News NHL streaming options: Untangling the 2024-2025 mess

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We’re less than couple of weeks from the start of hockey season, and the streaming situation looks just as complicated as baseball was over the summer.

As pay TV subscriptions decline and the regional sports business model collapses, NHL teams are moving in different directions. Some are spinning up new regional sports streaming services, while others are partnering with broadcasters to distribute local games for free over the air. Others are still clinging to the regional sports model, requiring bloated pay TV packages with no cheaper standalone alternatives.

It’s a mess, and it doesn’t help that the information you need can be scattered all over the place. Just like during baseball season, I’ve put it all back together again. Here are all the NHL streaming and over-the air options for the 2024-2025 season:

NHL in-market streaming options: An overview for 2024-2025


Below is a chart showing every National Hockey League team, its corresponding local channel or regional sports network, the live TV streaming services that carry those channels, and whether a standalone alternatives exist. (You can also view a version of this chart on Google Sheets.)

Note that these options only apply for locally-televised, in-market games. They won’t help for games that air on national TV, including most playoff coverage.

NHL Team	Local channel/RSN	Streaming bundle options	Unbundled options
Anaheim Ducks	FOX 11 Plus (KCOP Channel 13)	YTTV, Hulu Live, Fubo, DTV Stream, Sling	Victory+ (Free) Free over-the-air
Boston Bruins	NESN	DTV Stream, Fubo	NESN 360 ($30/mo or $330/yr)
Buffalo Sabres	MSG	DTV Stream, Fubo	Gotham Sports ($30/mo or $280/yr) Bundled with YES ($42/mo or $360/yr)
Calgary Flames	Sportsnet	–	SportsNet+ ($180 per year)
Carolina Hurricanes	FanDuel Sports Network South	DTV Stream, Fubo	FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo or $190/yr)
Chicago Blackhawks	Chicago Sports Network	DirecTV Stream	CHSN ($20/mo) Free over-the-air
Colorado Avalanche	Altitude Sports	DirecTV Stream, Fubo	Altitude+ ($20/mo)
Columbus Blue Jackets	FanDuel Sports Network Ohio	DTV Stream, Fubo	FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo or $190/yr)
Dallas Stars	–	None	Victory+ (Free)
Detroit Red Wings	FanDuel Sports Network Detroit	DTV Stream, Fubo	FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo or $190/yr)
Edmonton Oilers	Sportsnet	–	SportsNet+ ($180 per year)
Florida Panthers	Ft Laud: WSFL-TV 39 Palm Beach: WHDT 9 Ft Myers: WFTX 36.3	–	Panthers+ ($70/yr) Free over-the-air
Los Angeles Kings	FanDuel Sports Network West	DTV Stream, Fubo	FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo or $190/yr)
Minnesota Wild	FanDuel Sports Network North	DTV Stream, Fubo	FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo or $190/yr)
Montreal Canadiens	TSN	–	TSN ($20/mo, $80/half-year, $120/yr)
Nashville Predators	FanDuel Sports Network South	DTV Stream, Fubo	FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo or $190/yr)
New Jersey Devils	MSG	DTV Stream, Fubo	Gotham Sports ($30/mo or $280/yr) Bundled with YES ($42/mo or $360/yr)
New York Islanders	MSG	DTV Stream, Fubo	Gotham Sports ($30/mo or $280/yr) Bundled with YES ($42/mo or $360/yr)
New York Rangers	MSG	DTV Stream, Fubo	Gotham Sports ($30/mo or $280/yr) Bundled with YES ($42/mo or $360/yr)
Ottawa Senators	TSN	–	TSN ($20/mo, $80/half-year, $120/yr)
Philadelphia Flyers	NBC Sports Philadelphia	YTTV, Hulu Live, Fubo	Peacock sub required, plus $25/mo
Pittsburgh Penguins	SportsNet Pittsburgh	DTV Stream, Fubo	SNP 360 ($18/mo)
San Jose Sharks	NBC Sports California	YTTV, Hulu Live, Fubo, DTV Stream	Peacock sub required, plus $18/mo
Seattle Kraken	KONG	DirecTV Stream	Amazon Prime Video (no extra charge) Free over-the-air
St. Louis Blues	FanDuel Sports Network Midwest	DTV Stream, Fubo	FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo or $190/yr)
Tampa Bay Lightning	FanDuel Sports Network Sun	DTV Stream, Fubo	FanDuel Sports Network ($20/mo or $190/yr)
Toronto Maple Leafs	Sportsnet, TSN	SportsNet+ ($180 per year) TSN ($20/mo, $80/half-year, $120/yr)
Utah Hockey Club	Utah 16 (KUPX-TV Channel 16)	DirecTV Stream	UtahHC+ ($15/mo, $70/yr) SEG+ (Jazz bundle, $175/yr) Free over-the-air
Vancouver Canucks	Sportsnet	–	SportsNet+ ($180 per year)
Vegas Golden Knights	Scripps Sports	DirecTV Stream	KnightTime+ ($70/yr) Free over-the-air
Washington Capitals	Monumental Sports Network	YTTV, Hulu Live, DTV Stream	Monumental ($20/mo or $200/yr)
Winnipeg Jets	TSN	–	TSN ($20/mo, $80/half-year, $120/yr)

Note: DTV Stream stands for DirecTV Stream, and YTTV stands for YouTube TV.
What about nationally-televised games?


For the past few years, NHL TV rights for nationally-televised games—including most playoff coverage—have been carved up between Disney (ESPN, ABC) and Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT).

Those channels are included with several live TV streaming services, including YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and DirecTV Stream. Sling TV carries ESPN, but is missing ABC in all but a handful of markets.

Alternatively, Warner’s sports coverage is currently included with Max, which starts at $10 per month with ads or $17 per month without. Warner says it will eventually charge an extra $10 per month for live sports, but hasn’t turned on the paywall as of September 2024.

As for ESPN, most of this year’s nationally-televised games will stream on ESPN+, which costs $11 per month, or $15 per month as part of the Disney Bundle. (Those prices are increasing to $12 per month and $17 per month, respectively, on October 17. Some games will be reserved for ESPN’s cable channel, which is not included with ESPN+ and is not available without a live TV streaming service, though a standalone streaming version of the channel is coming in 2025. You can see ESPN’s hockey broadcast schedule here.

Out-of-market NHL games


ESPN+ has streamed out-of-market NHL games exclusively since 2021. That means if your favorite team plays in a different market from where you live, you can watch without navigating the regional sports mess.

That said, you’ll still run into blackouts for games that are televised nationally, necessitating some of the other options mentioned above. Even when streaming options seem straightforward, complications have a way of arising.

For more help navigating the streaming sports landscape, check out these useful tools. And consider signing up for my Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter to get money-saving streaming advice every Friday.