Overview

• The season opens Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. ET when the Florida Panthers host the Chicago Blackhawks at Amerant Bank Arena and raise their second consecutive Stanley Cup banner
• At 8 p.m. ET, Mike Sullivan makes his debut as New York Rangers head coach against his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, at Madison Square Garden
• The Colorado Avalanche visit the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena at 10:30 p.m. ET to close out ESPN’s opening night tripleheader
• The Panthers re-signed Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand to return an almost identical roster from their back-to-back championship runs
• The NHL will release its full 2025-26 schedule on July 16 at 1 p.m. ET, marking the final 82-game campaign before expanding to 84 games under the new collective bargaining agreement