The World Cup of Hockey will return in February 2028, and the NHL and players association envision a continuing cycle of alternating Olympics and World Cups every two years.
Details are still to be worked out, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said it would involve ‘at least’ eight countries. Cities, including those in Europe, can start bidding in the coming months. Bettman said he didn’t foresee any melded teams, as happened in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with smaller European countries forming one team and the North American ‘Young Guns’ forming another.
It’s up in the air whether Russian players can take part because of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The International Ice Hockey Federation recently voted to ban Russian players from its championships for another year, through the 2025-26 season.
“I would love to see our Russian players play in the tournaments again,” NHL Players’ Association executive director Marty Walsh said in Montreal before the start of the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off. “They’re incredible players. The issues are political. They’re not political as far as the NHLPA. It’s the world politics that we have to get through.”
The NHL would shut down the season for part of February 2028 for the tournament.
‘We’re not taking a month off,’ Bettman said. ‘We know how long the Olympic break is so we have a sense of what we need to do.’
Other takeaways from Wednesday’s news conference:
- Though the NHL announced salary cap increases for the next three years, negotiations have not begun yet on a new collective-bargaining agreement. The current one expires in September 2026.
- Bettman, 72, said he has no plans to retire soon. ‘I love what I do,’ he said, adding, ‘At some point, nobody can do what they do forever. … But I’m going to do it as long as I have the energy and passion and the owners are still pleased’ with how the league is doing.
