The NHL has announced that the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators will participate in a slate of four regular-season games in Sweden during the 2023-24 season.
Each team will play a pair of games in Sweden from Nov. 16-19. There are 21 Swedish players between the four teams right now, including Toronto’s William Nylander, Detroit’s Lucas Raymond, Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson and Ottawa’s Erik Brannstrom.
Most notably, it will be the first time the Toronto Maple Leafs have played a game outside of North America, becoming the 26th team to do so. Detroit and Minnesota have both played in Europe previously, while the Senators will do it for the third time.
The Red Wings and Senators will open things up on Nov. 16 in Stockholm. Toronto and Detroit will play the following day, with Ottawa and Minnesota kicking off the weekend on Nov. 18. Toronto and Minnesota will close out the series on Nov. 19.
According to the NHL’s regular season, the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks share the record for the most games played in Europe with six each. Sweden has also hosted 13 NHL regular season games over time, including 12 specifically in Stockholm.
The NHL is also set to head to Melbourne Sept. 23-24 for a pair of preseason games between the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes. It’s the first time the league has gone down under.
Earlier this season, Nashville and San Jose started the season in Prague, Czechia, while Colorado and Columbus kicked it off in Finland.
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