NHL, NHLPA Announce World Cup of Hockey Will Return in 2028; 1st Since 2016

After a 12-year absence, the World Cup of Hockey is set to return in February 2028, per an NHL/NHLPA media release.

The international hockey competition will feature the world's best, and it will occur two years after the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will also feature NHL stars.

The news also drops on the day the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off is set to debut with Sweden taking on Canada.

The tournament will be played on "NHL-sized rinks using NHL rules and officiated by NHL officials," per the release.

However, other details still must be ironed out. Per the release, "participating teams, tournament dates and time, broadcast information, training camp dates and locations" will be revealed to the public later in 2025.

Locations are also still up in the air, but a bidding process is expected to begin for host cities and venues "in the coming months."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman did tell reporters (h/t Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic) that European and North American cities can bid for the World Cup.

"At least eight teams" will also take part in the competition, per Bettman, who added that countries will make up the traditional teams (e.g. Team USA, Team Canada).

That will mark a change from the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, won by host country Canada.

That tournament was an eight-teamer, featuring six countries—Canada (24-and-over players), Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, United States (24-and-over players)—and then two combination teams (North American players 23-and-under and European players not represented by the aforementioned squads).

The 2016 World Cup of Hockey also took place in September in one location (Toronto's Air Canada Centre), while this tournament will be in February at multiple locations.

In sum, hockey fans will get to see NHL stars compete in international competitions in three of the next four years now, which is a big win for them and the sport as well.