The NHL opens the 2026-27 season Tuesday night with a five-game slate that includes Carolina hosting Florida and Vancouver visiting Edmonton.
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The NHL opens the 2026-27 season on Tuesday, Sept. 29 with a five-game schedule, with the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Florida Panthers to start the slate and the Vegas Golden Knights taking on the Chicago Blackhawks in the final matchup.
Carolina and Florida meet with the Panthers listed at +110 and the Hurricanes at +110, with the bet presented as Florida as underdogs. The preview cites Florida’s lineup returning around Aleksander Barkov and newcomer Brady Tkachuk, alongside a note that Brad Marchand is missing the start of the season.
In the second matchup highlighted, the Montreal Canadiens are listed at -112 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The preview says Montreal won three of four meetings against Toronto last season and frames the Canadiens as improving with younger players taking steps forward, while noting that a Monday acquisition involving Kirill Marchenko—received in a deal for Matthew Knies—may not feature in Toronto’s opening-night lineup due to a shortened training camp and travel day.
The third matchup in the preview has the Vancouver Canucks at the Edmonton Oilers with an over/under line of over 6.5 at -115. The preview describes Edmonton as opening the Mike Babcock era as big favourites, but also says it is not confident in Edmonton’s defence or goaltending, pointing to Frederik Andersen being hurt to start the season. It also says Tristan Jarry is expected to start for the Oilers, with Kevin Lankinen set to be in goal for Vancouver while Thatcher Demko is out at least a few months.
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