The NHL's international expansion just found its next stop, and this one comes with a built-in storyline. The league announced the Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins will each play two regular-season games in Germany in 2027-28, with the Oilers landing in Cologne and the Bruins in Munich as part of a new NHL Global Series slate tied to a fresh partnership with FC Bayern.
The city assignments aren't random. Draisaitl, the Oilers captain and the highest-scoring German player in NHL history, is from Cologne. Peterka, who Boston acquired from Utah in a June trade, grew up in Munich. So instead of a generic overseas showcase, the NHL built this one around two hometown heroes getting to play in front of the fans they grew up idolizing from afar.
Peterka's path to this moment is its own story. He was traded from the Mammoth to the Bruins over the summer, landing on a roster that already has Marco Sturm behind the bench, the NHL's only German head coach, along with assistant Matt McIlvane, who previously coached him. Now instead of just joining a German-flavored coaching staff, Peterka gets to bring that whole operation to his home city for real games that count.
NHL announces 2027 Global Series in Germany, partnership with FC Bayern https://t.co/gQstvQtPjO
This isn't the league's first trip to Germany, but it's the biggest swing yet. There was already a 2026 Global Series stop on the calendar, and these 2027 games will mark the fourth through seventh regular-season NHL games ever played there. Pairing the trip with a multi-year FC Bayern partnership, covering youth hockey programs, street hockey and fan events, signals this is meant to build something lasting rather than just cash in on a one-off novelty game.
Opponents for the Oilers and Bruins haven't been announced yet, with the league saying more details will come during the 2026-27 season. But the framework alone tells you what the NHL is chasing here: put its biggest current German star and its most talked-about German import on the ice, in their own backyards, and let the marketing take care of itself.