Prime Video has a September 30 launch date for its new Wednesday-night NHL coverage and seven Montreal Canadiens games on the schedule. The French-language team that will call those broadcasts remains publicly unannounced.
Amazon confirmed the Canadiens’ place in its 2026–27 schedule on September 3. Its season-opening broadcast features the New York Islanders visiting the Toronto Maple Leafs, with coverage beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern. The company’s public announcements reviewed through September 8 did not identify the French-language commentators.[1]
The arrival of a new French-language NHL broadcast comes as the Canadiens’ schedule is redistributed. RDS will show fewer regular-season games, while TVA Sports expands its share under a renewed agreement with Rogers.
How the Canadiens’ French coverage divides
The Canadiens’ 84 regular-season games will be divided among RDS, TVA Sports and Prime Video. RDS has 45, down from 60 last season. TVA Sports increases its share from 22 to 32, while Prime takes seven.[2]
| Broadcaster | Games |
|---|---|
| RDS | 45 |
| TVA Sports | 32 |
| Prime Video | 7 |
| Total | 84 |
Quebecor announced its new 12-year sublicensing agreement with Rogers on September 3. It covers the 2026–27 through 2037–38 seasons, with games distributed through TVA Sports and TVA Sports Direct and the addition of illico+ to the offering.[4]
TVA Sports will carry up to 350 regular-season NHL games annually and retain the French-language rights to every Canadiens playoff game.[2]
The RDS reduction was announced last year
Bell Media announced the 45-game allocation on October 10, 2025, when it disclosed a long-term regional-rights extension with the Canadiens. The reduction therefore predates this month’s national-rights announcements.[3]
The change takes 15 Canadiens regular-season games off RDS’s package, a 25 per cent reduction. Fans who follow Pierre Houde and Marc Denis on that network will have fewer Montreal broadcasts there during the coming season.
In an August 13 report for Dans Les Coulisses, Maxime Truman wrote that Houde and Denis would continue as RDS’s tandem. Their familiar partnership remains part of the reported outlook at RDS, even as the network’s game allocation shrinks.[5]
What has been reported about Amazon’s search
Amazon said on July 30 that it would produce dedicated English- and French-language NHL broadcasts this season, with on-air personnel and further production information to be announced later.[6]
French-language coverage of the search has already raised possibilities beyond Houde. Truman reported on August 13 that he had heard the names of Anthony Marcotte, Sébastien Goulet and Jasmin Leroux circulating. He also raised the possibility of Amazon using RDS or TVA Sports to produce the French broadcasts, with a distinct on-air team.[5]
Those were reported possibilities, not announced appointments. In a further August 30 social-media update, reproduced by Dose.ca, Truman said Amazon was actively assessing Quebec candidates for the French play-by-play role.[7]
A production partnership would give Amazon access to an existing French-language operation while leaving room for a different group of commentators. That possibility remains unconfirmed, and an unannounced lineup does not reveal how far private hiring has progressed.
No credible report or announcement reviewed for this article established an Amazon agreement with Houde. RDS’s reduced schedule alone does not establish that he is available or negotiating with another broadcaster.
Montreal’s first Prime date is October 14
The national package begins September 30, but Montreal’s first appearance comes two weeks later, away to Washington. Prime’s Canadiens schedule includes two games against Boston and two against New Jersey.[8]
| Date | Matchup |
|---|---|
| Oct. 14, 2026 | Canadiens at Washington Capitals |
| Nov. 18, 2026 | Canadiens at New Jersey Devils |
| Dec. 2, 2026 | Tampa Bay Lightning at Canadiens |
| Jan. 6, 2027 | Boston Bruins at Canadiens |
| Jan. 13, 2027 | New Jersey Devils at Canadiens |
| Mar. 10, 2027 | Boston Bruins at Canadiens |
| Mar. 24, 2027 | Ottawa Senators at Canadiens |
Amazon says its national regular-season games will be available in English and French at no additional charge to Prime members in Canada. For Canadiens viewers, those seven dates introduce a streaming destination alongside the established French-language networks.[1]
Prime’s Canadian Wednesday package runs through the 2037–38 season. The company has secured a recurring place in the Canadiens’ viewing schedule; its French-language staffing announcement will show how it plans to introduce that coverage.[1]
