All 32 NHL Arenas Ranked by Capacity (2026)

Every NHL home arena ranked by capacity — all 32 buildings, from ThrillZing’s venue database. Hockey arenas are the most standardized venues in major-league sports, which makes the outliers at both ends all the more interesting.

The United Center in Chicago tops the list at 23,500, but the more telling number belongs to the Bell Centre in Montreal: at 21,273 it is the largest arena built first and foremost for hockey, and Canadiens crowds have been filling it since 1996.

All 32 NHL Arenas by Capacity

The complete 2026 ranking is below. Each arena links to its full ThrillZing venue profile.

#	Arena	Team	Opened	Capacity
1	United Center	Chicago Blackhawks	1994	23,500
2	Bell Centre	Montreal Canadiens	1996	21,273
3	Madison Square Garden	New York Rangers	1968	20,789
4	Amerant Bank Arena	Florida Panthers	1998	20,737
5	Capital One Arena	Washington Capitals	1997	20,674
6	Little Caesars Arena	Detroit Red Wings	2017	20,332
7	Xfinity Mobile Arena	Philadelphia Flyers	1996	20,328
8	T-Mobile Arena	Vegas Golden Knights	2016	20,000
9	Delta Center	Utah Mammoth	1991	19,911
10	Scotiabank Arena	Toronto Maple Leafs	1999	19,800
11	Lenovo Center	Carolina Hurricanes	1999	19,722
12	Benchmark International Arena	Tampa Bay Lightning	1996	19,204
13	American Airlines Center	Dallas Stars	2001	19,200
14	SAP Center	San Jose Sharks	1993	19,190
15	Canadian Tire Centre	Ottawa Senators	1996	19,153
16	KeyBank Center	Buffalo Sabres	1996	19,070
17	Crypto.com Arena	Los Angeles Kings	1999	19,060
18	Rogers Place	Edmonton Oilers	2016	18,641
19	TD Garden	Boston Bruins	1995	18,624
20	Rogers Arena	Vancouver Canucks	1995	18,422
21	Enterprise Center	St. Louis Blues	1994	18,400
22	PPG Paints Arena	Pittsburgh Penguins	2010	18,387
23	Nationwide Arena	Columbus Blue Jackets	2000	18,144
24	Grand Casino Arena	Minnesota Wild	2000	17,954
25	Prudential Center	New Jersey Devils	2007	17,625
26	Bridgestone Arena	Nashville Predators	1996	17,510
27	Ball Arena	Colorado Avalanche	1999	17,417
28	UBS Arena	New York Islanders	2021	17,255
29	Honda Center	Anaheim Ducks	1993	17,174
30	Climate Pledge Arena	Seattle Kraken	2021	17,000
31	Scotiabank Saddledome	Calgary Flames	1983	16,605
32	Canada Life Centre	Winnipeg Jets	2004	15,004

Chicago, Montreal, and the Big Rooms

The United Center and Madison Square Garden make the top three because they are shared basketball-hockey buildings sized for two tenants. The Bell Centre is different — it was built for the most storied franchise in hockey, in a city where the Canadiens outdraw everything, and its 21,273 capacity reflects that.

Below the top handful, the league packs into a remarkably narrow band: more than half the NHL plays in buildings holding between 17,000 and 19,800.

The Small Rinks

Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg is the league’s smallest building at 15,004 — and routinely one of its loudest, which says something about what capacity numbers can’t measure. The Scotiabank Saddledome (16,605), opened in 1983, is the oldest arena in the NHL and is slated for replacement by a new events centre in Calgary.

The newest rinks — UBS Arena (2021) and Climate Pledge Arena (2021) — both hold around 17,000, following the same smaller-but-richer design logic reshaping arenas across sports.

Explore more: the oldest NHL arenas, the oldest NBA arenas, all stadium guides.

Biggest NHL Arenas FAQs

What is the biggest NHL arena?

The United Center in Chicago is the biggest NHL arena at 23,500. The largest hockey-first building is Montreal’s Bell Centre at 21,273, home of the Canadiens since 1996.

What is the smallest NHL arena?

Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg is the NHL’s smallest arena at 15,004 seats — though it’s regularly ranked among the loudest buildings in the league.

What is the oldest arena in the NHL?

The Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, opened in 1983, is the oldest NHL arena still in use. Most of the league’s buildings date from the arena boom of the mid-1990s.

Get More from Biggest NHL Arenas

Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate Biggest NHL Arenas, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.

Want the day’s theme park news in your inbox? Subscribe to ThrillZing Daily — free.

Photo: Datch78 / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.