WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The NHL is teasing a potential new era for its annual all-star showcase.
Following the runaway success of last month's 4 Nations Face-Off, which replaced the NHL's traditional All-Star Game, the league is prepared to roll out something entirely different again in February 2026 when the New York Islanders host the sport's top skaters at UBS Arena.
"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 Wednesday, speaking on the final day of the league's annual general manager meetings. "And so we want to make sure whatever we do is up to the standards that we've created."
The 4 Nations was the league's first foray into a best-on-best international competition since it staged a World Cup in 2016. The tournament pitted NHL stars from Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland in a round-robin format that culminated with Canada winning the title over the United States off Connor McDavid's overtime goal.
The tournament was a precursor to the NHL returning to the Olympics, after the NHL opted out of the 2018 Games and didn't attend in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the regular season. Bettman said Wednesday that the league was meeting with the IIHF later this month to "conclude matters" in anticipation of NHL skaters appearing at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games.
The overwhelmingly positive response to 4 Nations -- especially in comparison to the NHL's typical All-Star Game -- has encouraged the league to lean into more new ideas. Asked if 4 Nations had affected future all-star games, Bettman demurred -- "that's a hypothetical question" -- before clarifying that a forthcoming reveal is still under construction.
"We've promised the Islanders an event," Bettman said. "We're focused on what we need to do. I don't want to be pinned down in this moment. We're still going through our cycle of what we're doing in the here and now. I don't want to have speculation."
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said "everything is on the table" and acknowledged that announcing what the league has planned before the playoffs begin in mid-April would make sense.
Ahead in April for the NHL will also be collective bargaining talks with the players' association. The current CBA expires in September 2026, and Bettman said the two sides will sit down starting the week of April 1 to discuss a new agreement.
Bettman was predictably vague on the agenda for those meetings but didn't anticipate tackling major hurdles.
"I don't think on either side we're looking at fundamental issues," Bettman said. "I'm anticipating based on everything I'm hearing from [NHLPA director] Marty [Walsh] that we're going to have good discussions. It's more logistics and operations, understanding technical aspects of their day-to-day lives of dealing with players and rosters and contracts and the like. We want to hear what are issues in their mind that are problems, what are things they'd like us to consider. ... I'm hoping we can do this quickly, quietly and painlessly."
One negotiation point could involve new rules pertaining to junior hockey and college eligibility. The NCAA voted late last year to allow players from the Canadian Hockey League to maintain their college eligibility. Previously CHL skaters had been considered professionals by the NCAA's standard of amateurism rules because some CHL prospects had signed NHL entry-level contracts.
What Bettman doesn't expect on the table is an adjustment to the playoff format. While the NHL is obviously invested in a facelift for its all-star competition, there is no such desire from Bettman to revamp how the league fills out its postseason bracket.
"I like exactly what we have," Bettman said. "If you look at the races that we're having in the regular season, playoffs have started already. We're in our play-in tournament. I think it's terrific. What could be more compelling and exciting?"
Right after the NHL crowns its next champion, it will dive into its new decentralized draft. Instead of gathering all 32 teams in one city for the 2025 entry draft, the league will have one representative from each club in Los Angeles to greet prospects while most team members remain in their home cities.
Bettman isn't committed to that format forever, though. The NHL will wait and see how things go in June and take feedback from clubs on a path forward. Until then, consider the NHL to be fully embracing yet another new chapter.
"This is what the clubs said they wanted," Bettman said. "And a number have said, well, maybe we should have the other [format]. We said, listen, we'll go through this experience and if there's a surge of interest to go back, we'll bring it back to the clubs [for their feedback]. We've let the clubs make this determination, and we'll execute it in accordance with their desire to be decentralized. But if there is a desire to go back ... we can be flexible."
