Bettman - NHL evaluating All-Star Game after 4 Nations success - ESPN

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 because of 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