We now know several of the Florida Panthers' first games of the 2026-27 NHL Season as they'll start with a grueling road trip that crosses the country.
It’s going to be a spotlight-filled start to the season for the Florida Panthers.
On Wednesday, the NHL announced the home openers for all 32 teams across the league.
Among those 32 games, the Panthers will be featured in five of them.
First off, Florida’s home opener is set for Saturday, Oct. 10 against the Minnesota Wild, so set your calendars for Brady Tkachuk’s Sunrise debut.
While that will be the first time Panthers fans will be able to see their boys on home ice, its far from Florida’s first game of the season.
That will come on Sept. 29 (yes, you read that correctly) when the Cats visit the Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes for their banner raising extravaganza.
ESPN will nationally broadcast the game, which has been set with a 5 p.m. start time.
The reason for the earlier-than-usual start to the season is that the NHL expanded its regular season schedule to 84 games, starting in 2026-27.
Next up for the Panthers will be a trip across the country for a trio of California home openers.
First, on Oct. 1, Florida will be in San Jose to open the season for the Sharks.
Three nights later on Oct. 4 the Panthers will be on The Pond for the Anaheim Ducks’ first home game.
Florida will then head across town for the home opener for the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 6.
The full season schedule will be released on Thursday, and with the Panthers expected to be one of the league’s top teams and Stanley Cup contenders, it will be interesting to see how prominently their games are placed across the full 84-game slate.
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Photo caption: Feb 8, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) celebrates with center Aleksander Barkov (16) and center Carter Verhaeghe (23) after scoring against the Ottawa Senators during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
