The NHL usually releases its full regular-season fixtures in mid-to-late summer , and for the 2025-26 season the league announced the schedule on July 16, 2025. The current 2026 NHL schedule pages also show the season calendar already in place, including preseason dates in September 2026.

What that means

  • If you mean the next full season schedule , it’s typically out around July.
  • If you mean preseason games , those are usually listed later in the summer, with games starting in September.
  • If you just want today’s fixtures, live schedule pages already show the current slate of games.

Practical answer

For the NHL, “fixtures come out” is basically when the league publishes the season schedule , and that has recently been in July. For the most current game list, the league and major sports sites already have the schedule posted.

Example

A recent NHL season schedule release was announced on July 16, 2025, and the season began on October 7.