It’s the 108th season of the world’s premier ice hockey competition, the National Hockey League (NHL). Teams will compete over 7 months of fiery regular season action in the hope of qualifying for the playoffs and chance to reach the finals and lift the Stanley Cup. As North America's oldest professional sports trophy, it’s a prize that all hockey players have their eyes on. Here, we will take a look at the NHL calendar.
- Number of Games in the 2024-25 NHL Season
- 2024-25 NHL Season Dates
- 2024-25 NHL Regular Season
- 2024-25 NHL Outdoor Games
- 2024-25 NHL Postseason
- 2024-25 NHL Teams
- 2025-26 NHL Schedule
Number of Games in the 2024-25 NHL Season
The NHL is divided into 2 conferences and within each of those conferences into 2 divisions. The Eastern Conference comprises the Atlantic Division and the Metropolitan Division. The Western Conference comprises the Central Division and the Pacific Division. There are 8 teams in each division.
During the regular season, each of the league’s 32 teams plays 82 games. Teams from each conference play 28 games in their own division (4 against each of their 7 divisional opponents) and 24 games against the 8 opponents in the other division in their conference (3 games against every team).
After the regular season, 16 of the 32 teams will go on to play in the postseason playoffs. The playoffs consist of 4 rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the Stanley Cup winner.
You can find the complete 2024-25 NHL schedule on Koobit.
2024-25 NHL Season Dates
The complete 2024-25 NHL season – including the regular season and the playoffs – runs from 4 October 2024 to June 2025. The end date is not exact as the playoffs end with the Stanley Cup Finals which is a best-of-seven series where there may be 4, 5, 6, or 7 games played.
In recent seasons, the campaign dates have been:
- 2023-24: 10 October 2023 to 24 June 2024
- 2022-23: 7 October 2022 to 13 June 2023
- 2021-22: 12 October 2021 to 26 June 2022
- 2020-21: 13 January 2021 to 7 July 2021 (season affected by COVID-19 pandemic)
- 2019-20: 2 October 2019 to 11 March 2020 then 1 August 2020 to 28 September 2020 (season affected by COVID-19 pandemic)
2024-25 NHL Regular Season
The 2024-25 NHL regular season runs from 4 October 2024 through to 17 April 2025.
Every team plays 82 games. From each conference – Western and Eastern – teams play 28 games in their own division (4 against each of their 7 other divisional opponents) and 24 games against the 8 opponents in the other division in their conference (3 games against every team). All teams play every team in the other conference twice, at home and away.
The regular season scoring system is as follows: a win is 2 points; losing in overtime or a shootout is 1 point; and a loss in regulation time is 0 points. At the end of the NHL regular season, the team that has accumulated the most points in each division is crowned the division champion, and the league's overall points leader is awarded the Presidents' Trophy. The top 3 teams in each division plus the 2 conference teams with the next highest number of points qualify for the playoffs where they will compete to reach and hopefully win the Stanley Cup Finals.
2024-25 NHL Outdoor Games
During the NHL season, there are several special events including the atmospheric and iconic outdoor games played in baseball or American football stadiums. There are usually 3 outdoor games but this season the NHL Heritage Classic is TBC. The NHL Winter Classic will be played on 31 December 2024 at Wrigley Field in Chicago with the Chicago Blackhawks taking on the St. Louis Blues and the NHL Stadium Series is on 1 March 2025 at Ohio Stadium with the Columbus Blue Jackets vs the Detroit Red Wings.
Instead of the ever-popular NHL All-Star Weekend, the league has created a new mini-competition this season called the 4 Nations Face-Off where teams from the US, Canada, Finland, and Sweden solely consisting of NHL players from those countries will compete in a round-robin tournament at Boston's TD Garden and Montreal's Bell Centre from 12-20 February 2025.
Other special games in the season include the NHL Global Series where regular season games are played oversea. In 2024, the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers will play 2 games at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland on 1 November and 2 November.
During the offseason in the summer months, there are several off-ice events including the NHL Awards and the NHL Draft.
2024-25 NHL Postseason
At the conclusion of the regular season, the 16 top teams qualify for the playoffs made up of 8 from each conference: the top 3 teams in each division plus the 2 conference teams with the next highest number of points. The playoffs consist of 4 rounds of best-of-seven series which will whittle the teams down until just one champion remains.
The NHL playoffs will run from April through to June starting to the First Round, then the Second Round, then the Conference Finals, and concluding with the Stanley Cup Finals.
2024-25 NHL Teams
There are 32 franchises in the NHL. Roughly according to geographical location, the NHL’s teams are divided into 2 conferences each with 2 divisions. The Eastern Conference has the Metropolitan Division and the Atlantic Division. The Western Conference has the Central Division and the Pacific Division.
In the 2023-24 season, the Florida Panthers won their first Stanley Cup after beating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in the finals. During the break between last season and the 2024-25 season, the Arizona Coyotes were disbanded, and a new franchise was created in the form of the Utah Hockey Club.
The current NHL teams and their home rinks are as follows:
Eastern Conference (Metropolitan Division)
- Carolina Hurricanes, Lenovo Center
- Columbus Blue Jackets, Nationwide Arena
- New Jersey Devils, Prudential Center
- New York Islanders, UBS Arena
- New York Rangers, Madison Square Garden
- Philadelphia Flyers, Wells Fargo Center
- Pittsburgh Penguins, PPG Paints Arena
- Washington Capitals, Capital One Arena
Eastern Conference (Atlantic Division)
- Boston Bruins, TD Garden
- Buffalo Sabres, KeyBank Arena
- Detroit Red Wings, Little Caesars Arena
- Florida Panthers, Amerant Bank Arena
- Montreal Canadiens, Centre Bell
- Ottawa Senators, Canadian Tire Centre
- Tampa Bay Lightning, Amalie Arena
- Toronto Maple Leafs, Scotiabank Arena
Western Conference (Central Division)
- Chicago Blackhawks, United Center
- Colorado Avalanche, Ball Arena
- Dallas Stars, American Airlines Center
- Minnesota Wild, Xcel Energy Center
- Nashville Predators, Bridgestone Arena
- St. Louis Blues, Enterprise Center
- Utah Hockey Club, Delta Center
- Winnipeg Jets, Canadian Life Centre
Western Conference (Pacific Division)
- Anaheim Ducks, Honda Center
- Calgary Flames, Scotiabank Saddledome
- Edmonton Oilers, Rogers Place
- Los Angeles Kings, Crypto.com Arena
- San Jose Sharks, SAP Center
- Seattle Kraken, Climate Pledge Arena
- Vancouver Canucks, Rogers Arena
- Vegas Golden Knights, T-Mobile Arena
2025-26 NHL Schedule
After a summer break, the NHL will return for its 2025-26 season which will run from dates similar to this season. After a short preseason, the competitive action will begin in October 2025 and end in June 2026, with the regular season concluding in April. The schedule for the 2025-26 season will be announced in the summer of 2025.