The National Hockey League released its complete 2025-26 regular-season schedule on Wednesday.
RotoWire.com, which will have daily fantasy hockey tips all season, projected the number of national television games for each team – these are the ones airing exclusively on TNT, ESPN, ABC, ESPN+ or Hulu. We projected these numbers based on the number of NHL games televised during 2024-25. Using the release of NHL schedule for 2025-26, the projection includes guaranteed TV spots and normal air times.
2025-26 NHL National TV Projections For Each Team
Team | Projected National TV Games |
New York Rangers | 17 |
Colorado Avalanche | 17 |
Edmonton Oilers | 17 |
Washington Capitals | 15 |
Florida Panthers | 15 |
Chicago Blackhawks | 15 |
Detroit Red Wings | 15 |
Pittsburgh Penguins | 14 |
Boston Bruins | 14 |
Dallas Stars | 14 |
Vegas Golden Knights | 14 |
Los Angeles Kings | 13 |
Philadelphia Flyers | 13 |
New Jersey Devils | 13 |
Minnesota Wild | 13 |
St. Louis Blues | 11 |
Toronto Maple Leafs | 10 |
Nashville Predators | 10 |
Carolina Hurricanes | 10 |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 10 |
New York Islanders | 9 |
Buffalo Sabres | 9 |
Seattle Kraken | 9 |
Utah Mammoth | 7 |
San Jose Sharks | 6 |
Vancouver Canucks | 5 |
Anaheim Ducks | 4 |
Columbus Blue Jackets | 1 |
Calgary Flames | 0 |
Montreal Canadiens | 0 |
Winnipeg Jets | 0 |
Ottawa Senators | 0 |
NHL National TV Schedule 2025-26: Our Projections
RotoWire.com, home of the best sportsbook promos, created these projections as a fun way to look forward to hockey season, now that we have a full picture of who is playing when.
The three teams we have at the top of our projections with 17 appearances each – the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers – demonstrate three reasons that a hockey team might be an American television mainstay (we're not accounting for Canadian TV here).
Factors Influencing NHL National TV Game Projections
The Rangers are an example of a team that's on our screens a lot because they're in America's biggest market and have a traditional, built-in following. The Rangers missed the playoffs last season but it does not matter. They're going to be on TV frequently for the same reasons that the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Cowboys and Boston Red Sox are televised a lot. NHL betting interest will always be high for the Rangers. We know they'll be on ESPN for Opening Night, Oct. 7, as New York faces the Pittsburgh Penguins (Subplot alert: New Rangers coach Mike Sullivan faces the team that fired him this year).
We project the Oilers to be on TV a lot because of star power. Why would American audiences see Edmonton 17 times when we project Alberta's other team, the Calgary Flames, for zero national TV games? Connor McDavid, the consensus choice for best hockey player on Earth, that's why. Leading NHL betting sites already have award betting props for the season and McDavid, a three-time Hart Trophy winner as the league's Most Valuable Player, is a unanimous favorite with bookmakers to earn the honor again in 2025-26. And as if that's not enough reason to watch the Oilers, superstar forward Leon Draisaitl is also a former Hart winner and is considered one of the top five or so players in the NHL. Edmonton has made back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup final and Caesars Sportsbook has the Oilers at +825 odds, third on the board, to win the title next season. That leads us to….
The Colorado Avalanche, an example of a team that will be on TV a lot because of a high level of sustained success. The Avs won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and have made the playoffs eight years in a row, tied for the league's second-longest active streak. Then you mix in some starring attractions. Colorado has players in the argument for the best at their respective positions: Defenseman Cale Makar and center Nathan MacKinnon. A season-opening ESPN tripleheader on Oct. 7 ends with the Avs visiting the Los Angeles Kings.
Recent success also helps explain the two-time defending Cup champion Panthers. We predict Florida will make 15 national TV appearances, tied for fourth on our list. A few years ago, the Panthers were rarely on the tube, but they forced their way into the spotlight with three consecutive Eastern Conference titles and those two Cups. Legal sportsbook apps have Florida as the favorite to win it all again in 2025-26, with odds of +600 or +650, depending on the operator. The first game of the 2025-26 NHL season is at 5 p.m. on Oct. 7 when the Panthers raise another Cup banner and host the Chicago Blackhawks in front of ESPN's cameras.
NHL 2025-26 Television: Other Upcoming Highlights
We think the Vegas Golden Knights (projected for 14 appearances) will be an attraction all season, but especially on Jan. 23. That's when star free agent forward Mitch Marner, perhaps the biggest name to switch teams this offseason, returns to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs, the team he played for during his first nine seasons. Operators with the best NHL betting promos will have prop bets on Marner and many other individual players for that game and all games.
Two outdoor games are prominent on the schedule – and both are in the Sunshine State. The Panthers host the Rangers on Jan. 2 in Miami for the Winter Classic and the Tampa Bay Lightning (projected for 10 appearances) host the Boston Bruins on Feb. 1 at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL's Buccaneers.
The league will take a break from Feb. 6-24 so that NHL players can participate in the hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Top sportsbooks will have plenty of wagering options on Olympic hockey.
