AHL Preseason Opens Sept. 25 With Five Games
The league released its composite exhibition schedule, a five-day run of 24 games ahead of its 91st season.
The American Hockey League released its composite 2026 preseason schedule on Thursday, with exhibition play set to open Friday, Sept. 25.
Five games are on the opening slate. Manitoba and Iowa meet at 2 p.m. CDT at a neutral site in Saint Paul, Minn., while Providence visits Springfield and Lehigh Valley travels to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, both at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Out west, San Jose is at Bakersfield (6:30 p.m. PDT) and San Diego is at Ontario (7 p.m. PDT).
Saturday, Sept. 26 is the busiest day of the exhibition calendar with nine games, including Cleveland against Grand Rapids in Toledo, Ohio, Colorado against Texas in Tucson, Ariz., and Toronto against Rochester in Buffalo, N.Y. Manitoba and Iowa play a second game in Saint Paul, and Hershey visits Lehigh Valley.
Sunday brings seven more, among them Toronto at Hamilton, Ontario at Coachella Valley, Calgary at Abbotsford and Texas at Tucson. Calgary and Abbotsford meet again Monday afternoon, and Milwaukee visits Rockford for an 11 a.m. CDT start. The preseason closes Tuesday, Sept. 29, with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Lehigh Valley.
The exhibition games lead into the start of the AHL's 91st season next month. The league, in operation since 1936, is the primary development circuit for all 32 NHL clubs, and nearly 90 percent of current NHL players have AHL experience. More than 130 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the league during their careers.
Rosters at this stage are fluid, and clubs have continued to add bodies in recent days. Coachella Valley signed forward Ryan Lautenbach to a one-year AHL contract on Sept. 9, and Carolina signed goaltender Cayden Primeau along with forwards Skyler Brind'Amour and Justin Robidas the same day.
