I've been expecting the schedule expansion to 84 games for awhile - it only makes sense.


The 82 game schedule had each team in a division playing each of the 8 teams in the other Division in their Conference 3 times each - 2 home and 1 away against 4 teams; 1 home and 2 away against the other 4.  That accounts for 24 games.  Teams then played 2 games - 1 home, 1 away - against each of the 16 teams in the other Conference, accounting for 32 games. 


So now 56 games are accounted for, leaving 26 against the other 7 teams in the Division.  That's 4 games against each Division rival - EXCEPT that you're two games short in an 82 game schedule, so the NHL had to select two Divisional opponents each year that a team would only play 3 times.


Increasing the schedule to 84 games creates perfect balance, because the two added games are Division games, allowing a team to play each of its Division rivals 4 times per year.


Adding the two games to the schedule doesn't have to add to schedule compression if the two games are removed from the exhibition schedule.  It just means that the season starts marginally earlier and is slightly more stressful, since preseason games are just exhibition and a chance for young players/players on the bubble to impress.  If there is any player on the Caps that this may hurt, it's Cristall, because he'll have less chance to impress and claim a spot on the opening roster.  The team also might be hurt a little, because Carbery is going to have to experiment with line combos with the new players on the roster.

Longer season this year, with a shorter preseason. The entire schedule is going to announced in a week, but it will take two more months before the Caps post it on their website..

https://media.nhl.com/public/news/19973


NEW YORK (July 7, 2026) – The National Hockey League (NHL) today detailed plans for announcing the 2026-27 season schedule.

On Wednesday, July 15, the League will unveil opening night matchups, which will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN in the U.S. and on Sportsnet in Canada. The announcement will be made during the day, prior to the 2026 ESPY Awards (8 p.m. ET, ABC), that will feature several NHL nominees, including the 2026 Olympic Gold Medal-winning USA’s Men’s Ice Hockey team for Best Team. Wednesday’s announcement will also detail the League’s 2026-27 signature events.

The following day, on Thursday, July 16, the complete 2026-27 NHL regular-season schedule is set to be announced at 1 p.m. ET. Coming off the 2025-26 season that saw record-breaking viewership and attendance, the 2026-27 regular-season schedule will feature 1,344 games – 84 games per team – which includes two additional divisional games per team.

(7/7/2026)

Beags I agree about the lines and Ovi.  I wonder how they utilize him considering for maybe the first time, we have so much more depth, there is a reason NOT for him to play so many minutes  - not needed him to lead in goals, etc.  I think Carbs did pretty well limiting, isolating his time, defensive starts etc.  I hope/expect they will continue to limit him this year further.  Hope they can walk that line without hurting his manhood.  Glad he is back, but don't see the need to give him too much ice time.
Curious cuz IF they put him with Strome and Tuch, that will give him more minutes that he needs.  GUess we see how it plays out.

The other thing about this is yes it is a huge $18.5M contract but I guarantee you that players agents are comping it as more than that - because it will cost the Flyers 4 first round picks!!  They will argue that the value of each fist round pick is another $4 to $5M - so the contract is really about a $23M per year deal!  Philly really changed the market dramatically. Can't imagine other GMs are happy.

Well, the other shoe has now dropped regarding the new and upcoming increases in the salary cap, with the Flyers' attempted poaching of Leo Carlsson.  Not only is this a tough decision for Anaheim in isolation, it sets a new, $18 million AAV floor for top talent, which will cascade throughout the league over the next few years as a comp when other top-shelf players reach free agent status. 

So I don’t think the Caps need to have the number one line, etc… I think they can put out four strong lines that are pretty equal and spread out the ice time. It would be good if they struck a deal with Ovi to take some games off this year to keep him fresher - maybe the second game iof back to backs and a few more. That would also let them play another forward that deserved to be in the znhL and develop them some more.