NHL Reimagining 2027 All-Star Event

Interest in the NHL All-Star Game has been waning for a while, but now, it's clearer than ever that something needs to change.

In lieu of a traditional All-Star game this year, the league instead hosted the 4 Nations Face-Off, which featured some of the most exhilirating hockey in recent memory and drew ratings most NHL games could only dream of. At the same time, it exposed how lackluster the all-star game truly is in its current form.

There won't be an All-Star game next season as NHL players instead participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics, so the next traditional All-Star event will take place in 2027 at UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders. "Traditional" may not be the right word to describe it, though, as commissioner Gary Bettman hinted at a different approach to the festivities.

“We’ve concluded that whatever we do for next season needs to take into account that the players are going to be very focused on getting to Milan and playing in the Olympics and we want to respect that,” Bettman said ahead of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, per NHL.com. “So, there will be an event the following year at UBS and we’re still trying to figure out what we can do that will do justice to the level of interest and authenticity that we and the players created in 4 Nations. So, that’s still a work in progress.”

The success of the 4 Nations Face-Off is influencing All-Star events across sports, not just the NHL. The NBA recently announced that its All-Star game will take on a USA vs. World format, with commissioner Adam Silver directly mentioning 4 Nations in his comments.

So, it's only appropriate that the NHL would capitalize on its own success.

"We set a pretty high bar for All-Star weekends in all sports ... in response to the success that we've had," Bettman said. "So there will be an event (in 2027) at UBS, and we're still trying to figure out what we can do that will do justice to the level of interest and authenticity that we and the players created at the 4 Nations, so that's still a work in progress."