The Vegas Golden Knights are officially entering their tenth season of NHL hockey, and the 2026-27 season is shaping up to be a unique one around the league. The Golden Knights announced their 2026-27 schedule on Thursday, July 16, 2026, giving fans their first full look at what will be a longer regular season, an earlier start to the hockey calendar, and another opportunity for the Golden Knights to compete on one of the NHL’s biggest stages. For the 2026-27 season, the Golden Knights will play 84 regular-season games, with an even split of 42 games at home and 42 games on the road. The increase to 84 games is one of the biggest changes to the NHL schedule this season, along with a shorter preseason and an earlier start to the regular season. Instead of waiting until October to begin meaningful games, the NHL regular season will begin in September. This marks the first time the NHL regular season has started in September since the 2007-08 season. The 84-game regular season is also something the league has not seen since the 1993-94 season. For Vegas, the regular season begins on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, when the Golden Knights host the Chicago Blackhawks at home. It will be the first regular-season game of the Golden Knights’ tenth season, giving the team a chance to celebrate another milestone in franchise history in front of its home fans. The Golden Knights will then close out the regular season on Saturday, April 10, 2027, when they host the Los Angeles Kings.
One of the biggest highlights on the Golden Knights’ 2026-27 schedule will come in February. Vegas will take on the Dallas Stars in the 2027 NHL Stadium Series on Saturday, February 20, 2027. The game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. The Stadium Series gives the Golden Knights another opportunity to play an NHL game outside of a traditional hockey arena. For a franchise that has embraced major events and spectacle throughout its history, another outdoor game will add an additional chapter to the team’s relatively young history. The matchup against Dallas will also be one of the marquee games on Vegas’ February schedule, which will already include the NHL All-Star festivities.
With the regular season expanding to 84 games and beginning earlier than usual, the Golden Knights’ schedule is spread across eight months. Vegas will play only one regular-season game in September, and that game will be at home against Chicago. October will be one of the busiest months of the season. The Golden Knights will play 14 games, including eight home games and six road games. Starting the regular season in September means October will no longer serve as the traditional opening month of the season, but Vegas will still have a significant number of games packed into the month. In November, the Golden Knights will play 13 games, with six at home and seven on the road. December will feature another 14 games, split between six home games and eight road games. December will also include the NHL’s annual Winter Classic, although Vegas will not participate in that event. January will also feature 14 games for Vegas. The schedule is evenly divided, with seven home games and seven road games. February will be the lightest month of the regular season for the Golden Knights, with nine games. Five of those will be played at home and four will be on the road. February will also include the NHL All-Star Game and Vegas’ Stadium Series matchup against Dallas. March will once again become a busy month, with Vegas playing 14 games. The Golden Knights will play six games at home and eight on the road. Finally, the regular season will wrap up in April with five games. Three of those games will be at home and two will be on the road, with the final game of the regular season coming against the Los Angeles Kings on April 10. The Golden Knights will play seven back-to-back sets during the season. With 84 games packed into the schedule, managing travel, rest, and the workload of the players will be an important part of getting through the regular season.
The Golden Knights will face all 31 other NHL teams at least once during the 2026-27 regular season. Vegas will play 28 games against its Pacific Division opponents. The Golden Knights will face each team in the NHL’s Western Conference Pacific Division four times. That means two games will be played at home and two will be played on the road against each divisional opponent. The Golden Knights will play another 24 games against teams from the Western Conference’s Central Division. Vegas will face each Central Division opponent three times. Because there are three games against each opponent, the home-and-road split will vary, with each team receiving either one or two home games against Vegas and one or two road games. The remaining 32 games will come against the NHL’s Eastern Conference. Vegas will play each Eastern Conference team twice, once at home and once on the road. That schedule gives the Golden Knights a relatively balanced look at the rest of the league while still maintaining the heavier divisional schedule that comes with playing in the Pacific Division.
While the Golden Knights have their own schedule to focus on, the 2026-27 NHL season will feature several major league-wide events. The NHL Heritage Classic will take place on October 25, 2026, with the Montreal Canadiens taking on the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg. The game will be played at Princess Auto Stadium, home of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The NHL will then head overseas for the NHL Global Series Finland. The Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken will play two games in Helsinki on November 12 and November 14. Both games will be played at Veikkaus Arena, home of Jokerit of Liiga, Finland’s top professional hockey league. The league will also hold the NHL Global Series Germany in December. The Chicago Wolves and Ottawa Senators will play on December 18 and December 20 at PSD Bank Dome in Düsseldorf, Germany. The arena is home to Düsseldorfer EG of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The annual NHL Winter Classic will take place on December 31, 2026, with the Utah Mammoth facing the Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. Rice-Eccles Stadium is the home of the University of Utah’s Utah Utes. The stadium also has a connection to the Olympic movement, having played a role during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. It will once again have an Olympic connection when Salt Lake City hosts events for the 2034 Winter Olympics. The NHL’s All-Star festivities will take place in February, with the NHL All-Star Game scheduled for February 5 and 6. The event will be hosted by the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. Of course, the Golden Knights will have their own major February event when they face the Dallas Stars in the 2027 NHL Stadium Series at AT&T Stadium.
The 2026-27 season will also provide Golden Knights fans with plenty to follow throughout the team’s minor-league system. The Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate will once again be the Henderson Silver Knights. Henderson has served as Vegas’ primary AHL affiliate since the 2020-21 season, giving the Golden Knights a nearby development team just outside Las Vegas. Vegas’ ECHL affiliate for the 2026-27 season will be the Tahoe Knight Monsters. Tahoe has served as the Golden Knights’ secondary affiliate since the 2024-25 season, giving Vegas another developmental connection in the region. For fans who follow all three teams, there are 19 dates during the NHL regular season when the Golden Knights, Silver Knights, and Knight Monsters will all play on the same day. If all three teams win on one of those dates, it can be called an affiliate hat trick. Those 19 dates are:
- October 17, 2026
- October 23, 2026
- October 30, 2026
- November 21, 2026
- November 27, 2026
- December 5, 2026
- December 12, 2026
- January 2, 2027
- January 9, 2027
- January 16, 2027
- January 24, 2027
- January 30, 2027
- February 13, 2027
- February 20, 2027
- March 5, 2027
- March 20, 2027
- March 27, 2027
- April 3, 2027
- April 10, 2027
For Golden Knights fans in Nevada, these dates provide an opportunity to follow the entire organization rather than just the NHL club. With teams in Vegas, Henderson, and Tahoe, the Golden Knights’ affiliate structure gives fans throughout the region multiple levels of professional hockey to follow.
Once the Golden Knights finish their 84-game regular season, the focus will turn toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The playoffs will begin after the regular season concludes on April 10, 2027. The NHL’s current playoff format has been in place since the 2013-14 season. A total of 16 teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The top three teams in each division will earn playoff spots, while the remaining four positions will be awarded to wild-card teams. Every playoff series is played as a best-of-seven series. The postseason consists of the first round, second round, conference finals, and ultimately the Stanley Cup Final. For Vegas, the goal entering the season will be much bigger than simply making the playoffs. The Golden Knights will be entering their tenth NHL season looking to turn another long regular season into a deep postseason run and, ultimately, another opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup.
The 2026-27 season will be another milestone year for the Vegas Golden Knights. Ten seasons after entering the NHL, the franchise will begin a new chapter with an expanded 84-game schedule, an earlier regular-season start, another outdoor showcase, and three professional affiliates spread across Nevada. The season begins at home against Chicago on September 29 and ends at home against Los Angeles on April 10. In between, Vegas will travel across North America, play all 31 other NHL teams, take part in the Stadium Series, and navigate a schedule that will feature seven back-to-back sets. For Golden Knights fans, the 2026-27 schedule provides nearly seven months of regular-season hockey to follow before the real pressure begins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the franchise entering its tenth season, there will be plenty of storylines to watch from opening night all the way through the final game of the regular season.
Zac Electrifly 
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