The NHL’s 2023-24 Key Dates Include Global Series, Outdoor Games

From Melbourne to Stockholm, Oil Country to the Garden State, the NHL’s tentpole-event plans for the 2023-24 season stretch farther afield than ever before.

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With the calendar about to flip to September, prospect tournaments and training camps are now just a few weeks away.

The preseason will kick off as never before when the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes take the NHL game to the Southern Hemisphere for a pair of NHL Global Series games at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on Sept. 23-24. Puck drop will be at 9 p.m. PT/midnight ET on Sept. 22 and 23 back in North America.

All told, 111 preseason games will be played over 15 days in 44 locations — every NHL rink except Mullett Arena in Arizona, plus 12 neutral-site locations in North America to go along with Australia. That list includes the Coyotes facing the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 1 for the first-ever NHL game at brand-new Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, the home of the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds.

And 2023 will see a pair of Canadian Kraft Hockeyville games, catching up from events that were missed due to the pandemic. The Buffalo Sabres will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Joe Thornton Community Centre in St. Thomas, ON on Sept. 27 and the Florida Panthers will line up against the Ottawa Senators at Centre 200 in Sydney, NS on Oct. 1.

A month into the regular season, four teams will make their way to Sweden for a four-game set at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, also part of the NHL Global Series. Here’s the schedule:

• Nov. 16 – 2 p.m. ET – Detroit Red Wings vs. Ottawa Senators
• Nov. 17 – 2 p.m. ET – Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Nov. 18 – 11 a.m. ET – Minnesota Wild vs. Ottawa Senators
• Nov. 19 – 8 a.m. ET – Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Minnesota Wild

The 2023-24 regular season will kick off with a triple-header on Tuesday, Oct. 10. This year’s first-overall draft pick, Connor Bedard, is expected to make his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks against his idol, Sidney Crosby, and the Pittsburgh Penguins at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the banner raising at T-Mobile Arena as the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights host the Seattle Kraken (10:30 p.m. ET).

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On Oct. 29, the league will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first-ever outdoor game with a return to Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. The 2023 Heritage Classic will be much more than a spectacle, with Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers hosting their provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames.

Three other outdoor games are scheduled for the season. On New Year’s Day, the 2024 Winter Classic heads west as the Kraken host their first tentpole event in just their third season of existence, at the Seattle Mariners’ home at T-Mobile Park. It’s another game that should have some bite: the visitors will be the league’s other recent expansion team, the defending champs from Vegas.

In February, the NHL will move into the largest NFL’s largest venue, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, for a pair of games as part of their Stadium Series.

• Feb. 17, 2024 – 8 p.m. ET – Philadelphia Flyers vs. New Jersey Devils
• Feb. 18, 2024 – 3 p.m. ET – New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders

Two other key events on the hockey calendar will take place in Toronto this year.

Hockey Hall of Fame Weekend runs from Nov. 10-13, with a series of events capped off by the induction ceremony. Along with builders Ken Hitchcock and the late Pierre Lacroix, it’s the year of the goalie as five players will be inducted in the Class of 2023: Tom Barrasso, Henrik Lundqvist, Caroine Ouellette, Pierre Turgeon and Mike Vernon.

Then, from Feb. 1-4, Toronto will play host to the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend. It’s the first time since 2000 that the event has taken place in Toronto, and the first time in Canada since Ottawa hosted in 2012.

Finally — like every season, there will be some intriguing homecoming games featuring players, coaches and managers that have landed with new teams.

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Some dates to keep an eye on:

Two-time Stanley Cup winner Alex Killorn will suit up in the visitors’ dressing room at Amalie Arena for the first time on Jan. 13, 2024, when the Anaheim Ducks visit the Tampa Bay Lightning for the only time this season.

J.T. Compher, a 2022 champion with Colorado who’s now a member of the Red Wings, will have the same experience on Mar. 6 at Ball Arena in Denver.

Three key members of the St. Louis Blues’ championship squad from 2019 will make their returns to Enterprise Center during a three-week span: Conn Smythe winner Ryan O’Reilly with Nashville on Nov. 24, Ivan Barbashev, with Alex Pietrangelo and the rest of the Vegas Golden Knights, on Dec. 6, then Vladimir Tarasenko with the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 14.

In Washington, 2018 Cup winner Dmitry Orlov will return to Capital One Arena as a member of the division rival Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 5. And in Vancouver, former captain Bo Horvat will make his return to Rogers Arena with the New York Islanders on Nov. 15.

Tyler Bertuzzi’s only chance to hit the ice at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs will come in preseason, on Oct. 7. The Wings’ other ‘home’ game against Toronto will take place in Stockholm.

Speaking of players changing teams: the 2024 trade deadline falls on Friday, March 1.

Perhaps the most intriguing return of the year will be Mike Babcock landing back in Toronto, four years after he was fired by the Maple Leafs. Babcock’s Columbus Blue Jackets will touch down at Scotiabank Arena on Dec. 14.

Two nights later, all eyes will be on Kyle Dubas when he visits Toronto for the first time as the GM and team president of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The homecoming in Calgary for current Leafs GM Brad Treliving will take place on Jan. 18.

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