NHL National TV Schedule 2026-27: ESPN vs TNT

The NHL national TV schedule for 2026-27 splits 172 regular-season games between two rightsholders: ESPN gets 100, TNT gets 72. That's the whole story in one line. And whether it's good news for you depends entirely on what you already pay for.

NHL national TV schedule by the numbers

The math is clean. TNT Sports will televise 72 regular-season games in its "NHL on TNT" package, while ESPN broadcasts 100 exclusive games: 53 on ESPN and ABC. And 47 on ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu.

TNT's side of the ledger carries the marquee stuff. Its 72-game package includes the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic and the NHL Discover Winter Classic, plus the 2027 Stanley Cup Final exclusively in the U.S., with Sportsnet handling Canada. Under the existing deal, TNT also airs one conference final each season and half of the first two playoff rounds. So the Turner crew is the smaller partner in regular-season count, but not in June.

ESPN counters with volume and opening night. The season starts Tuesday, Sept. 29 with an ESPN-exclusive tripleheader, and TNT's first games come the next night. The inventory grew too: the league expanded from 82 to 84 games per team, giving both networks more to pick from.

Why are 47 NHL games streaming-only?

Here's where it gets real for cord-cutters.

Nearly half of ESPN's slate, 47 games, sits behind ESPN+, Disney+ or Hulu subscriptions, per ESPN's breakdown. Just 53 games land on ESPN and ABC, where cable subscribers and over-the-air viewers can find them without adding anything.

Fan reaction to the announcement called the slate "heavier on streaming than before," and the numbers back that up. The Turner side is quietly headed the same way: the league lists its partner as TNT Sports with TNT and HBO Max platforms. And schedules increasingly show TNT/truTV/HBO Max windows. If you cut the cord assuming hockey would follow you, this slate will test that.

The official answer for access is stacking. ESPN says all games will be available on the ESPN App through an ESPN Unlimited plan subscription or pay TV authentication. Translation: to reliably catch your team's national dates, you're pairing a pay-TV package carrying ESPN and TNT with at least one streaming service.

Which teams own the national TV schedule?

Exposure is not split evenly. The Red Wings are scheduled for 17 national broadcasts, broken down as 1 on ABC, 4 on ESPN, 5 on ESPN+/Disney+/Hulu and 7 on TNT Sports.

One franchise, four different homes for a hockey game.

The Golden Knights landed 15 national games, which fits the pattern: contenders and recent champions soak up the bigger windows while the rest of the league scraps for leftovers. My read is that this schedule rewards teams already in the spotlight. Every national window is free advertising in the U.S. market. And the gap between 17 dates and the bottom of the table is real fan growth teams never get back.

The TNT slate has its tentpoles. A Martin Luther King Jr. Day doubleheader on Jan. 18 opens with Tampa Bay at Boston at 1:30 p.m. ET, then Alex Ovechkin's Capitals visit Sidney Crosby's Penguins at 4 p.m. "NHL on TNT" wraps its regular season April 8 with Philadelphia at Columbus at 7:30 p.m. ET. Two days later, all 32 teams play on Saturday, April 10 to close things out.

What to watch on opening night

Circle Tuesday, Sept. 29. The Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes host Florida at Lenovo Center at 5 p.m. ET, the Rangers visit Boston at 8 p.m. ET, and Chicago plays at Vegas at 10:30 p.m. ET, all on ESPN. A full day of hockey with zero second-guessing about where the game lives.

And remember the one-line version from the top: 172 games, ESPN 100, TNT 72, a split locked in through 2027-28. The way you watch this fall is the way you'll watch next fall. So which is it at your place: the cable bundle, the streaming stack, or both?