Mark Your Calendars: The Predators’ 2026-27 Schedule Is Out, and It Opens at Home on October 1
Hockey feels a long way off in the thick of a Nashville July, but the Predators just gave fans a reason to start counting down. The team's 2026-27 regular-season schedule is out, and it begins the way the last two have — at home. Nashville opens the season October 1 against the Minnesota Wild at Bridgestone Arena, a 7 p.m. puck drop that will double as the home opener for the third straight year.
There's a wrinkle worth understanding this season. The NHL has expanded to an 84-game regular season, two games longer than the format fans have known for decades. For Nashville, the math works out in the hometown's favor: the Predators will play 42 home games, the most in franchise history. That's 42 nights of downtown traffic, pregame crowds spilling onto Broadway, and one more reason the blocks around Bridgestone stay busy well past last call.
The dates to circle
A few nights already stand out. Just two days after the opener, an October 3 visit from the Dallas Stars carries some extra edge — it marks Mavrik Bourque's first game against his former team after the young forward joined the Predators over the summer. On November 3, Nashville hosts Carolina in what should be one of the marquee non-divisional dates on the calendar.
The holidays bring one of the season's signature games: a New Year's Day matinee against the Florida Panthers on January 1 at Bridgestone, the kind of afternoon date that has become a tradition around the league. In all, the Predators will play 13 afternoon home games this season — good news for families and anyone who'd rather not fight a weeknight downtown.
Two stretches shape the back half of the year. Nashville sits out a 10-day break from February 3-12 around NHL All-Star Weekend, then settles in for a season-long six-game homestand from February 23 through March 6 — a rare extended run at home that could make or break the playoff push. The regular season closes April 10 against Dallas, once again on home ice.
A quieter offseason of change
While the schedule grabs the headlines, the front office has been busy. The Predators reshuffled parts of their hockey-operations staff over the summer, adding to the development ranks while losing assistant general manager Jeff Kealty to San Jose. Down in the pipeline, several of Nashville's prospects have been getting looks on bigger stages this offseason, the early auditions that shape which young players push for roster spots come fall.
For now, the countdown is the story. Eighty-four games, 42 of them at home, starting the first day of October. Time to start planning the fall.
