The Edmonton Oilers and the Pittsburgh Penguins will rack up the most mileage in the NHL while traveling during the 2025-26 season, according to Bookies.com’s Bill Speros.
Speros’ report follows the NHL’s July 16 release of the full schedule for the upcoming campaign, which will feature two NHL Global Series games between the Penguins and Nashville Predators in Stockholm, Sweden this November.
Despite the fact that the Oilers are staying in North America next season, Connor McDavid’s team is set to lead the league in miles traveled in part because of seven away games scheduled for an 11-day span between Nov. 12 and Nov. 22.
This stretch has the Oilers set to visit Philadelphia, Columbus, Carolina, Buffalo, Washington D.C. and Tampa before concluding the span with a Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise.
The Oilers are no strangers to travel after also racking up 50,000 miles during the 2024-25 season, per Thomas Nestico of TJ Stats.
The Penguins, meanwhile, rank second in travel mileage not only because of the team’s November trip to Stockholm but also because the franchise is embarking on an NHL-high 22 separate road trips this season, per Speros.
The Penguins are seeing a significant increase in travel time after ranking 32nd with 31,700 miles traveled last season, per TJ Stats.
The New York Islanders are the only team traveling fewer than 30,000 miles this season, which means the franchise will record just over half of the Oilers’ mileage.
That’s in part because of the Islanders’ proximity to multiple other franchises with division members like the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers nearby. The franchise will also take care of a large amount of its total travel during two seven-game road trips in November and January.
Some NHLers will be embarking on even more travel than these team totals when the league breaks from Feb. 5 to Feb. 25 to allow players to compete in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics.
The 2025-26 NHL season will open when the Panthers raise their second straight Stanley Cup banner before taking on Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
