NHL releases 2024-25 season schedule

Newly signed free agents Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault had good reason to mark their calendars when the NHL released its full regular-season schedule Tuesday. As did newly hired coaches Craig Berube, Sheldon Keefe and Dan Bylsma.

As for the Stanley Cup Final second legs, the defending champion Florida Panthers will play in Edmonton on Dec. 16. The two teams are scheduled to meet in Florida on Feb. 27 to complete the two-game series.

Here are the highlights of the 1,312-game NHL schedule, which begins with the New Jersey Devils taking on the Buffalo Sabres on October 4 and 5 in Prague, Czech Republic, and concludes with a six-game schedule on April 17.

Players Return Home

A day after leaving Tampa Bay to sign with Nashville as a free agent, Stamkos and the Predators are scheduled to travel to play the Lightning on Oct. 28. Meanwhile, Marchessault, who also signed with the Predators, will have to wait until April 12 for his first scheduled return to Las Vegas to play the Golden Knights.

As for Jake DeBrusk, who left Boston to sign with Vancouver, he will return to Beantown on November 26 when the Bruins host the Canucks.

Homecoming training

The offseason coaching carousel is also in play, starting with Lindy Ruff, who returned to Buffalo for a second season and will face his last team, the Devils, in their opener in Prague.

Former Maple Leafs coach Keefe, who is now in New Jersey, will see his former players in Newark on Oct. 10 for the Devils’ first game back from Europe. Keefe will return to Toronto, where he spent the past five seasons as Maple Leafs head coach, on Jan. 16.

Former Blues Cup champion coach Berube, now the Toronto coach, will return to St. Louis on Nov. 2.

Bylsma, who is now in Seattle, will travel to face two of his former teams within days of each other during the Kraken’s five-game road trip. Bylsma will face his newest team, the Sabres, in Buffalo on Jan. 11. Three days later, he will be in Pittsburgh, where he coached the Penguins to the 2009 title.

Taking breaks

The calendar will feature 16 days without NHL games after the official start of the regular season on October 8.

There are no games scheduled for Thanksgiving in the US on November 28. The NHL’s annual holiday break will last from December 24 to 26.

The league also takes a 12-day break from Feb. 10-21 to host its 4 Nations Face-Off, featuring teams from the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland. The schedule closes with two games — Utah at Washington and Tampa Bay at Montreal — on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9, and reopens with a 14-game schedule on Feb. 22.

The schedule will also feature seven days of single games, including Oct. 21 when the Lightning play Toronto and two days later when the Flyers travel to Washington.

Great nature

The NHL has already announced two outdoor games, the highlight of which will be the Chicago Blackhawks taking on the Blues at Wrigley Field on Dec. 31. Then the Detroit Red Wings will travel to Columbus for a game at Ohio State’s Horseshoe on March 1.