2026-27 NHL Miles Traveled: League To Cover More Than 1.367 Million Miles In Expanded Season
Four NHL teams each travel more than 50,000 miles in this upcoming NHL season, with the Seattle Kraken topping the 32 teams in our annual NHL Miles Traveled survey.
The NHL's 2026-27 season will begin with a championship celebration in Carolina before taking fans from Finland to Germany and from Utah to the home of the Dallas Cowboys as the league once again leans into marquee events and expands the regular season to 84 games.
The Kraken, thanks in part to a pair of games against the Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes, travel the most miles this season at 51,335. That edges out the Stars, who cover 51,284 miles. The Golden Knights, Avalanche, and Blackhawks also break the 50,000-mile barrier. The Blackhawks also play overseas in two-game series in Germany against Ottawa.
The NHL covers 1,371,302 miles and crosses 1,159 time zones this season. Our mileage calculations are based on air miles from arena-to-arena using the Haversine method. That takes into account the spherical nature of the Earth.
The longest domestic road trip of the year sends the Vancouver Canucks on a 7-game, 6,856.2-mile march from Colorado, Nashville, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Dallas, and St. Louis from January 18-30.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes raise their championship banner on Sept. 29 when they play host to the Florida Panthers on ESPN. This game features the league's past three Stanley Cup champions.
NHL Miles Traveled: Team-By-Team Breakdown
Here is the NHL team-by-team miles traveled breakdown:
NHL Continues International Push This Season
The international schedule begins with the in Finland, where the Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken will play a two-game series in Helsinki on Nov. 12 and Nov. 14. One month later, the league heads to Düsseldorf for the NHL Global Series Germany, featuring the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks meeting on Dec. 18 and Dec. 20. Meanwhile, regular season games take place from Sunrise, Florida, to Seattle, to Edmonton, to Dallas, to Boston.
"Old-Time" outdoor hockey remains a centerpiece of the schedule.
The Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens meet in the NHL Heritage Classic on Oct. 25 at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg. On New Year's Eve, the Colorado Avalanche and Utah Mammoth take ice at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The outdoor slate concludes Feb. 20 when the Dallas Stars play the Vegas Golden Knights at Jerry World in Arlington, Texas.
NHL Miles Traveled: Team-By-Team Takeaways
Here's a breakdown of the international games.
Seattle Kraken Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks Ottawa Senators
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