NHL Announces TV Schedule, Start Times for Round-Robin Games, Playoff Qualifiers

The NHL has unveiled its qualifying round and round-robin broadcast schedule, and it will have fans clearing their calendars. 

Both August 1 and August 2 will feature five games, with the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers serving as the first game back. 

The Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames are all in action on Day 1, while the Arizona Coyotes, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks make their return on August 2. 

Games will be broadcast across a number of NBC-owned properties including NBC Sports and USA in the United States. Sportsnet, CBC and TVA will show games in Canada with NHL Network airing some contests as well. 

The NHL restart will initially be divided between the eight teams who already qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs competing in a round robin for seeding in the first round while the remaining 16 clubs battle in best-of-five series to determine the rest of the postseason field.  

The league's first prime-time broadcast will see the Penguins and Canadiens face off on NBC at 8 p.m. ET on August 1.

None of the NHL's prime-time broadcasts will feature round-robin games, meaning the league's top teams all season will be relegated to lesser time slots and networks. 

Fans of the Flyers, Blues, Avalanche, Bruins, Stars, Lightning, Capitals and Golden Knights will have to wait until the playoffs begin before the league puts them in the spotlight. 

Additionally, the NHL will broadcast a number of exhibition games from July 28 to 30 beginning with Flyers-Penguins on July 28 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. 

All games airing on NBCSN and USA Network will be blacked out in local markets with regional sports networks carrying live broadcasts instead—this includes the NBC Sports app and NBCSports.com. 

In total, NBC will air up to 120 hours of NHL coverage during the qualifying round. 

Teams that are eliminated after the best-of-five series will have quite the consolation prize, as the league will hold a second draft lottery on August 10 to determine the No. 1 overall pick in 2020. The clubs who miss out on the top selection will draft will be assigned picks 9-15 based on reverse order of their overall points percentage from the regular season.