish and the Blues visit Anaheim, his team for his first five NHL seasons
- Feb. 15: Anders Lee and the Mammoth visit the Islanders, ending his 14-year run in New York
- March 6: Brendan Gallagher and the Canucks visit Montreal, where he spent 14 seasons
- March 13: Pavel Dorofeyev and the Rangers visit Vegas, where he led the team in goals two years running
- March 18: Alex Tuch and the Capitals visit Buffalo, his home for the last five seasons
- April 4: Jacob Markstrom and the Panthers visit New Jersey, closing out his two seasons with the Devils
Twelve different franchises get their former face back in enemy colors before the calendar flips to April. Tkachuk’s is circled first.
