2026-27 NHL · Opening week
NHL Week Planner
Sep 28–Oct 4: who plays the most, who sits, who is due back.
SeasonOpens Tue, Sep 29tomorrow
Games this week39Sep 28–Oct 4
Players out56plus 44 day-to-day
Last check5:00 AM ETSep 28 · checked hourly
Sep 28–Oct 4: 39 games. NYR and VAN play 4 or more. 19 teams play 2 or fewer. 12 back-to-backs. 58 injured players have an estimated return this week.
01 // Busy teams4+ games · stream from these
02 // Light teams2 or fewer · bench candidates
| OTT Ottawa Senators | 1 | Sat @ TOR |
| ANA Anaheim Ducks | 2 | Fri @ VGK · Sun vs FLA |
| BUF Buffalo Sabres | 2 | Thu @ CBJ · Sat vs CHI |
| CBJ Columbus Blue Jackets | 2 | Thu vs BUF · Sat vs UTA |
| COL Colorado Avalanche | 2 | Wed vs LAK · Sat vs STL |
| DAL Dallas Stars | 2 | Fri vs STL · Sat @ NSH |
| DET Detroit Red Wings | 2 | Fri vs NYR · Sun vs WPG |
| LAK Los Angeles Kings | 2 | Wed @ COL · Sat @ SJS |
| MIN Minnesota Wild | 2 | Thu @ NSH · Sat vs BOS |
| MTL Montréal Canadiens | 2 | Tue @ TOR · Sat @ PIT |
| NJD New Jersey Devils | 2 | Thu vs PHI · Sat @ NYI |
| NSH Nashville Predators | 2 | Thu vs MIN · Sat vs DAL |
| NYI New York Islanders | 2 | Wed @ TOR · Sat vs NJD |
| PIT Pittsburgh Penguins | 2 | Wed @ PHI · Sat vs MTL |
| SJS San Jose Sharks | 2 | Thu vs FLA · Sat vs LAK |
| STL St. Louis Blues | 2 | Fri @ DAL · Sat @ COL |
| TBL Tampa Bay Lightning | 2 | Thu @ NYR · Sat vs WSH |
| WPG Winnipeg Jets | 2 | Fri vs BOS · Sun @ DET |
| WSH Washington Capitals | 2 | Fri @ CAR · Sat @ TBL |
03 // Back-to-backsGoalie and rest risk
| TOR Toronto Maple Leafs | Tue, Sep 29 | Wed, Sep 30 |
| PHI Philadelphia Flyers | Wed, Sep 30 | Thu, Oct 1 |
| NYR New York Rangers | Thu, Oct 1 | Fri, Oct 2 |
| BOS Boston Bruins | Fri, Oct 2 | Sat, Oct 3 |
| CAR Carolina Hurricanes | Fri, Oct 2 | Sat, Oct 3 |
| DAL Dallas Stars | Fri, Oct 2 | Sat, Oct 3 |
| STL St. Louis Blues | Fri, Oct 2 | Sat, Oct 3 |
| WSH Washington Capitals | Fri, Oct 2 | Sat, Oct 3 |
| CGY Calgary Flames | Sat, Oct 3 | Sun, Oct 4 |
| SEA Seattle Kraken | Sat, Oct 3 | Sun, Oct 4 |
| UTA Utah Mammoth | Sat, Oct 3 | Sun, Oct 4 |
| VAN Vancouver Canucks | Sat, Oct 3 | Sun, Oct 4 |
04 // Due back this weekEstimated returns from the latest injury report
| Matthew Poitras | BOS | C | DTD | Tue, Sep 29 |
| Alexander Nikishin | CAR | D | Out | Tue, Sep 29 |
| Brady Tkachuk | FLA | LW | DTD | Tue, Sep 29 |
| Ivan Demidov | MTL | RW | DTD | Tue, Sep 29 |
| Vincent Iorio | NYR | D | DTD | Tue, Sep 29 |
| Dakota Joshua | TOR | C | DTD | Tue, Sep 29 |
| Nick Paul | TOR | LW | DTD | Tue, Sep 29 |
| Lukas Cormier | VGK | D | Out | Tue, Sep 29 |
| Raphael Lavoie | VGK | C | DTD | Tue, Sep 29 |
| Trent Miner | COL | G | Out | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Otto Salin | LAK | D | Out | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Corey Perry | LAK | RW | DTD | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Joel Edmundson | LAK | D | DTD | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Mathew Barzal | NYI | C | DTD | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Dan Vladar | PHI | G | DTD | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Denver Barkey | PHI | C | DTD | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Helge Grans | PHI | D | DTD | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Andrei Kuzmenko | PIT | LW | DTD | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Bryan Rust | PIT | RW | DTD | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Tristan Broz | PIT | C | DTD | Wed, Sep 30 |
| Alex Lyon | BUF | G | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Olen Zellweger | BUF | D | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | BUF | G | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Damon Severson | CBJ | D | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Brock Faber | MIN | D | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Seamus Casey | NJD | D | Out | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Johnathan Kovacevic | NJD | D | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Aidan Thompson | NYR | C | Out | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Jake O'Brien | SEA | C | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Mackie Samoskevich | SEA | RW | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Adam Gaudette | SJS | RW | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Alex Barre-Boulet | SJS | C | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Patrick Giles | SJS | RW | DTD | Thu, Oct 1 |
| Maveric Lamoureux | UTA | D | Out | Thu, Oct 1 |
| A.J. Greer | ANA | LW | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Drew Helleson | ANA | D | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Pavel Mintyukov | ANA | D | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Henry Mews | CGY | D | Out | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Cameron Hughes | DAL | C | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Colin Blackwell | DAL | C | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Jake Oettinger | DAL | G | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Matt Duchene | DAL | C | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Dylan Larkin | DET | C | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Jacob Bernard-Docker | DET | D | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Logan Mailloux | STL | D | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Garrett Brown | WPG | C | Out | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Alex Ovechkin | WSH | LW | DTD | Fri, Oct 2 |
| Mattias Samuelsson | BUF | D | Out | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Alec Regula | EDM | D | IR | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Mattias Janmark | EDM | C | IR | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Kevin Fiala | LAK | LW | IR | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Jake Sanderson | OTT | D | DTD | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Jorian Donovan | OTT | D | DTD | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Kurtis MacDermid | OTT | LW | DTD | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Shane Pinto | OTT | C | DTD | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Warren Foegele | OTT | LW | DTD | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Patrick Thomas | WSH | C | DTD | Sat, Oct 3 |
| Mackenzie MacEachern | VAN | LW | Out | Sun, Oct 4 |
05 // Injury changesChecked Sep 28, 5:00 AM ET
43 changes from the Sep 26 report to the Sep 27 report.
- A.J. Greer ANA LW Out → DTD
- Drew Helleson ANA D Out → DTD
- Pavel Mintyukov ANA D New DTD
- Matthew Poitras BOS C Out → DTD
- Alex Lyon BUF G Out → DTD
- Jiri Kulich BUF C Off the list was Out
- Olen Zellweger BUF D Out → DTD
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen BUF G New DTD
- Damon Severson CBJ D New DTD
- Cameron Hughes DAL C Out → DTD
- Colin Blackwell DAL C Out → DTD
- Jake Oettinger DAL G Out → DTD
- Matt Duchene DAL C Out → DTD
- Dylan Larkin DET C Out → DTD
- Jacob Bernard-Docker DET D Out → DTD
06 // Next weekOct 5–11
CAR, PHI, PIT and OTT play 4+ games. Six-week grid