NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

NHL players returning to international tournaments starting in 2025

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 2/2/24

NHL players have not appeared in an international, best-on-best tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. That is set to change in a small way starting in 2025, and perhaps significantly so in the years that follow.

According to NHL insider Frank Seravalli, the NHL is going to announce on Friday a four nations tournament in 2025 — to be hosted in Montreal and Boston — that will include the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden.

Sources say #NHL + #NHLPA plan to announce this afternoon 2025 international tournament hosted in Montréal and Boston.

Four nations: Canada, Finland, Sweden and United States.

Not totally clear yet if today also includes confirming Olympic participation, but that is on track.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 2, 2024

The league is also expected to announce a return to the Olympics in 2026.

In addition to the 2025 Four Nations tournament, the NHL and NHLPA will announce a return to the 2026 Olympics this afternoon, per sources.

Best on best hockey is back.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 2, 2024

Limiting the 2025 tournament to just four teams is a bit underwhelming. Russia is almost certainly being excluded due to political reasons involving the country's war with Ukraine, but leaving out countries like the Czech Republic and Slovakia is a bit of a surprise given the talent that exists in those nations.

NHL players first started participating in the Olympics during the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan and continued to do so through the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia.

They did not participate in the previous two Winter Olympics.

There is, however, considerable interest among fans and players for them to return for the 2026 games in Milano-Cortina, Italy and the 2030 games.

The downside for the NHL is that participating in the Olympics results in the league shutting down for more than two weeks in the middle of the season, which has always been a big drawback. Especially since it has not always produced new interest in the league.

But the league seems prepared to go forward with it again, while the world's biggest hockey powers will have their best players representing them on the international stage.

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