NHL launches “NHL Monday Night Hockey” in European prime time starting Nov. 30

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

The National Hockey League has announced “NHL Monday Night Hockey,” a new international broadcast initiative designed to put NHL games in European prime-time viewing windows on Monday nights throughout the 2026-27 season. The league says it will deliver 11 Monday-night broadcasts across Europe, with games scheduled to start in the evening in Europe and in the afternoon in North America.

The first “NHL Monday Night Hockey” broadcast is set for Monday, Nov. 30. The league’s inaugural presentation will feature Germany’s Tim Stützle and the Ottawa Senators visiting the Nashville Predators, with Switzerland’s Roman Josi and Sweden’s Filip Forsberg highlighted as part of the matchup. The NHL set the start time at 7 p.m. CET, with corresponding times noted as 6 p.m. GMT in the United Kingdom and 8 p.m. EET in Finland.

In explaining the purpose of the initiative, Julie Yufe, NHL Executive Vice President and Managing Director, International, said “NHL Monday Night Hockey was created to provide international fans the opportunity to watch live NHL hockey and the world’s best players compete in a weeknight primetime broadcast window.” Yufe also said the program represents “an important step” in the league’s efforts to provide broader access to NHL games and continue growing ice hockey in key European markets.

The NHL said that across the 11-broadcast slate of the 2026-27 regular season, 16 different NHL clubs will be represented. The league positioned “NHL Monday Night Hockey” as a complement to its already established European-weekend offerings, stating it will build on “NHL Saturday” and “NHL Sunday presented by Fastenal” prime-time games, while also creating a consistent Monday-evening “appointment-viewing” destination for viewers in Europe.

The league also provided a list of highlighted games scheduled within the “NHL Monday Night Hockey” season package, beginning with Nov. 30’s Senators at Predators. For that opener, the NHL said Ottawa’s Stützle, Fabian Zetterlund and goaltender Linus Ullmark will be part of the matchup, alongside Nashville’s Josi, Forsberg, Adam Edström, Nils Höglander and goaltender Juuse Saros.

Among additional announced Monday-night highlight broadcasts, the NHL listed a December matchup of the Colorado Avalanche at the New York Islanders on Dec. 7. The league described the Avalanche as led by last season’s NHL goal-scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon, with captain Gabriel Landeskog, Martin Nečas and Artturi Lehkonen among those tied to the international appeal. The NHL also referenced the Islanders’ roster connections to 2025-26 Rookie of the Year Matthew Schaefer, along with teammates Matias Maccelli, Ondrej Palat, Simon Holmstrom, Emil Heineman, Ilya Sorokin and Victor Eklund.

On Dec. 14, the NHL said the Buffalo Sabres will play the Ottawa Senators, with the league citing Swedish captain Rasmus Dahlin as the Sabres’ featured player. The NHL added that Buffalo’s European contingent includes Noah Östlund, Jiří Kulich, Konsta Helenius, and Finnish netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and noted that the Senators’ schedule includes their final game before departing for the Düsseldorf stage of the 2026 NHL Global Series Germany on Dec. 18 and 20.

The NHL also highlighted a Dec. 21 matchup between the Washington Capitals and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The league cited William Nylander, Sergei Bobrovsky, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Toronto’s roster connections, while also naming Alex Ovechkin and Timothy Liljegren, as well as Martin Fehérváry, on the Capitals side.

For Dec. 28, the NHL scheduled Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild in St. Paul. The league said Minnesota’s lineup includes Kirill Kaprizov and noted other names such as Joel Eriksson Ek, Olli Maatta, Jonas Brodin, Nico Sturm and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, while Vegas is described as led by Tomas Hertl, Victor Olofsson, Rasmus Andersson and William Karlsson. The NHL specified that this particular game “will not be available on ITV in the United Kingdom.”

The announced schedule continues with Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 18, with the NHL noting that Buffalo defeated Montreal in seven games to advance in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Eastern Conference Final. The NHL again included a distribution note, stating the Jan. 18 game “will not be available on ITV in the United Kingdom.”

In February, the NHL listed New York Islanders at Florida Panthers on Feb. 1, Anaheim Ducks at Boston Bruins on Feb. 15, and Montreal Canadiens at Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 22. For the Panthers game, the NHL highlighted Aleksander Barkov and European-born teammates Gustav Forsling, Lars Eller, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Sandis Vilmanis, Uvis Balinskis, Radko Gudas, Niko Mikkola and goaltending tandem Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid. For Anaheim at Boston, the league cited Leo Carlsson, Mikael Granlund, Lukas Dostal and Ville Husso on the Ducks side and pointed to the Bruins’ offensive pace led by David Pastrnak, supported by JJ Peterka, Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm and Pavel Zacha.

The NHL said its final three highlighted broadcasts include Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals on Mar. 15, Philadelphia Flyers at Carolina Hurricanes on Apr. 5, and a slate finale on the same date. For the Mar. 15 game, the NHL described Washington as led by captain Victor Hedman and noted Pontus Holmberg, Nikita Kucherov, Zemgus Girgensons, Erik Cernák, J.J. Moser and Tampa Bay’s roster. For the Apr. 5 season finale, the NHL said the Flyers visit Raleigh to face the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, led by top offensive force Sebastian Aho and other named talents including Nikolaj Ehlers and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

Beyond the Monday-night package, the NHL linked the initiative to its wider international programming. The league said this season includes upcoming games at Helsinki’s Veikkaus Arena as part of the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland on Nov. 12 and 14 between the Hurricanes and the Seattle Kraken, and it described a return to Germany for the 2026 NHL Global Series Germany with two matches at PSD Bank Dome in Düsseldorf between the Senators and the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 18 and 20.

The NHL said international broadcast coverage will involve partner networks across different countries, including NovaAction in Czechia, STAR in Finland, Sky Sport in Germany, Dajto in Slovakia, TV6 in Sweden, MySports in Switzerland and Premier Sport and ITV in the United Kingdom. The league also said that game schedules by market are available via the link in its announcement.

Alongside the broadcasts, the NHL said it will continue providing international content through digital and social channels in eight languages. The league stated that NHL.com in English and in Czech, Finnish, French, German, Slovak, Swedish and Spanish will provide daily game summaries, video highlights, player interviews and feature stories, and said visits to NHL.com European websites increased by 47% compared with the previous season. The league also outlined regional social platforms including Instagram, X, WhatsApp, TikTok and YouTube, naming specific NHL and NHL Europe handles for regional distribution.