2025-2026 KHL FONBET Season Schedule: 68 games, 182 match days, and playoffs through May 23
KHL.ru presents the regular season schedule for the 2025-2026 Fonbet KHL season. Each team will play 68 games, and the total number of game days — 182 — will be the second highest in league history. From the start of the season to the first break, teams will play on 94 consecutive game days, and the average number of games per day will be the lowest ever at 4.11. Dmitry Kvartalnov could become the first coach to reach 1,000 games in the KHL, and both Sergei Plotnikov and Andrei Stas will also have their 1,000th appearance in the League.
The 2025-2026 KHL regular season will begin on September 5 in Yaroslavl with the Opening Cup game between last season’s finalists — Lokomotiv and Traktor. The following day, fans will be treated to four matchups, including a fierce Eastern Conference rivalry between Metallurg and Ak Bars, the Moscow derby between CSKA and Dynamo, and a new St. Petersburg derby featuring Kunlun Red Star and SKA.
The regular season will run until March 20, 2026, featuring 182 game days and 748 total games.
The playoffs will take place from March 23 to May 23, 2026. The first round will follow the standard intra-conference format, while from the second round onward, a cross-conference format will be used.
In the first group, the top remaining team from the Western Conference will face the fourth remaining team from the East. The other matchup will feature the second remaining team from the East against the third team from the West. In the semifinals, the winners of these two matchups will face each other.
In the second group: the top team from the East will play the fourth team from the West, while the second team from the West will face the third team from the East. The winners of these matchups will also face each other in the next round. There will be no reseeding of teams at the semifinals stage.
The structure for forming the regular season schedule for each team is as follows:
- 42 games — one against every other team (21 home, 21 away);
- 20 games — against teams within the same conference (10 home, 10 away);
- 6 games — additional matchups.
Until the first break for the Channel One Cup, teams will play games in 94 consecutive days. This break will last from Dec 8 to 15, while the New Year break will span three days — from Dec 31 to Jan 2. The final break will be for the KHL All-Star Week, scheduled from Feb 6 to 9, 2026. For the first time, the KHL season will not pause during the Olympic Games.
The schedule has been designed to distribute games evenly across days. On average, 4.11 games will be played per day — the lowest figure in KHL history.
Key dates of the regular season:
- September 21, 2025 — Lada vs. SKA: Lada’s 500th KHL game
- October 20, 2025 — CSKA vs. Dinamo Minsk: Igor Nikitin’s 700th KHL game
- November 2025 — Vadim Shipachyov could become the first player to reach 1,000 points in the KHL
- December 8–15, 2025 — Break for the Channel One Cup
- December 25, 2025 — Torpedo vs. CSKA: Igor Nikitin to move into second place all-time for games coached
- December 28, 2025 — Dinamo Minsk vs. Dinamo Moscow: Dmitry Kvartalnov’s 1,000th KHL game
- February 6–9, 2026 — Break for the Fonbet KHL All-Star Game
- February 16, 2026 — SKA vs. Salavat Yulaev: Sergei Plotnikov’s 1,000th KHL game
- March 11, 2026 — SKA vs. Dinamo Minsk: Andrei Stas’s 1,000th KHL game
