Photo: NHL via Getty Images

Warner Media released their first-ever NHL broadcast schedule for the TNT network on Thursday. As we first reported back in August, the network will launch their NHL coverage with the Washington Capitals season opener against the New York Rangers on October 13. Five Capitals’ games will be broadcast by the network this season. (The full schedule is included at the bottom of the post).

On Tuesday Turner Sports announced their full roster of studio and game announcers for the upcoming 2021-22 NHL season. Three of the seven Stanley Cup Final series that will take place over the duration of the contract will be broadcasted by Turner Sports. The other four will be covered by ESPN.

Turner Sports will get half of the Stanley Cup Playoff games, the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, and a regular-season schedule each year of the agreement.

Turner Sports, which owns TBS, TNT, AT&T SportsNet, and TruTV, paid nearly $225 million per season through 2027-28 to become the NHL’s secondary national television partner in the United States.

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Turner Sports, in its first season of NHL coverage, will feature a 50-game telecast schedule during the 2021-22 NHL regular season, starting Wednesday, Oct. 13, with a TNT opening week doubleheader featuring the New York Rangers visiting the Washington Capitals in one of the fiercest rivalries in sports at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Colorado Avalanche and Nathan MacKinnon hosting the Chicago Blackhawks, with the anticipated Chicago debut of 2021-22 Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury, at 10 p.m.

The NHL on TNT’s weekly schedule will include exclusive coverage on 25 Wednesday nights throughout the season – including 15 doubleheaders. Starting in Spring 2022, the network will add seven weeks of Sunday afternoon telecasts for March and April.

TNT will be the home of the NHL’s marquee outdoor games this season:

• The 2022 Discover NHL Winter Classic will showcase the St. Louis Blues against the Minnesota Wild at Target Field – home of the Minnesota Twins – on Saturday, Jan. 1. The event will continue the tradition first established in 2008 of hosting regular season outdoor games at the start of the New Year. The start time of the game will be announced at a later date.
• The Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning will visit the Nashville Predators in the 2022 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on Saturday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m. This year’s outdoor game will be played at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, home of the Tennessee Titans.
• The 2022 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic will return this season on Sunday, March 13, at 3 p.m. Emanating from Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario, the outdoor game will feature two teams making their first appearances: Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the Buffalo Sabres, who are also the first non-Canadian team to participate in the event.

Additional NHL on TNT schedule highlights:

• On Wednesday, Oct. 20, TNT will feature a second doubleheader in as many weeks to start the season with the Philadelphia Flyers hosting the Boston Bruins at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Blues visiting the Vegas Golden Knights at 10 p.m.
• The NHL on TNT debut of the expansion Seattle Kraken hosting the Blackhawks, featuring Patrick Kane and the anticipated return of Jonathan Toews, will take place Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 10 p.m.
• The Edmonton Oilers and the league’s two most recent Hart Memorial Trophy winners – Connor McDavid (2020-21) and Leon Draisaitl (2019-20) – will face five other former league MVPs:
• The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (2013-14 and 2006-07) and Evgeni Malkin (2011-12), Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 10 p.m.
• The back-to-back defending Stanley Cup Champion Lightning with Nikita Kucherov (2018-19) and new addition Corey Perry (2010-11), Wednesday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m.
• The Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin (2012-13, 2008-09 and 2007-08), Wednesday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. and Wednesday, March 9, at 8 p.m.
• Last season’s best regular season team, the Presidents Trophy-winning Avalanche and NHL MVP finalist MacKinnon, will host their Central Division rival Dallas Stars and off-season addition Ryan Suter, Wednesday, Dec. 29, at 10 p.m.
• Two of the NHL’s Original Six teams will meet when the 2021 Stanley Cup Finalist Montreal Canadiens and star goaltender Carey Price host the Bruins and the NHL’s top left wing last season Brad Marchand, Wednesday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. Later at 10 p.m., the Original Six franchise Maple Leafs will visit the Arizona Coyotes.
• Last season’s goal-scoring champion and NHL MVP finalist Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs will visit star left winger Artemi Panarin and the Rangers in another Original Six matchup, Wednesday, Jan. 19, at 7:30 p.m.
• The return to play following the Winter Olympic break will include a doubleheader on Wednesday, Feb. 23 – Oilers at Lightning at 7:30 p.m. – followed by the Los Angeles Kings at Arizona Coyotes at 10 p.m.
• A blockbuster doubleheader on Wednesday, March 16, will feature the Bruins visiting the Wild and 2020-21 Calder Memorial Trophy recipient Kirill Kaprizov at 7:30 p.m., followed by the Lightning taking on the Kraken at 10 p.m.
• A rematch of last year’s thrilling seven-game Stanley Cup Playoffs semifinal series – the Lightning at New York Islanders – will be held Sunday, March 27, at 2 pm.
• The NHL on TNT regular season schedule will conclude with a meeting of in-state rivals – Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers – Sunday, April 24, at 4 p.m.

Overall, the network will showcase many of the top teams and leading NHL stars, including six appearances by the Oilers and five appearances by the Avalanche, Blues, Bruins, Capitals, Kraken, Lightning, Penguins, Rangers, and Wild.

Announced earlier this year, Turner Sports’ multi-year NHL agreement will include crowning a champion through its exclusive live coverage of the Stanley Cup Final on TNT in three of the next seven years; half of the Stanley Cup Playoffs each year (half of the Conference Finals, First and Second Round games); and expansive digital and highlight rights for Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and additional platforms.

Earlier this week, Turner Sports announced its game and studio commentators for its inaugural NHL season.

NHL on TNT’s 2021-22 Regular Season Schedule
(All Times Eastern)