Senators, Blackhawks to play in 2026 NHL Global Series in Germany
The NHL is returning to a country where it’s making a significant investment in growing the game.
On Friday, the league and the NHL Players’ Association announced that the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks will head to Düsseldorf, Germany for the 2026 NHL Global Series.
The @NHL and @NHLPA today announced details of their joint long-term international growth strategy in Germany, which includes 2026 #NHLGlobalSeries Germany featuring the @Senators and @NHLBlackhawks (Dec. 18 & Dec. 20). Details: nhl.com/news/nhl-nhlpa…
The games will take place at the PSD Bank Dome on Dec. 18 and 20, 2026. It marks the first time that the NHL will host regular-season games since Oct. 2011, when the Buffalo Sabres beat the Los Angeles Kings at the O2 Arena in Berlin. The NHL and NHLPA committed to playing games in Germany for at least the next three consecutive years.
Next winter’s event will also commemorate the fifth consecutive season, and 13th overall, that the league will be holding regular-season contests in Europe. This past November, the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins split the Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden.
The games in Düsseldorf will give the league a chance to highlight one of the games’ brightest stars. Since being taken by the Senators third overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, forward Tim Stützle has been a thrilling player to watch, as he has been a big part of the Sens’ resurgence in recent years.
Stützle, a native of Viersen, noted how excited he is to represent his club team in his own country.
“I think German hockey has been growing a lot, and there are a lot of great players from there,” Stützle said in a release. “Now that they [the NHL] have been committing to playing games there and supporting kids as well. It’s huge. Hopefully, it gets even more people to play hockey in Germany. It’s really exciting news.”
Stützle played for Germany at the 2026 Winter Olympics last month, finishing second on the team in scoring behind Leon Draisaitl with six points, helping the team make it to the quarterfinals.
This will be the fourth time Ottawa has played overseas during the regular season. In 2008, they split a pair of games against the Pens, before sweeping two games against the Colorado Avalanche in November 2017. The Sens last traveled to Europe in November 2023. They beat both the Minnesota Wild and the Detroit Red Wings. The Sens have only played European regular-season games in Stockholm.
Next December will mark the third time the Blackhawks have played regular-season affairs. Along with splitting two games with the Florida Panthers in Helsinki, Finland, in October 2009, Chicago lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in Prague, Czechia, in October 2019.