The schedule for the 2025-26 NHL season was released on Wednesday. The Flyers 82-game trek for the upcoming season is now known, and there are some interesting tidbits and trends on the new schedule.

Here’s a look at five takeaways from the schedule, including some key matchups that fans should look forward to.

A Challenging Start

Welcome to the Flyers, Rick Tocchet. The new Flyers head coach gets to start his tenure behind the bench against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Twice. In the first three games of the season.

The Flyers open on the road for the seventh time in the last 11 seasons, taking on the Florida Panthers on Thursday, Oct. 9. Four days later, the Flyers will play the Panthers again in their home opener on Monday, Oct. 13.

Add in another road game on Saturday, Oct. 11 against the Carolina Hurricanes before the home opener, and two more home games against the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild, and the Flyers open the season with five games against playoff teams from 2025. That’s quite the challenge to get things started in 2025-26.

Long Homestands

The Flyers have their share of long stays at home this season. After playing two games on the road to start the season, they are home for nine of the next 10 games. 

The Flyers also start December with a season-long six-game homestand from Dec. 1 to Dec. 13, featuring games against Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Colorado, San Jose, Vegas, and Carolina.

Following the typical holiday road trip, the Flyers are back home for the first time in 2026 on Jan. 6, facing the Anaheim Ducks in Cutter Gauthier’s second visit to Philadelphia. That game starts a four-game homestand.

Skipping a Tradition

One of the things that immediately jumped out about the 2025-26 schedule: no Black Friday home game. The annual tradition will be broken, at least for 2025. With the Eagles playing a Black Friday home game against the Chicago Bears at 3 p.m., it appeared there was no easy solution to having the Flyers play at home as well. 

Instead, the Flyers will have a four-game road trip from Nov. 24 to 29, starting with games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers before the Thanksgiving holiday. On Black Friday, the Flyers will travel to face the New York Islanders, then face the New Jersey Devils on the road the next day.

It’s the first time the Flyers have not hosted on Black Friday in a full 82-game season since 2005. The only exceptions were due to the lockout in 2012-13 and the COVID-shortened season in 2020-21.

Road Tripping

The Flyers play nine of their first 12 games and 20 of their 41 home games before Christmas. This means the team will spend plenty of time on the road in the last half of the season. 

From Dec. 14 to Jan. 3, the Flyers have just one home game, playing nine of 10 games on the road. From Jan. 14 to 29, the Flyers will play seven of nine games on the road. Despite this, the Flyers longest road trip of the season is five games.

Olympic Break Creates Jam-Packed Second Half

Just like in 2024-25, February is a light month for the Flyers and the rest of the NHL. The Olympic break will give teams off from Feb. 6 to 24. In the Flyers case, they will be off until Feb. 25. 

The extensive break creates a jam-packed schedule, both before and after the Olympics. The Flyers will play 15 games in December and 15 games in January, including five sets of back-to-backs. Following the break, the Flyers have three games in four days to close February. They play 15 games in March, with three sets of back-to-backs, then play eight games in the first 14 days of April to close the season, including two more back-to-backs. 

Of the 14 back-to-backs on the schedule, only three will take place prior to December.

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.

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