Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour watches his team during practice as they prepare for their Stanley Cup series against the Washington Capitals on Friday, May 2, 2025 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C.
Robert Willett
rwillett@newsobserver.com
Raleigh
The Carolina Hurricanes will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their 2006 Stanley Cup champions and seek to reach the playoffs for an eighth straight season in 2025-26.
The league released its full schedule Wednesday. The Hurricanes will open the season at home on Thursday, Oct. 9, against the New Jersey Devils at Lenovo Center in a matchup of Metropolitan Division teams.
It’s the fifth straight season the Hurricanes have opened with a home game.
The Canes, as they did last season, will play six of the first eight games away from home to avoid conflicts with the N.C. State Fair. After a second home game against the Philadelphia Flyers, they will go West from Oct. 14-25 before returning to face the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 28.
The Canes will first face the Florida Panthers, now two-time defending Cup champions, on Dec. 19 on the road and then again Dec. 23 at Lenovo Center.
The NHL break for the 2026 Winter Olympics will be Feb. 6-Feb. 22, 2026.
The Canes will have a seven-game homestand from Nov. 26-Dec. 9, their longest stretch of home games since playing eight in a row in April 2021. They also will have a New Year’s Day game at home against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Hurricanes will close the regular season with a four game road trip that concludes with a back-to-back set against the Flyers and New York Islanders on April 13-14. It will be their 15th back-to-back of the season, matching last season’s total.
The Canes reached the Stanley Cup playoffs for a seventh straight season in 2024-25, posting a 47-30-5 record and 99 points.
Carolina finished second in the Metro Division behind the Washington Capitals, who had 111 points. The Canes then topped the Caps in five games in the second round of the playoffs.
The Canes matched up against the Devils in the opening round, also winning in five games.
Last season, the Canes had a six-game road trip during the 2024 State Fair, their longest of the season, but won five of six. Carolina then closed the season with six of eight on the road.
The 2025-26 Carolina Hurricanes NHL schedule. Contributed image Contributed image
How the NHL makes its schedule
Each Division Has Eight Teams
Games Within Division
5 teams x 2 home / 2 away (Subtotal 10 home / 10 away)
1 team x 2 home / 1 away (Subtotal 2 home / 1 away)
1 team x 1 home / 2 away (Subtotal 1 home / 2 away)
Games Within Conference (Non-Division)
4 teams x 2 home / 1 away (Subtotal 8 home / 4 away)
4 teams x 1 home / 2 away (Subtotal 4 home / 8 away)
Non-Conference Games
16 teams x 1 home / 1 away (Subtotal 16 home / 16 away)
Grand Total – 82 Games
41 home / 41 away
This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 1:23 PM.
In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.
