NHL 2026-27 Preseason: Battle Before Regular Season Starts!

NHL 2026-27: Preseason Overview

The NHL preseason is the first opportunity for fans to observe the preparations of teams for the upcoming season. Coaches experiment with different line combinations, defense pairs, and goalies. Another aspect of the preseason games is the possibility for young players to earn a spot on the team. This season’s preseason becomes particularly interesting because of its reduced number of games. Therefore, coaches have less time to test their teams prior to the start of the regular season. Also, fans can learn about the new signings, prospects, and combinations of each team earlier. In this article, we analyze some selected games and emphasize two key matches. We also compare team stats, player metrics, and important performance indicators.

NHL 2026-27: Event Details

Core Season & Playoff Milestones

Target Date(s)	Verified Event / Milestone	Critical Context & Details
September 19, 2026	Preseason Schedule Begins	Action starts with a regional slate featuring matches like Dallas at St. Louis.
September 29, 2026	Regular Season Opening Night	The season starts with 5 games on 29 Sep, which includes an ESPN tripleheader in the US and a sportsnet doubleheader in Canada.
April 10, 2027	Regular Season Concludes	Final day of the regular season, closing out a total of 1,344 games across all 32 teams.
April 2027	Stanley Cup Playoffs Begin	The top 16 teams advance to postseason elimination rounds.
June 2027	Stanley Cup Final	The championship series will be broadcast on TNT in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada.

Special Marquee & Outdoor Games

Event Window	Marquee Event	Matchup & Location
October 25, 2026	NHL Heritage Classic	Montreal Canadiens vs. Winnipeg Jets (Winnipeg, MB at Princess Auto Stadium).
November 12 & 14, 2026	NHL Global Series: Finland	Carolina Hurricanes vs. Seattle Kraken (Helsinki, Finland at Veikkaus Arena).
December 18 & 20, 2026	NHL Global Series: Germany	Chicago Blackhawks vs. Ottawa Senators (Düsseldorf, Germany at PSD Bank Dome).
December 31, 2026	NHL Winter Classic	Colorado Avalanche vs. Utah Mammoth (Salt Lake City, UT at Rice–Eccles Stadium).
February 20, 2027	NHL Stadium Series	Vegas Golden Knights vs. Dallas Stars (Arlington, TX at AT&T Stadium).

NHL All-Star Weekend

February 5, 2027: NHL All-Star Skills Competition – Featuring 10 Stars under age 25 competing in eight events.

February 6, 2027: NHL All-Star Game Tournament – Five 11- player teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, USA, and the World compete in a 3-on-3 round-robin tournament.

NHL Preseason Schedule

Date & Day	Home	Away	ET	PT	IST	Venue
September 19, 2026 – Saturday	St. Louis Blues	Dallas Stars	7:00 PM	4:00 PM	4:30 AM (Next day)	Enterprise Center, St. Louis
September 19, 2026 – Saturday	Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens	7:00 PM	4:00 PM	4:30 AM (Next day)	Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
September 19, 2026 – Saturday	Montreal Canadiens	Toronto Maple Leafs	7:00 PM	4:00 PM	4:30 AM (Next day)	Centre Bell, Montreal
September 19, 2026 – Saturday	Edmonton Oilers	Winnipeg Jets	8:00 PM	5:00 PM	5:30 AM (Next day)	Rogers Place, Edmonton
September 19, 2026 – Saturday	Minnesota Wild	Chicago Blackhawks	8:00 PM	5:00 PM	5:30 AM (Next day)	Grand Casino Arena, Minnesota
September 19, 2026 – Saturday	Seattle Kraken	Vancouver Canucks	9:00 PM	6:00 PM	6:30 AM (Next day)	Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle
September 19, 2026 – Saturday	Los Angeles Kings	Vegas Golden Knights	9:00 PM	6:00 PM	6:30 AM (Next day)	Toyota Arena, Ontario, California
September 20, 2026 – Sunday	New Jersey Devils	New York Islanders	1:00 PM	10:00 AM	10:30 PM	Prudential Center

Where Can You Watch NHL Preseason Games?

Country / Region	Broadcasting Option
Canada	Sportsnet; TVA Sports for French-language coverage
United States	ESPN, ABC, TNT, HBO Max Streaming, ESPN+ and Hulu
India, Germany	NHL.TV on DAZN
United Kingdom	NHL.TV on DAZN; Viaplay also has NHL coverage
Denmark	Viaplay
Finland	Disney+ with ESPN; select games on Star Channel
Norway	Viaplay
Sweden	Disney+ with ESPN
Iceland	Viaplay/ NHL.TV on DAZN
Poland	Viaplay/ NHL.TV on DAZN
Estonia	Go3 Open/ Go3, NHL.TV on DAZN
Latvia	Go3 Open/ Go3, NHL.TV on DAZN
Lithuania	Go3 Open/ Go3, NHL.TV on DAZN
Middle East	NHL.TV on DAZN in listed territories
Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines	NHL.TV on DAZN
Africa	NHL.TV on DAZN in listed territories
Other eligible international markets	NHL.TV on DAZN
Australia	Select games on ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now; all games on Disney+
New Zealand	Select games on ESPN; all games on Disney+
Germany	Select games on Sky Sports; other games on NHL.TV on DAZN
France	Select games on beIN; other games on NHL.TV on DAZN
Austria	Select games on Sky Sports; other games on NHL.TV on DAZN
Switzerland	Select games on MySports and TV24; NHL.TV on DAZN also available.

According to the NHL viewing guide, DAZN serves as the home of NHLTV for the international community. India falls within the territories listed by the NHL viewing guide for the 2026-27 season. Broadcast options can vary by game and territory.

Two NHL Preseason Games to Watch

Match 1: Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Event	Details
Match	Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs
Date	19 September 2026 (Saturday)
Time	07:00 PM ET | 04:00 PM PT | 04:30 AM IST (Next day)
Venue	Centre Bell, Montreal
Competition	NHL Preseason
Season	2026–27

NHL Expected Lineups

Montreal Canadiens

Unit	Players
Line 1	Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky
Line 2	Alex Newhook, Oliver Kapanen, Ivan Demidov
Line 3	Alexandre Texier, Phillip Danault, Josh Anderson
Line 4	Zachary Bolduc, Jake Evans, Kirby Dach
Defense Pair 1	Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson
Defense Pair 2	Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle
Defense Pair 3	Jayden Struble, Alexandre Carrier
Goalies	Jakub Dobes, Jacob Fowler

Toronto Maple Leafs

Unit	Players
Line 1	Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews, Jack Roslovic
Line 2	Gavin McKenna, John Tavares, William Nylander
Line 3	Nick Paul, Colton Sissons, Easton Cowan
Line 4	Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime
Defense Pair 1	Jake McCabe, Darren Raddysh
Defense Pair 2	Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev
Defense Pair 3	Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Emil Andrae
Goalies	Sergei Bobrovsky, Anthony Stolarz

NHL Performance KPI Comparison (2025-26)

KPI	Montreal Canadiens	Toronto Maple Leafs
2025–26 Record	48-24-10	32-36-14
Points	106	78
Goals For	279	252
Goals Against	251	295
Goal Difference	+28	-43
Goals Per Game	3.40	3.07
Shots Per Game	26.29	26.33
Shots Against Per Game	27.84	32.45
Shooting %	12.9%	11.7%
Save %	.890	.889
Power Play	23.1%	21.3%
Penalty Kill	78.2%	81.2%

Key Players

Team	Player	2025–26 Regular Season
Montreal	Nick Suzuki	29 G, 72 A, 101 P
Montreal	Cole Caufield	51 G, 37 A, 88 P
Montreal	Juraj Slafkovsky	30 G, 43 A, 73 P
Toronto	William Nylander	79 P
Toronto	John Tavares	31 G, 40 A, 71 P
Toronto	Auston Matthews	27 G, 26 A, 53 P

Match Analysis and My Pick

Montreal heads into this pre-season fixture with better statistics in the 2025-26 season. The Habs have scored 3.40 goals per game. Toronto, on the other hand, has an average of 3.07 goals per game. Montreal conceded fewer shots and goals. Montreal has a total of 106 points while Toronto has 78 points. Montreal has a better power-play percentage of 23.1%. Toronto’s 81.2% penalty kill is definitely one of their strengths. Overall, though, Montreal has a much more balanced team with good competitiveness. With players such as Suzuki, Caufield, and Demidov, Montreal has significant attacking quality.

The pick: Montreal Canadiens

Match 2: Edmonton Oilers vs Winnipeg Jets

Event	Details
Match	Edmonton Oilers vs Winnipeg Jets
Date	19 September 2026 (Saturday)
Time	08:00 PM ET | 05:00 PM PT | 05:30 AM IST (Next day)
Venue	Rogers Place, Edmonton
Competition	NHL Preseason
Season	2026–27

NHL Expected Lineups

Edmonton Oilers

Unit	Players
Line 1	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman
Line 2	Vasily Podkolzin, Leon Draisaitl, Mathieu Joseph
Line 3	Isaac Howard, Jason Dickinson, Kasperi Kapanen
Line 4	Connor Clattenburg, Josh Samanski, Trent Frederic
Defense Pair 1	Mattias Ekholm, Evan Bouchard
Defense Pair 2	Jake Walman, Connor Murphy
Defense Pair 3	Ryan Shea, Shakir Mukhamadullin
Goalies	Tristan Jarry, Devon Levi

Winnipeg Jets

Unit	players
Line 1	Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi
Line 2	Alex Iafallo, Viggo Björck, Cole Perfetti
Line 3	Nino Niederreiter, Adam Lowry, Brad Lambert
Line 4	Cole Koepke, Morgan Barron, Isak Rosén
Defense Pair 1	Josh Morrissey, Dylan DeMelo
Defense Pair 2	Dylan Samberg, Neal Pionk
Defense Pair 3	Mario Ferraro, Jack St. Ivany
Goalies	Stuart Skinner, Thomas Milic

NHL Performance KPI Comparison

KPI	Edmonton Oilers	Winnipeg Jets
Record	41-30-11	35-35-12
Points	93	82
Goals For	282	229
Goals Against	265	256
Goal Difference	+17	-27
Goals Per Game	3.44	2.79
Shots Per Game	29.74	26.37
Shots Against Per Game	26.71	27.77
Shooting %	11.6%	10.6%
Save %	.879	.888
Power Play	30.6%	18.5%
Penalty Kill	77.8%	77.6%

Key Players

Edmonton Oilers

Player	Position	2025–26 Statistics
Connor McDavid	C	48 G, 90 A, 138 P
Leon Draisaitl	C	35 G, 62 A, 97 P
Evan Bouchard	D	21 G, 74 A, 95 P

Winnipeg Jets

Player	Position	2025–26 Statistics
Mark Scheifele	C	36 G, 67 A, 103 P
Kyle Connor	LW	39 G, 53 A, 92 P
Connor Hellebuyck	G	23-23-11, 2.86 GAA, .895 SV% (Currently suspended)

Match Analysis and Pick

The 2026 preseason for the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets starts at Rogers Place. The Oilers enter this matchup with a very good preseason track record against the Winnipeg Jets. The Oilers have won three of their last six preseason matches against the Jets. The Winnipeg Jets have only managed one win in the same period. The situation between the goalies becomes another key point for the Jets. The goalie Connor Hellebuyck is suspended from playing because he did not report to training camp. Edmonton will come into this matchup with more stability between the posts. Preseason results can change quickly because coaches rotate players. However, consider recent direct confrontation results and the current roster situation.

The pick: Edmonton Oilers

Key Factors That Could Decide the Games

Goaltending

A good goaltender can immediately alter the direction of the preseason game. Great saves can ensure that teams stay safe from their defensive errors.

Forward Synergy

Coaches will be keeping an eye on forward synergy on the ice. Good synergies may well carry into the season ahead.

Defensive Setup

Great positioning can minimize scoring opportunities for the opponent. Pairing up defenses will continue to be something worth tracking.

Special Teams

Power plays provide great opportunities to score. Penalty kills help to prevent any momentum from being shifted.

Roster Depth

The preseason games allow depth players to shine. Their performance can affect the rosters for the upcoming season.

Conclusion

The NHL preseason provides a number of opportunities for the teams to experiment with their players and formations. The two selected games have some interesting storylines before the beginning of the regular season. Montreal and Toronto have a lot of offensive weapons and interesting combinations in their rosters. Edmonton and Winnipeg provide another intriguing match between two teams from the Western Conference. The stats for the 2025- 26 season help compare teams. In terms of their scoring ability, shots per game, defense, and special teams’ performance. However, rosters during preseason games may differ, and the final regular-season outcomes will likely be very different.