Hockey is back.
The 2026-27 NHL preseason begins Saturday, September 19, and Canadian fans will not have to wait long for a familiar rivalry.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montréal Canadiens open their preseason schedules against each other with an unusual setup: two split-squad games taking place simultaneously in Toronto and Montréal.
Both games begin at 7 p.m. ET.
For fans who have spent the summer waiting for NHL hockey to return, Leafs vs Canadiens is a fitting way to begin.
This is not a scheduling mistake.
The Canadiens and Maple Leafs are using split squads.
Part of each team’s roster will play at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto while another group meets at the Bell Centre in Montréal.
The setup allows coaches to evaluate a larger number of players in game conditions on the same night.
That is particularly useful during a shortened preseason.
The NHL’s 2026-27 preseason runs from September 19 through September 26, with the regular season beginning September 29.
This season brings an important change.
The NHL regular season has expanded from 82 to 84 games.
At the same time, the preseason has been reduced.
That gives teams fewer exhibition games to evaluate prospects, experiment with combinations and prepare established players for opening night.
Every preseason appearance therefore carries a little more value than before.
For players fighting for the final spots on the roster, there are fewer opportunities to impress.
Preseason results themselves rarely tell the full story.
Toronto’s priority will be evaluating individual players and combinations rather than simply beating Montréal.
Fans should pay attention to which younger players receive significant ice time and who gets opportunities alongside established NHL talent.
Special teams are another area worth watching.
Coaches can use exhibition games to experiment with power-play combinations and penalty-killing units without the pressure of losing regular-season points.
There is considerable optimism around the Canadiens after an impressive 2025-26 campaign.
Montréal reached 106 points and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final.
The organization has now reinforced its confidence in head coach Martin St. Louis by signing him to a multi-year contract extension.
The timing is significant.
Rather than entering the new season with questions surrounding the coach’s future, Montréal begins training camp with stability behind the bench.
The Canadiens have improved steadily under St. Louis.
Their point total climbed from 68 in 2022-23 to 76, then 91 and finally 106 last season.
That progression has changed what supporters expect from the team.
Montréal is no longer simply a young club hoping to improve.
After reaching the Eastern Conference Final, the Canadiens enter the new season with expectations of being competitive again.
Saturday provides the first opportunity to see how the next chapter begins.
Saturday’s preseason games are only the beginning.
Toronto and Montréal will also meet when the NHL regular season officially begins on September 29.
That makes the preseason opener an early preview of a much more important matchup arriving only ten days later.
The lineups will change and the intensity will increase, but the rivalry remains the same.
Both split-squad games take place Saturday, September 19 at 7 p.m. ET.
One will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and the other at the Bell Centre in Montréal.
For Canadian hockey fans, it marks the unofficial end of the summer.
The NHL is back, the Leafs and Canadiens are facing each other, and a new season is finally beginning.
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