The Flyers’ complete 2026-27 schedule was announced Thursday. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Flyers' schedule includes plenty of compelling matchups, and will also feature two more games than in years past.
Let the countdown to the 2026-27 season officially begin.
In 76 days, Flyers hockey is back with the season and home opener on Sept. 30 against their cross-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The NHL begins the campaign the day prior, with five games including the Carolina Hurricanes raising their banner before hosting the Florida Panthers. It marks the league’s earliest start in North America.
On Wednesday, we also learned that the Flyers will play the following night against the New Jersey Devils in their home opener at the Prudential Center, in addition to also helping former Flyers goalie Sam Ersson and the Ottawa Senators open their home schedule on Oct. 8.
On Thursday, the NHL released the complete 84-game schedule — yes, there are two extra Metropolitan Division games this season for the Flyers. It is the first time the NHL season will play 84 games since the 1993-94 season.
Here’s everything we know about the Flyers’ 2026-27 schedule.
When is the Flyers’ first game of the 2026-27 season?
As mentioned above, the Flyers will host the Penguins on Sept. 30 at Xfinity Mobile Arena (7:30 p.m., TNT). The rest of the games scheduled for TNT, ABC, and ESPN, along with the NBCSP schedule, will be announced at a later time.
There will be some new faces on each team, with former Flyers forward Andrei Kuzmenko now on the Penguins and ex-Pens forward Noel Acciari facing his old buddies after inking a two-year deal with the Flyers on July 1.
“I’m glad to have them on my side now because they are very passionate, and they’re all up in your face,” Acciari said about the Philly faithful.
Of course, the Penguins will still have Evgeni Malkin, who re-signed after the Flyers eliminated Pittsburgh in six games in the opening round of the 2026 playoffs; Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, and Sidney Crosby, who has 139 points in 93 regular-season games against the Flyers.
It will be the eighth time the Flyers host the Penguins in the season opener (5-2-0) and the ninth time they will open the season against Pittsburgh (4-3-1-0). The Flyers are 33-18-5-2 in home openers and 29-20-7-2 in season lid-lifters.
The Flyers will get their first chance for some revenge on the Hurricanes, who swept them in the second round of the playoffs, in North Carolina on Oct. 3.
When does the Flyers’ 2026-27 season end?
The NHL will wrap up the season on April 10 when all 32 teams suit up.
Philly will face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in the first game of the day, at 12 p.m. at Xfinity Mobile Arena. It could be the regular-season finale of Ovechkin’s storied career.
Signed to a one-year deal, the NHL’s all-time goals leader (929) will turn 41 in mid-September. This season will be his 22nd in the NHL, but he recently told Match TV, a Russian sports channel, that he wouldn’t mind hitting 1,000 NHL goals. He has scored 54 goals against the Flyers in 82 regular-season games.
When do the Flyers face Cutter Gauthier and the Anaheim Ducks?
The Flyers faithful won’t have to wait too long to give Gauthier another warm welcome in Philly. The Ducks close out a four-game road trip with a matinee game at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Oct. 24.
Of course, there is a new wrinkle this year after Flyers general manager Danny Brière and the organization tendered an offer sheet with a five-year contract, worth an average annual value of $18 million, to center Leo Carlsson. The Ducks eventually matched, making the Swede the highest-paid player in terms of AAV in the NHL.
The Flyers will be in Anaheim on Jan. 3.
When are the Flyers playing during the day in 2026-27?
The Flyers play 15 games during the day, with eight in South Philly.
When does _____ return to Philly?
Garnet Hathaway: Traded in late June, Hathaway and the Florida Panthers make their first appearance at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Dec. 14 and return on Jan. 26. The Flyers also visit Sunrise, Fla., on March 27.
Bobby Brink: Sent home to Minnesota at the trade deadline in the deal that brought David Jiříček to the Flyers, Brink and the Wild visit South Philly on Nov. 3. The Flyers are in Minnesota on Dec. 5.
Emil Andrae: After being traded in June, the Maple Leafs defenseman gets a chance to take on his former team at XMA on Jan. 7, with two games in Toronto on Nov. 30 and Jan. 9.
Sam Ersson: While the Flyers will help the goalie and the Senators — he was originally sent to Toronto with Andrae — open their home schedule on Oct. 8, the Swede returns to XMA on Oct. 17. The Flyers are also in Ottawa on Nov. 19.
Noah Juulsen: Signing with the Colorado Avalanche in free agency, the defenseman will return Oct. 19, and the Flyers will kick-start the dreaded “Death Valley Trip” in Denver on March 9 before heading to Las Vegas and Utah.
Flyers goalie Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoît will return to Toronto for the first time on Nov. 30. Acciari will be in Pittsburgh for the first time on Jan. 31.
Do the Flyers play on Black Friday in 2026?
Yes. The Flyers return to their rightful place of playing the day after Thanksgiving after being booted last season because of an Eagles home game. The Birds lost 24-15 to the Chicago Bears.
This year, the Flyers will host coach Rick Tocchet’s old team, the Vancouver Canucks, on Nov. 27 at 3 p.m. Since 2006, the Orange and Black have not hosted a game on Black Friday only three times — the 2020-21 COVID-19-shortened season and the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season, with each starting in January, and last year.
The Flyers have an impressive record of 26-9-1-4 in games played after getting their fill of turkey and cranberry sauce (only from the can is acceptable).
Where is the Flyers’ road trip going during Disney On Ice in 2026-27?
Every year, following the NHL’s holiday break, the Flyers head out of town for an extended road trip as Disney On Ice descends on Philly.
Last year, the Flyers headed to Western Canada and Seattle. This year, the Flyers begin with a pit stop in Chicago, which Connor Bedard (shoulder surgery) is expected to be back for, before heading to the West Coast for matchups against the Kraken, Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks, the Ducks, and Scott Laughton and the Los Angeles Kings.
Although it is a nine-day trip, it is not the longest for the Flyers this season. Assuming they head straight from a Nov. 5 game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden to Calgary, Alberta, the Flyers will be on a five-game, 10-day road trip. One nugget for this trip: This is the final year that the Flames are playing in the Scotiabank Saddledome before opening a new arena next season.
The Flyers have a four-game road trip that begins locally on Long Island (March 20) and continues to New Jersey (March 23) before rounding out in Florida, March 25 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and March 27 at the Panthers.
They also have a few three-game road trips: Oct. 5-10: Tampa Bay, Ottawa, Boston; Nov. 19-25: Ottawa, Montreal, Washington; March 3-13: Colorado, Vegas, Utah; April 3-8: Pittsburgh, Carolina, Columbus
News and notes about the Flyers’ schedule
With two games added to the schedule, the Flyers will play each of their Metropolitan Division opponents four times.
They have 12 back-to-backs, including a tough stretch Jan. 9-16 with five games in eight days.
The Flyers will play 16 weekend games at home, with 11 on Saturdays and five on Sundays.
On Monday, Feb. 22, the Flyers will play at 1 p.m. in Philly against the Montreal Canadiens. The game is early, not because it’s Presidents’ Day, which is the week prior, but because the game is being coined an “International Primetime Game.” According to the Flyers press release, the game is “specifically designed to reach a global audience through a European primetime broadcast window.” Goalie Dan Vladař is the headliner for the Flyers as it will be 7 p.m. in Czechia. The matchup at the Hurricanes on April 5, a 2 p.m. start, is another of the International Primetime Games.
If he plays in every game, captain Sean Couturier will skate in his 1,000th NHL game on Jan. 12 in Nashville. He will join Bobby Clarke (1,144) and Claude Giroux (1,000) as the only players to play in 1,000 NHL games solely with the Flyers. Forward Travis Konecny (723), and defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen (820), and Travis Sanheim (660) could also hit big milestones. Konecny would become the fifth player to hit 800 games as a Flyer, joining Clarke, Giroux, Couturier, and Bill Barber (903), and Sanheim would become the fourth defenseman to reach 700 behind Éric Desjardins (738), who he could surpass, Joe Watson (746), and Chris Therien (753).
The NHL’s All-Star Weekend will be held at UBS Arena on Long Island on Feb. 5-6. On the first night, 10 young stars, ages 25 or younger, will compete across eight events. The following day will be the All-Star Game, with five teams of 11 players representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United States, and a “World” team competing in a three-on-three, round-robin exhibition tournament. The Flyers will be off Feb. 4-12