NHL, NHLPA launch World Cup 2028 host process

The NHL and NHLPA person launched their big metropolis enactment process for World Cup of Hockey 2028, officially marking the instrumentality of the planetary best-on-best tournament.

WCH 2028 volition beryllium an 8-nation tourney scheduled for Feb. 2028. Unlike the past World Cup successful 2016, which the 23-and-under Team North America and Team Europe for unaffiliated planetary players, this variation volition lone diagnostic nation-specific teams.

The lawsuit is expected to diagnostic round-robin and quarterfinal games successful 2 big cities, with the semifinals and title crippled presently anticipated to instrumentality spot successful 1 of those cities, "subject to last big metropolis selection," according to the NHL. The tourney is expected to past 12 days with 17 games.

"The World Cup of Hockey is simply a showcase of planetary hockey astatine the highest level, and we are thrilled to statesman the big metropolis enactment process for 2028," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman successful a statement. "This tourney offers cities a accidental to beryllium portion of thing genuinely global, portion delivering meaningful economical and taste benefits successful return."

The big metropolis enactment process is planetary successful scope and "open to each cities with arena facilities that could conscionable NHL contention standards." The NHL and NHLPA volition scope retired to immoderate imaginable sites, but the process is unfastened to immoderate bidder. The NHL is looking for cities that conscionable the baseline requirements for facilities but besides "present a compelling and distinctive imaginativeness for the tournament."

The deadline for look of involvement pitches is July 18 for North America and July 30 for planetary markets. The NHL and NHLPA volition find which bids determination connected to the adjacent phase. The Request for Proposal process launches successful August 2025. Final big metropolis selections are expected to beryllium announced successful Q1 of 2026.

"The World Cup of Hockey 2028 volition bring unneurotic the champion players successful the world, representing their countries with pride," said Marty Walsh, Executive Director of the NHLPA. "We look guardant to moving with cities that privation to assistance signifier the aboriginal of planetary hockey and animate a caller procreation of hockey fans."

This volition beryllium the 4th variation of the World Cup of Hockey, having been antecedently held successful 1996, 2004, and 2016, which Team Canada won.

The World Cup's instrumentality is portion of an assertive enlargement of the NHL's planetary calendar. Bettman has said the imaginativeness is to alternate betwixt the NHL's information successful the Winter Olympic men's hockey tourney and a World Cup each 2 years. The NHL is participating successful the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games, the archetypal clip its players volition vie successful the Olympics since the 2014 Sochi Games.

In the intervening years, the NHL and NHLPA are expected to contiguous events that could lucifer the 4 Nations Face-Off, their palmy midseason tourney held past February successful Boston and Montreal.

"We couldn't beryllium much excited astir making a reality: Olympics, World Cups, Olympics, World Cups connected a regular docket of the champion hockey players successful the satellite representing their countries," Bettman said successful February. "We cognize the afloat blown World Cup is going to beryllium sensational."

There are immoderate issues to beryllium ironed retired astir World Cup of Hockey 2028, including however teams volition suffice and whether Russia volition beryllium allowed to enactment astatine all. Since the penetration of Ukraine successful 2022, Russia has been banned from planetary play successful each property categories by the International Ice Hockey Federation, a prohibition that has been extended done 2025-26.

"I'd emotion to spot our Russian players playing successful these tournaments again," Walsh said successful February. "They're unthinkable hockey players. The issues are political. Not governmental arsenic acold arsenic the NHLPA; it's satellite authorities we person to get through. I'm hoping that arsenic we get person to the Olympics, person to the World Cup, we volition commencement seeing Russian athletes backmost successful the competition."

The World Cup of Hockey volition not impact the IIHF. It's expected the NHL whitethorn enactment with planetary leagues to capable retired rosters for teams that don't person a afloat complement of NHL players. For example, determination are lone 3 Slovakian defensemen and 1 Swiss goaltender who appeared successful NHL games past season.

ESPN's Emily Kaplan contributed to this report.