The Edmonton Oilers are headed overseas to open the 2027-28 season, and they’ll do it in a place that means a little something extra to Leon Draisaitl.
For the first time since 2018, Edmonton has been chosen for the NHL’s Global Series, with two regular-season games set for Cologne, Germany, at Lanxess Arena. That’s Draisaitl’s hometown, and it will mark the second time he has worn an Oilers jersey there. The first came during an exhibition game against the Kölner Haie before Edmonton’s 2018 Global Series matchup against the New Jersey Devils in Sweden.
The Oilers won’t be the only club making the trip. The Boston Bruins are also set to open next season in Germany, with two games scheduled in Munich, the hometown of NHL forward J.J. Peterka.
“There is no better way to experience the speed, skill and excitement of NHL hockey than live and in person. The National Hockey League is thrilled to bring our first-ever regular season games to the passionate fans in Munich and Cologne,” said Bill Daly, the NHL Deputy Commissioner, in a release.
“These events represent an important step in our commitment to grow the game in Germany. By bringing more NHL games to one of Europe’s most dynamic hockey markets, we hope to continue to deepen engagement amongst our fans, partners and local communities, while at the same time creating a significant opportunity to grow the game throughout the country.”
The opponents for Edmonton’s two games in Cologne will be announced later in the upcoming season.
The league is also making another push in Germany beyond the ice. On Thursday morning, the NHL announced a unique partnership with German soccer club FC Bayern as part of its effort to promote hockey in the country.
Draisaitl’s return should give that push plenty of momentum. He’s the highest-profile German player in the NHL, and his presence gives the Global Series a built-in spotlight.
“The NHL Global Series games in 2027 bring two of the NHL’s best players in Leon Draisaitl and JJ Peterka back to play in front of their hometown fans,” said Marty Walsh, the NHLPA Executive Director.
“Germany has a proud hockey tradition, and these NHL Global Series games are part of the League and NHLPA’s ongoing commitment to build meaningful connections between NHL players and the German marketplace.”
Germany has been climbing as a hockey nation in recent years. It won silver in men’s ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics, and with NHL players back in the mix this past season, it finished sixth.
The Oilers still don’t know who they’ll face in Cologne, but the league’s setup suggests a team with a major German name attached could be in play. The Ottawa Senators, with Tim Stützle, or the Detroit Red Wings, with Moritz Seider, would fit that bill.
In Other News...
Oilers May Have A Real Blue Line Decision On Atro Leppanen
Atro Leppnen spent most of the 2025-26 season doing what a lot of late-blooming defensemen have to do in the Oilers organization: quietly stacking good AHL shifts in Bakersfield and making it hard to ignore him. The Finnish blueliner, signed by Edmonton in April 2025, showed steady offensive growth and finished as the Condors top-scoring defenseman, the kind of progression that got him a contract extension in February and kept his name in the conversation as the season moved along.
The tricky part for Edmonton is that progress in the minors does not always map cleanly onto a path upstairs, especially on the left side of the blue line. The Oilers already have established options there, and Leppnen is approaching age 28 while also trying to prove his game fits the demands of Mike Babcocks system. He has made himself a legitimate depth decision, which is a win in its own right, but the next step for him is where the real uncertainty begins. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Fans Have A New Reason To Feel Lane Hutson Is Overlooked
Edmontons offseason had enough encouraging moments to give fans a reason for optimism, but the conversation around the front office has not exactly cooled off. Stan Bowman and the Oilers still have plenty of skeptics watching closely, because even with some improvement in the summer, the teams recent track record keeps hovering over every move and every missed opportunity.
The frustration is tied to a bigger question about whether the organization has truly corrected course or just patched over old mistakes. Fans are still weighing the decisions that have drawn the most criticism, along with the latest attempts to reshape the roster, and the next step will be measured not by talk but by whether the team looks better when it matters most. [Read more 🡒]
Connor McDavid Rumors Raise One Uncomfortable Question For Oilers Fans
The Connor McDavid chatter that surfaced this week was less about a sudden change in his stance and more about the uncomfortable exercise of imagining what life would look like if Edmonton ever had to answer the question it has long tried not to ask. McDavid has not made any public demands or decisions about his future, but the latest round of reporting has naturally put the Oilers back in the spotlight, because any discussion of his next step starts with the same basic truth: his priority would be finding the best path to another Stanley Cup.
That is what makes the latest list of possible destinations so jarring for Oilers fans. The teams being floated are the Flyers, Red Wings and Rangers, which says plenty about how little a market size or big-city profile would matter if McDavid ever reached that stage. It also leaves the same nagging issue unresolved, since observers are already skeptical that any of those clubs offers a direct, obvious route to a title. [Read more 🡒]