The Boston Bruins' full 2026-27 schedule is out! The NHL released every team's 84-game regular-season schedule on Thursday (yes, there are now two additional regular-season games), and you can check out the Bruins' here.
The Bruins' full 2026-27 schedule is out: https://t.co/OhUwqmZkUS pic.twitter.com/ZHP1qlQYaZ
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) July 16, 2026
Here are five thoughts on Boston's slate:
Opening night primetime
Fans might not have the highest expectations for the 2026-27 Bruins, but that won't stop the national TV networks from wanting to gobble up as many Boston games as possible. As long as the Bruins are competitive, they remain one of the most bankable ratings draws in the league.
As such, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the league's opening night – Tuesday, Sept. 29 – will feature the Bruins hosting the New York Rangers at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
That game will be part of an opening night tripleheader on ESPN, starting with the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Florida Panthers at 5 p.m. After the Bruins' game, the Vegas Golden Knights will host the Chicago Blackhawks at 10:30 p.m.
North of the border, opening night will also feature some all-Canada counter-programming, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. and the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Vancouver Canucks at 10 p.m.
If Sept. 29 seems earlier than usual for opening night, that's because it is – by about a week. With every team playing two additional regular-season games, the NHL and NHLPA opted to start the season earlier rather than have it end later. The trade-off will be a shorter preseason and training camp.
After hosting the Rangers, the Bruins will then go on the road to face the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, Oct. 2, and the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, Oct. 3.
Bergeron night
The Bruins had announced in June that they would be retiring Patrice Bergeron's No. 37 at some point during the 2026-27 season. Now we know the date: Tuesday, Dec. 1, prior to their home game against the Colorado Avalanche.
In the past, some have accused the Bruins of scheduling stuff like this for games against "lesser" opponents – Zdeno Chara's number was retired before a game against Seattle, for instance. That is certainly not the case here, as the Avs are one of the premier draws in the league thanks to the star power of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
Shoutout to X user @connorkaplan, who pointed out that having Bergeron's night be against the Avs opens up the possibility of Colorado wearing their Quebec Nordiques throwbacks, which they usually do a few times a year. Bergeron, a Quebec native, grew up a Nordiques fan.
The Montreal matchups
While the Bruins and Canadiens have now gone a record 12 years without meeting in the playoffs, the rivalry did feel like it returned last season. Both teams were good for the first time in a decade, and willing combatants like Nikita Zadorov, Tanner Jeannot, Mark Kastelic, Jayden Struble, Arber Xhekaj and Josh Anderson made sure there were plenty of fisticuffs to go around.
With the Canadiens having reached the Eastern Conference finals, they're now a team the Bruins are clearly chasing in the division. And as such, these matchups are once again worth circling.
The first Bruins-Habs meeting will be in Boston on Nov. 12, followed by trips to Montreal on Jan. 6 and March 10. The fourth and final regular-season meeting will be in Boston on March 30.
While a lot of fans would still like more divisional matchups, the silver lining of the 84-game schedule is that the Bruins are at least now locked into a guaranteed four games against the other seven teams in the Atlantic Division. In a couple recent seasons, the B's and Habs only met three times.
The Florida matchups
Beyond the Habs, the other games to circle are without question those against the Panthers. After missing the playoffs last season amid a wave of injuries, the Panthers – Cup winners in 2024 and 2025 – should be back with a vengeance after adding Brady Tkachuk to a group that still includes Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov and more.
On paper, they should be right back in the Stanley Cup conversation, and they should be right back to being the biggest pains in the ass to play against. The Bruins have plenty of history with this group – none of it pleasant – and Marchand's presence continues to be an interesting and uncomfortable twist.
Three of the Bruins' four meetings with Florida will come before Christmas, with home games on Nov. 8 and Dec. 15, and a trip to Sunrise on Dec. 8. Then they'll go nearly four months without seeing each other before an April 9 matchup in South Florida, in the second-to-last game of the season.
Tough finish
Speaking of the end of the season, it's a tough one for the Bruins. Their final 10 games include three games (yes, three!) against the Buffalo Sabres (the team that beat them in the first round this spring), two against the Tampa Bay Lightning, one against the Panthers, one against the Canadiens, and one against a Washington Capitals team that should be improved. The Bruins' final four games are all on the road – at Toronto, at Buffalo, at Florida, and at Tampa Bay.
If the Bruins are fighting for a playoff spot late in the regular season, they're certainly going to have to earn it the hard way down the stretch.
