​The first of 42 Minnesota Wild home games at Grand Casino Arena next season will be Saturday, Oct. 3, when the Boston Bruins make their lone visit to St. Paul.That much was revealed on Wednesday morning as the NHL began the rollout of its new 84-game regular season slate for all 32 teams with the announcement of home openers. The partial schedule reveal also shows the Wild in Nashville on Oct. 1 for the Predators’ home opener, and Minnesota visiting the Panthers on Oct. 10 for Florida’s initial home game.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe 2026-27 campaign will be the first time NHL teams will play 84 regular-season games, up from 82, which had been the standard since the 1990s.The NHL regular season will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 29 with an opening night quintet, televised nationally in the U.S. and Canada: Florida at Carolina, Montreal at Toronto, the New York Rangers at Boston, Vancouver at Edmonton, and Chicago at Vegas,The full NHL regular season schedule will be announced at Noon CT on Thursday.Adding intrigue to the on-going Dylan Larkin drama in Detroit, with the star forward requesting a trade and reportedly designating Vegas, Florida, Minnesota and Dallas as his preferred destinations, the Red Wings unexpectedly relieved general manager Steve Yzerman of his duties on Wednesday morning.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYzerman, 61, had been with the Wings front office since 2019, following a decade in Tampa Bay where he helped the Lightning assemble the teams that won NHL titles in 2020 and 2021. On the ice in Detroit, Yzerman was the captain of three Stanley Cup-winning Red Wings teams and his number 19 jersey is one of nine retired by the organization.He was officially reassigned within the Red Wings organization and will serve as a senior advisor for a franchise that has not qualified for the NHL playoffs for the past decade. Wild sign goalie prospect to entry level deal Myers: Blockbusters and bargains as NHL salary cap rises Wild prospect Charlie Stramel has sights set on staying home Wild sign Daemon Hunt to one-year deal Net loss of personality for Wild with Middleton and Zuccarello gone