2025–26 NHL season

2025–26 NHL season
LeagueNational Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationOctober 7, 2025 – June 2026
Games82
Teams32
TV partner(s)Sportsnet, CBC, TVA Sports (Canada)
ESPN/ABC/ESPN2, TNT/TBS/truTV, NHL Network (United States)
Streaming partner(s)Sportsnet+, Amazon Prime Video (Canada)
ESPN+/Hulu/Disney+, HBO Max (United States)
DAZN (international NHL.TV excluded Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden)
Draft
Top draft pickMatthew Schaefer
Picked byNew York Islanders
Regular season
Playoffs
Stanley Cup

The 2025–26 NHL season is the 109th season of operation (108th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season began on October 7, 2025. This will be the final regular season played under the 82-game schedule before the schedule will expand to 84 games in 2026–27. A mid-season break took place in February due to the NHL's participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The Stanley Cup playoffs are then planned to begin in April 2026, ending with the Stanley Cup Final in June. After playing the previous season under its temporary identity, the Utah Hockey Club was renamed the Utah Mammoth in the off-season.