The Toronto Maple Leafs have done their fair share of work in reshaping the franchise as a whole this current offseason. Whether it be the drastic overhaul of personnel at the management level, or the massive addition of players to bolster the Maple Leafs roster, it has left much anticipation and excitement for Leafs fans ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season. So how long will the Toronto faithful need to wait for it to happen?
On Wednesday, the NHL announced that the 2026-27 NHL regular season will begin earlier than usual on Tuesday, September 29 and will feature an expanded 84 games in total. That would be two more than the usual 82 games that had been in place since the 1995-96 season. In addition, they released the schedule for the home openers for all 32 teams in the league and the Maple Leafs will be featured on the very first night of the regular season. Toronto will be playing Opening Night at home against their long-time rivals in the Montreal Canadiens.
Maple Leafs set to face a familiar foe as NHL releases 2026-27 home opener schedule
No one needs to remind both the Leafs and the Canadiens of their rivalry facing off against each other. Overall, in their 776 total encounters, which is an NHL record for any two teams facing each other in the league, Montreal holds a 370-304-102 winning record advantage over Toronto during the regular season in the history of both franchises. Not only that, the Canadiens also have a commanding 46-32 record against the Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well. Of course, Leafs fans don’t need to be reminded of their most recent playoff encounter in 2021 when the Canadiens stormed all the way back from being down 3-1 in the first round series to win 4-3.
In terms of their season openers in recent years, Toronto has had Montreal as their opponent for each of the past six seasons, with the Maple Leafs holding the slight edge on their rivals by taking four of the six contests while outscoring the Canadiens by just a 21-17 margin. Toronto took the latest encounter last season commandingly with a 5-2 win, so Montreal will be looking for some revenge this time around despite playing in enemy territory.
As for the Leafs fans, they will now get their first look of the new Maple Leafs in less than three months away as Toronto desperately hopes for some big-time redemption after a disappointing 2025-26 campaign.
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