NEW YORK — Taylor Hall and the New Jersey Devils will face off against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers to open the regular season in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Oct. 6 as part of the NHL’s Global Series.
In the second year of regular games in Europe, the Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets will also play Nov. 1 and 2 in Helsinki. The NHL and NHL Players’ Association announced the games and two exhibitions Tuesday morning.
Swiss No. 1 pick Nico Hischier and the Devils will wrap up training camp in Europe and tune up against SC Bern in Switzerland on Oct. 1. Homegrown star Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers will face Kolner Haie in Cologne on Oct. 3, Germany Unity Day.
The games at Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena showcase two Finnish stars: Jets winger Patrik Laine and Panthers centre Aleksander Barkov.
In addition to the games in Europe, NHL is expected to again play exhibition games in China after going there with the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks last year.