The Puck Drops Before the Leaves Do
Normally you wouldn't see NHL hockey until early October, but the league blew up its own calendar to make room for the 2026 Winter Olympics break in February, so everything got pushed forward. The preseason kicks off Sept. 19, and the Sept. 29 opener is the earliest start date in league history. So if firing up a hockey game feels strange while the leaves are still green, that instinct is correct. Pour a cold one anyway and settle in early this year.
The 84-Game Season Is Back
For the first time in over 30 years, teams will play 84 games instead of 82. The last time the schedule ran this long, Wayne Gretzky was skating for the Los Angeles Kings and Jurassic Park was riding high in theaters. The two extra games are divisional, so you get more matchups against the rivals you love to yell at. All that extra hockey has to come from somewhere, so the preseason got trimmed from six games to four.
The All-Star Game Returns
The All-Star Game is back after a two-year hiatus, having lost its spot to the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympics. The return will either fall under the "yay" or "ugh" category depending on if you get a thrill out of a skills competition decided by who can shoot a puck at a row of teddy bears.
This year's edition brings a fresh international theme and a new format to UBS Arena on Long Island, home of the New York Islanders.
The skills competition opens the weekend Feb. 5, with the main event landing Feb. 6.
Say Goodbye to the Zamboni Driver in Net
For years the NHL had one of the best quirks in sports.
If a team lost both its goalies in the same game,
whatever amateur netminder they had waiting in the building got the call. That’s how David Ayres, a 42-year-old Zamboni driver, ended up beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020, and how an accountant named Scott Foster once stopped seven shots for the Chicago Blackhawks on a work night.
Starting this season, every team has to carry its own full-time emergency backup goalie who travels with the club making the fairy-tale call-up of a part-time goalie getting the surprise of his life is officially over.
There's No Shortage of Drama
This year's biggest storylines write themselves.
The Ottawa Senators traded captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers to play beside his brother Matthew, and the exit got ... shall we say ... a little messy. Circle Oct. 21 on the calendar and grab the popcorn, because that's the night he returns to Ottawa to face his old team.
The Toronto Maple Leafs missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade last season, so in response to this embarrassment, they cleaned house, hired GM John Chayka and snatched up rookie phenom Gavin McKenna and two-time Cup-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Whether that's a genius rebuild or a full-blown panic attack, we'll find out soon enough.
Not one to shy away from offering a questionable second chance, the Edmonton Oilers hired the polarizing Mike Babcock, whose last NHL job imploded in scandal before the final whistle was blown at training camp.
Then there's the contracts, which got more absurd as the offseason went on. It started with the Anaheim Ducks' Leo Carlsson, climbed through the San Jose Sharks' Macklin Celebrini and finished with the Colorado Avalanche blowing the doors off entirely, handing Cale Makar the richest deal in league history at eight years and $163.2 million. Spend that kind of cash and the whole city expects a parade, so all eyes will be glued to these guys.
The Toronto Maple Leafs missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade last season, so in response to this embarrassment, they cleaned house, hired GM John Chayka and snatched up rookie phenom Gavin McKenna and two-time Cup-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Whether that's a genius rebuild or a full-blown panic attack, we'll find out soon enough.
Not one to shy away from offering a questionable second chance, the Edmonton Oilers hired the polarizing Mike Babcock, whose last NHL job imploded in scandal before the final whistle was blown at training camp.
Then there's the contracts, which got more absurd as the offseason went on. It started with the Anaheim Ducks' Leo Carlsson, climbed through the San Jose Sharks' Macklin Celebrini and finished with the Colorado Avalanche blowing the doors off entirely, handing Cale Makar the richest deal in league history at eight years and $163.2 million. Spend that kind of cash and the whole city expects a parade, so all eyes will be glued to these guys.