The 2023-24 NHL regular season will begin Oct. 10 with back-to-back-to-back games, culminating in the Vegas Golden Knights raising their first Stanley Cup banner before they entertain the Seattle Kraken.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will begin the tripleheader at 5:30 p.m. ET by hosting the Nashville Predators. The Chicago Blackhawks and presumptive No. 1 overall draft pick Connor Bedard will visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at 8 p.m. before the Golden Knights' game at 10:30. ESPN will broadcast all three games.
The Golden Knights and Kraken are the two newest teams in the NHL, with Vegas winning its first Stanley Cup in its sixth season and the Kraken having completed its second season with its first trip to the playoffs.
They'll square off again on Jan. 1, 2024, in the latest installment of the NHL Winter Classic. The Kraken will host the game at T-Mobile Park, the home of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners.
The Winter Classic was one of four outdoor games on the 2023-24 slate, all previously announced. The others are the NHL Heritage Classic on Oct. 29 between the Oilers and the Calgary Flames at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, and back-to-back Stadium Series games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., between the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers (Feb. 17) and the New York Rangers and New York Islanders (Feb. 18).
The Golden Knights will face the Florida Panthers for two rematches of the Stanley Cup Final, Dec. 23 in Sunrise, Fla., and Jan. 4 in Las Vegas.
Another highlight is a four-game series Nov. 16-19 in Stockholm, Sweden, featuring the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto will host NHL All-Star Weekend Feb. 2-3. All 32 teams will be off Feb. 1-4.
The regular season will conclude on April 18, when six games all between Western Conference opponents are scheduled.
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