The NHL is planning to hold an international tournament in February 2025 featuring four national teams from the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden, with the aim to relaunch the World Cup of Hockey in 2028 and hold the event every four years in between Olympic tournaments, but it remains unclear how Russian-born players will be integrated due to Russia’s ban from international tournaments.
‣ The NHL plans to hold an international tournament in February 2025, featuring national teams from the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden.
‣ The league is also working towards relaunching the World Cup of Hockey tournament in 2028, with the intention of holding the event every four years in between Olympic tournaments.
‣ Russian-born players’ participation in the tournament is uncertain due to the backlash against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They might participate under a neutral name and flag, but wouldn’t represent Russia.
The NHL is planning its own international tournament for February 2025. According to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, the format will feature four national teams.
These teams will hail from the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden. The NHL and NHL Players Association have been working to set up the next World Cup of Hockey tournament for several years. However, this new tournament would be smaller in scale.
Wyshynski reports that this 2025 event will fall under a different name. The league simply wants to hold some form of international tournament prior to the 2026 Winter Olympics. “We’re hopeful to have an international tournament in February 2025,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said during the Global Series in Sweden last week.
“We’re working with the players association on the construct of that. Then, after that, we would like to be in a regular rotation between the Olympics and the World Cup every other year.” Daly added. However, this involves having an agreement to go to Milan in 2026, which is still a work in progress.
The league is also planning to relaunch the World Cup of Hockey tournament in 2028. The event would be held every four years in between Olympic tournaments.
A major issue lies with the participation of Russian-born players. This is due to the backlash against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The International Ice Hockey Federation previously banned Russia and Belarus from competing in international tournaments through 2024.
On top of that, the NHL ended all sponsorship deals with Russia following the invasion. Russian players could potentially participate under a neutral name and flag, but wouldn’t represent Russia. In the current four-nation tournament format, Russian players wouldn’t be competing.
In the expected four-nation format, the United States and Canada would play two games in North America. Meanwhile, Finland and Sweden would face off in two games in one of those two nations. The winners of those matchups would face off with the second-best team from the other matchup. The winners of those semifinal games would then compete for the tournament championship.
The tournament will take place over the course of a week. The NHL will pause in-season games for the duration of the tournament. It’s worth noting that the NHL hasn’t competed in a national team tournament since the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Canada defeated Sweden 3-0 to win the gold medal game in Sochi. This was thanks to goals from Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, and Chris Kunitz. Some of the league’s top talent, including Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Cale Makar, have yet to participate in an international tournament since entering the NHL.
