Islanders will hold an event at UBS Arena in February 2026.
Whether that event is an All-Star Game, well, that's not that clear anymore.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters Wednesday at the league's annual GM meeting in Manalapin, Florida.
In other words, this February's four-country showdown was very good, allowing us to go back to our previous All-Star format. The next day, there was a 3-on-3 tournament where no one tried, but I felt it was small in comparison.
This is only exacerbated by the fact that next year's All-Star Weekend is the predecessor of the Milan Olympics, and NHL players are making their first progress since 2014.
The last time the NHL held an All-Star Game was in 2002 when they sent players to the Olympics.
This time, doing so was meant to be a kind of postponement.
The weekend serves as a league tent pole event and is loved by sponsors, but it was difficult to not notice the contrast depicted between the 4 Nations and the NBA All-Star weekend.
However, the islanders have already started ads for next year's All-Star Game.
Hosting events like this is the selling point behind the construction of the UBS Arena and a chance to show off the buildings throughout the league.
It doesn't sound like canceling the event altogether, but Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly reiterated to reporters that “everything is on the table,” including shifting to 2027.
The player is flying to New York before catching the charter to Milan, so there's a reason to hold something. However, the exact details of what that thing is, if not an All-Star Game, are not clear.
One idea is to somehow incorporate national teams into the event and try to take advantage of the hype surrounding the Olympics.
Given the juices across the four countries, the US-Canadian exhibition at UBS will attract much more attention and eyeballs than any other option.
“I don't want to start speculating,” Bettman said. “We have promised an event to the islanders. The islanders fans deserve the event we have promised, so we are focusing on what we need to do.”
