from Ian Thomas of Front Office Sport,

As the NHL continues to build its reach in Europe, 23 players from teams across the league are dropping into the market to help further the cause.

On August 15, the league and the NHLPA will hold its third European player media tour. The event is being held in Stockholm, Sweden at the headquarters of Viasat, which holds the NHL’s international media rights in Finland, Norway and Sweden....

When the NHL and NHLPA launched the event in 2017, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly admits that many of the league’s European-based rightsholders and media members – and even participating European-born players – had the same question: “Is this something that will just be one and done?,” he recalled....

Taking part in the event will be some of the league’s biggest European-born stars, such as Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak, Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog, Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov and Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom. Those players hail from the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland and Sweden, respectively.

“If I compare this event [to the one in 2017], there’s almost a night and day difference,” Daly said. “That comes from the fact that it’s well embraced by all the parties, including the players who are taking time from their summer break to be here – they all see that we have an interest in their markets, that we’re engaged and making bigger investments so that we have a regular presence over here.”

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