2024 NHL Global Series headed to Czechia, Finland
The NHL announced the schedule for the 2024 Global Series on Tuesday.
The Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils will open the 2024-25 regular season on Oct. 4 and 5 in Prague, Czechia at The O2 Arena. The following month, the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers will clash in Tampere, Finland at Nokia Arena on Nov. 1 and 2.
Additionally, the Sabres will play an exhibition contest against Red Bull Munich on Sept. 27, which will serve as the grand opening game for Munich's SAP Garden.
Dallas has never played an international game. New Jersey traveled to Gothenburg, Sweden in 2018, while Buffalo and Florida have each played international games twice. The Sabres last featured in Stockholm, Sweden in 2019 and the Panthers starred in Helsinki, Finland in 2018.
The Devils roster Czechia natives Ondrej Palat and Tomas Nosek, though the latter is a pending unrestricted free agent. Simon Nemec, the 2022 second-overall pick, is from neighboring Slovakia.
Lukas Rousek is Buffalo's lone Czech player, but the team has top prospect Jiri Kulich, who could crack the Sabres' lineup by next season.
The NHL has played seven games in Czechia, all held at The O2 Arena.
The matchup in Tampere features significantly more local talent. The Stars' roster boasts four Finns: Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, and Jani Hakanpaa. Only Hakanpaa isn't signed for next season.
Florida features another four Finnish products in Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, and Niko Mikkola, all of whom are under team control through the 2024-25 campaign.
This will mark the second time the NHL has gone to Tampere, the hometown of both Barkov and Hintz. The league has played nine total games in Finland.
The exhibition contest in Munich will see JJ Peterka return to his hometown. The 22-year-old suited up for Red Bull Munich from 2019-21 and developed in the nearby RB Hockey Academy before making the big club.
The 2023 NHL Global Series saw the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes play preseason games in Melbourne, Australia. The Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Maple Leafs featured in Stockholm, Sweden during the regular season.