PRAGUE -- The NHL will continue expanding its international footprint after playing a preseason game in Germany, two regular-season games in Czechia and two regular-season games in Finland this season.
“I think we have a list of places we’d like to bring teams and play games and develop markets,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said at the European Player Media Tour on Wednesday. “And to the extent we’ve kind of seemed to have settled into a Finland, [Sweden], Czechia rotation, I wouldn’t get too comfortable with that, because I think it will change up probably in the short term.”
After this season, the NHL will have played 20 regular-season games in Europe since 2017: nine in Sweden (eight in Stockholm and one in Gothenburg), six in Finland (four in Tampere and two in Helsinki) and five in Czechia (all in Prague).
It will have played 13 preseason games in Europe, Asia and Australia in that period, including three in Switzerland (two in Bern and one in Lausanne) and three in Germany (one each in Munich, Berlin and Cologne).
The League has never played a regular-season game in Switzerland and has played one in Germany, in 2011. It hasn’t been to London since playing two regular-season games there in 2007.
“I think everybody probably has in their minds, kind of the priority markets,” Daly said. “I think we want to go back to London. I think the players and [NHL] Players’ Association want to go back to London and have a game there. I think Germany and Switzerland are both prime candidates for regular-season games in the future, so probably in the not-too-distant future.”
Daly said he expects the NHL to return to Australia for preseason games. The League traveled to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time when the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings played two preseason games on a temporary ice sheet inside Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Sept. 23-24, 2023.
“I think it was a positive experience,” Daly said. “You start with the players and the teams and whether they had a positive experience, and obviously it’s a long way to go to play two preseason games. But I think the feedback from both clubs was good, which makes it easier to convince the next two clubs that Australia would be a worthwhile initiative.
“I think everything that we expected to flow from it from a business standpoint successfully flowed from it. I think it’s a good sports market. I think it’s a good North American sports market. I think the fans see themselves as being fans of North American-based sports, and it’s a mature market financially and economically.
“As long as it continues to be a positive experience for the clubs, it continues to make sense for us to try to use it as a way to expand our business.”
Asked if the NHL would return to Melbourne or visit a city like Sydney, Daly said: “That’s a fair question. I’m not sure that we’ve progressed to that point in terms of figuring that out.”
The challenge in Australia is NHL-caliber ice.
“Even at Rod Laver [Arena], there were challenges associated with making quality ice, and we have to make sure we nail that, because we certainly don’t want to put players at risk, particularly for a preseason game,” Daly said. “We have to make sure before we commit to going again that we’re in a place where we can produce quality ice.”
This season, the Buffalo Sabres will play EHC Red Bull Munchen in a preseason game in the first event at the new SAP Garden in Munich, Germany, on Sept. 27 in the 2024 NHL Global Series Challenge Germany presented by Fastenal.
The Sabres and New Jersey Devils will play two regular-season games at O2 Arena in Prague on Oct. 4-5 in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal.
Finally, the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers will play two regular-season games at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 1-2 in the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal.
Dallas just made the Western Conference Final for the second straight season. Florida just won the Stanley Cup after going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2022-23. The game will feature several players from Finland, most notably Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, a Tampere native.
“It’s going to be a battle of kind of heavyweights, two of the best teams in the League with a lot of Finnish content, so it should be compelling,” Daly said.
NHL players also are scheduled to participate in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, though the League is still talking to the International Olympic Committee, NHL Players’ Association and International Ice Hockey Federation.
“As far as I know, on the venue, we’re totally on track,” Daly said. “They were expecting to finish the venue in October of ’25 and be able to play a test tournament in December of ’25, which I think is important. The building is fine. We haven’t finalized everything with the IOC or the NHLPA and the IIHF. That’s still kind of a work in progress, but I don’t anticipate any issues.”
