Morning Notes: Kempe, Team Russia, Karlsson
The Kings have failed to make much headway in the Western Conference wild-card race since their mixed-bag trade deadline, going 3-2-1. They played their last game, a 4-1 win over the Rangers to wrap up a five-game Eastern road swing, without the services of leading scorer Adrian Kempe. He was out with a lower-body injury and remains listed as day-to-day, although it could end up just being a one-game absence. Interim head coach D.J. Smith said at yesterday’s practice that he’s “hopeful” Kempe can suit up tonight against the Flyers. A win over Philly and a Kraken loss of any kind would get L.A. back into a playoff position. They’re tied with Seattle right now at 71 points, but trail the Kraken significantly, 25-18, in the regulation wins tiebreaker. Kempe’s health is crucial. He’s been on a tear coming out of the Olympic break, currently on an eight-game point streak with a 6-6–12 scoring line in his last 10.
Here’s more to round up from around the hockey world Thursday:
- NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly poured cold water this week on the idea of Team Russia returning to international play at the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. That will be a league-run event without IIHF involvement, but the league has maintained a willingness to demonstrate continuity with the international governing body on the matter. There were unverified reports that other European countries would pull out of the tournament if Russia were to participate, if they continue their ongoing war on Ukraine, a risk the league certainly won’t be willing to take, with half the round-robin games being hosted in Czechia. “I don’t think we’re out of sync with where the Finns and Swedes and Czechs are with respect to Russian participation,” Daly said (via Eric Engels of Sportsnet). “It’ll be available if certain things happen. And if certain things don’t happen, they’re likely not to participate.”
- Penguins defender Erik Karlsson was among the most popular names in trade rumors last season. Even as his contract becomes more movable, the Penguins’ success this season has made the idea of holding on to him for the last year of his deal in 2026-27 more attractive. As the Pens’ PR account pointed out this morning, he’s having arguably the most dominant stretch of his career since his days as a yearly Norris contender in Ottawa. He has nine goals and 12 points in his last six outings and leads NHL defensemen in scoring since the Olympic break with a 5-12–17 line in 13 games.
NHL Announce 2028 World Cup Of Hockey
NHL general managers are convening in Palm Beach, Florida for a week of GM meetings beginning on Monday. A top agenda item will be preparing the announcement for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The tournament has been held three times between 1996 and 2016. It was most recently held from September 17 to September 29, 2016, in Toronto. The 2028 iteration of the tournament was originally announced in February 2025.
Despite claims that the tournament will move forward without IIHF involvement, the NHL has announced that they are partnering with the international body to help ensure players from outside the NHL can be made available per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen.
The league made the official announcement at 12:30 P.M. ET on Monday. In it, Calgary and Edmonton, Canada, and Prague, Czechia, were revealed as the hosts cities. The event will take place in February, 2028 – in the middle of the 2027-28 season. Prague and Calgary will each host half of the round robin section of the tournament, while Edmonton will host the semi-finals and finals.
Further, the NHL announced that the tournament will use NHL rules rather than international rules per LeBrun. Most notably, that will mean that overtime periods are five-on-five, rather than three-on-three.
The last iteration of the tournament brought together six countries – America, Canada, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Czechia – as well as two specialized teams, one featuring talent from other European countries and another featuring the top U24 players in America and Canada. The resulting Team North America brought together many NHL superstars well ahead of their prime, including Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Aaron Ekblad, Nathan MacKinnon, and more.
Team North America posted a 2-1-0 record and scored an 11-to-eight goal-differential – but ultimately lost out to Russia’s fewer goals-against (five) in the standings. Russia lost to Team Canada in the first round of the knockout stage, while Team Europe beat Sweden on the other side. Canada would go on to win the tournament, proudly led by leading scorer Sidney Crosby. Alongside Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Toews, Brad Marchand, and Carey Price – Crosby was able to lead Canada to a win over Europe’s Mats Zuccarello, Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, and Leon Draisaitl.
The next iteration of the World Cup of Hockey should similarly bring together world class talent in a best-on-best competition in the years leading up to the 2030 Winter Olympics. One questoin the NHL will need to be prepared to answer is if, and where, Russian talent will fit into the conversation. The country has been, and continues to be, excluded from all IIHF competition dating back to 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine. The NHL will not have to abide by the IIHF’s decision but has previously said that Russia is not expected to be invited to the event, however the NHL did not confirm this in their press conference following the official announcement.
If the NHL chooses to bolster the number of contending teams with another Team Europe or Team North America will also be closely followed. The league has no shortage of young talent breaking through – with stars like Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer even making their case for league-best titles.
NHL Not Expecting To Allow Russian Participation In 2028 World Cup
The NHL has not changed its tune on allowing a Russian team to participate in league-run international events, commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters this morning (including Mark Lazerus of The Athletic). As of now, that means there won’t be a Team Russia at the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, Bettman said.
Moving forward, the league will fall in line with the “international community” regarding working the country back into international events. Essentially, until the IIHF allows Russia to return to events like the World Championship and World Juniors, the league will continue to operate without a Russian team at the World Cup or any 4 Nations Face-Off-like tournaments.
Russia and Belarus not been allowed to participate in any major international competition since the former’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. With the war ongoing and many eastern areas of Ukraine still occupied by Russia, the IIHF continues to cite “security concerns” in keeping the country, which remains second in the IIHF world rankings behind Canada, out of competition.
Russia’s last World Championship appearance was in 2021, featuring Sergei Bobrovsky, Dmitry Orlov, and Vladimir Tarasenko, among others. Their athletes won gold at the 2018 Olympics and silver in 2022 without NHLers present.
The NHL confirmed the return of the World Cup event last year. Instead of its usual preseason timing, it’ll occur mid-season in 2027-28, similar to the timing of the Olympic break this year and the 4 Nations break last season. The tournament will be organized without involvement or input from the IIHF, reports indicated last August.
Snapshots: Denisenko, World Cup, Perreault, Robins
Although he decided to return home and play in the KHL this season, winger Grigori Denisenko hasn’t given up on playing in North America just yet. In an interview with Championat’s Lev Lukin, the 25-year-old indicated his dream is still to get back to the NHL. He hasn’t spent much time there lately, however, getting into just seven NHL games over the past two seasons with Vegas. He spent most of last season in the minors with Henderson and Milwaukee, collecting 17 goals and 21 assists in 65 games and rather than accepting a two-way deal as a Group Six unrestricted free agent and likely starting in the minors again, he’ll try to work his way back with a big season with Ak Bars Kazan.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Speaking to reporters including NHL.com’s Dan Rosen at the media tour earlier this week, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly provided an update on the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. They have whittled through expressions of interest from both North American and European cities and are about to begin the bidding process. The belief is that there will be round-robin games on both continents before moving to North America only for the medal round. Daly added that while they hope to have a qualifying round down the road, that won’t be in place for this particular event.
- UFA winger Jacob Perreault has a team for the upcoming season as the Bruins’ AHL team in Providence announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year deal. The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Anaheim in 2020, going 27th overall but he has struggled considerably in the pros. Last season, he spent time with Montreal and Edmonton’s farm teams, collecting just three goals and 11 assists in 44 games, leading to a non-tender in late June. Perreault has made one NHL appearance, that coming back in 2021-22.
- After being non-tendered by Ottawa this summer, unrestricted free agent winger Tristen Robins has reportedly found a place to play. Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis reports (Twitter link) that the 23-year-old is set to sign in Czechia with Kladno. Robins was a 2020 second-round pick by San Jose and was moved to the Sens as part of the Fabian Zetterlund trade at the deadline. Robins played in 56 AHL games last year, picking up eight goals and 16 assists. He has three career NHL games under his belt back in the 2022-23 season.
NHL To Organize 2028 World Cup Without IIHF Involvement
The NHL appears set to move forward with their plan on organizing a World Cup of Hockey. They’re ready to reach out to international clubs directly, rather than work with the IIHF, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. This news doubles down comments that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made in February.
The tournament will be an eight-country event and take place during the 2027-28 season – the year of the next summer Olympics – shares David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Pagnotta adds that preliminary matches will be split between one North American, and one European, city – while semi-final and final rounds will be hosted in North America.
This news answers the question of what the NHL will do in the Olympics’ off-years. The World Cup will feature a wider cast than the 4-Nations Face-Off that took place this February, though the exact list of countries isn’t quite clear. In addition to the four countries that suited up this winter, both Czechia and Slovakia seem like locked-in options. The NHL could also bring in any one of Germany, Switzlerand, Austria, and Latvia – who have each reached varying levels of international success over the last few years.
But Russia will stand as the big uncertainty. Both Russia and Belarus have been barred from participation in IIHF events since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The IIHF upheld that decision for the 2025-26 season and 2026 Winter Olympics. The NHL deciding to go around IIHF involvement does open the door to Russia – one of the world’s top hockey countries – getting back into the swing of best-on-best competition. That would likely give aging stars like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Igor Shesterkin, Nikita Kucherov, and Artemi Panarin a chance to show their might in their prime years. Commissioner Gary Bettman declined comment when asked, back in March, about if the NHL would entertain playing against Russia in the near future.
The World Cup tournament itself will serve as an exciting shove into the future for the world’s top hockey talents. High-potential young players like Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Lane Hutson, and Juraj Slafkovsky will be just entering their prime years in 2028, and certainly looking for a chance to prove their country’s might at the top stage. The event will be a great run-up to the 2032 Winter Olympics, where all four players seem ready to play big roles.
The NHL will intercut the World Cup with All-Star games. Bettman has shared that he knows the All-Star matchup will need to live up to high expectations, after the popularity garnered by the 4-Nations Face-Off earlier this year. In an interview with NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, Bettman said that everything will be on the table for the next All-Star event. That will set a high bar for the mid-season breaks next season, though many fans will be looking ahead to an even bigger best-on-best tournament only three seasons away.
NHL Announces 2028 World Cup Of Hockey
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.
NHL Expected To Announce Next World Cup Of Hockey
TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that the NHL and the NHLPA intend to move forward with a 2028 World Cup of Hockey without the involvement of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Both the league and the players’ union are hopeful they can make an announcement at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-off that will take place from February 12th – February 20th in Boston and Montreal.
The NHL players have not participated in an international tournament (outside of the IIHF World Championships) since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey but could conceivably have three international tournaments in the next four years if you include the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
A 2028 World Cup of Hockey would be the fourth time the tournament has taken place with the last three happening in 1996, 2004, and the aforementioned 2016. The last World Cup took place in Toronto and was won by Canada with Sidney Crosby taking home the tournament MVP. Eight teams participated in the tournament alongside Canada (the United States, Finland, Czechia, Russia, Sweden, and two all-star teams). A future World Cup of Hockey would likely follow a similar template.
If the IIHF remains on the sidelines for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, it will mean that the NHL will have the final say on who will be able to participate in the tournament.
Bill Guerin Named GM Of U.S. Four Nations And Olympic Teams
Minnesota Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin has been named the general manager of Team USA for the upcoming 2025 NHL Four Nations Face-Off as well as the 2026 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. The announcement was made official this morning and allows the three-time U.S. Olympian to take some time before selecting his first six players for the Four Nations tournament, which is something the NHL has asked each team to do early this summer.
Guerin is no stranger to donning the American sweater as he suited up for three Olympics in 1998, 2002, and 2006, winning a silver medal in 2002. He was also a member of the 1996 Team USA World Cup team that shocked the hockey world and created one of the most iconic moments in USA hockey history when they beat Team Canada to win the tournament. Guerin is a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, having been inducted back in 2013.
Guerin retired from playing in 2010 as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins and then spent eight seasons with the team in management, winning two Stanley Cups. He was then named general manager of the Wild in August 2019 and guided Minnesota to four consecutive playoff appearances before being named president of hockey operations and general manager last July.
Guerin made sweeping changes in Minnesota during his nearly five years with the franchise with his biggest moves being the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Now he is tasked with putting together a collection of American players who can bring home gold in two separate tournaments and could be the favourite in both. Team Canada will have arguably the best forward group in both tournaments; however, the Americans will likely boast the most well-rounded team, something that Guerin and his staff will start to look at in the coming months.
NHL Not Pursuing In-Season Tournament
The NHL has clarified that it has no plans to introduce an in-season tournament akin to the NBA’s upcoming European cup-style competition. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the league’s stance to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski today, stating they are not seeking to follow the NBA’s lead.
The NBA and commissioner Adam Silver recently unveiled plans for an in-season tournament in November and December of next season, leading to speculation about NHL crossover considering the two leagues have long operated similarly in season length, conference alignment, and playoff format. These tournament games will count towards the teams’ regular-season standings, culminating in a championship game that will not affect their season record. Players on the winning team are also in line to earn significant financial incentives.
It would have been a wild step out of bounds for the NHL, whose season format has largely remained unchanged over the past few decades, save for season-shortening factors like lockouts and COVID or the addition of events such as outdoor games in recent years.
Daly emphasized that the NHL is not considering implementing a similar tournament structure. Responding to an inquiry from Wyshynski, he stated via email that “no consideration [is] being given to in-season tournaments.”
Marty Walsh, the newly-minted executive director of the NHLPA, also spoke to Wyshynski. While acknowledging that no formal discussions have taken place among the players, Walsh expressed openness toward exploring the concept of an in-season tournament:
I think it’s worth looking at anything that’s out there. I tell players all the time, even if you have an idea that you think is kind of off the wall a little bit, just run it by me. You never know what turns into a brilliant idea.
However, Walsh relayed that NHL players’ focus on changes to the season structure would revolve around international play, not additional league events. Since assuming the role of NHLPA head in February, Walsh said to Wyshynski that players encourage discussions surrounding the potential revival of the World Cup of Hockey in 2025 and the return of NHL participation in the Winter Olympics, next slated for Milan, Italy, in 2026. The NHL hasn’t sent its players to the Olympics in nearly a decade, last permitting them to attend the event in 2014.
It’s worth noting that an in-season tournament does exist in pro hockey, albeit on the other side of the Atlantic. The Champions Hockey League is an in-season tournament including 26 teams from top-level leagues in 13 European countries, with the number of berths per league divvied up based on how well teams from that league performed in the previous CHL season.
Bettman Presser Notes: World Cup, Senators, Relocation, Nichushkin, Front Office
Before the start of the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights, Commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, and Deputy Commissioner of the NHL, Bill Daly, gave their annual version of hockey’s “State of the Union” address to the media. The two spoke at length about a plethora of topics, and one of the more intriguing tidbits was that the NHL is looking into bringing back the World Cup of Hockey (Tweet Link).
In 1996, what was formerly known as the Canada Cup, the World Cup of Hockey was born, and it took place at the then-new Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, and also the then-new Bell Centre in Montreal. The United States was the eventual champion, beating Canada in three games.
The tournament took a short break, continuing again in 2004, where Canada became the eventual winner against Finland. The last time the tournament was held was back in 2016 when Canada beat the European team in two games.
In the 2016 rendition, the World Cup of Hockey featured new teams such as Europe and North America. The European team featured countries that were not represented by their own national teams, including players from countries such as Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, etc. The North American, which ended up being one of the most fun teams to watch during the tournament, featured players from Canada and the United States that were under the age of 23.
Other notes:
- As the Ottawa Senators look to find a new owner, Bettman states that the process could still take a couple more weeks (Tweet Link). The last time the Senators went through a sale was back in 2003 when the late Eugene Melnyk purchased the team for a reported sum of $92MM. Melnyk oversaw the Senators team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007, and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017. Having passed in the spring of 2022, the team residing in Canada’s capital should have a new owner by the end of the month.
- After the announcement that the city of Tempe would not be housing the Arizona Coyotes, rumors immediately sprung about a possible relocation. In the press conference, Bettman reported that Ryan Smith, the current owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, has expressed interest in relocating the Coyotes to Salt Lake City (Tweet Link). Although this is considerable news, especially coming from the Commissioner, Bettman did express a strong desire for the Coyotes to remain in Arizona and says that the NHL is helping the franchise find locations in Phoenix.
- Early in the 2023 NHL Playoffs, it was reported that forward Valeri Nichushkin of the Colorado Avalanche would be sent home for the remainder of the playoffs. Asked about this during their press conference, especially in light of the police body came footage being released, Daly reports that Nichushkin is not under investigation, and is free to play during the 2023-24 NHL season (Tweet Link). Although it was never reported otherwise, it is positive news for Colorado, after recently receiving news that captain Gabriel Landeskog would miss the entirety of next season.
- As eliminated teams are looking to fill both General Manager and head coach vacancies, it appears that two names could be officially coming to the market. Bettman reports that longtime NHL head coach, Joel Quenneville, and former General Manager, Stan Bowman, have both requested interviews to be reinstated in the league (Tweet Link). Both have been prohibited from working in the NHL ever since the sexual assault exposure from former player, Kyle Beach, came out during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.