Forsberg Ecstatic to Return Home, Play With Preds in Sweden During 2025 NHL Global Series

The Nashville Predators will be shipping off to Stockholm this November as they compete in the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden presented by Fastenal.

While all members of the organization were ecstatic about the announcement, Preds forward Filip Forsberg was particularly elated to hear that his team would be competing in his home country.

“Obviously, it's going to be a great time [and a] great opportunity," Forsberg said. “I have a lot of people that might not be able to travel [to Nashville who will] get a chance to watch me play in the NHL, and it’s very special. I think the more experiences you get to go to Sweden, and represent Sweden, the better for everyone, including myself. I’m excited about it.”

After Preds Captain Roman Josi experienced a hometown matchup in Bern, Switzerland, as a part of a season-opening trip to Prague as well back in 2022, Forsberg will now follow suit in the country that raised him.

The November faceoffs will mark Forsberg's first professional hockey games in Sweden since he left his hometown of Leksand to join the Preds in 2013. After experiencing two international series, the forward was surprised, yet thrilled at the news that they were headed to Stockholm.

“I mean, I thought [a game in Sweden] would be more possible when we [had] four, five, six guys [from Sweden] at one point, and then we went to Prague instead,” Forsberg smiled. “But this one will be really special.”

With Sweden being the most represented European country within the NHL and the third-most represented country overall, behind Canada and the United States, it’s no surprise that the game is making great strides overseas.

“When I first started watching [hockey], there were no games [on the television],” Forsberg said.” You had to watch them on replay, because there were no early games. [Now,] I feel like there's an early game every day, pretty much, for people to watch back there.”

Nashville will face the Pittsburgh Penguins twice over the course of three days, and both clubs are likely to have at least a couple of Swedes on their respective rosters by the time the games arrive.

“Obviously, every time we play them, they’re great games,” Forsberg said. “They’ve got two of the bigger [Swedes] we have, [Erik Karlsson] and [Rickard Rakell]. So that'll be awesome, to play against them.”

As for why Preds fans should choose to attend the historic series, Forsberg’s reasoning was quite simple:

“I mean, second to my hometown, it's the best place in the world. You know, Stockholm is beautiful. It's a great city. November shouldn't be too bad weather-wise either. And to watch the best players in the world at the Avicii Arena? You can’t beat that.”

And in preparation for November, Forsberg has already assigned his teammate and fellow Swede Adam Wilsby, who is out for the remainder of the season due to injury, to prepare the Preds players for their Stockholm experience. The first task at hand? The Swedish language.

“I think we’ve got to start with that,” Forsberg grinned. “He’s got some time on his hands right now, so he's already started his tour guiding as well. It'll be a fun one.”

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The Predators and Penguins will play on Friday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. CT (8 p.m. CET) and on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 8 a.m. CT (3 p.m. CET).

The NHL and Live Nation will offer ticket presales on Tuesday, March 25 at 4 a.m. CT; tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, March 26 at 4 a.m. CT at LiveNation.se. The first opportunity to purchase tickets to both games will be available to fans in attendance at the first-ever Hockey Day in Sweden celebration, hosted this year by the city of Linköping on March 21-22.

More information on the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden presented by Fastenal is available at NHL.com/GlobalSeriesSweden; via Instagram @nhleurope and @nhlsverige; @NHLSverige on X; and via TikTok @nhleurope, which are serving as the official home for all of the latest news and information about the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden presented by Fastenal, as well as other features from around the NHL.