Bill Daly: NHL hoping to return to more frequent international hockey participation

Per Rosen, Daly said the league wants to be able to participate in the Olympics again starting in 2026, while holding a World Cup in between each event.

The last time the NHL took part in a best-on-best international event was at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Many of the game’s top young stars at the time, such as Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, were unable to play for their own country and skated for Team North America instead.

The NHL participated in Olympic competitions from 1998-2014, with the league electing to skip 2018 and 2022. The World Cup of Hockey was originally scheduled to return for 2024, but issues surrounding Russia’s participation put that on ice for now.

Daly also told Rosen that the league hopes to have some form of international event in 2025, but it might not be the World Cup of Hockey.

“We’ll see what form it takes, but that’s something we’re working on with the Players’ Association,” Daly told Rosen.

The World Cup has been held three times, with the United States winning the inaugural event in 1996. Canada won gold in 2004 and 2016, with the event being an infrequent part of the hockey calendar.

One difficult aspect of putting the tournament together is the timing. The 2016 event was held just before the start of the regular season, which makes it harder for European teams to send players over. The NHL has also said North America and Europe will not return as teams for the next event, so figuring out the full slate of teams – including the potential for Russia – still has to be finalized.