MAJOR: NHL To Create New International Tournament Ahead Of 2026 Olympics

According to NHL insider and ESPN reporter Greg Wyshynski, the NHL is looking to create hype for the 2026 Winter games by hosting the first major international tournament featuring active NHL players since 2016. The new event will not be called the World Cup of Hockey, as the league looks to make several changes to the format and rules. Perhaps the most notable change is that the tournament will only feature four teams, Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States.

This news also confirms that the NHL is looking to return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed this in an interview done regarding the new 2025 event.

With the winter games being hosted every four years, it would seem then that the plan would mean every other season features a major international tournament.

NHL players have been asking to return to the Olympics since they were first prevented from participating in 2018. Since then, hundreds of players have entered the league and subsequently retired before ever getting a chance to play on the world's biggest stage. Now it looks like players will have a chance to shine both at the Olympics and at this new version of the world cup.

As seen on Sources: NHL looks to put on four-nation tournament in 2025