NHL Makes Shocking and Unexpected Decision Regarding 2025-26 All-Star Game

This past February, we saw Canada and the United States face off in the finale of the 4-Nations Face-Off in what many considered to be the most highly anticipated best-on-best game since the 2010 Gold Medal game in Vancouver.

Canada eventually prevailed in overtime, like they did in 2010, thanks to Connor McDavid's heroics that saw more than 16 million viewers in North America.

Following the success of the 4-Nations, there were questions about the fate of the traditional NHL All-Star weekend that normally takes place in February, given how players have poorly participated in the event in recent years and the immense amount of backlash the league has gotten over how dull the weekend has become.

With the success of 4-Nations Face-Off and the floundering All-Star weekend, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was on 'The Varsity' podcast hosted by John Ourand recently, and made a very surprising announcement regarding the 2026 All-Star weekend.

It should come as no surprise that the NHL is looking at avoiding an All-Star Game next year, given the successful 4-Nations Face-Off. More importantly, however, as Bettman noted, many of the players that would normally be participating will be focused on preparing for the Olympics and getting to Milan as soon as possible to begin skating with their national teams and adjusting to the time change.

What the NHL decides to do in place of the All-Star Game and Skills Competition is unclear at this point, but given the fact that the league and NHLPA have engaged in CBA discussions recently, it is surely a topic of conversation.