Toronto Maple Leafs among the four NHL teams who will play games in Sweden in 2023-24

The Toronto Maple Leafs are headed overseas.

The NHL announced the details for the 2023-24 Global Series in Sweden on Wednesday morning. The Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and Minnesota Wild will travel to Sweden in November and play two games each at Avicii Arena in Stockholm…

The Leafs currently have five Swedish players on their roster: William Nylander, Calle Jarnkrok, Timothy Liljegren, Erik Gustafsson, and goaltender Erik Kallgren. Nylander, who just reached career-highs with 40 goals and 87 points in 2022-23, will be the big draw for Swedish fans when the Leafs come to Stockholm.

The Red Wings also have a major Swedish influence on their roster, highlighted by 2020 No. 4 overall draft pick Lucas Raymond. Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, and goaltender Filip Gustavsson highlight the long list of Swedish players on the Minnesota Wild, while Erik Brannstrom is the lone Swede on the Ottawa Senators.

The NHL has played many games in Europe in the past but the current iteration known as the Global Series started in 2017 when the Senators and Colorado Avalanche played each other twice in Stockholm. Since then, the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers played in Germany, the Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets played in Finland, and the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers played in the Czech Republic.

The Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes will also head to Melbourne, Australia to play a pair of exhibition games in September. Also being referred to as the NHL Global Series, this will represent the first time that NHL games have ever been played in Australia.

The Leafs themselves have also played in Europe in the past. They took part in a two-game exhibition series with the New York Rangers in September of 1993 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, and they played exhibition games against Jokerit Helsinki, Djurgården Stockholm, and Färjestad Karlstad in 2003.