Ahead of opening the NHL regular season and Global Series in Czechia, the Buffalo Sabres will also take on Red Bull Munich in an exhibition match in Germany.
Czechia and Finland were chosen to host the 2024 NHL Global Series, the league announced Tuesday.
Four NHL teams will head to Europe for the annual games. The Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils are scheduled to face off at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia, on Oct. 4 and 5 to open the NHL's regular season. On Nov. 1 and 2, the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers are slated to play at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland.
Ahead of the games in Czechia, the Sabres are expected to finish their training camp in Munich, Germany, and play an exhibition game on Sept. 27 against the Deutsche Eishockey League's Red Bull Munich in the grand opening of their new arena, SAP Garden.
This will be the Dallas Stars' first NHL game outside North America, becoming the 27th franchise to do so.
It'll be the second time the Devils have gone overseas after a 5-2 2018 Global Series win over the Edmonton Oilers in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Sabres and Panthers have travelled outside North America to play regular-season games twice each ahead of the 2024 matches.
Buffalo played in Helsinki, Finland, and Berlin, Germany, in the 2011 NHL Premiere event, beating the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings. They then lost twice to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2019 Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden.
Florida, meanwhile, played the 2009 NHL Premiere and 2018 Global Series in Helsinki, Finland, going 1-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks in 2009 and again versus the Winnipeg Jets in 2018.
Sabres forward Lukas Rousek, who once played for Prague-based club Sparta Praha, and Devils forwards Ondrej Palat and Tomas Nosek could play in front on native land in Czechia.
And in Tampere, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov and Stars forward Roope Hintz not only come from there but played for Tampere-based teams in the Finnish Liiga. Six other players from the Panthers and Stars are natives of Finland, including Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola on Florida and Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Jani Hakanpaa on Dallas.
Sabres forward JJ Peterka also played for his birthplace team, Red Bull Munich, before his NHL career.
Last year, the NHL Global Series included regular-season games in Stockholm, which featured four teams: the Ottawa Senators, Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. It also hosted pre-season games between the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes in Melbourne, Australia, the first NHL games in the southern hemisphere.