Get your calendars out.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have released their 2025-26 schedule.
The regular season kicks off with a pair of road games: Thursday, October 9th against the Nashville Predators and Saturday, October 11th in Minnesota against the Wild.
The home opener comes in Columbus' third game and is against the New Jersey Devils on Monday, October 13th. That's the first of a three-game homestand that also sees the Blue Jackets face the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Early November sees a lengthy, five-game road trip, including the traditional western Canada swing in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
It's Columbus' longest road trip of the season.
The Blue Jackets are home the night before Thanksgiving, welcoming the Toronto Maple Leafs for what will be they're second game at Nationwide Arena of the season.
As they usually are, the Blue Jackets are home on New Year's Eve. This year, it's a 7 p.m. start against the Devils.
Another western road trip comes in early January, when Columbus is on the road in San Jose, Vegas, Colorado, and the newly-named Utah Mammoth.
Columbus' longest homestand of the season comes later in January, with five straight at home between the 20th and 28th against the Ottawa Senators, Dallas Stars, the Lightning, the Los Angeles Kings, and the Philadelphia Flyers.
One week later they'll host the Chicago Blackhawks. That's a February 4th game and will be the last until February 26th as part of the NHL's Olympic Break.
The Blue Jackets have 16 games in March, including a pair of three-game road trips.
The regular season concludes Tuesday, April 14th at home against the Washington Capitals in what could be the final chance for the Nationwide crowd to see Alex Ovechkin in action.
Other notes and observations:
- Columbus has just three games on Friday. Two are at home (10/24 against the Capitals and 11/28 against the Pittsburgh Penguins), and one on the road (1/30 against the Chicago Blackhawks).
- There are 15 back-to-back games on the slate. Columbus did not handle the second leg of these well last season.
- 41% of the home games (17 of 41) are on the weekend.
- There's just one home-and-home series this year, and it's not a back-to-back: Columbus faces the Carolina Hurricanes on March 31st and then again on April 2nd.
- This is last 82 game schedule as it goes to 84 beginning in the 2026-27 season. The two extra games allow for each team to play their division rivals four times each. As it stands now, there are two Metro teams that the Blue Jackets face only three times. This year, those times are the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers make their only trip of the season to Nationwide on Jan. 28th. Columbus' only trip to Madison Square Garden is March 2nd.
Here's the full slate:
