How Many Games Are in an NHL Season?
The 30-second answer
Each NHL team plays 84 regular-season games with 42 at home and 42 on the road. That’s new: the schedule was 82 games for about 30 years, and 2026-27 is the first 84-game season since 1993-94. The two extra games were added so every team plays each of its division rivals exactly four times, twice at home, twice away and with no uneven leftovers.
The slightly longer version
The 84 games break into a simple recipe. A team plays its seven division rivals four times each (28 games), the eight teams in its conference’s other division three times each (24 games), and every team in the other conference twice: once at home, once away (32 games). Add it up: 28 + 24 + 32 = 84.
The change came out of the league’s new collective bargaining agreement with the players. At 82 games, the division schedule didn’t divide evenly, so some rivals met three times and others four, and fans complained when a big rivalry only came to town once. Eighty-four fixed the math. To make room, the preseason was cut down to a maximum of four games, and the regular season now starts earlier as this year’s opened in late September.
After those 84 games, the top 16 teams make the playoffs, where a team can play up to 28 more games (four best-of-7 rounds) on the way to the Stanley Cup. So a team that goes all the way can play 112 games in a season, which is why hockey players have a reputation for playing hurt by June.
For comparison: the NBA also plays 82 games, the NFL plays 17, and baseball plays 162 and hockey sits in the “long grind” tier, just not baseball-long.
What to watch for:
- “84-game season” in broadcasts. Announcers will mention it all year and now you know it’s the first one in over 30 years, not a typo.
- Rivalry nights, twice guaranteed. Your team now hosts every division rival at least twice, so the best matchups are on the home schedule twice a year.
- A shorter preseason. With preseason capped at four games, rosters get decided faster and the real games start sooner.
- The standings grind. Two extra games means point totals will run a little higher than in the 82-game era when you’re comparing seasons.
Say this out loud
“It’s 84 games now, up from 82, first time since the early ’90s.”
“They play every division rival four times: two at home, two away.”
“Win the whole thing and that’s up to 112 games in a season.”
