The NHL offseason announcements are piling up as the league slowly builds excitement for the 2026-27 season. The league announced home openers for every franchise on Wednesday, setting our countdown clock to 77 days as the Nashville Predators get started on Thursday, Oct. 1, in Bridgestone Arena against the Minnesota Wild. The newly expanded 84-game full schedule will be announced on Thursday at Noon, building excitement for the upcoming year.The NHL season begins on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 4 p.m. CT with the defendingStanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Florida Panthers on ESPN. The network will transition to air the Boston Bruins hosting the New York Rangers and then will conclude with the Vegas Golden Knights hosting the Chicago Blackhawks at 9:30 p.m CT for an opening night triple header. The Predators missed the playoffs by a narrow margin last season after opening the year horrifically. Nashville was 6-12-4 by Thanksgiving before beginning to turn the corner and battling back to an 18-17-4 record at the turn of the new year. The Predators must get the 2026-27 season off to a better start, making the early part of the schedule paramount to the organization's playoff hopes. Back to your regularly scheduled programming 📺 pic.twitter.com/z6HxEOJwpO— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) July 16, 2026This story will be updated. October 2026November 2026December 2026January 2026February 2026March 2026April 2026Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram for the latest news.