Hockey fans across Europe will get a new prime-time viewing habit starting late November, as the National Hockey League debuts a Monday night broadcast package designed specifically for international audiences.
The league confirmed its NHL Monday Night Hockey initiative will run through the 2026-27 regular season. Eleven games featuring 16 different franchises will air live during evening hours across European time zones, while North American viewers catch the same matchups in the afternoon.
The first broadcast lands on 30 November at 7pm Central European Time, which translates to 6pm in the United Kingdom and 8pm in Finland. Germany’s Tim Stützle leads the Ottawa Senators into Nashville against a Predators squad showcasing Switzerland’s Roman Josi and Sweden’s Filip Forsberg.
The new Monday slot joins existing Saturday and Sunday European prime-time offerings. For the league, this creates a consistent weekday viewing window that turns scattered international broadcasts into appointment television. Star power anchors the package, with marquee names like Aleksander Barkov, Rasmus Dahlin, Victor Hedman, William Nylander, David Pastrnak, and Linus Ullmark expected to feature throughout the season.
Julie Yufe, the NHL’s executive vice president and managing director of international, framed the launch as a growth play. “NHL Monday Night Hockey was created to provide international fans the opportunity to watch live NHL hockey and the world’s best players compete in a weeknight primetime broadcast window,” she said. “It’s an important step in our ongoing efforts to provide fans access to our great game and continue to grow the game of ice hockey across key European markets.”
Distribution partners span seven countries. NovaAction carries the games in Czechia, Star in Finland, Sky Sport in Germany, Dajto in Slovakia, TV6 in Sweden, MySports in Switzerland, and Premier Sport alongside ITV in the United Kingdom.
The announcement lands amid a broader international push. The 2026 NHL Global Series Finland brings the Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken to Helsinki’s Veikkaus Arena on 12 and 14 November. Germany follows in December, with the Senators and Chicago Blackhawks playing twice at PSD Bank Dome in Düsseldorf on 18 and 20 December.
As the league continues testing European appetite for regular weekday hockey, the Monday night experiment could determine whether international broadcasts become a permanent fixture of the regular season schedule.
