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The NHL will return to Helsinki next season with a matchup that feels made for the local crowd. The Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken are set to play two regular-season games in the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland, with Veikkaus Arena hosting the meetings on Nov. 12 and Nov. 14, in the return to the Finnish capital for the league and a first European regular-season trip for Seattle.
Helsinki gets another date with the NHL
There is a reason the NHL keeps circling back to Finland when it wants to showcase its global ambitions. The league’s official announcement makes clear that Helsinki is already part of its European history, with the 2026 event marking a return to the city for the first time since 2018. To add intensity to the clash, these are regular-season games, giving the trip more weight and making them more than a mere publicity stop on the calendar.
For Carolina, there is a sense of continuity in this trip. The Hurricanes already know what it is like to play meaningful hockey in Helsinki, having faced the Minnesota Wild back in 2010. For Seattle, though, it’s the first time the Kraken will have regular-season action outside of North America, adding a layer of novelty to the series.
Finnish players in Hurricanes’ roster
Carolina’s Finnish link start with Sebastian Aho and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, both forwards. For Aho, the game has more personal background, as he attended Carolina’s 2010 games in Helsinki as a youngster, long before becoming one of the franchise’s defining players.
Kaapo Kakko, Eeli Tolvanen, and Jani Nyman, the locals in Kraken’s roster
Seattle will arrive with a larger Finnish contingent, with Kaapo Kakko, Eeli Tolvanen, and Jani Nyman all highlighted by the NHL as part of the Kraken group coming to Helsinki. That gives the home crowd plenty of local reference points on the Seattle side and ensures the series will not feel like one Finnish-heavy team facing a neutral opponent.
Kakko, in the past, has openly embraced the idea of returning home for NHL games. In comments carried by the official league page, he said it would be special to play in front of family and friends and noted how big hockey culture is in Finland.
The Veikkaus Arena, the selected stadium
Veikkaus Arena is a fitting venue for an event like this. The arena was renovated in September 2025, which enhanced its characteristics. For example, it improved the connectivity of the stadium to help broadcasters and guests stay online during the matches, check the live stats, or, in the case of the audience, look at social media or play online casino games during halftime.
The building also has real NHL mileage behind it. Carolina’s official release notes that Veikkaus Arena, formerly known as Hartwall Arena, has hosted seven previous NHL regular-season games, while also pointing out that seven of the 11 NHL regular-season games played in Finland have taken place in Helsinki. In other words, the league is not experimenting with an unfamiliar setting here. It is returning to a venue that already knows how to stage nights like these, which should only add to the sense that Hurricanes-Kraken in November 2026 is a serious event rather than a one-off curiosity.
What’s the NHL Global Series?
The NHL Global Series is the league’s regular-season international showcase, built around staging official games outside North America in markets where hockey already has a strong following. This season, the Finland stop is part of a wider 2026 European plan, with the NHL also announcing games in Germany between the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators. The league says the Finland and Germany events will make 2026 the 13th season in which it has played regular-season games in the Old Continent, and the fifth season in a row.
That is what gives the Global Series real substance. These games count in the standings, they sit inside the normal rhythm of the season, and they help the NHL present Europe as an extension of its audience rather than a side market.
