The Florida Panthers will have a franchise-record 15 of their 82 regular-season games on national distribution during the 2025-26 season, the NHL announced on Wednesday.
Florida gets six games on ESPN, six on TNT and three on ESPN+.
Starting off on the big stage, the Stanley Cup champs will kick off their quest for a three-peat and raise another championship banner when they host Connor Bedard, Spencer Knight and the Chicago Blackhawks on ESPN on October 7 at 5 p.m. ET.
Later in the season, they’ll host the New York Rangers for the southernmost outdoor game in NHL history at the Discover 2026 NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot Park on Friday, January 2, 2026 on TNT.
The full slate of nationally televised games is as follows:
- October 7, 2025 | Panthers vs. Blackhawks | 5pm ET | ESPN
- October 15, 2025 | Panthers @ Red Wings | 7pm ET | TNT
- October 21, 2025 | Panthers @ Bruins | 7:30pm ET | ESPN
- November 6, 2025 | Panthers @ Kings | 10:00pm ET | ESPN+
- December 2, 2025 | Panthers vs. Maple Leafs | 7:30pm ET | ESPN+
- December 11, 2025 | Panthers @ Avalanche | 9pm ET | ESPN
- January 2, 2026 | Panthers vs. Rangers | 8pm ET | TNT
- January 6, 2026 | Panthers @ Maple Leafs | 7:30pm ET | TNT
- February 4, 2026 | Panthers vs. Bruins | 7pm ET | TNT
- February 5, 2026 | Panthers @ Lightning | 7:30pm ET | ESPN+
- March 1, 2026 | Panthers @ Islanders | 6:30pm ET | ESPN
- March 3, 2026 | Panthers @ Devils | 7pm ET | TNT
- March 5, 2026 | Panthers @ Blue Jackets | 7pm ET | ESPN
- March 26, 2026 | Panthers vs. Wild | 7pm ET | ESPN
- April 15, 2026 | Panthers vs. Red Wings | 7pm ET | TNT
As part of its promotions schedule for the 2025-26 campaign, the Charlotte Checkers, AHL affiliate of your Florida Panthers, will be sporting not one, not two, not three, but four different specialty jerseys during the upcoming season.
The four special jerseys consist of a 1990s inspired sweater for both games of Throwback Weekend (December 20 and 21 versus Springfield Thunderbirds), a new entry in the What If? Series (January 17 versus Hershey Bears), a Team USA-inspired jersey for Olympics Night (February 7 versus Grand Rapids Griffins) and a St. Patrick’s Day sweater for the two games surrounding the holiday (March 14 versus Bridgeport Islanders and March 17 versus Hartford Wolf Pack). Additionally, the Checkers will once again wear their alternate black jerseys throughout the season.
Our old SBN pals at Silver Seven Sens did a ranking of the forward groups of each Atlantic Division team to see how Ottawa stacked up against its seven rivals. The Senators were placed third while the Panthers were ranked second behind the Tampa Bay Lighting. This is what author Shaan Malik had to say about the Cats and Bolts. Always interesting to see how the Panthers are viewed outside of South Florida.
Which Florida Team Takes the Crown?
X-factors: Anton Lundell (FLA), Oliver Bjorkstrand (TBL)
I knew it would be the two Florida clubs that would be competing for the top spot, but I’ve gone back and forth on which one should be given the crown. Initially, I had the Bolts at number one this season, on account of adding Oliver Bjorkstrand to the top six and bumping Nick Paul to his ideal position on the third line, as well as Nikita Kucherov’s offensive capabilities dwarfing anyone on the Panthers.
On the other hand, Florida has the advantage in depth. Not only have they completed their second line with Brad Marchand, they have not just one, but three third-liners (Anton Lundell, Evan Rodrigues, and Eetu Luostarinen) that can fill in for an injured player. Speaking of which, Matthew Tkachuk will be out until January, which sucks for them, but it also solves the issue of them being over the cap by about $5 million right now.
I understand the hype behind the Panthers and how they’re built for the playoffs, and I certainly wouldn’t bet on Tampa, Ottawa, or any other team in the league to beat them in a series at this point, but we’re not projecting a Stanley Cup Champion here, we’re gauging how successful these teams will be heading into the playoffs, i.e. predicting the season standings.
In that context, I’m going with the Bolts at #1, narrowly beating out the Cats at #2, on account of better health as well as employing the East’s best forward.