RALEIGH — International play will remain a fixture of the NHL midseason as the NHL and NHL Players’ Association have finalized a globally oriented format for the 2027 All-Star Game at UBS Arena in New York.
Speaking before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Hurricanes and Golden Knights, the league and union detailed the structure for the midseason showcase. The specific elements include:
A skills competition on Fri., Feb. 5, that will include 10 players (aged 25 or younger), competing in established events such as fastest skater, hardest shot, passing challenge, one-timers, stick handling, and accuracy shooting. The focus on younger players leans into an obvious league goal of promoting the emerging youth wave helping transform the sport. The host team Islanders said that their 18-year-old phenom, Calder Trophy winner Matthew Schaefer, is slated to be one of the 10 players.
A three-on-three round-robin tournament on Sat., Feb. 6, involving teams with players hailing from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and Finland, and a fifth team involving players from the rest of the world. The winning team will claim a $2 million prize.
The structure of that latter event has direct echoes of the wildly successful 4 Nations Face-Off last year, and acts as a bridge between Olympic participation every four years, and a revived World Cup of Hockey that is also targeted for a quadrennial rotation beginning in 2028.
