On Wednesday, the NHL announced their national TV schedule for the 2022-23 season.
Disney’s networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, Hulu, and ABC, will air 103 exclusive games this season, while TNT has 62 games. The networks will continue to split the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with TNT airing the Stanley Cup Final, Winter Classic, and a Black Friday doubleheader, and Disney airing Opening Night, the All-Star Game and Skills Competition, and the Stadium Series. Additionally, Disney has the rights to the NHL’s out of market, non-national games on ESPN+.
We’ll start with the TNT package, since it’s smaller and easier to digest. The 62-game schedule starts on Wednesday, October 12th with a doubleheader of Bruins-Capitals and Blackhawks-Avalanche. The network will air Wednesday doubleheaders throughout the season while also adding a doubleheader on Black Friday. The Winter Classic between the Penguins and Bruins takes place on Monday, January 2nd. In addition, TNT will air seven Sunday games in March and April, bookending the NCAA Tournament – one game will air on March 5th, and two each on March 12th, April 2nd, and April 9th.
You can click here for the full schedule.
Disney’s coverage is more complex, with some of their exclusives streaming-only on ESPN+ and Hulu, some airing on the ABC broadcast network (and also streaming on ESPN+), and some airing as cable exclusives on ESPN (some available on ESPN+, some not ).
Their coverage starts on Opening Night, Tuesday, October 11th, with a doubleheader of Lightning-Rangers and Golden Knights-Kings, available on both ESPN and ESPN+. Each week has multiple games available on various platforms, and there are several Sunday afternoon/evening games on the slate airing on ESPN, including an Islanders-Kraken matchup on New Year’s Day. The All-Star Game airs on ABC on Saturday, February 4th, with the Skills Competition airing the night before on ESPN. Following the All-Star Game, ABC airs doubleheaders on four of the next five Saturdays (February 18th is the lone outlier). Single Saturday games will air on ABC on March 18th, March 25th, and April 1st, with a tripleheader airing on April 8th. The Stadium Series game between the Capitals and Hurricanes on Saturday, February 18th airs on ESPN in primetime, and will be streamable on ESPN+.
You can click here for the full schedule.
[ESPN, Warner Bros Discovery]