Bruins and Oilers set for NHL regular-season games in Germany in 2027

The NHL has scheduled regular-season games in Germany for the 2027-28 season, with the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers each set to play two matches in the country, the league announced Thursday. The Bruins will take on opponents in Munich, and the Oilers will play two games in Cologne, Germany, during the same regular season window.

The announcement is part of a broader push by the NHL and the NHLPA to grow hockey in Germany. For the Oilers, the Cologne dates have added resonance because the city is Leon Draisaitl’s native home, tying the league’s international effort to a high-profile active player.

For Boston and Edmonton, the trip will create an additional scheduling and preparation challenge that comes with travel across multiple time zones and the logistics of staging games far from North America. While the league has previously used international games as a marketing and development tool, this marks another step in moving NHL regular-season inventory outside the traditional footprint.

Germany has become an important hockey market over the past decade, with sustained participation and a growing pipeline of players and fans. The NHL’s effort, as described in the league’s announcement through the hockey union’s involvement, is aimed at accelerating that growth by giving local audiences a direct look at NHL-caliber competition.

Beyond the immediate novelty of the location, international regular-season games can also affect how teams manage the rhythm of a season. A multi-game set in a single host country usually means a compact stretch on the road, and it can influence rest, practice planning, and lineup timing, especially if the NHL pairs the trip with a heavy portion of the schedule at home or at nearby markets.

The Bruins and Oilers will each bring their own roster identity and fan base into the same European spotlight, but the competitive stakes remain ordinary regular-season points. The key questions for the teams will be how they handle the transition into and out of the trip, and whether the added travel becomes a factor in maintaining consistency across the season’s longer arcs.

The next detail fans will look for is the specific opponents, dates, and the venue confirmations that typically accompany international game planning. With those items still to be finalized publicly through the league’s full schedule, the focus now is on the destination pairings: Munich for Boston and Cologne for Edmonton.

For the NHL’s long-term outlook, the Germany dates are part of a continuing experiment in visibility and development. If the event draws strong local interest and smooth execution, it can strengthen the case for more regular-season games in Europe, while giving teams a recurring platform to build global support.