The NHL recently announced a 12 game exhibition schedule prior to the start of the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers. However, not all 24 teams are playing an exhibition game. The teams playing an exhibition game consist of both qualifying and round-robin teams. Games will be held in both Toronto and Edmonton depending on the conference the team is in.
Here is the 12 game exhibition schedule that will span for three days starting on July 28. (Format is away team vs. home team)
Tuesday, July 28
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 4:00 p.m. ET
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens, 8:00 p.m. ET
Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames, 10:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, July 29
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers, 12:00 p.m. ET
Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild, 2:30 p.m. ET
Carolina Hurricanes vs. Washington Capitals, 4:00 p.m. ET
St. Louis Blues vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 6:30 p.m. ET
New York Islanders vs. New York Rangers, 8:00 p.m. ET
Vancouver Canucks vs. Winnipeg Jets, 10:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, July 30
Nashville Predators vs. Dallas Stars, 4:00 p.m. ET
Boston Bruins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, 7:00 p.m. ET
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Arizona Coyotes, 10:00 p.m. ET
Broadcast information for all exhibition and Stanley Cup Qualifiers games have yet to be announced.
The league also shared the times for the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers. These times are set for games from Aug. 1 – Aug. 5. To clarify, there’s still no broadcast information for any of the qualifying and round-robin games.
To prepare for the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers in about three weeks, here is a recap of the basics of how this should go if everything goes accordingly.
2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers Refresher
The 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers will consist of 24 teams with 16 of them playing in a qualifying round tournament to determine who advances to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. These 16 teams are seeded from 5-12. The qualifying round games are going to be played in a best-of-five series with a team only having to win three out of the five games. Teams that get eliminated will be eligible to be the number one pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. The eight other teams are considered “round-robin teams”. These teams were the top four teams in their conference based on their points percentage. They’ll play three games each to determine their seeding for the playoffs.