Report: Penguins to play in Sweden next season

The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to play games in Sweden next season, according to team sources.

Dates and opponents are not yet publicly known. The NHL is expected to formally announce details Tuesday.

The NHL typically stages games in Europe with a focus on countries such as Sweden, Finland, Czechia and Slovakia that produce NHLers.

In the Penguins’ case, All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson and forward Rickard Rakell are two of the more prominent players from Sweden.

“It becomes a big thing for us, just to have a chance to play in your home country or play in front of your youth team, old coaches you had growing up,” Rakell said in Cranberry on Monday. “To have a chance to have family and friends come and see you and your teammates play, it’s a pretty special thing.”

The Penguins previously played two games against the Ottawa Senators in Sweden to open the 2008-09 season.

Defenseman Kris Letang was entering his second full NHL season at that time and was a member of the Penguins’ team that had lost the 2008 Stanley Cup Final to the Detroit Red Wings a few months earlier.

The trip offered several intangible benefits for the 200809 squad that eventually defeated the Red Wings in the ensuing championship final.

“It was fun to be (together) as a group before the season,” Letang said. “Obviously, the year before we lost (in the Stanley Cup Final). So, after that, it was a way to come back the next season and have fun and get to know your teammates and spend quality time like that. It was cool discovering a new country.”

The NHL has skated overseas dating to the late 1930s when games were staged in the United Kingdom. In 2000, the Penguins played a pair of games against the Nashville Predators in Japan.

As far as more recent excursions are concerned, NHL contests — including preseason games — have been staged in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Australia and China.

Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelyk skated in China as a member of the Boston Bruins in 2019 for a pair of preseason games against the Calgary Flames.

“It was an interesting experience,” Grzelcyk said. “Obviously, getting there and the time change was tough. But it was actually really beautiful. We kept having a problem with our equipment. We kept getting it ‘lost’ at the border. We basically practiced like twice and were hanging out in China.

“It was cool. Not sure if I would have ever gotten an opportunity to do that again. But really thankful. It was just another experience that gives you a different I would say outlook on life. How different everyone lives over there. It just felt like you were in a different world. It was really cool to experience that.”

Ultimately, the primary interest for the NHL is to grow the game and grow revenues in markets beyond North America.

But players value the opportunity for far more profound reasons.

“It’s fun to go to those countries, learn about their traditions and the people there,” Letang said. “Usually some of your teammates are from those places, so it’s fun (for them).”

It will be for the Swedish Penguins.

“Definitely, it’s a special thing,” Rakell said.