NHL reimagining format for 2026 All-Star Game, Bettman says

MANALAPAN, Fla. -- The NHL is focused on reimagining the format for the 2026 NHL All-Star Weekend following the success of the 4 Nations Face-Off last month.

"We're reevaluating how we want to do things because I think we've raised the bar about as high as you can for an All-Star Game in any sport," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said near the conclusion of the general managers’ annual three-day meeting. "We want to make sure whatever we do is up to the standards that we've created."

The New York Islanders are scheduled to host All-Star Weekend at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, in early February. It’s expected to be an unofficial send-off for NHL players who will be going to the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. The players would then leave from the New York area Feb. 7.

As a result, the League sees an opportunity to celebrate many of the top players attending the Olympics who will already be in the area while also providing the Islanders an opportunity to host a major NHL event at UBS Arena, which opened in the 2021-22 season.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said a decision on the format for All-Star Weekend should come before the start of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs next month.

"I can't provide you clarity yet because I think everything is on the table," Daly said.

Commissioner Bettman said the NHL will be meeting with the International Ice Hockey Federation the week of March 31 to likely finalize the agreement to send players to the 2026 Olympics. The NHL has not sent its players to the past two Winter Olympics, last competing in Sochi in 2014.

"Discussions are ongoing and we expect to conclude matters," Commissioner Bettman said.

The League is also getting expressions of interest from North American and European markets about hosting games during the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. The formal bid process for that will not start for a couple of months, Daly said.

"We haven't finally decided, but it's I think our hope and intention at this point is that we'd be playing some games in Europe, some games in North America and then having a playoffs," Daly said. "There will be a request for proposal that will probably be put together for an outside entity, but there are a lot of different things you look at for that."

The success of the 4 Nations Face-Off (held from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston), including television ratings and fan interest and engagement, has convinced the NHL and NHLPA to hold the World Cup in February of 2028, the same window of the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympics.

"That particularly elevated after the 4 Nations," Bettman said.