The New Jersey Devils will start their season in Prague Czechia when they take on the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL's Global Series.
The New Jersey Devils will start their season in Prague, Czechia, when they take on the Buffalo Sabres in the 2024 NHL's Global Series.
The Devils and the Sabres will play their first two games of the 2024-25 season on Oct. 4 and 5 at the O2 Arena in Prague. These will be the NHL's eighth and ninth games played at the O2 Arena.
The current Devils roster features two players from Czechia: Ondrej Palat and Tomas Nosek. It is worth noting that Nosek signed a one-year deal and will be a free agent this summer.
For the first time in his career, Palat will play NHL games in his home country. He spoke to NHL.com about what this means to him.
"With Tampa, I was in Stockholm [in 2019] and I saw how much how much it meant to Victor Hedman, my good friend," Palat said. "So, I was always thinking it would be cool to play in the Czech Republic, NHL, where my family can see me, my friends, and just to get that feeling of playing an NHL game in Prague."
The Devils played the Edmonton Oilers in the 2018 Global Series in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Devils won 5-2.
The Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars will meet in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 1 and 2 as part of the 2024 NHL's Global Series. Both teams feature many Finnish players on their respective rosters. The Stars have Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell, and Jani Hakanpaa, who are all from Finland. Hakanpaa is a free agent, so his status for the game is unknown. The Panthers' Finnish players include Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, and Niko Mikkola.