NHL releases preseason schedule for 2023-24

The National Hockey League has officially announced the preseason schedule of all teams for the 2023-24 season.

A total of 111 games will be played across 44 NHL and neutral-site venues. Most notably, the NHL is holding its first-ever games in the Southern Hemisphere through the 2023 NHL Global Series – Melbourne. The Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings will play at Rod Laver Arena on Sept. 23-24. Of note, highly touted Coyotes prospect Logan Cooley could potentially get his first taste of NHL action with the organization during these tilts.

The 2023 NHL Global series games in Melbourne will be held 17 hours ahead of the Pacific Time Zone and will begin at 2:00 PM local time. That equates to 12:00 AM ET/9:00 PM PT, on Friday, September, 22 and Saturday, September, 23.

The NHL will also celebrate the Kraft Hockeyville-winning communities for 2022 and 2023: Sydney, Nova Scotia (2022 winner) and West Lorne, Ontario (2023 winner). The Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres will face off on Wednesday, September, 27 at the Joe Thornton Community Centre in St. Thomas, Ontario. Four days later, the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers will meet Sunday, October 1st, at Centre 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

The first potential chance to see Connor Bedard in action will be on Sept. 28, when the Chicago Blackhawks take on the St. Louis Blues.

In addition, a handful of neutral site matchups occur across the NHL throughout the preseason. Games will be played in, Abbotsford, B.C. (Seattle vs. Vancouver, Oct. 4); Cedar Park, Texas (Arizona vs. Dallas, Sept. 24); Halifax, N.S. (Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh, Oct. 2); Independence, Mo. (Dallas vs. St. Louis, Sept. 30); Orlando, Fla. (Florida vs. Tampa Bay, Oct. 3); Palm Desert, Calif. (Anaheim vs. Arizona, Oct. 1); Salt Lake City, Utah (Los Angeles vs. San Jose, Oct. 5); San Diego, Calif. (Anaheim vs. Los Angeles, Sept. 29); Tucson, Ariz. (Anaheim vs. Arizona, Oct. 7) and Wichita, Kan. (Arizona vs. St. Louis, Sept. 23).

The NHL regular season will kick off Tuesday, October 10.