Headlines

  • Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Henry Thrun
  • Avalanche Sign Josh Manson To Two-Year Extension
  • Stars Trade Matt Dumba To Penguins
  • Panthers Sign Mackie Samoskevich To One-Year Deal
  • Golden Knights Beginning To Work Out Jack Eichel Extension
  • Lightning Acquire Sam O’Reilly From Oilers For Isaac Howard
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

NHL Announces 2028 World Cup Of Hockey

February 12, 2025 at 5:08 pm CDT | by Gabriel Foley 35 Comments

With the start of the 4 Nations Face-Off just hours away, it seems the NHL is already establishing plans to deepen its international footprint. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh have plans to announce the 2028 World Cup of Hockey tournament that’d split games between North America and Europe, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The World Cup will be a mid-season tournament scheduled over the usual All-Star Break, like the 4 Nations Face-Off. LeBrun adds that this news sets up international, best-on-best hockey every two years until 2036 – with hope for a timeline that includes the Winter Olympics in 2026, 2030, and 2034 and the World Cup in 2028, 2032, and 2036.

Perhaps more exciting is the return to the name ’World Cup,’ suggesting that more countries will be involved than the four represented at the 4 Nations tournament. This would inevitably require the involvement of professional leagues around the world, as neither Czechia nor Slovakia have enough NHL players to staff an NHL-exclusive roster.

The naming of a worldwide tournament will also lead to the eventual question of Russia’s involvement. The country has been expelled from international play since the 2021 World Championship, where they fell to Team Canada in the quarterfinals. The IIHF recently reviewed Russia and Belarus’ eligibility for international competition but chose to maintain the expulsion through the 2025-26 season due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hall-of-Famer Pavel Bure was chosen to represent Russia in recent conversations with the IIHF and, citing concerns over player safety, shared that Russia would be willing to finance additional security if it meant allowing “fans across the planet to watch one of the world’s best teams in action again.”

The IIHF’s decision will only apply to events they sanction – that decision only applies to IIHF-sanctioned events, and both the NHL and International Olympic Committee will still need to make their own decisions on whether Russia should play in their events. The NHL moving towards potentially biannual meetings between national clubs sets up an inevitable, and potentially precarious decision on Russia’s eligibility.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

IIHF| NHL| NHLPA| Newsstand| Olympics| Players Gary Bettman| World Cup

Minnesota Wild Reassign Devin Shore
Main
Blue Jackets Prospect Cayden Lindstrom Could Miss 2024-25 Season
View Comments (35)

Comments

  1. Gbear

    5 months ago

    As much as I like international tournaments, this seems like overkill.

    4
    Reply
  2. 66TheNumberOfTheBest

    5 months ago

    Find a way to do these in the summer or just stop it.

    7
    Reply
    • fightcitymayor

      5 months ago

      Two concerns:
      A) since the NHL already stretches the regular season into June, would a mid-summer hockey tournament mean viewer fatigue
      B) since the players only get the summer months to rest/recharge/rehab would they be enthusiastic about losing “me” time to an expansive international tournament requiring travel?

      1
      Reply
  3. 66TheNumberOfTheBest

    5 months ago

    Also, if you want Russians back in these tournaments, fine, but they have to play for Team Ukraine.

    Oh, what’s that? They don’t want their lives or national pride hijacked for someone else’s glory?

    Get in line.

    4
    Reply
    • MotownWings13

      5 months ago

      So the players should be collateral damage for a decision made by Putin?

      2
      Reply
    • 66TheNumberOfTheBest

      5 months ago

      So, are you saying that people and their lives being collateral damage for a decision made by Putin is a bad thing?

      1
      Reply
    • MotownWings13

      5 months ago

      The players have nothing to do with what’s going on in Ukraine. Why should they be punished? Might as well kick them all out of the NHL for now while we’re at it.

      2
      Reply
    • j27roenick

      5 months ago

      Murderous dictator robber barons have always used sportswashing as a means of repairing the inevitable hits their reputations take from murdering, robbing and dictating. That’s how/why Putin bribed his way into both the Winter Olympics in his favorite vacation town and the World Cup.

      But, you know, now that we know what’s happening, we don’t have to keep going along with it, even if you think we should.

      2
      Reply
    • 66TheNumberOfTheBest

      5 months ago

      It is tragic.

      After we worry about the people being bombed to death, frozen to death and starved to death in Ukraine, we should totally worry about those hockey players who are being prevented from playing slightly more hockey.

      Reply
  4. FeeltheThunder

    5 months ago

    I’m not a big fan of these mid-season exhibition tournaments. There is just too much risk of players getting injured & all sorts of things that could affect their NHL team. The NHL seems a little too hooked on these “special events” rather than focusing on the regular season. Is the NHL trying to be a special event league rather than an actual sport’s league or something. These tournaments should be played during the summer not during the NHL season IMO.

    Honestly I’m more interested in the trade deadline than the 4 Nations tournament.

    3
    Reply
    • jb10000lakes

      5 months ago

      Agreed. With all this time off, how many casual fans are just going to be ‘done’ for the season by the time it comes back (pitchers and catchers and all that)? Unless you have a team that you expect to ‘make a run’, do you simply lose interest? I know that I couldn’t care less about these in-season tournies outside of players from my team getting injured.

      Reply
  5. 8EL8

    5 months ago

    The players need a better union boss!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • Gbear

      5 months ago

      They’ve joined the AFL-CIO, so that should be a hoot.

      Reply
  6. Gbear

    5 months ago

    I’m amazed that the announcers on SiriusXM NHL radio are a pair of show hosts. Were no professional broadcasters available?

    1
    Reply
  7. wreckage

    5 months ago

    A world cup is better than this 4 nations thing, but it should be played in late June, early July to allow guys some rest to get ready and recovered for the next season. I understand the Olympics are played at this time, but that can be an exception as opposed to the norm. And the NHL can still host an All-star event at that time to promote “their game”. Don’t need a common interruption of 10 days+ during the regular season. Especially for an event that some players will get up for and give a full effort for international pride when it could be done after the Stanley Cup or free agency commences and avoid affecting their clubs.

    How are people gonna feel if a McDavid, MacKinnon, Hedman, Matthews, ect suffers a season ending injury at this 4 nation’s faceoff and could cost them a potential Cup run?

    Reply
    • Gbear

      5 months ago

      I’d prefer it to be in September. Players in the tournament can use it as their pre-season and at least if an injury did occur, a team would get them back at some point in the season. An injury now could potentially bleed into the playoffs (not good).

      Reply
    • wreckage

      5 months ago

      @gbear

      I could agree with that. Either end of the offseason. But the preseason is where players build chemistry with their new teammates and learn new team systems. So it kind of depends on how you see the system. Do you want players to finish their year before ramping up with new players, or before their new year to treat as their personal ramp up.

      Doing it now interrupts anything a team may have going and kind of stops their flow. 2 weeks-ish now is a bigger detriment than at some point in the offseason.

      Reply
  8. jsklfc

    5 months ago

    Maybe something that people are missing here is that the league has to try things like this in order to make hockey more compelling viewing for a wider audience. MLS has absolutely passed the NHL and while MLB was dying a slow death it has been reinvigorated by Ohtani and a number of other storylines. Meanwhile the average sports fan can’t tell you who McDavid is or who he plays for, and Bettman has overseen a number of market failures in the hunt for media dollars rather than building a strong product. I’m all for an idea like this that can help hockey capture fans imaginations around the world and make the NHL a more global product.

    1
    Reply
    • jb10000lakes

      5 months ago

      except it doesn’t do any of those things except piss off the core fans who hate the injury possibilities and would rather they tighten up the season so we aren’t dragging it out until mid-June. Get better national coverage of the games you already have.

      Reply
    • FeeltheThunder

      5 months ago

      Dude, MLB hasn’t been reinvigorated by Ohtani & such. MLB is barely staying alive, they have problems just filling the majority of their stadiums to a decent capacity. MLS is barely relevant of a league in the U.S. as only Messi playing for Miami has given it any boost & even that has faded. You can even go to the NBA whose ratings have declined a whopping 60% as WWE programming is out doing the NBA. Then there is the NFL which is even having problems with potential cheating scandals (which there is truth too) as they struggled to even get tickets sold for the Super Bowl. Believe it or not, NHL is doing well & growing just based on attendance sales, revenue streams, & viewership increase. The NHL is more popular now than ever before.

      Reply
    • itsmeheyhii

      5 months ago

      MLS has passed the NHL in what exactly?

      Viewership? Revenue? Media coverage?

      Reply
    • DarkSide830

      5 months ago

      MLS hasn’t passed anyone in jack squat.

      Reply
    • wreckage

      5 months ago

      I can tell you a couple stars in almost any league… Except MLS. MLS has Messi on his retirement tour to collect some coin before he steps away from the sport, like Mr Sporty Spice did. Messi will do his contract with LA or NY (whomever its with) and maybe do one more international tournament with Argentina. I don’t follow NBA or like it, but can tell you Shae Gildeous is the MVP favorite, Luca Doncic is another favorite, LeBron will always have a spotlight. I can’t name one other player in MLS besides Messi. Don’t tell me MLS is more popular in N. America than NHL. NHL is still #4, and likely creeping up on NBA and in some places MLB these days.

      Reply
    • wreckage

      5 months ago

      @FTThunder,

      oops, is Messi in Miami? I figured for sure he was in one of NY or LA. My bad. But at least I knew I was in that league.

      Reply
  9. Gbear

    5 months ago

    Another thing that puzzles me about this 4 Nations tournament. If they’re using the international rules for the standings and OT, why not allow teams to dress 20 skaters on the roster too like in IIHF? This would help in cases like tonight with Theodore having to leave the game.

    Reply
    • wreckage

      5 months ago

      They had 20 skaters. 12fw, 6d, 2g. Isn’t that the norm at an international tournament game? It’s the norm in NHL. They then also had 3 in the box also as the normal procedure in an NHL or IIHF game. From what i can find a team is limited to 20 players on their “game sheet”. Which is the usual amount in an NHL game and an official IIHF game. This does not seem different from a usual game, nor the game last night vs Sweden. A game sheet can have 20 maximum skaters which includes all fw, d, and g. No limits on any position. Just the total amount of active players on their game sheet.

      If a player is lost due to penalty or injury the team cannot add a player midgame they just have to tough it out. Seems to be the rule at all major events.

      Reply
    • Gbear

      5 months ago

      By 20 skaters I’m excluding goalies. International rules allow you to dress 13 forwards and 7 Dmen.

      In this instance, do you really want, let’s say Makar or Werenski, to have to play 25 or more minutes in one of these games due to an early injury to their defense partner when international rules allow you to dress that extra Dman?

      Reply
    • wreckage

      5 months ago

      According to the IIHF rules teams are allowed to list 20 players on their “game sheet” and that includes goalies.

      Reply
    • Gbear

      5 months ago

      Goalies are not counted as skaters. Look at the box scores from any IIHF sanctioned tournament. 22 total players with goalies.

      link to iihf.com

      Reply
    • Josh Erickson

      5 months ago

      @Gbear is correct here. IIHF senior competition involves 22 players dressed (usually 13F/7D + 2G) with the third goalie on the roster as the lone scratch. 23-player roster in total.

      1
      Reply
    • Gbear

      5 months ago

      Thank you. :)

      In fact, the Red Army teams used to have four 5 man units, so they would dress 12F and 8D.

      Reply
    • wreckage

      5 months ago

      My bad. I did a quick Google and it said 20 on their game sheet. Thanks for the correction and correct info. Do the same rules apply for under 18’s and Jr’s? is that possibly why the Google AI told me 20 on a game sheet?

      @ gbear, sorry for implying my wrong info. I did a quick Google and their AI stated 20 on a “game sheet”. As the GI Joe’s would tell you… “the more you know”.

      Either way, this is a tournament I’m not all too interested in. 4 great hockey nations, but its lacking a lot of other great hockey nations. Seeing as how this isn’t a IIHF sanctioned event, but just a NHL event, Russia should have a team (even ahead of Finland), as should some of the other hockey rich nations for 2 weeks of NHL being delayed such as Czechia, Slovakia, Germany… Imagine a “best on best” not including Draisaitl, Kopitar, and Ovechkin and people actually considering it “best on best”. Draisaitl is likely the best player in the world right now, Ovechkin the best goal scorer currently and in history… But they’re excluded. Come on NHL, just do the stupid things for kids for a weekend, and host a true best-on-best in the offseason.

      Also, please “National” sports leagues, stop with National anthems. Fair for international tournaments, but not necessary for and NHL or NBA game, ect when half if not more players are not of either of those nationalities.

      Reply
    • Gbear

      5 months ago

      Same rules for all IIHF events.

      Reply
  10. 8EL8

    5 months ago

    International hockey sucks! I also miss the old arena ice, 185 feet, By 85 feet.

    Reply
  11. KL

    5 months ago

    “I believe I can boil down complex geopolitical situations into simple comic book Good/Evil archetypes like those I’ve seen in the Marvel movies I watch, which is the only art I consume. Try it! Just turn your brain off!” – half the posters in this thread

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Henry Thrun

    Avalanche Sign Josh Manson To Two-Year Extension

    Stars Trade Matt Dumba To Penguins

    Panthers Sign Mackie Samoskevich To One-Year Deal

    Golden Knights Beginning To Work Out Jack Eichel Extension

    Lightning Acquire Sam O’Reilly From Oilers For Isaac Howard

    NHL, NHLPA Ratify Four-Year CBA Extension

    Gavin McKenna To Commit To Penn State

    Tyler Johnson Announces Retirement

    Flyers Re-Sign Cam York To Five-Year Contract

    Recent

    Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Henry Thrun

    Evening Notes: AHL/CHL Agreement, NHL Draft, Signing Rights

    Snapshots: Sorokin, Blue Jackets, Hunter, Lord

    Canucks Sign Aleksei Medvedev To Entry-Level Contract

    Avalanche Sign Josh Manson To Two-Year Extension

    Sharks Sign Jakub Skarek To One-Year Contract

    Stars Trade Matt Dumba To Penguins

    Dylan Ferguson Signs With HK Nitra

    Tennessee State To Add Division I NCAA Hockey For 2026-27 Season

    Kraken Announce Player Development Staff Changes

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2025’s Top 50 Unrestricted Free Agents
    • Sam Bennett Rumors
    • Nikolaj Ehlers Rumors
    • Mitch Marner Rumors
    • Marco Rossi Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
    • 2025 Free Agent Focus Series
    • 2025 Offseason Checklist Series
    • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
    • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
    • Active Roster Tracker
    • Coaching Staff Directory
    • Draft Pick Tracker 2025
    • Key Offseason Dates
    • Offseason Trade Tracker
    • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
    • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
    • Waiver Claims 2024-25

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version