4 Nations Face-Off success has NHL rethinking 2026 All-Star plans at the New York Islanders’ arena

By Canadian Press on March 19, 2025.

MANALAPAN, Fla. (AP) — The smashing success of the 4 Nations Face-Off replacing All-Star festivities with a compelling, competitive international tournament has the NHL rethinking what to do next February before players go to the Milan Olympics.

The league announced 13 months ago that the New York Islanders would host All-Star Weekend in early February 2026, and Commissioner Gary Bettman envisioned it as the ideal jumping off point for the Olympians to board planes for Italy. What that looks like, or when, is now up in the air.

“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,” Bettman said Wednesday at his news conference wrapping up the general managers’ annual spring meeting. “And so we want to make sure whatever we do is up to the standards that we’ve created.”

Putting aside unforeseen circumstances like the pandemic, postponing or canceling a marquee event is not something the league is known to do. Asked about a different format or even shifting the event at UBS Arena to 2027, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly multiple times said, “Everything’s on the table.”

Daly added that a decision must be made “relatively soon” — at least before the playoffs begin April 19.

NHL players are participating in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament for the first time since 2014, and there was not an All-Star Weekend then or in 2010 or ’06. The last time the league did both was 2002.

No rule changes

NHL GMs spent a lot of time looking at video reviews, specifically coach’s challenges for goaltender interference, but Bettman confirmed that no rule changes are being considered for next season. After trying out 10-minute 3-on-3 overtime at the 4 Nations, there’s no consideration to asking the players about going to that full time.

“I’m not a fan of the extended overtime because of ice conditions and the wear and tear on the players who would be playing the additional five minutes, and I worry about that in injuries,” Bettman said.

Daly confirmed the 2025-26 season will begin Oct. 7.

Playoff format

Bettman for quite some time has shut down the idea of expanding the Stanley Cup playoffs beyond the 16-team tournament that has existed for decades, even as the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball tweaked their formats. That has not changed.

“I like exactly what we have, and if you look at the races that we’re having for the regular season, playoffs have started already,” Bettman said. “We’re in our play-in tournament, and I think it’s terrific.”

LA draft

The draft in Los Angeles this summer will be the first to be decentralized, with team front offices at home or any location they choose but not in person to make picks. Teams voted 26-6 in favor of abandoning the centralized format to go to a model similar to what the NFL and NBA use, though GMs may be getting some cold feet about the decision.

“This is what the clubs said they wanted,” Bettman said. “If there’s a desire to go back because the clubs miss each other, miss being on the floor together, we’ll put it back to a vote again. We can be flexible.”

Changing landscape

Some big changes are coming to hockey’s development pipeline, with the NCAA making a landmark change to its eligibility rules that allows Canadian junior players to compete at U.S. colleges, as long as they are not paid more than actual and necessary expenses as part of that participation.

Bettman said the league and union are expected to discuss what might come of that shift and how it affects the draft, entry-level contracts and other things, though he refused to address hypothetical possibilities.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press

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