The Florida Panthers will open the 2026-27 regular season with a four-game road trip against the 2026 Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes (September 29), up and coming San Jose Sharks (October 1), Anaheim Ducks (October 4) and Los Angeles Kings (October 6) before they return to South Florida to begin the home slate against the Minnesota Wild on October 10. Florida’s home schedule features 13 games on Saturdays, eight games on Thursdays, six games on Tuesdays, five games on Mondays, four games on Wednesdays and Fridays and two Sunday games. March will be the busiest month at Amerant Bank Arena with eight home games, followed by November and December with seven home games each.
To view the complete 2026-27 schedule click here.
The Panthers were ranked sixth in The Athletic’s Which NHL teams improved the most this offseason? article, with writer Dom Luszczyszyn having this to say about the Cats:
6. Florida Panthers
Net Rating added: +8
In: Brady Tkachuk, Garnet Hathaway, Lars Eller, Radko Gudas, Jacob Markstrom, Akira Schmid
Out: Mackie Samoskevich, Evan Rodrigues, A.J. Greer, Jesper Boqvist, Jeff Petry, Sergei Bobrovsky, Daniil Tarasov
Brady Tkachuk was one of the biggest marquee additions of the summer and there’s no question the Panthers are a much better team because of it. Tkachuk immediately beefs up the team’s top six and feels like a particularly perfect fit on a top line with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. Florida’s top nine looks downright terrifying.
In order to fit Tkachuk, though, the Panthers needed to make a lot of changes around the edges that mitigate some of the value added. The team’s fourth line will have an identity and Evan Rodrigues or Mackie Samoskevich would’ve been a waste there, but it is notably worse now.
Strike two more names from the list of pending arbitration hearings.
Connor McMichael and the St. Louis Blues avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to terms on a lengthy six-year, $40.5 million contract. The Blues acquired the 25-year-old McMichael from the Washington Capitals on June 23 in a trade that sent high-scoring winger Jordan Kyrou to the Capitals. St. Louis also received a 2026 first-round pick (Maddox Dagenais) and prospect center Milton Gastrin.
The Montreal Canadiens and forward Kirby Dach avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $3.6 million contract. Dach, 25, is coming off another injury-riddled season that saw him appear in just 37 games and finish the campaign with eight goals and seven assists.
Updated NHL arbitration hearing schedule
- Jamie Drysdale (Philadelphia) – July 20
- Jet Greaves (Columbus) – July 23
- Jason Robertson (Dallas) – July 25
- Cole Sillinger (Columbus) – July 27
- Ronan Seely (Carolina) – July 29
- Alex Jefferies (New York Islanders) – July 30
- Akira Schmid (Florida) – August 1
The Carolina Hurricanes signed forward Viktor Neuchev to a one-year, two-way deal worth $850K. Carolina acquired Neuchev from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defenseman Gavin Bayreuther on January 24. He put up 10 goals and 15 assists in 68 AHL games split between the Rochester Americans and Chicago Wolves.
Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen inked a one-year, two-way deal worth $850K with the New York Islanders. Tikkanen. a seventh-round pick in 2020, went 17-9-1 in 29 games with Bridgeport Islanders, posting a 2.65 goals against average, .896 save percentage and one shutout in 2025-26.