Has international hockey replaced the NHL All-Star Game for good?
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Greg Wyshynski
BOSTON — The 4 Nations Face-Off has emerged as a transformative moment for the NHL.
“Nothing’s done more for hockey in a decade than what this tournament’s done,” Team Canada coach Jon Cooper said.
What was supposed to be a midseason appetizer for the 2026 Winter Olympics has evolved into a transcendent event for hockey, which has lacked a best-on-best event since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. That was never more apparent than the first U.S. vs Canada showdown in Montreal, which produced three fights in the first nine seconds of the game followed by an elite representation of the sport as played by two bitter rivals.
The audience was massive — with 9.3 million viewers, it was the most-watched non-Olympic hockey game ever in the United States. The hype was something the NHL hadn’t seen in recent memory. People who don’t usually talk about hockey were suddenly talking about hockey.
It’s just incredible how much of a home run 4 Nations has been for the NHL and hockey in general.
Friends who never watched a hockey game in their lives reaching out asking what the plan is for tonight’s game, what food we’re ordering, etc.
Definition of growing the game.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 20, 2025
“The game is in a better place because that game existed,” Cooper said.
Now that the 4 Nations Face-Off was a game-changer, how will the NHL capitalize on it — and what comes next for its midseason events?
THE NHL HAS ANNOUNCED what is on the way in 2026. The All-Star Weekend, which took a hiatus in favor of 4 Nations this year, will return at the New York Islanders‘ UBS Arena next February. That will serve as a bon voyage event ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, which mark the return of NHL players for the first time since 2014.
The 2026 Olympics begin what the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association hope will be a regular cadence of international best-on-best events. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh announced last week the next World Cup of Hockey is scheduled for 2028. Then come the 2030 Winter Olympics, and then potentially another World Cup and so on.
“We couldn’t be more excited about making a reality: Olympics, World Cups, Olympics, World Cups on a regular schedule of the best hockey players in the world representing their countries,” Bettman said. “We know the full-blown World Cup is going to be sensational.”
Sources told ESPN that the future of the NHL All-Star Game beyond next season has yet to be determined.
The NHL All-Star Game isn’t going anywhere — sources said its status as a tentpole event and its history within the league make it an important part of the league’s slate of events. But All-Star Weekend’s cadence and format beyond next season hasn’t been determined. Logically, it could be held in years when there isn’t a best-on-best event. Perhaps the league continues to double up with the All-Star Game and the Olympics, like it is doing in 2026.
ALL-STAR GAMES are in a transient place in the sports world right now — that’s not just a function of the success of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
While the NHL’s midseason tournament was being widely praised, the NBA All-Star Weekend received criticism from fans and players. Draymond Green called the game’s format “absurd” and said it existed “because ratings are down and the game is bad.”
The effort of the NHL’s players in its best-on-best tournament was in stark contrast with basketball’s midseason classic.
“You can go on an NBA court and go through the motions. You can’t do that in hockey,” P.K. Subban said on “Get Up.” “The culture of our sport, you have to play it with passion. That’s what fans are investing in.”
While that’s true, the NHL All-Star Game isn’t exactly USA vs. Canada for the 4 Nations title, either.
“Different event, obviously. I don’t remember any fights in the All-Star Games,” Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “There’s definitely a place to have both. From what I’ve heard, that’s the plan in the future. And I think both can be exciting.”
1:34
USA, Canada fight 3 times in the first 9 seconds of game
Three players each from USA and Canada are penalized for three fights in the first nine seconds of the game.
THE ALL-STAR GAME brings some virtues that these international tournaments do not. The World Cup of Hockey will be awarded through a host city bidding process. The All-Star Game brings the world’s best players to markets that may never host a World Cup game. It doesn’t just spread the wealth among NHL cities — it does the same among players.
“The one thing about this tournament is ‘Where’s Leon Draisaitl?’ Or Nikita Kucherov?’ Go down the list of guys that aren’t here that you do get to see in an All-Star Game because those guys are special talents,” Cooper said. “Maybe there’s something down the road where everybody gets to play, and that would be super cool.”
The players at the 4 Nations Face-Off uniformly agreed that there’s room for both best-on-best battles and All-Star games in the NHL.
“Obviously this brings out real emotions when you get to play these meaningful games,” Sweden’s Jesper Bratt said. “The All-Star Game has its cool things to it, too, and I think fans appreciate that part of it: to see the best individual players from each division and each team to participate in a skill competition.”
Team USA’s Jack Hughes, Bratt’s teammate on the New Jersey Devils, said he’s made some great memories at the All-Star Game.
“That’s always fun for me personally, just because it’s not as extreme as this. Obviously, you get to spend more time with your family and your friends and get to enjoy that with them. I think that’s a great event,” he said. “But as a hockey player for sure, [4 Nations] is the elite of the elite. Getting to play against the best players and represent your country. It means something to everyone on the ice.”
Vincent Trocheck said the experience is different for every player at the All-Star Game.
“I’ve only played in two, and they’ve been extremely special to me. Every time I’ve been able to go, sharing that with my family is really cool. So those are … awesome weekends, but something like this is just different,” said the New York Rangers center, who played for Team USA. “It’s more meaningful. It’s more emotional. Stuff like this is what you dream of as a kid. So coming to a tournament like this is something that you’ll never forget. You can’t match it.”
THE NHL PLAYERS deserve credit, having pushed for more best-on-best opportunities since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
“Whether it’s Team Canada, the U.S., Sweden, Finland, the other nations in the future, if there’s more playing in these events when you put on your country’s uniform, it just means something special,” Morrissey said. “It’s a different feeling, and you can’t replicate that in any other way.”
After the success of 4 Nations, everything is on the table. Could the All-Star Game become something that hues a little closer to nation vs. nation? Could those years between the Olympics and World Cup produce more international events, be it a 4 Nations Face-Off or a “summit series” between the U.S. and Canada?
The 4 Nations Face-Off has broadened the possibilities.
“Look to soccer. They have so much international play that gets so much attention. We’re not soccer, as far as a global game, but we’re not that far behind,” Ron Hainsey of the NHLPA said. “That’s the long-term goal here … where fans look forward to these players representing their countries on a regular basis.”
Shutting down the regular season for international events isn’t without its risks or its critics. The 4 Nations Face-Off saw a handful of injuries, most notably to Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who was hospitalized Monday with an infection in his right shoulder and a significant injury to his AC joint.
“I don’t know how the NHL teams feel about it, because guys are going so hard out there and we still have a quarter of the season left,” New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes said. “But I think the guys inside the locker room have extreme care for this and are really, really enjoying this.”
Canada star Connor McDavid agreed less is more for international tournaments.
“I’m not sure you could do this every single year. It’s been pretty taxing. Obviously, we see guys going down and getting hurt.” McDavid said. “But it goes to show how much guys care about playing for the country, how much pride they play with while they’re wearing the jersey.
“I think with the Olympics and the World Cup, I think we’ll get enough.”
The World Cup of Hockey returns in 2028, although its final form has yet to be determined. There will be eight teams representing eight nations, without the “melded” teams from 2016 like Team North America and Team Europe. The NHL will not partner with the International Ice Hockey Federation for the World Cup, instead negotiating with other professional leagues themselves in order to populate teams like Germany and Switzerland with players.
There will be a bidding process for host cities, and that process will be open to European locations.
“The Olympics provides a good model for us in terms of how long the break will be for games in Europe,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.
Of course, the biggest issue around the 2026 Olympics and 2028 World Cup is whether Russia will be included, as it remains banned from international play through 2026 by the IIHF because of its invasion of Ukraine.
“I’d love to see our Russian players playing in these tournaments. Again, they’re incredible hockey players,” Walsh said. “The issues are political and it is not political as far as the NHLPA, it’s the world politics that we have to get through and I’m hoping that as we get closer to the Olympics, as we get closer to the World Cup, we will start seeing the Russian athletes back in the competition.”
THE 4 NATIONS FACE-OFF showed best-on-best hockey can cross over to the mainstream. But the conditions might not be there to capture lightning in a bottle a second time.
The geopolitical undercurrents to the USA vs. Canada rivalry heightened its passions. The tournament featured the first opportunity for a generation of stars — McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, the Tkachuk brothers and Auston Matthews, among others — to represent their countries in a best-on-best event.
And what, exactly, do they do for an encore? Four fights in eight seconds next time?
“The expectations were high. I think the tournament’s done a good job of setting that bar and going beyond it,” Team USA’s Brock Nelson said.
The 4 Nations Face-Off was meant to be the appetizer for the Olympics. Based on its success, the NHL needs to capitalize on the moment.
Seven of eight first-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and No. 8 gets rolling on Tuesday.
The Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers begins anew (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with both clubs looking like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender if they can survive the intrastate showdown.
Cats-Bolts is the third game of four Tuesday on the ESPN family of networks, following New Jersey–Carolina (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Ottawa–Toronto (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), and preceding the nightcap, Minnesota–Vegas (11 p.m. ET, ESPN).
What are the key storylines heading into Tuesday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down Monday night, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 2 (CAR leads 1-0) | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN
Game 1 sure did not go as planned for the Devils. A win at the legendarily loud Lenovo Center would’ve been stretching it, but losing Brenden Dillon, Cody Glass and Luke Hughes to injury was not an ideal outcome either.
They’ll hope to rebound Tuesday before the series shifts to Newark. Closing the shot attempt differential might help, as the famously possession-savvy Hurricanes held a 45-24 edge on shots on goal in Game 1.
For years, the knock on Carolina was that it lacked that one goal scorer who could get the Canes over the hump in the playoffs. Many observers thought the Canes had acquired such a player in Mikko Rantanen in January. Ironically, it was the player Carolina acquired in its subsequent trade of Rantanen to Dallas — Logan Stankoven — who scored two goals in Game 1. Will he add to that total in Game 2?
Of note heading into Tuesday’s game, the Devils have come back to win a playoff series after losing the first game 11 out of 26 times (42%); that figure drops to 20% if they fall behind 0-2. The Hurricanes have won six of their past seven series after winning Game 1.
Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 2 (TOR leads 1-0) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2
The atmosphere was intense for Game 1, and the Maple Leafs’ “Core Four” led the way: Mitch Marner (one goal, two assists), William Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Auston Matthews (two assists) each filled up the scoresheet. A continuation of that output will obviously help Toronto overwhelm its provincial neighbor.
Slowing down the Maple Leafs could depend on discipline, according to Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. “We took too many penalties, they scored on [them] and that’s the game,” Tkachuk told reporters after Game 1. “So that’s on us. We’ve got to be more disciplined.”
The Sens will also need to capitalize on their chances. According to Stathletes, Ottawa had five high-danger scoring chances in this game, and produced only two goals.
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 1 | 8:30 p.m ET | ESPN
This is the fourth time that the two Sunshine State franchises have met in the postseason, and all four of the meetings have occurred since 2021.
In each instance, the winner of the series has gone on to reach the Stanley Cup Final — Lightning in 2021 and 2022; Panthers in 2024 — while the 2021 Lightning and 2024 Panthers won it all.
Unsurprisingly, Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay’s leading scorer against Florida, with 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 15 games. Aleksander Barkov is the Panthers’ leading scorer against the Lightning, with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 15 games.
The two teams split their meetings in the regular season, with the Lightning winning the most recent, 5-1 on April 15.
Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 2 (VGK leads 1-0) | 11 p.m. ET | ESPN
The underdog Wild set a physical tone to the series in Game 1, outhitting the Golden Knights 54-29, but the hosts emerged with a 4-2 victory. Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden (two) were the goal scorers for Vegas, and Matt Boldy was responsible for both Minnesota goals.
Howden, who had never scored double-digit goals until his 23 this season, earned praise from coach Bruce Cassidy after Game 1. “He didn’t change his game,” Cassidy told reporters. “He played physical. He’s part of our penalty kill. He’s always out when the goalie’s out, typically one of the six guys we use a lot because of his versatility. He can play wing. He can take draws as a center. He’s been real good for us all year and good again tonight.”
Sunday’s game was the NHL debut for 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium, who just finished his season with the University of Denver. He played 13 minutes, 37 seconds and finished with one shot on goal.
Arda’s Three Stars of Monday
The greatest goal scorer in NHL history just keeps finding the back of the net. He had two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Caps take Game 1 3-2 despite a valiant third period effort from Montreal to send it to the extra frame.
Connor had the game-winning goal in the third period for the second straight game, as Winnipeg takes both games at home for the 2-0 series lead on the Blues.
Further proof that the Oilers are never out of the game, McDavid helped erase a 4-0 deficit with a goal and three assists, despite the Oilers falling 6-5 late in a thrilling Game 1.
Monday’s scores
Capitals 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)
Washington leads 1-0
Much of the regular season was spent focused on Alex Ovechkin‘s “Gr8 Chase” of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record, and he scored historic goal No. 895 on Sunday, April 6. It turns out, Ovi likes the spotlight. The Capitals superstar opened the scoring in the game, and bookended it with the overtime winner — his first ever, believe it or not — as the Caps survived a thriller in Game 1, following Nick Suzuki‘s tying goal with 4:15 remaining. Full recap.
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Alex Ovechkin’s OT goal wins Game 1 for Capitals
Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game is an overtime winner that gives the Capitals a 1-0 series lead vs. the Canadiens.
Jets 2, Blues 1
Winnipeg leads 2-0
Game 1 between the two clubs was tightly contested until the Jets took over in the third period. That trend took hold again on Monday — the score remained tied into 1-1 the third period, when Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor scored at the 1:43 mark, and the Jets were able to hold the Blues off the scoreboard for the duration. Connor’s linemate Mark Scheifele assisted on the game-winner and opened the scoring, giving him a league-leading five points this postseason. Full recap.
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Kyle Connor scores clutch goal to put Jets ahead in 3rd period
Kyle Connor extends Winnipeg’s lead after a clutch goal early in the 3rd period vs. St. Louis.
Stars 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)
Series tied 1-1
The series that every observer thought would be the closest in the first round didn’t look that way in Game 1, as the Avs ran over the Stars en route to a 5-1 win. Game 2 was much more in line with expectations, as the two Western powerhouses needed OT to settle things. Colin Blackwell was the hero for Dallas, scoring with 2:14 remaining in the first OT period. Full recap.
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Colin Blackwell comes up with big OT winner for Stars
Colin Blackwell sends the Stars faithful into jubilation with a great overtime winner to tie the series at 1-1 vs. the Avalanche.
Kings 6, Oilers 5
Los Angeles leads 1-0
Monday’s nightcap was a delight to those who like offensive hockey and were willing to stay up late. The Kings roared out to a four-goal lead late in the second period before Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored to pull within three with six seconds remaining. The two teams traded goals to start the third, before the Oilers notched three in a row to tie up the festivities with 1:28 remaining on Connor McDavid‘s first of the 2025 playoffs. L.A.’s Phillip Danault sent his club’s fans home happy, scoring the pivotal goal with 42 seconds left. Full recap.
0:46
Kings retake lead on Phillip Danault’s goal in final minute
Phillip Danault restores the lead for the Kings with a goal vs. the Oilers in the closing moments.
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