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Daylight saving time screws with Edmonton Oilers Saturday-night schedule

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Jul 16 2026, 6:15 pm
Daylight saving time screws with Edmonton Oilers Saturday-night schedule
Steve Roberts/Imagn Images

It’s time to mark your calendars.

The Edmonton Oilers officially released their schedule for the upcoming 2026-27 NHL season on Thursday morning. This year’s slate will include 84 games for the first time since the 1993-94 season after the league upped the number of regular-season games from the usual 82.

It will also be the first time ever that the Oilers will start the season in September, as their home-opener against the Vancouver Canucks is slated for Sept. 29.

The team enlisted the help of Alberta’s own Jagger and Dawson Glowatsky, the stars of the upcoming Prime comedy/reality series “Young Farts Trailer Parts” that is shot out of Lethbridge.

Another change coming for Oilers fans this upcoming season is that the team will have a couple of 9 p.m. MDT starts for the first time. This is due to Alberta permanently adopting daylight savings time for the full year, which will affect start times when provinces like Ontario switch back to standard time starting on Nov. 1.

This will mainly impact the start times for Saturday-night matchups for the Oilers.

The two 9 p.m. MDT starts will come on Saturday night games against the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 7 and March 9 vs. the Chicago Blackhawks.

To help limit the number of those late starts, it appears the league has upped the number of matinee games for Edmonton. This year’s schedule will have a total of 10 games that start before 5 p.m. MST, nine of which will be for Saturday games.

The Oilers will host a couple of long home stands later in the season, with a six-game stretch at Rogers Place in January and an eight-gamer that starts at the tail-end of January and runs through most of February.

Edmonton’s longest road trip will come in November and will span six games.

The Oilers will finish off their regular-season schedule at home against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, April 10, at 8 p.m. MDT.

Notable matchups

Oilers fans will want to circle a few specific dates on this year’s schedule.

Every season, there are a few select teams that draw a large contingent of rival fans to Rogers Place. Those games always bring a unique, raucous atmosphere into the building, and that should be the case once again this season.

Here is a list of those games headed to Rogers Place over the next year:

  • Toronto Maple Leafs, Saturday, Oct. 24, 5 p.m MDT
  • Detroit Red Wings, Monday, Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m. MDT
  • New York Rangers, Monday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m. MDT
  • Montreal Canadians, Saturday, Jan. 30,Ā  6 p.m. MDT
  • Boston Bruins, Friday, Feb. 19, 7 p.m. MDT

There will also be a number of teams that draw specific interest for Oilers fans. That includes the Florida Panthers and defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes. Fans will also be eager to get a glimpse of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals come to town.

Here is when all those teams, plus another Eastern Conference powerhouse, will visit the Alberta capital:

  • Carolina Hurricanes, Thursday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m. MDT
  • Washington Capitals, Thursday, Dec. 3, 7 p.m. MDT
  • Florida Panthers, Thursday, Jan. 7, 7 p.m. MDT
  • Tampa Bay Lightning, Monday, Jan. 11, 7:30 p.m. MDT
  • Pittsburgh Penguins, Saturday, Feb. 13, 6 p.m. MDT

Fans also won’t want to miss out on the Battle of Alberta against the Calgary Flames, as their bitter rivals celebrate their last season in the Saddledome. The Oilers will not get the honour of playing in the iconic arena’s last game, however, as the Canucks have been chosen as the opponent for that momentous occasion.

The Oilers will match up against the Flames a total of four times this season, with Edmonton’s last visit to the Saddledome coming on Tuesday, March 23, at 7 p.m. MDT.

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