NHL announces new start times for Maple Leafs games in December, April

The NHL has announced new start times for five games, including a pair of Toronto Maple Leafs games in 2025-26.

The two games affected include the Maple Leafs’ game vs the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, December 4, which was supposed to start at 7:30 pm EST and will now be starting at 7:00 pm EST. This is game #431 of the NHL season and it will be the second meeting between the Maple Leafs and Hurricanes of the season, with Toronto hosting Carolina on Sunday, November 9. The Hurricanes are currently 6-2-0 and were the last undefeated team in the league after starting the season 5-0-0.

The second game that will be affected is the Maple Leafs’ game vs the New York Islanders on Thursday, April 9. That game was originally supposed to start at 7:00 pm EST and will now begin at 6:45 pm EST. This is game #1252 of the NHL season and will be the third and final meeting of the season between the Maple Leafs and Islanders, with the Maple Leafs visiting them for the first time on January 3 and hosting them for the first and only time on St. Patrick’s Day. The Islanders have started the season mediocre, similar to the Maple Leafs, with a 4-3-1 record after eight games, but they boast the talents of star rookie defenceman Matthew Schaefer, who was drafted first overall by the Islanders in the 2025 NHL Draft and has seven points in his first nine games.

We’ve seen the start times for some Leafs games adjusted at the start of the season to account for the Toronto Blue Jays’ ongoing playoff run, including the start time of some games being bumped back by a couple of hours. That said, it’s unknown what the reasoning behind these changes are. It may just be a couple of minor changes for logistical purposes, something that may not affect the casual fan the way the Blue Jays games have, but either way, make sure to adjust your schedule back by a half hour on December 4 and 15 minutes on April 9.